Blon BL-01
Fiio FH3
???
I think this is my rough progression:
- Superlux HD381 f - loved these when I had them, unfortunately got drunk one night and lost them at a friend’s house
- Shure SE215 - Got recommended these as being bassy, I don’t really remember them ever being bassy
- Final E1000 - mainly got them for the tips, but found them surprisingly good for the price.
- Fiio FH3 - Bought these after seeing all the hype on them, personally I’ve never really been all that impressed with them, they’ve just been ok for me.
- Moondrop SSR - I love these little things so much, yes they don’t have much bass, but they make up for that with the highs. These were my favourite IEMs for a while.
- Earsonics Grace - My favourite headphone/IEM to date, I love these things, they aren’t super bassy like my Lawton’s but they are just so good overall that I don’t care about that, they do have a surprising amount of rumble though and the Plussound Exo GPS cable that I got them with makes them sing.
- Jomo Audio Haka (Custom) - My most recent IEM purchase and my first CIEM, I really like these so far, super nice and relaxed, I have almost fallen asleep with these in a few times.
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No longer owned:
TFZ Series 1
KZ EDX
Currently own:
Blon BL03 (with cable and eartip upgrades)
Tiandirenhe TD08
Tin T2 – KZ ZSX – Shuoer Tape – Tin P1 – Thieaudio Legacy 3 – Thieaudio Clairvoyance
Still own the P1, the Legacy (although I ruined one of them while trying to superglue a cable to them so the shells wouldn’t fall off) and the Clair.
Pretty satisfied and I don’t see myself upping my game any time soon
Only going to count from my recent dive into audio a couple years ago. (When things got real. lol) Also not counting any bluetooth because I don’t use those for music listening.
KZ ZSX (Meh. Sold)
BLON BL-03 (Fun tuning, lousy fit. Kept)
QKZ VK4 (Cheap impulse buy, decent tuning. Gifted)
BLON BL-01 (Very similar to BL-03 with a little better fit. Kept)
Shozy Form 1.1 (Fun v-shape tuning. Nice build and fit for the price.Sold)
JVC HA-FDX1 (These were a solid step up from everything I had tried. A great all-rounder. Sold)
Dunu Zen (Another solid step up. Cohesive, natural sound with strong bass and excellent build. Sold)
Hyla Sarda (
Pry these from my cold, dead fingers. Probably.)
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Tin T4 — Liked these at first because they were the most detailed sound I’ve heard at the time. Probably what helped me down this wormhole. Ultimately, though, the fit was pretty shitty (I prefer the pseudo-custom fit that a lot of chifi seems to have adopted of late…), and the sound was a little bright or thin. Once I got my next pair of IEMs, the T4’s weren’t touched.
Ikko OH10 — I loved the sound of these - much preferred their full body and sub-bass presence to the more anemic T4. Technicalities were also better - great stage for an IEM, really nice and engaging sound overall. Ultimately, while these were more comfortable for me than the T4, the OH10’s shells are very heavy. Got great use out of these, but they’re also retired.
Blessing 2 — I got these an absolute whim from Apos Audio, because of their guaranteed return shipping. It was covid, I wanted a pick me up present to self. These sounded amazing - more detailed and natural than the OH10 - while being probably a bit more comfortable. These are my out of the house IEMs to this date, as my next pair are a little too pricey to take outside, for me.
Thieaudio Monarch — My daily driver. My most used sound playing device. Perfect fit with the Xelastec tips and improved sound and comfort from the CEMA ElectroAcousti cable. Got these in October, not once have I thought about an upgrade for even a moment. That’s special.
I had great luck picking IEMs. As you can see each is more comfortable and better sounding than the last. This definitely, definitely hasn’t been my experience in my headphone saga.
