How would you characterize “fall off”?
Last week with no IEM reviews, except loaning one.
1 Aurora
2 IMR BC 2023
3 Neon Pro
4 Penon Serial
5 VE Zen 3.0 (yeah I know it’s no IEM but a earbud 
)
Good to have a waiting period on some review stuff, afraid soon some will arrive at same time and scramble up the most listened list.
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That’s a pretty sick collection!
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Raptgo Hook-X
Moondrop Blessing 2
Moondrop SSR
Fiio FH3
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So many great IEMs coming out recently at competitive prices, such a great time to be in this hobby.
Top 5 in no particular order:
- Thieaudio Monarch MKIII
- Juzear 41T
- EPZ 530
- Sound Rhyme SR8
- TGXear Sunniva
15 Likes
- UM mk3
- Bqeyz winter
- Aful Performer 8
- Kinera idun
- Dunu Titan S
One of these might be dethroned. I have the Hidizs MS3 coming which I expect will be up on my top 5.
Cheers!
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Neck and neck tonight, for slightly different reasons each:
Simgot EN1000 - Penon Serial - GS Audio GT12X
All with small ET100 tips on, EN1000 has micropore tape over the inner vent.
Spent about a week before this with just the GT12X and was really very happy, somehow it really climbed up the ranks since I tried it more recently.
Serial just seems the most natural take on music to me, can’t find a flaw in timbre or coherency. EN1000 for a certain kind of bass hit, clean sound, and biiiig space. GT12X for a pretty lush but still detailed presentation. Fond of vocals on all of them (best texture on EN1000, more syrupy/intimate on the GT12X.
Also tried the VE Bonus IE a few times, fine but meh. Not really feeling the VE Monk Lite in the time I’ve given it either.
Since writing I stopped swapping with the EN1000 in my ears, still ET100 small tips. So good. Warm but so clear and open, nothing missing from vocals.
When I finally get the time to actually listen to music and not just flick through my phone for a couple loose minutes, I’ve got no reason to be that curious about anything at this point. The EN1000 out performs any single DD I’ve heard to date (curious about the Twilight but I doubt the diminishing returns could be worth it. I prefer the GT12X head and shoulders above the SA6. I prefer the Serial to any hybrid I’ve heard to date. I just don’t think it gets much better. I’m blessed as heck because 2 out of these 3 sets were gifts. I don’t have to pick just one of them. Big thanks. 
12 Likes
There was a hype train building then it seemed to stop dead in tracks
Here’s my top 5… I’m not in the hobby for too long and also I don’t own or have listened to many earphones… But here I go in order:
- Penon Serial
- CA Andromeda
- Shozy Black Hole Mini stainless steel
- Fiio FF3
- Aful P5
I’d mention the CA Atlas which comes into rotation but I felt the others deserved the place more.
6 Likes
Just realized that my top 5 has 5 different driver config:
- Hybrid, Vulkan
- All BA, Azul
- Planar, P1 Plus
- Single DD, HeartMirror Zero
- Dual DD, Kailua
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Before I sent sets off to tour/graph today, my current five would be:
- Dunu Vulkan
- IMR Ozar
- Pandas
- IMR Elan+
- Light Harmonic Mera
The last two still have “shiny new toy” syndrome but that’s gonna be an extremely difficult top-5 to crack…until I get a Glamdring
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As of today, with the addition of the Simgot EM6L on my daily drivers of use, the list has been changed for me.
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Tangzu x HBB Wu Zetian Heyday Edition - It’s getting to that point that my use for it and fondness for it, as much as I hate to admit it, is waning down bit by bit, and this is the most priciest that I have so far in my collection.
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Simgot EA500 - What are you?! How can you still be like this? Making me use you even more. It’s not technically impressive and as superior as the Heydays, but there is something about this that keeps me getting back to this set.
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Simgot EM6L Phoenix - Also what are you?! Simgot killed it again with this set and I think for me this is the improved version of the EA500 when it comes to the EA500’s red nozzles. Also my first IEM that has a 1D+4BA set, for I owned 1D IEMs most of the time.
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Seek Real Audio Airship - Still an impressive set, still really a pleasure to listen to but I think the EA500 imo just overtook this set as the more impressive to listen to overall in general.
