It’s because of when they came out. I feel the same way as you. For so many years they had no competition which led people to believe these were the holy grail when in fact they weren’t and they just had nobody competing against them.
When it comes to hype trains you just gotta hop on and hold on with both hands. If you drink enough koolaid then there is never disappointment! It’s a good product if you believe its a good product.
I let the hype train pass me by and watch from the terminal, lol.
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So you too are a fan of the “let it crash and enjoy the flames”-experience?
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Absolutely. I’ll bring the Graham crackers, you bring the chocolate and marshmallows and we’ll make s’mores off of the fire, lol.
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Want to go for grilled sausages before that or direct to dessert?
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yeah, I could go for some bbq spare ribs too.
I hate when cheap headphones get hyped up because people tend to criticize them as if they were $1000 headphones.
I hate when people overhype and boost their expectations as if they are $1000 headphones (assuming they are in the more budget realm of course)
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I had very mixed feelings about the Tin T2. On the one hand the sound was amazing, on the other the fit was terrible and the MMCX connector of the left earpiece went bad within a month or so. Real shame since I’m still looking for cheapish MMCX IEMs to use with my Bluetooth thingy, the FA1 I’m using now are way to sensitive and produce a lot of background noise.
Also the iFi Zen DAC was a mixed experience for me. I really liked the look and the build quality, but I was rather underwhelmed by the difference in sound compared to my e10k. That might just be my ears not functioning properly though, haven’t been in this hobby for that long.
The Koss Porta Pro and KSC75 have been great experiences. I feel the Porta Pro has a slightly warped headband (heard a rumor about a new production process?) and/or a very slight channel imbalance. The sound is amazing on both though, I ordered some new headbands and some Yaxi pads to hopefully make them even better!
All the screaming will give a delightful taste for watching and snacking.
After the train has crashed in the station.
Thanks English teacher for rewording that. I was a bit tipsy and tired when I wrote that lol.
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Were the KSC75 a hype train? Maybe or maybe not, but either way they are amazing.
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my hype train experiences were with the HE-35x and HE-4xx. they did not disappoint because when I ordered them I didn’t have experience and was excited to hear HiFiMan headphones that were so affordable. once I got the 4xx though, I never touched the 35x again. 
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Definitely the T3s and the P1s… I jumped onto that one pretty quickly and ultimately felt let down. I tried and tried to make myself love both of them. Ultimately though, it helped me jump into mid tier IEMs which I’ve found much satisfaction in. So I wouldn’t say disappointed because I learned from it, but my bottom lip was hanging a bit with both of those lol
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I’m kind of in the same boat. Most people seem to love Tin iems, but I never took to them. Maybe the 2? I just never felt I was experiencing what everyone else seemed to. I always thought I wasn’t much of an iem guy, but unfortunately for my wallet it turns out that I am a fan of expensive ones
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I feel your pain. I’m glad it wasn’t just me. The difference in quality between tiers was mind blowing for me! But as you mentioned, the prices are also extremely different! What are some of your recent favorites?
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I’ve gotten a little out of hand lately. I would rank them as follows in terms of how much use I’ve gotten out of them: Campfire Atlas, JVC HA-FD01, Moondrop S8, then FiiO FH7. I have the Etymotic ER4XR coming Saturday, and the LCD-i4s arrive on Monday. I was able to hear the Empire Legend X and they will be a future purchase. Also considering the Shure KSE1500 way down the road, but I think the LCD i4s will fill that oddball iem niche for me. Plus, at that price, I’d probably get a Stax instead. From the ones I have in hand, the S8 and the FH7 are both probably “better” than the JVCs, but I’ve used the JVCs a lot more. Their detail retrieval for the price is tough to beat, and they are pretty neutral to my ear. That may be boring for some though. The S8s are good, but I don’t love Harman tuning. It’s nice to have a Harman reference in my collection though. The FH7s are good, and I haven’t given them a fair shake yet with the additional filter options. I went with the fun, bassy tuning and it’s good, but I have other options that do fun and bassy a little better starting with the Atlas for iems.
Edit: Andromedas were my first expensive iem purchase, and they still get a good amount of use. They may not be for everyone, but it’s a pretty appealing tuning to me
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I wouldn’t say out of hand at all. You’re my hero! lol… I’m really excited to hear how you like the i4s. Just their look intrigues me! lol… I’m a HUUUUUUUGE fan of the FH7. I’ve kind of taken a step back for a little while. I got the Polaris 2’s out of sheer curiosity and I wanted a Campfire IEM. Polaris 2 seemed like it would fit my favorite genre’s the most, without having to go all the way up to the Solaris lol… And surprisingly, I’m loving them as well. I’m still in my honeymoon stage at about a month in, but I was a little afraid of the lower freqs bleeding into the mids as so many people have expressed. However, I really enjoy the tuning. I’ve changed the tips here and there to get the best seal and control for the bass and now I run to them everyday. So it was the opposite of the Hype Train. I’m digging them. It’s funny you mention the Andromedas and that you still use them extensively. I think they will always sit in the back of my mind until I get them!
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Campfire makes really great iems. I definitely prefer some over others, but all of them are comfortable and seem to do at least one thing pretty well. I thought about the Solaris, and I like it a lot, but I decided to go for the Atlas since it was on sale. If the Solaris was on sale, I’d have probably gone that route. I’ve heard the i4s before, and they are really more like headphones than iems. The soundstage is really crazy wide. I’ve never A/B’d with HD800s, but to my memory it was almost to that extreme. I also prefer the rest of the tonality compared to the HD800s as well, so I am scratching them off my wish list and filling that void with the i4s
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