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Might as well tack on an update to my previous post
JVC FW10k: it actually surprised me as it wasn’t what I was expecting, a bit more of a reference diffuse field tuning while sounding pretty organic and had a pretty great focus on technicalities, although was sometimes harsh and lacked subbass prominence (was tight and very controlled but lacked oomph). Lots of speed and texture that felt right, immersive stage, great dynamics and nice impact, slightly peaky though and tonally hit or miss with some tracks (great timbre though). Was considering keeping it but in the end didn’t feel the need to keep it in my collection although it was nice for sure (sold)
AAW Canary: interesting iem mainly in regards to tuning, it’s got a somewhat neutral slight v signature with a bit of a bass bump, but it’s a bit more clean and dry bass response, and also has some added treble forwardness and sparkle which can make things fun and slightly hyper realistic sounding (can be both good or bad). Isn’t that organic nor all that tonally dense but I wouldn’t fault it for that for the tuning it’s going for. Generally technicalities are good with speed and separation being the focus (stage was good but not stand out, neither was dynamics or timbre). Enjoyable iem if you like something a bit more clean and slightly dry focused but with a bit of extra life and sparkle, basically if you focus alot on tuning (sold)
Aroma Witch Girl 12: This was enjoyable yet unremarkable to me, it had a more fun sig with a warmer more bodied low end with a bit of midrange recession but a bit extra sparkle, it almost felt like a warmer v but with treble that’s slightly subdued, but still v. Generally technicalities were solid with good resolution, a stage and presentation that while in your head did have good depth and placement, solid tonal density, and good dynamics, although none of that really stood out to me per se. Good fun all rounder but master of none? Ended up being an enjoyable listen when I had it, but nothing to write home about, no real rants but no real raves (sold)
Oriolus Traillii JP: really been liking this one, hard to put down, it’s a great daily, and it’s extremely balanced sounding, and at the same time being an absolute technical beast while still sounding organic and convincing. Represents dynamics really well, a very large and immersive stage with accuracy, very coherent, quick but not unnaturally so, good density but not quite full bodied, pretty great timbre, feels pretty effortless. Hard to not enjoy listening to it, easily holds its own in my collection (own)
Reason I’m updating now is probably because I’m stopping with iems for a bit, been basically bouncing between 4 of them (traillii, infinity mk2, thummim, and eamt-1c) and not really seeing the need or having the desire for anything else, so I probably won’t be buying any more iems anytime soon lol
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Have you by chance heard their Supreme MKII Evolution?..The mono Magnetostatic driver looks interesting 
There it is! Sarda’s daddy (or maybe uncle) all grown up. Lol
I haven’t, I want to get the chance too though. The reason I haven’t ordered one for myself is that I have seen too many people prefer the infinity over the supreme, so I will wait until they continue to perfect it
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Same family but not super similar lol
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Going to update mine right now and there will be IEMs from my list that are either gone missing, at an another place or broken:
1st: Shure SE215 - My very first IEMs, Sound isolating god but too Dark for my taste of sounds.
2nd: Tin HiFi T2 - My very first IEMs that kicked my SE215’s ass in terms of sounds, still have to this day and still kicking
3rd: KZ ZSN Pro - Owned briefly back then till I gave it to my little brother, too treble murderous for me and now it’s gone aka broken.
4th: KZ ZS10 Pro - V-shaped that I actually love listening to, and yes in some cases it rivals my T2s. Currently having a driver flex issue on the left earpiece, and the left ear filter’s gone.
5th: BLON BL03 - S Tier imo, one of the best ever that actually made me go WTF when I got them for such an affordable budget. Balanced sound signature, fun and warm. I love it! Gun Metal color broke, currently owning the Purple Edition BL03s as a replacement.
6th: Moondrop Starfields - Fucking S Tier as well and I love blue, the improved version of the T2s imo. It’s blue, beautiful and therefore I love it! Sadly the paint job on mine are chipping off already due to long use, still love having them in my ears regardless.
7th: Sony MH755 - Never gave them a chance when I first got them, therefore I regret it now. It’s broken therefore no use due to the driver getting fucking super glued by my dad’s friend who was modding it at that time. I’ll take the L.
8th: KBEAR KS1 - To me this is the BLON BL03 when it is unrefined and tuned to V-shape. You have to burn them in in order to get all of the goodness out from it, bass can be let’s say “not detailed” on some genres and yeah the fucking sounds from these out of the box are not that good for I got treble murdered when I put these in my ear for the first time. But the thing is, I don’t call it the BL03s unrefined for nothing, since once I listen to more songs with these on, the sounds gets better and better each hour passing, it’s like a raw gem being in the process of refinement. Reason that I have this? I got curious!
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I’ve found a pair of used Final e4000s for 70 euro, do you think they’re worth it at that price segment?
I cant remember the exact order, but i can give it my best shot.
