[rickdohc]

  Isince i'm still waiting for my items to arrive and  i'm looking to buy another pair.
 
what do you guys recommend anything similar to JVC HAFX1X Xtreme Xplosives. (other than pistons)  i don't listen to bass much but i enjoyed the  HAFX1X very much. found them to be well balanced on all levels.
 
thank you.

 
Zero Audio Basso 
 
Why?
 
More and Better Bass than the FX1X ,FX3X, FX101.
Mids are more foward,  you can hear more details from pianos, guitars, etc.. have more weight.
Treble is way much better, is more refined,  its not harsh or splashy.
Soundstage is Wider.
No fatiguing sound
More refined sound.
Makes the JVC sound harsh and metalic.
 
Basoo Vs Pistons.
Piston Bass sounds flaby and loose, no details. Mids are way recesed, and sound like there some kind of "hole" in the mids, way vshaped, treble is splashy.
 
 
Cons?
Almost no cables relief on the drivers, so you have to be careful.
I would score the JVC FX Series with a 6.2 points  and the Bassos with an 7.8points  out of 10.
 
Much better sounding iem with tons of bass... a lot!

 

[dilidani]

Hello guys! 

I'm coming to you now with a little research about my very cheap budget IEMs. Everybody needs a totally cheap pair of phones, even if you don't want to spend much, can't spend that much on it, or just want a unit that you don't want to pamper every time, just grab and put in your pocket/bag. 

So: I'm a newbie, newer had expensive audio gear, but I truly feel that the quality what I'm looking for is much more than these ones. 

Source: Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 with Custom 5.0 rom
App: Jetaudio Plus
EQ: Flat with bass boost below 200hz sections. Moderate tweaks for better bass and wider soundstage as well.
Music: EDM.
State of IEMs: 20-40 hrs of burn-in.

Here are my results. You can see my color-based opinion on their value2price ratios as well (red means worst, green means best)
 

So, let's go from the bottom to the top.

6. VJJB K1 - DIY upgrade(?) IEM from Sidy DM2. Out of the box, pretty bad. Cable looks durable with the twisted style, but feels flimsy, too long part after the Y-splitter for me (though it can be a plus when wearing cables behind neck.)
Ergonomics is pretty bad, nozzle is short in an odd way, hard to find and fit the proper eartips, lots of them falling off.
Sound: TONS OF BASS. That's why it is muddy. There are much better choices under 10 dollars.

5. KZ R1 - Super cheap, super comfortable, super easy to put on or just change tips. Very tiny earpieces. Good for sport or just laying around and watching some movies.
Has durable strain relief at the L-shaped jack, even at earpieces. At the Y-splitter tho there are pretty much none. Cables are little thin from this crucial part, but you can buy 3 of them if you really like them. They don't seem too bad afterall.
Sound: Big step up from K1. Better controlled bass, better mids and highs. It's "okay", for 4 dollars? It's pretty much good, even considering the whole package. 
Extra: Very easy to drive! Even the lowest budget portable player (small ones without display for example) could easily drive these IEMs. Listening to it on quite low volume with my phone.
 
4. KZ DT3 - Star of KZ thread, but I'm not that impressed. It has potential and has a bit cleaner sound than R1, but I guess, it would need more burn in. KZ R1 is more "coherent",There are some problems with tip rolling here as well, but nothing too serious. 
Comes with straight jack, thick enough, or I would say kinda sturdy cables and plastic, lightweight earpieces. They are on the longer side (like Duoza), but nothing serious.
I feel like they can be better with more burn-in, that's why the higher rank.
 
3. Awei Q9 - My favourite here. Little brother of T1E maybe? - Highly recommended.
Sounds quite good even out of the box. Has nice wooden earpieces and fibre-covered cable, but quite thin cables. Strain relief is average on the critical parts. They feel a bit fragile..
As mentioned, has a wooden housing, but it's quite big! I dont have small ears but the bulk of the IEMs makes inserting a bit uncomfortable - the rim of the earpiece touches my inner ear. Nothing too serious, but certainly not a partner for long listening sessions. Deep insertion is not really supported because of chunky housing, unlike KZ R1. 
Sound: Big step up from DT3. Has plenty of bass, pretty well controlled, and not overpowering mids and highs. For 4 dollars? Excellent! Much less V-shaped than previous phones, better overall clarity.. king of 5 dollar IEMs for me.

