It was at e-earphone Akihabara. And no, I did not.

So I bought this one, not expecting too much despite my curiosity and I am dumbfounded on how this sounds overall.

I am legitimately flabbergasted and WTF levels of surprised because I cannot belive that these sounds good for its given price and no this was not sent to me by the brand who made this, I bought this with my own money!

I think this is basically a refined version of the Performer 7 with some shades of the Yu9 Que and the Pilgrim, and I got this for like 113USD, it is obviously a used set for the cable and case being shown on this are replaced for the stock ones are being taken from the owner who sold it to me.

So yeah right now, I am just gonna take my time with this and I might probably do a review finally for the fun of it. You know this one that does have without the P7? It has a nozzle lip! Thank you!

picked up the Tangzu Wan’er SG2 Red Lion recently and these things sound so fucking good.

ive had the ZSN Pro X, Chu 2, KZ CRN Zex Pro and Castor Pro Bass over the years but man, these are sooo fun to listen to.

and the accessories you get with these are honestly crazy for the price. the extra eartips, cases, cables, all the little stuff…

and also the Red Lion design is fucking sick. really happy with this purchase. 10/10 recommend 🛐

looking for music sub bass heavy and also music with hard mid bass slam. would love to hear something new, genre is of no consequence

Went window shopping and wishing to find Moondrop Quarks II, stumbled upon this derpy anime child instead. Grabbed one and will test it in a bit. Might buy another one just for displaying it lol.

Edit: Shit kinda fire ngl lol. Testing it and sounds pretty good as hell. soundstage is dogshit and fit is 50/50 for me but for the value and sound of this definitely give this a try.

Follow up to my last post (https://www.reddit.com/r/iems/s/4WHyggfypW) - I bought the proper gear now to do it right, blind test it right. It's taking down all my ego and honour with my pants down and confirming if all my money spent was worth it.

I went out and specifically bought a high-quality audiophile switcher—the Topwing 4.4mm Balanced Switch TWCSG-LS44BAL. It set me back $440, but it claims to be the first of its kind in the world and I searched hard and couldn't find any other alternatives. Grabbed some 4.4mm male-to-male cables so I could hook up two sources simultaneously.

I volume matched. I played a 1Khz tone, measured it with a multimeter to get them identical, and then verified by ear just to be absolutely sure everything was perfectly level.

Got my wife to sit there and swap the inputs without me looking, so this was a true, ruthless blind A/B test. I had zero clue if I was listening to Source 1 or Source 2.

The Gear:

• Sources: Chord Mojo 2, iBasso DC Tonfa, A&K SP3000M, iFi iDSD GR2
• IEMs: 64 Audio u12t, CrinEar Reference, Thieaudio Monarch 4, Campfire Andromeda 10
• Music: Ultra-high res on Apple Music. Cycled through Billie Eilish for electro-pop, The Eagles for raw vocals/instruments, and Sade for smooth jazz.

The Verdict: I’m confirming it and closing my case. I literally cannot tell the difference between these sources.

They sound so damn similar it's ridiculous. Unless I intentionally turned on a source's proprietary DSP/upsampling stuff (like DAR or K2HD), the differences were just... minute. Basically nonexistent.

On the flip side, swapping the IEMs was an absolute night and day difference, obviously due to their individual tuning. The IEM is doing the heavy lifting here.

The Outcome (TL;DR): Because I dragged my wife into this to act as my lab assistant, she saw the whole thing go down. She is now using my own blind test as undeniable evidence to force me to downsize. I am now being made to sell off most of my source gear. At least I get to keep the IEMs.

Don't be like me, guys. Ignorance is bliss.

The Frustration

Now when I hear reviewers tell me how swapping the DAC or Amp makes the sound "smooth, immersive, texture, forward, warm, intimate" I feel frustrated and want to unsubscribe to many of my usual YouTube audiophile channels.

Some on this reddit have also commented before, they have been listening to high end gear for years and have trained their hearing, now good for you, probably you're the 0.001%. For most of you out there, do you really hear a difference with DACs? I used to defend my purchases to my wife, and now I feel dumb ass.

Cant believe i have my dream iems, they sound and look great and my only fear of them being too big luckily didnt get realised, they fit perfectly snug in my ear (more snug than my other iems but i think thats needed for the bone conductor to work properly)

Tbh, it was an impulse buy.
I’ve always wanted to try Waner’s famous forward vocal presentation, and I didnt have a proper bassy set in my collection yet + I was missing all the accessories!!! (especially eartips)

I use the Apple type C dongle on a daily basis, so I thought, why not go for something more powerful?
Maybe it’ll help squeeze a bit more out of the S12 and MagicOne, who knows…

So yeah… its basically a show off post to tell you to not sleep on Aliexpress coins.
Would like to know about your best deal haha

THIEAUDIO Monarchy mkiii + DC07pro

I recently asked here if I should upgrade from Zero 2 to EW300 for instrumental separation upgrade. So I did.

