Gem editionHow to request advice:>Budget>Intended use (media, source, environment)>Frequency response preference and music examples>Past gear and your thoughts on themFAQ:>Where do I buy IEMs?Amazon, Aliexpress, Linsoul, Hifigo, Shenzhenaudio>Shopping Guide (IEMs, PMPs, Cables, Ear Tips, etc.):https://consoomer-guide.pages.dev/>/iemg/'s Journal:https://iemgazette.pages.dev/>EQ Guide (EQ 101, Targets, Myths & Misconceptions, Papers, etc.):https://iem-eq-guide.pages.dev/>Measurements:https://iem-eq-guide.pages.dev/measurement-databases/>Budget Wire Over-Ear IEMs:• Tanchjim Bunny DSP (Mild U/5-Band PEQ) - $22• Truthear Gate (Mild V) - $22• EPZ Q1 Pro (V-shape) - $35>Bullet IEMs:• Tanchjim Zero Ultima DSP (Mild U/5-Band PEQ) - $22• Sony IER-EX15C (Warm/Dark) - $30• Etymotic ER2XR (Towards Neutral) - $140>Flathead Earbuds:• NICEHCK Vido (Warm) - $5• Yincrow X6 (Warm) - $10>USB-C DACs:• JCally JM6 (Non Pro) / CX Pro - $8• JadeAudio JIEZI (10-Band PEQ) - $18• TRN Black Pearl (10-Band PEQ) - $38• Qudelix 5K (20-Band PEQ/GEQ) - $110>PMPs:• HiBy R1 - $85• HiBy M300 - $200• TempoTec V1 - $110>AVOID USING:• Mainboard audio when using multi-driver posPrevious Thread: >>109759106
First for edc pro india national iem
this is your daily reminder that there are like 3 anons max that post in each thread
>>109785177yeah, but we all have 5 personalities, so it's like 15 people
Tell me why I should buy iems instead of headphones
/iemg/ Dogma Check Tired of the hivemind? Here’s your prescribed sanity dose:>Crinacle is not your priest.Rankings are a guide, not divine scripture. Your ears > his spreadsheet.>Harman and JM-1 ≠ perfect.It’s a preference curve, not a law of physics. Some genres need deviation.>Chi-Fi isn’t magic.Great value, yes. Immune to QC issues and hype cycles? Nope.>Graphs are not sound.They don’t show staging, dynamics, or fit. Use your ears, not just squigs.>BA ≠ metallic, DD ≠ perfect.Implementation matters more than driver type. Always has.>Meme sets aren’t the whole hobby.If it’s not shilled 24/7, it might still be good. It's highly encouraged to form an original opinion.>Disagreeing ≠ cope or deaf.Let people like what they like without foaming at the mouth.>Loud posts =/= smart takes.Confidence without experience is just noise. Show graphs, impressions, or both.>Cognitive dissonance.When you're presented with a truth that threatens your entire perception of the world around you, your brain will simply refuse to process it.This has been your scheduled break from pos groupthink.
>>109785228
>>109785177Not true anymore because I am a new anon and today I ordered the hiby r3 2025 edition and Tanchjim Zero Ultimas. Quite hyped. I used to be a club dj and when I started I bought all my tracks in wav later aiff once I realized wav has no metadata and album art. The best thing about these hibys is that I can make tracklists on the go which is crucial for set programming as a dj. Took me like 8hrs to decide between rhe r3 and the r1. Built quality and double battery size won. But the r1 is fucking cute. But now i'm also thinking of going complete autist and getting an m300 or r4 and make it into my new anime watch machine plus hifi audio. Mfw it has begun.
>>109785284as long as you're enjoying your gear, be pleased with the fact that an anon somewhere is seething at your idea of fun
>>109785248Long debunked
>>109785036>don't use my IEM's for a while>know they are on top of my dresser>need them for something>reach and grab the cable>there is nothing attached at the end I don't know where they wentFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Remember to Driver Quality. You will not do the needful if you not Driver Quality.
>>109785519is there a tutorial anywhere in the eq guide??
>>109785535Unfortunately for driver quality you have to pay, rajesh
>>109785535What guide? You will not have a Brahmin set without beryllium plating and balanced armatures.
>>109785626>>109785036>EQ Guide (EQ 101, Targets, Myths & Misconceptions, Papers, etc.):>https://iem-eq-guide.pages.dev/
>>109785642NTA but is any of that applicable to headphones as well?
>>109785642>EQ 101, Targetssomewhat useful>Myths & Misconceptionsbullshit>PapersHarman was a mistake
>>109785642Psued larp 1000
>>109785659No.
>>109785703b-b-but it says, >there are also a lot of ideas and concepts related to the drivers themselves that have been created and perpetuated to explain various perceived sound characteristics, despite many of them being false.in spite of there being 0 authors involved, still seems like they know the entire hobby, why not take it as pure gospel anyway since it's written so concisely?