2. Piston 2 & EDSE
-- EDSE: Incredible build quality. Super sturdy cable. Forward sound - full bass, but mids are definitely there and has quite a lot "treble energy" -> very versatile IEM. Sometimes can be harsh, but more burning/better tips/EQ surely can help. Has great potential, great cable and strain relieves, considering that it has an oddly long nozzle (makes eartips sit a bit weird on them), it is still an incredible value for it's price. (Cable twists quite easily, but easy to untangle, due to its thick, good quality)
-- Piston: The other side of the coin. Has much bass, has good sub-bass rumble, good build quality, remote control, mics, and OK mids and treble, tho it is lagging behind EDSE in terms of regions above bass. BUT it is very smooth, easy to listen for longer times, and your ears get used to it's sound pretty easily. With it's semi-open construction it's not the best for commuting.
 
1. T1E - much more coherent sound than any of these below, can't wonder why are they a bit more expensive. Has good mids, sparkling treble, good bass. But have to point out a very important thing: These are not basshead IEMs! I even find it a bit lacking in terms of bass.. (I <3 subbass)
Build quality is on par with EDSE I would say, but large housing can cause problems, tho maybe not on the levels of Awei q9. They need totally different settings in your player, than previous phones.
Getting proper tip and seal.. very difficult. Tried lunashops medium bore (heir style) tips in M and L sizes, several wide bore tips, now using Stock L sized whirlwinds on my right, general black wide bore tips (L sized, from lunashops as well) on my left. I feel like it could be better.. guys mentioning Piston L sized tips, too bad I dumped them when purchasing my Pistons.. 

But: the wider the bore, the better the sound as I see. JVC spiral dots would be interesting on them. They are really wide as I know.

So, that's it guys. Hope I could help some of you

 

[slowpickr]

@dilidani
 
Nice write up!!!

 

[ansi]

   
Zero Audio Basso 
 

 
You seem to have a nice collection of low/mid-fi IEM's. You rate KC06 over Basso on your sig, can you compare those two? I'd appreciate it.

 

[fnkcow]

  Guys I need a good pair of amp/DAC for office and mobile usage. I'm thinking of JDS C5D, but I'm also waiting for the OPPO HA2 to come out. Can anyone recommend something from iBasso, Topping, iFi or other brands? 

Here's a comparison between the HA-2 and C5D:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/755879/oppo-ha-2-portable-headphone-amplifier-dac-discussion-thread/165#post_11368246

 

[rickdohc]

   
You seem to have a nice collection of low/mid-fi IEM's. You rate KC06 over Basso on your sig, can you compare those two? I'd appreciate it.

 
Thanks, i will do my best.. english is not my first language.
 
Bassos bass is elevated, but the mids are present and the treble is not harsh and it does not sound "hallow" or "boxy" like most V shaped iems.
This guys at ZA nailed it with a bassy iem wihtout beeing to Vshaped and no harshens on the treble.  Also i am surprised that the soundstage es a bit bigger than avarege and wider than most "Bassy Iems",  the note presentation has weight.
 
KC06 are tuned diferent,  its not a "Bass Enhanced" iem,  but it has enough bass,  almost perfect for rock, jazz, metal where there is no need for gobs of bass, it has just enough to sound like you are in a concert where the bass is just another instrument playing its rol and its not the "main show" or trying hard to be noticed .  It has an "airy" sound where trumpets for example sound clear and wide, soundstage is bigger and you can enjoy details of every instrument.  Kick drums and bass guitars are easy to hear and dont blend in a mess of bass, again.. just like being there in front of the band and hearing each instrument and every detail.  I dont know how to explain it, but the KC06 has that warmth a Tube Amp has.. the Bassos are more "Solid State".
 
Basso dont compete against the KC06 on clarity, details soundstage and 3d,  but for being a "bass enhanced" iem,  its heads over all the JVC FX line up, Pistons, even the TTpod T1e wich the treble sounds a bit "plastic" compared to the Basso and a bit "boxy" overall.
 