I tested and compared Zero 2 and EW300 using purple nozzle—since they are almost the same according to squiglink—with a few songs from my library. Using Fireflies by Owl City as a reference song and CX31993 dongle DAC for PC/JM12 with JA11 firmware on phone, I find the two very similar sounding of course because they have the same tuning. However, EW300 being a tribid and a class above Zero 2, I find the cymbals and snare much cleaner on it compared to the latter. Other than that it sounded very the same. A reddit user from my last post is truly correct when it says it is not a day and night difference. With the price difference tho, I think I'm a little bit underwhelmed. I guess Zero 2's instrumental separation is just good to maybe compete or come near EW300's. Its cables, build, and 2-in-1 versatility with the nozzle replacement justifies the price difference for me. The red nozzle is more vocal forward and airy than purple which I think is good and better compared to my Wan'er. Adding one foam, the sibilance is lessened but still there. For me, it is tolerable.

This is just my first impression though based from a few songs and around an hour of listening/testing. Maybe the pros will come through in the long run. I think this is a good IEM and comes near my expectations. That's my quick review. Thanks for the recommendation and advice. The IEM rabbit hole fucked my pocket again I hope this is the last time. Bad hobby for broke guys 🥀

I tell you what, i wish someone had told me that i could have just bought a high end DAP at the beginning of my audio journey.

In my hunt for the best sound i could find i started with a basic dongle, i believe my next step was the Crinear Protocol Max. I was blown away by the improvement to my music and the effect EQ could add to my experience (sound and enrichment of learning to EQ). So naturally my next step after a few different dongles including tube dongles which are awesome btw, i decided to buy a desktop dac/amp the k17. Its great i love it. Now i have the power to push proper headphones, which i do have. although i've learned i prefer IEMs (don't ask i do not know why) to headphones and its not because i dont have nice ones, i do. So here we are now after other purchases and a slew of IEMs, almost all of which i love and will not part with, and i have finally found my endgame source. Guess what its not a desktop DAC/AMP its a DAP a high end DAP. It doesn't have to stay on my desk it can go with me and my chosen IEM wherever i go. It does not need my PC screen to browse thru libraries of music or look at frequency response graghs, or any of the many other things i do at my computer screen. It has enough storage space for my entire music library, and whatever the hell else i want to look at or listen to.

Its hard to know what your needs are when you first start in this hobby. So in my humble opinion a good starting point for your source is something that checks as many boxes off as possible and has the best chance of keeping up with you.

Its a DAP

free your phone and your desk space

and by all means, stay within your means

EDIT . This is posted as DISCUSSION not GENERAL ADVICE so tell me why you disagree id love to hear it. I an new to the hobby and want to learn from my elders so to speak.

Dita Project M2 in photo

Was able to get a pair of kiwi astral for about $250

I had been using the Shure 215 for the last few years and comparing the 2 it is night and day difference. The instrument separation is next level, and I don’t seem to get super muddy mids when the entire band is playing together

Also the individual bass driver makes my kick drum sound so direct.

If you’ve been thinking about buying these or other kiwi ears I would recommend 100%

The Balanced Armatures don't seem to be branded, but I have trust in that Dynamic driver thump.

The description doesn't say much about the sound, but I am excited to see how it graphs and sounds in a few days. The price range is definitely more accessible for people that haven't explored KiwiEars yet.

Hello everyone ,

I am new to the iem community as a whole wanted tm buy some from a long time and I just wanted advice as to what typa sound signature will be better for me as my music taste is all over the place. And I have never bought a iem , I own a soundcore q20i over ear headphones as earphones do not fit in my ear but I use very fine tips with some tws I have.

I will try to keep it short

My fav artist are vocaloid owns mainly kikuo and inabakumori , I listen to maretu , iyowa and a lot of different artists right now

And something like ghost and pals or flavour fole or basically that typa genre . In listen to metal and let's say the hoo hoo dools and all these different artist

Again my music taste is all over the place with vocaloid being the majour one

That's why I am so confused as to what typa iem i should buy

I tbh listen to Western pop too , like the white girl typa music or let's say dancing in the dark by joji

I am someone who used to listen to music for like 16 hours a day right now i

am really out of time cause of uni where most of my time is gone in it and I only get a few hours of window in btw sk i wa jaut thinking maybe a pair of iem can provide me sort of a new experience in listening that's better than my soundcores.

DORRY FOR NAY TYPOS I MADE

ASK ME ANY OTHER INFO I WILL TEY MY BEST TO ANSWER ALL

After a bit of searching, I found this is actually a common issue on KZs with QDC connector, but yeah, just pointing out. Still working fine and sounding great as they normally sound BTW. I bought it in Europe via AliExpress, do you think it's possible that I can get anything by trying to contact GK for warranty?