>>109785746>pure gospelThat's exactly what it is. A gospel for those who want to believe. If someone feels comfortable in his small, cramped information bubble and doesn't want to come in terms with kinetics and material physics - it's his choice. The EQ Guide is there for him.
>>109785774how dare you belittle quality™. driver quality™ increases by $100 per tier.still waiting for the Driver Quality DLC whitepaper tho
>driver quality is always neatly distributed in a perfectly linear lineThis message was brought to you by the Chinese portable audio society, thank you for your patronage.
Remember when Driver Quality was proven by a peer-reviewed paper, and eqtards couldn't stop seething, insisting that THD was the cause, even though they previously claimed that THD didn't matter? Crazy...
>>109785998lol
>>109785998>uses 1000000% distorted DD>guys, driver quality !!!
>beryllium-coated lithium-magnesium DD=endgame.please advise, I don't want to accidentally buy a Shudra driver. I say this because apparently THD, FR and all those measurable plebeian parameters aren't enough to determine my caste
>>109786089it's the opposite. they'll swear THD doesn't matter, yet they'll scour the internet and find the one lone russian guy making THD measurement plots and throw one at a particular IEM you really enjoy as if it's a negative (or the the very least, audible)
>>109786094CNT and Beryllium Coated DDs sound the best. These are actually few and far between because they cost more to produce. You'll find garbage like PET everywhere tho and they sound like it too
>>109786209I love a good CNT
>>109786463Based. Ouranos is goated.
>>109786030because it's very low in most even cheapest IEMS... meanwhile these retards somehow used pos with fucked up THD to EQ shit... It should not be this high btw for IEM they used it simply was broken as fuck
>>109786119>they'll swear THD doesn't matteragain it doesn't matter because it's EXTREMELY LOWif its' extremely fucking high and you start to EQ shit it starts to matter but it rarely happens why are you faggots so fucking stupid?
>>109786463it's the sleeper of all sleepers. properly EQ'd, it gives my EA500LM a run for it's money. not that it's objectively superior, but just as strong technical performance for its price. EA500LM has a higher overall ceiling and more refinement, but the gap is so small, Ouranos' wow factor is just as good>>109786486>>109786492shut up
>>109786532>sorry meant for >>109786463 (You)>>109786485**jesus
Azlas are expensive but they are endgame.
>Budget Wire Over-Ear IEMs:>Truthear Gate (Mild V) - $22How good are the truethear, really? my TWS's died and Im thinking of better going wired this time.
>>109787357its biggest weakness is the upper treble/treble, somewhat compressed/boxy because of the treble deficiency. it's just ok for $20, tho
i cant tell if i like it or not.
>>109787599what were you expecting? lol
>>109785774"Material physics" guy when you ask him how panning works:
>>109787719they aren't the same anon. hope this helps <3
>>109787659i never expect anything because then it'd hard to be objective due to a predisposed bias that would skew my perception.
>>1097864921% third harmonic in the ear gain range is extremely high.
>>109787744>Astell&Kern IEM- $400>Astel&Kern DAP- $2500>Astel&Kern Dock- $200no reason to be so coy about it. there had to be some amount of expectation before spending top dollar on the overall setup.
>>109787777>>Astel&Kern DAP- $2500ahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
>>109786119Imagine being so wrong that people with completely opposite opinions both dunk on you.
>>109787782I did a quick google lens search on it and came up with a couple models . anon never said wtf it was.
>>109787823I just meant that's goofy high. (extreme) audiophiles are strange, musicians can't ear what audiophiles can hear, but audiophiles are rarely musicians. It's wild.
>>109787832they paid for the brand name, which is why I asked what they were really expecting.
>>109785659You just have to EQ by ear after 2kHz instead of 6kHz. All the tools and techniques are the same. Just much worse graphs.
>>109787777https://www.head-fi.org/threads/astell-kern-acro-ca1000-carriable-headphone-amp.961444/
>>109787787imagine believing an entire conversation of shit posts
>>109787832spending a few thousand on a DAP is hardly extreme
>>109787838bro's probably one of the more level-headed people here
>>109787777You'd expect it to be bad if you knew how this hobby works.
>>109787863>extremeunnecessary would be the better word.
>>109787907well. overpriced, probably
i got the CA1000 because it's transparent, looks ridiculous, well built and is a general all in one. and i paid like 1k Australian for it.also, im not level-headed. im clinically diagnosed with bipolar II
tell what u want but i would get fucked for ibasso dx340max ti. Ultra expensive DAPs may be scam but i had soft spot for them, like expensive tube amps for some people
this hobby is gay and you are all gay
>>109787983surely there is a subtext in the EQ guide that says you can EQ the gay away
>>109787952Buying an expensive product isn't bipolar.Buying 100 of them is.
It hopefully is unrelated, I bought 6 fancy d12's.
