Your Top 5 IEMs right now that you are using?

IEMs / Other In-Ear Monitors (IEM)
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As of today I currently have my own Top 5 IEMs that I am currently using from my limited but humble selection. Also I am pretty sure due to the years have passed, the IEMs that I used to have a gawking on, especially in the early days, it’s safe to say have changed; along with the factor of new IEMs just overall gotten better in years.

These are my Top 5 that I am using right now:

#1 Moondrop Kato

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Just overall goodness and satisfaction from these, for I love the things I got out of it despite the technical side of it is not as impressive as the higher-end stuff. But, the tonality, tuning, the looks, the soundsignature, etc. is just too good for me right now, hell I cannot even remove it from my bag right now for it is just too good to get a listen with, officially my main driver.

#2 Moondrop Starfield

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As Zeos said back then, it’s like vanilla ice cream, but a premium feeling one and I agree with his statement. Though it sucks for me nowadays that the original painting of mine got destroyed, therefore taking my own measure of repainting it, it still does not remove the magic that I have felt for these when I first got it and to this day, still an excellent IEM to use, but I am afraid it is being toppled over by my Katos.

#3 Tin Hifi T3 Plus

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These! THESE! I never knew there will be a day that something will top the Tin T2s and these will be the ones who did it. The true mainline and successor from Tin in my opinion for their lately releases ( I know I am repeating myself and it is being said by me back then.) are lackluster. I will say it is better than my Moondrop Aria overall, for the T3 Plus is just the right sound signature for me and more alive than the Arias.

#4 Moondrop Chu

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Jesus Christ, are these really 20USD?! Moondrop really dropped the ball for this one and right now I am having a blast with it, for I am not really expecting much when it comes to sounds, but boy these are just game changers for the price. Sure it’s not technically impressive as the other ones I have (except the imaging, the imaging is excellent from the Chu.), attached cable and janky and soundstage is not that wide as to be expected for this price point, but the tuning and the neutral sound signature from these are just too good, meaning the pros outweighs the cons for me.

#5 Moondrop Aria

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Basically a cheaper version of the Starfield but slightly warmer, meaning the mids are a bit recessed for my taste, and this would be higher if it has the same mids as the Starfields I have. Same as the Starfields I have, paint bubbled up therefore I have to repaint with a black color. I still love listening to some of my songs with this, but I just think the T3 Plus is just better in every aspect overall.

What are your current Top 5s right now?

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Excellent post. You are a single DD afficinado I see!

I’m gonna do a brief 1-5 list of my current favorite IEMs that I have in my possession:

  1. Geek Wold GK10 (w/ Tanya nozzle filter, Moondrop Spring Tips, Balanced Cable into Letshouer DT02 dongle and heavy EQ)

  2. Ikko OH10

  3. oBravo Cupid

  4. KZ DQ6

  5. Tanchjim Tanya

Yes, the very controversial GK10 I place at the top. I’m not very bothered by its timbre but I am enamored by it’s encompassing stage and imaging. It’s a very separated presentation but I like it for my music library.

Top 5 Earphones I ever heard and owned:

  1. UM MEST MK2

  2. Oriolus MK2/Reborn

  3. Letshouer EJ07M Kinda Lava

  4. Thor Mjölnir MK2

  5. 7Hz Timeless

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To be honest I don’t see myself as one, for I am willing to try other IEMs with different drivers like Beryllium Drivers, Planar, Electrostatic, etc but I just don’t have the right amount of budget right now to get an IEM with those drivers I have mentioned.

Quite frankly, I am not really an afficionado, for I consider myself still as a beginner for most of the people’s technical knowledge here that involves high-fidelity audio is much better than mine.

Also I like your list and I agree with the Ikko OH10 being there for they are still an excellent set, and my T3 Plus sounds a bit similar to that for Dan’s Audio Reviews did a demo of both T3 Plus and OH10 as a comparison, they are quite close.