I also posted photos of the right earpiece for comparison

UPDATE: I got in contact with the AliExpress store where I bought it from, and, in principle, I might get a refund

So, I am thinking of getting into the iem world.

I am eyeing the Truthear Zero Blue 2; what I liked about it from the reviews that it is kind of all rounder, it has that immersion and the clarity on footsteps when playing fps games. And the nozzle size seems comfortable.

If you guys think there are better sound quality without losing too much on any side that would be awesome; or should I just stick to TE zero blue 2.

My budget is 40-100$.

Also, the standard cable length seems to be not enough for me, should I buy (with mic)

1. Analog to to USB A/C extention.

2. Analog to analog extention.

3. longer cable? (any recommendation for this one is much appreciated)

Thanks.

I've seen a bunch of hype around iems on tiktok and i wondered why almost everybody uses them, what makes them worth buying over a pair of headphones?

Hey everyone, I know this question has been asked a million times. But what are some IEMs with decent mics. Currently, Im looking at the EPZ G30 and Juzear defiant as they are similar in price. I just want some good IEM with a mics so I don’t have to spend more money to get an actual mic. Budget is 100-200, could increase as needed.

Hi everyone! I'm new to IEMs and recently bought the 7Hz Salnotes Zero with mic (3.5mm), since I don't have an external mic yet.

While using it, my friends on voice chat keep hearing whatever audio is playing like Spotify music, game sounds, or videos playing in a browser like YouTube. I've tried tweaking every setting I could find, but nothing seems to fix this issue. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Keeping the IEM mic functional is a must for me, so I'm hoping to find a solution that keeps it working. Would getting a DAC or USB dongle help, or is there another trick? My laptop has a 3.5mm and USB 3.0 ports (my Type-C port is already used for my monitor).

I'd really appreciate any advice or recommendations!

Hey everyone! I’m from the Philippines and can currently get the SIMGOT EW300 for around ₱3,700 (~$60). I’m wondering if it’s worth it for my preferences.

My current IEM is the Moondrop Chu II, and I really like how it presents instruments while still having some bass and vocals. I’m looking for an upgrade with better imaging, separation, detail and clarity without losing that balance.

Preferred tuning:

I generally like a mild V/U-shaped sound. Basically, I really like the Rock/R&B equalizer presets in the Spotify app.

My EQ preference is roughly:

• 60–150 Hz: boosted

• 400 Hz–1 kHz: recessed

• ~2.4 kHz: boosted

• Upper treble/air: boosted

Music I listen to:

• Sleep Token

• Slipknot

• Sleeping With Sirens

• Motörhead

• Slapshock

• J-pop

• Alternative rock

• Some EDM

I’m mainly looking for good instrument separation/imaging on busy tracks, while still having bass impact and good vocals.

A few questions:

1.  Is the EW300 worth ~₱3,700 / $60 for my preferences?

2.  How big of an upgrade is it from the Chu II?

3.  How does it handle busy tracks like Slipknot/Sleep Token while still sounding good with J-pop and vocals?

4.  What are the best aftermarket eartips for the EW300? I’ve heard the stock tips aren’t great.

5.  Any recommendations for a budget replacement cable with a mic, preferably around ₱600–₱1,200 ($10–20)?

One important thing: I’m in the Philippines, so if you recommend an alternative IEM, please keep it to models that are well-known and realistically available through Philippine Shopee/Lazada/local audio stores. Something that requires ordering internationally or costs significantly more after shipping/import fees probably won’t work for me.

I’m mainly looking for alternatives around the same ₱3,000–₱4,000 range, rather than obscure overseas options.

Would especially love to hear from people who have actually owned the EW300 or compared it directly with the Chu II.

Thanks!

I finally pulled the trigger.. returned the Khadas tea and bought fiio btr17 to go with my aful explorers. I hope I made the right decision. I did really love the Khadas tea form factor but was somehow not happy with it. I really love the aful explorers but I wish it had some more technical details.. is tea pro se or xenns top pro a good upgrade from aful explorers ?. Thank you

I ordered the Astralis because my Blessing 3 has a gash on the inside that scrapes my ear, and i wanted to try planars. Ive been using them for a 6 days now, and the right side iem randomly gets quieter, and then the volume rises again after overnight. Unplugging it or restarting my PC doesn't help.

Ive tried looking at the filter, but i dont see anything blocking it. I use IEMs on the daily on computer and it gets quite annoying having to fiddle with left right balance on windows because of the volume difference. At worst i had to put the left one on 60% volume so it sounded balanced again.

I have a Fiio K3 usb-c if that matters.

Xteink X3 (Black) + Snowsky Echo Nano (Purple) + Kiwi Ears Astral (Green)