I am very impresed with the Basso's,  the sound signature is diferent and are not tuned to compete with the KC06's strenght,  but i am impresed and its my new "Bass Iem" when i want to hear EDM, HipHOP, Trance, etc and need the "Bass Factor", also in noises places where you need some extra bass to compensate the outside noise.
 
 
KC06As  got more bass than the KC06,  its in the "middle" between the KC06 and the Basso's,  more bass and retains the same clarity and bigsound of the KC06,  Treble is a bit more peaky but you got to have both and spend sometime with them to ever notice. I would recomend the KC06a over the KC06 just because its got a bit more bass and adds some "fun" to the sound.   Overall sound both the KC06 and A's over all SQ is better, more refined and more "Hi Fi" than the Bassos.
 
I cant list every iem i have,  i have at least 20 pais more, Sony's, Phillips, Jvc, Panasonics, Beats, SkullCandys a lot of those "chinese" iems that pop outs every day,  all those "Enhanced",  "Ultra" , "Mega",  "Extra",  "Explosives", etcetc Bass,  they all suffer from the same thing,  the bass is bloted, slow, flaby, not detailed and there is this big "hole" in the middle where every instrumens gets way behind and the trebles is peaky, you know? those typical Bassy iems i am tired of buying, they all have the same exact "formula",  ZA nailied it with the Basso.
 
i dont regret buying all that crap, its a good way to learn about SQ and the diference between all this IEMs,  but if you want a Bassy IEm under $40 you can buy the Bassos and forget about it or a more "balanced" iem,  go for the KC06A or even the Tenores. 
 
Hope it helps.

 

[EISENbricher]

Hello guys! 


I'm coming to you now with a little research about my very cheap budget IEMs. Everybody needs a totally cheap pair of phones, even if you don't want to spend much, can't spend that much on it, or just want a unit that you don't want to pamper every time, just grab and put in your pocket/bag. 


So: I'm a newbie, newer had expensive audio gear, but I truly feel that the quality what I'm looking for is much more than these ones. :etysmile:


Source: Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 with Custom 5.0 rom
App: Jetaudio Plus

EQ: Flat with bass boost below 200hz sections. Moderate tweaks for better bass and wider soundstage as well.

Music: EDM.
State of IEMs: 20-40 hrs of burn-in.


Here are my results. You can see my color-based opinion on their value2price ratios as well (red means worst, green means best)



So, let's go from the bottom to the top.


6. VJJB K1 - DIY upgrade(?) IEM from Sidy DM2. Out of the box, pretty bad. Cable looks durable with the twisted style, but feels flimsy, too long part after the Y-splitter for me (though it can be a plus when wearing cables behind neck.)

Ergonomics is pretty bad, nozzle is short in an odd way, hard to find and fit the proper eartips, lots of them falling off.

Sound: TONS OF BASS. That's why it is muddy. There are much better choices under 10 dollars.


5. KZ R1 - Super cheap, super comfortable, super easy to put on or just change tips. Very tiny earpieces. Good for sport or just laying around and watching some movies.

Has durable strain relief at the L-shaped jack, even at earpieces. At the Y-splitter tho there are pretty much none. Cables are little thin from this crucial part, but you can buy 3 of them if you really like them. They don't seem too bad afterall.

Sound: Big step up from K1. Better controlled bass, better mids and highs. It's "okay", for 4 dollars? It's pretty much good, even considering the whole package. 

Extra: Very easy to drive! Even the lowest budget portable player (small ones without display for example) could easily drive these IEMs. Listening to it on quite low volume with my phone.

4. KZ DT3 - Star of KZ thread, but I'm not that impressed. It has potential and has a bit cleaner sound than R1, but I guess, it would need more burn in. KZ R1 is more "coherent",There are some problems with tip rolling here as well, but nothing too serious. 

Comes with straight jack, thick enough, or I would say kinda sturdy cables and plastic, lightweight earpieces. They are on the longer side (like Duoza), but nothing serious.