Tin T2>>KZ ZS10 Pro>>Blon BL03>>IKKO OH10>>Jade EA3>>Final E3000>>iBasso IT00>>Fiio FH3>>JVC HA-FDX1>>Final A3000>>64 Audio Tia Trio
The ones that remain here are the T2, BL03, Final E3000 and A3000, IT00, and the Tia Trio. Admittedly, the Trio is the only one being used these days.
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That’s a solid deal for $70, but I honestly prefer cheaper offerings (BL03). Apparently the Moondrop Aria is an $80 Starfield (not sure about euros though) so that might be worth looking into to. Haven’t tried it though so I can’t tell you for sure.
Edit: Also sorry for the late reply but I hope this helped ahaha
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(The aria costs about 68 euro) No worries, just reading reviews I kind of came to the conclusion the e4000s just aren’t that great of a deal at almost any price anyway as the Blon03 at 21 euro are relatively similar in sound signature, there are better chi-fi offerings technicality-wise at around the 50 euro mark, and the final audio is hard to power (some say); it seems like FA was kind of short sighted with the 140 euro pricing. Guessing they weren’t expecting chi-fi’s rapid advancements in the IEM market, and now refuse to discount the e4000s to 70 euro (even if thats their current market value), having decided that the price tag is justified due to brand name. The only attractive quality would be the bullet shape, but recently I discovered some other options that have the same form factor, and seem to be better under every other aspect.
OK, now I spent a little time fiddling with enough iem, I feel I can report here.
My first iem were a pair of KLIPSCH IMAGE S4 AII I bought 75€, back in 2014. I spent time with them for commute.
I bought BL-03s after seeing so much positive reviews about it. I couldn’t find a good fit with the tips I had or bought untill I get the spinfit CP-100 in small size. Once again, the reviews saved it: if I hadn’t read/view so much about the bl-03, they would have been in the trash already.
I tried Tin T2. Twice. I sent them back twice. each time I heard a bad sibilance that kept me from enjoying anything. And the signature didn’t impress me that much. It could be a seal issue, though: the foam tips are too big for my ears, and I didn’t try the silicon tips that much.
I then took Kbear KS1s, after a review of intoit. I liked them and they became my daily, but I felt there was something more to get from iem world than this. Their bass is good and fun, but there is too much of itfor my taste in the long run.
I recently got SSRs and Arias from Moondrop. I find the SSR meh. No bass at all and a sound that is plain boring and at the edge of beeing shouty. The Arias on the other hand… I still feel things can go further, but I have to admit these iem are engaging and I really enjoy listening to those.
Now I’m at the edge of the iem rabbit hole. Next steps for me are:
- enjoy the current collection
- organize a roll of iems so each of them get the time it deserves. I should choose what case I use with each pair, too
- refine my taste and begin the definition of my target FR
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Only started 2 months ago, but here we go:
-
Fiio FH3 (first iem after watching some reviews, zeos got me there - still own)
-
Tin T2 (bought it for my gf and was curious about it. Neither of us were a fan, returned)
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Fiio FD5 (kinda impulse buy, loved the bery DD bass. Treble and suction were horrible at start, got better after one week. Treble was still too much, returned it for teas)
-
mangird tea (best thing ever for the price. My precious)
-
mangird xenns up (incoming - teas on steroids)
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Replaced the trio with a fourte noir a few weeks back. Never expected to go this far in iems but here i am 
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That path seems pretty familiar to me, I am at 4 months, but here is mine -
I started with the KZ ZST, and they weren’t very good, but I didn’t expect much for $20.
Then I did $40 pairs -
Then I tried the Moondrop SSR, but they were too strong in the mids.
The Tin T2 was sounded good, but they made my ears sore.
The Blon-03 wasn’t for me, too heavy on the bass, but my wife liked them.
Bumped up to $50 -
The KZ ZS10 Pro was the first pair that I enjoyed enough to wear all day. I would disconnect from my laptop, and plug them into my phone at the end of the day.
Now I am pondering a pair of Moondrop Aria, so $80 is fast approaching.
I have decided that the headphones I enjoy are a neutral signature, which is what the “reference” audiophile picks tend to be, so at least I can sort of find the consensus picks and usually be pretty happy.
I am hoping IEMs are going to be like headphones. It was a hobby for about 8 months, after about a half dozen pairs, I landed on the Philips SHP9500 as my main, and gave the others to my family. I later added the Koss KPH30i, and the Koss KSC75 as cheap alternatives that I am fine taking on a trip, giving to a grandkid, etc.