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Moondrop Kato - It’s cool but then again the EA500 exists, also have the same feature as the Kato, ALSO much cheaper than the Kato. Yeah this one nowadays is still cool to have in my ears from time to time, but the magic is long gone compared to those days when I first got them.
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As of tonight only counting for musical enjoyment and not stage monitoring (order isn’t a ranking or anything):
- Campfire Supermoon
- ThieAudio Prestige
- SoftEars Twilight
- Dunu EST 112
- Penon Serial
These are the sets that have been ending up in my ears most often lately. The EST 112 is a pretty recent addition and I have found myself very surprised at how much I enjoy it. Especially for certain rock genres it’s just a very entertaining and technically competent IEM to listen to. It also has some big staging and great layering to go with it. I’m a fan
The Serials are just very cohesive and versatile, but throw on some jazz, fusion, or blues and I can end up zoned out relaxing on my couch just absorbed in the music for hours and that’s pretty fuckin’ cool. I definitely get why @rattlingblanketwoman digs these things so much.
The Supermoon is the best planar IEM I have heard and it does a lot of what I like from some of my planar over ears so they get plenty of ear time.
The Prestige seem to be a bit polarizing, but as a big fan of the Excalibur, these came off as a more refined, next level version of a tribrid for the Excalibur loving segment. It’s tuning may not be for everyone, but when I want to get aggro and really rock out, the Prestige will get me there every time.
The SoftEars Twilights are just a beautiful sounding IEM. Any track that requires perfect timbre, tone, and dynamics with finesse and emotion sprinkled liberally throughout, will sound absolutely stellar on the Twilights. Norah Jones, Whitney Houston, Coltrane, John Mayer, etc, etc, etc are all artists that put so much finesse and emotive expression into their performances that finding a transducer that can accurately recreate that for you is essential in fully enjoying their music. Thankfully, I found just what I was looking for in the Twilights.
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- V-MODA Zn ( old but gold )
- Olina SE ( universal budget )
- IE600 ( universal midFi )
- SA6 MK2 ( musical bliss )
- KL MK2 (max bass , reshell, best dynamics and universal beast too)
They are not listed in the order I use them!
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This month’s 5
EPZ 530
Acoustune HS1650CU
IMR ACOUSTICS Elan+
Kiwi ears Quintet
Venture Electronics SiE
Very satisfied with my collection at the moment
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- Tripowin Piccolo
- Simgot EM6L
- Tangzu Fudu
- Kiwi Ears Quintet
- Simgot EW200
Honorable mention: modded Penon Vortex
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By no order, most used past week.
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634ears MIROAK-II - I am in love with this Japanese DD, such rich and vibrant sound.
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AüR Audio Neon Pro - Reference IEM, and favourite for metal.
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Hisenior Okavango - review IEM. I like it very much, nice foot taping factor.
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Penon 10th - on loan by friend, not sure where to put this. Rich sound but somethings missing for me, also fit is quite bad…
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ISN EST50 - got more back into rotation after getting 10th in house, still love this sound. Could have wished for a little more mid presence.
11 Likes
Hi!
New here and relatively new to IEMs, but definitely enthusiastic on a limited budget
So far:
Moondrop Kato
Letshuoer S12 Pro
Dunu Kima (OG)
Moondrop Starfield
Letshuoer D13
The S12 Pro was my first true iem purchase. I don’t count the AirPods, or Skullcandy crap I’ve owned in the past. They were the gatekeeper. Took me a minute to warm to them, but once I did, it was all over.
Second came the D13. I was impressed by the brand and Zeos’s review made it a no brainer for under $100 (actually paid $77 on Amazon on sale). The bass made my face fall off. They’re still fun. Third was the Kato. The Kato made me fall in love with some of my old favorite songs all over again. They are my go to all rounders. Which of course led me to try the Starfield, which I love for their straightforward, balanced simplicity. Fun like the D13s, but with better clarity and tech chops. And at the moment, I have the Kimas in, playing Lateralus, and they’re just so freaking on point for this epic album’s dynamic presence.
At some point I’ll up my budget, but no need at the moment.
Owned, but not yet fully understood:
Moondrop Stellaris - strange bird
SeeAudio Yume Ultra - inconsistent almost from one day to the next. Very source/amp/dac/tip/cable dependent.
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The SA6 MK2 is on my short list for that price range. It’s a very short list. Variations and Oracle1 are the other 2.
1 Like