>>109787967they're dropping this 20th anniversary giga brick soon with tubes and a faster soc. rumored to cost 5k+
Convince me using a tube overdrive plugin for music players/software as opposed to using a tube amp is inferior.I'll wait
https://eqbyear.com/
Any IEM better than the DUSK and Tea pro yet or nah
>>109788854fox iem
>>109788854demon iem
>>109785228When it's hot it's impossible to wear headphones.
Keep going back to the Novas bros. Sounds too good with a little bit of lower end boost
>>109787357Like the other said, I own 2 gates and the upper frequencies can almost sound grainy, the opposite of glassy or transparent or clear. All $20 iems have trade offs
>>109789141fuck ypur furfag buttplugs, tell me about the fentanyl thingie
Merry Kirkmas, this is the second day of Kirkmastide.
>>109790575Merry 9/11.
>>109788854Subtonic Storm
>>109785228If you want to hear EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE sooner rather than later then buy iems
>will never experience true audio balance because my left earussy is tighter than my right onebros...
>>109788210surely someone here can explain why "tube warmth" requires a tube
>>109793039Tube warmth requires a resistor and headpos with impedance bump in the midbass.
>>109793045So "tube warmth" is actually just EQ with extra steps?
>>109793086Yeah. That's why transformer-coupled tube amps and using tube amps with planars aren't as popular. They don't do the EQ thing.
>>109792822>mono audio enthusiast has entered chat
>>109793147I knew tube amps can be replaced by an EQ preset. Thanks for the clarification, anon.
Just got my custom EPZ Q1 Pro Custom IEMs, and somehow it's this one that has significant channel matching problems, not to mention a wrong cable that was not even in the options.Q1P, Q5P, P40 have all been excellent, yet they messed up on a custom pair. How is this even possible.
>>109793297They didn't like the image probably.
>>109793324That's the thing, I didn't have any image. Just a pure black faceplate was I all I asked for, and this is what I got.I contacted the seller and will be waiting, but this points to a missing front damper. Ridiculous.
>>109793348Imagine being the customs nigga and being handed a black square.
>>109793374That'd be funny, but no I just said give me faceplate #X and remove all lettering across the whole shell. They did send me a render...
>>109793348what's the environment of your measurement rig? vibration/exact insertion depth/orientation of IEM coupling accounted for? it's safe assuming you're using a clone 711 coupler, correct?
>orders bland faceplate techs>gets bland QCdeserved
>>109793766Yes>>109793834You're right, 100% my fault.
do $1000+ IEMs have REALLY better sounding?
>>109793990Not all.
is there an EQ profile I can use for poweramp while im in my car? I always feel like when my android auto connects to my car it sounds muffled af
>>109793990yes according to precog's techs ranking
>>109793990no, iems above 10$ are a scam
>>109793990If tuning of a kilobuck IEM is to your liking, then yes, it will sound better.The dynamic driver, if used at all, is made of only the stiffest, most lightweight materials with extremely high Young's modulus, like beryllium, and not just insignificant coating, but a lot of it. Nowadays dynamic drivers in kilobucks are often available in isobaric configuration.You can expect balanced armatures in a kilobuck IEM. They're used in expensive models for a reason - their instant action and ability to start and stop without decay is key for fine microdetails. They also have no intermodulation distortion, which makes them very coherent and clean-sounding.Don't forget about EST drivers, which are sometimes used in kilobucks. In addition to instant speed, they also have little to no internal resonances, resulting in ultra-smooth, ultra-detailed treble with extreme extension.It's also important that multiple drivers are packed into one shell for two reasons: to make the most out of technologies optimized for given frequency ranges and to eliminate intermodulational distortion, if applicable. Especially when a dynamic driver is involved: if an IEM is single DD, the bass and sounds played in the mids will get into interactions with each other and distort, while a separate driver for the mids, especially balanced armature, eliminates that problem.In short, you get exactly what you pay for. Tuning is important, but even your most favorite tuning ever will not have a lot of details when played on a 1DD. EQ won't improve that, it's hard physics. But if you buy a kilobuck with your favorite tuning, technical ability, which is a separate layer from the tuning, will be of incomparably better quality.
>>109794259>If tuning of a kilobuck IEM if to your liking.you don't have to pay for tuning.excellent bait post, btw.
>>109794259average headfi grad with a degree in pseudoscience lmao
Fiio JM21 or a Sony NW A306? (Or anything else between those price ranges)
>>109794705JM21 probably
>>109794259TRVKE NVKE
Why did Truthear intentionally make the Hexa with inverted polarity?
>>109795398Lots of companies do that. some unknowingly, some knowingly as a tuning decision. The answer to which category Truthear falls in lies in whether their other models have that too or not.
I need a player that:- has both wired (3.5 will do) and BT output- battery lasts at least 6 hours on BT- is cheaper that Echo Mini so I don't feel bad if I lose it- for the reason above doesn't need to have amazing wired output, just having it will do- no need for any gimmicks like video or audio recording, hires screen etc. either, but some sort of display and playlist management would be good>inb4 just use your phoneI need it for when I can't have a phone on mepls halp?