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  1. 7HZ Timeless
  2. Focus Vocal
  3. IKKO OH10
  4. Tin T3+
  5. UM Mest MK2
    honorable mentions for spots 2-3. FIIO FH5 and Tanchijim Hana
    if I didn’t have Mest MK2 5 would either be Tripowin Olina or Moondrop Aria
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  1. UM Mest MK2
  2. Fearless S8F
    3… I have a bunch of iems I should really sell to feed my BTC habit. Not listening to much but the Mest (love it!).

I ordered the new Tin P1 Max for fun and hope to recieve from Linsoul before next year.

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  1. Xenns Up
  2. Penon Serial
  3. Raptgo Hook-X
  4. Yanyin Canon
  5. Xenns Tea mkII

Honorable mentions: Kinera Urd and Audio Hekili

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I have the Moondrop Blessing 2

              Timeless

               Mele

                DQ6

                 ISN H40

I mostly use the top 3

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EJ07M Kinda Lavas
Unique Melody 3DTs
Penon Serials (also take them on the go)
Xenns UP
Olinas (mainly on the go)

Not in any particular order - although I confess I haven’t had anything else in my ears but the KLs since they arrived about 10 days ago :metal:

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  1. 7Hz Timeless
  2. Moondrop Chu
  3. K’s K64 (earbuds)
  4. Intime Sora Light
  5. Blon BL-05 (stock or EQed to RSV)
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Dont forget the Moondrop SHIRO-YUKI

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  1. MiM DM - DD greatness

  2. EJ07 - Ultimate immersion and can be used any hour of the day

  3. RSV - Best vocals ever.

  4. Tea2 (out on a loan) - Balanced all rounder with great stage. Love it and good fit for me, making it an awsome beater as well.

  5. Olina (dual filter) - Ultimate beater with good timbre and FR. Less isolation for me than Teas but cost 100 bucks lol.

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Of course, a Tea will always be part of your Top 5. Otherwise it would be out-of-character for you even for me xD, Nice list btw.

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Interesting you went EJ07 instead of KL or M. Any reason those aren’t up there for you?

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It’s interesting to see how many sets you guys use frequently. My style is listening to pretty much 1 set for weeks on end until I forget what the previous set sounds like. Regardless, here’s my top 5 I’ve listened to.

  1. Monarch MKII
  2. Timeless
  3. Etymotic ER2XR
  4. Mele
  5. We going way back with the Vsonic GR07

Hopefully the ol’ bank account will gain some weight and I’ll be able to try out more sets in the come year!

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I am not sure about the order here. I probably listen to Olina the most.

  • Tripowin Olina ( double stock filter )
  • 7Hz Timeless
  • Shuoer S12
  • Mele ( I own two of these )
  • Tin T3+
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A set we don’t hear much about. What do you think of it?

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Has an excellent bass shelf for some hard hitting thump that is well controlled and doesn’t appear to bleed into mids. While still having one of the smoothest treble presentation I’ve ever heard. For me it’s my go to HipHop/Rap set. Mostly old school stuff I’m listening to. I find it to still fair well with other music but, HipHop is where it shines for me.

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Damn I have been seeing a lot of it here, including the online store where I regularly buy my IEMs. Now I kind of want a set for my self just to hear how good it is according to the majority of people who have owned them.

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That makes a ton of sense given how it graphs. Hekili looks really interesting, and that much bass without messing the other stuff up has me interested.

As a classic and progressive rock guy, I am leaning more toward Tea2 as my first non-KZ hybrid. It is different from what I have ( Olina, Timeless, S12 ), and seems like a better compliment, but I haven’t made a decision yet. Likely because I keep hoping for a good hybrid that isn’t quite so expensive.

Olina is a great IEM, and if someone said best under $100, the double filter Olina is the easy answer. It is my answer up to $200, and for me the S12 and Hana 2021 are the additions in that bracket.

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Yeah in time maybe but right now I kind of screwed up today, for I wasn’t able to restraint myself from buying something that I know don’t need at the moment xD. I just ordered the Koss KPH40s for I have been looking for those back then and never got any reports of it having stock here, now that it has a stock here, I couldn’t resist of ordering one, even though I already have a bunch good IEMs in my daily use.

I will have to try better again, and maybe in time I will get my own Olina.

1 Like