I feel like they can be better with more burn-in, that's why the higher rank.

3. Awei Q9 - My favourite here. Little brother of T1E maybe? - Highly recommended.

Sounds quite good even out of the box. Has nice wooden earpieces and fibre-covered cable, but quite thin cables. Strain relief is average on the critical parts. They feel a bit fragile..

As mentioned, has a wooden housing, but it's quite big! I dont have small ears but the bulk of the IEMs makes inserting a bit uncomfortable - the rim of the earpiece touches my inner ear. Nothing too serious, but certainly not a partner for long listening sessions. Deep insertion is not really supported because of chunky housing, unlike KZ R1. 

Sound: Big step up from DT3. Has plenty of bass, pretty well controlled, and not overpowering mids and highs. For 4 dollars? Excellent! Much less V-shaped than previous phones, better overall clarity.. king of 5 dollar IEMs for me.


2. Piston 2 & EDSE
-- EDSE: Incredible build quality. Super sturdy cable. Forward sound - full bass, but mids are definitely there and has quite a lot "treble energy" -> very versatile IEM. Sometimes can be harsh, but more burning/better tips/EQ surely can help. Has great potential, great cable and strain relieves, considering that it has an oddly long nozzle (makes eartips sit a bit weird on them), it is still an incredible value for it's price. (Cable twists quite easily, but easy to untangle, due to its thick, good quality)

-- Piston: The other side of the coin. Has much bass, has good sub-bass rumble, good build quality, remote control, mics, and OK mids and treble, tho it is lagging behind EDSE in terms of regions above bass. BUT it is very smooth, easy to listen for longer times, and your ears get used to it's sound pretty easily. With it's semi-open construction it's not the best for commuting.

1. T1E - much more coherent sound than any of these below, can't wonder why are they a bit more expensive. Has good mids, sparkling treble, good bass. But have to point out a very important thing: These are not basshead IEMs! I even find it a bit lacking in terms of bass.. (I <3 subbass)

Build quality is on par with EDSE I would say, but large housing can cause problems, tho maybe not on the levels of Awei q9. They need totally different settings in your player, than previous phones.

Getting proper tip and seal.. very difficult. Tried lunashops medium bore (heir style) tips in M and L sizes, several wide bore tips, now using Stock L sized whirlwinds on my right, general black wide bore tips (L sized, from lunashops as well) on my left. I feel like it could be better.. guys mentioning Piston L sized tips, too bad I dumped them when purchasing my Pistons.. 

But: the wider the bore, the better the sound as I see. JVC spiral dots would be interesting on them. They are really wide as I know.


So, that's it guys. Hope I could help some of you

Really nice write up dude! It's in sync with my general findings as well... I have most of those with me.

 

[rickdohc]

Awei Q9 is the best of the Awei lineup,  its not overly bassy..  sounds a bit thin and needs more weight,  but its a very good iem for the price, very cheap and it does not sound cheap at all.  i would recomend them over the MonoPrice 8320,  "buy and plug",  dont have to fight finding the right tip and all that stuff to sound ok.  I can see me buying a dozen of them as christmas gifts for coworkers or people that you just want to give them something as a small present, better than nothing for sure.

 

[ilikeiem]

 
6. VJJB K1 - DIY upgrade(?) IEM from Sidy DM2. Out of the box, pretty bad. Cable looks durable with the twisted style, but feels flimsy, too long part after the Y-splitter for me (though it can be a plus when wearing cables behind neck.)
Ergonomics is pretty bad, nozzle is short in an odd way, hard to find and fit the proper eartips, lots of them falling off.
Sound: TONS OF BASS. That's why it is muddy. There are much better choices under 10 dollars.
 

Did you really use wide bore tip on VJJB-K1?  I think you got muddy sound because your player, Samsung Galaxy Ace 3, is just not good enough. 

 

[dilidani]

Nope mate, with moderate boost on bass, otherwise flat EQ it's not that good. Ofc, EQ can help it a lot, all of these are kinda "headfier picks", but I wanted to choose the best ones, without any fancy EQ, just mild bass boost, considering comfort-durability-etc.
With my portable players it has so much bass that it hurts. Bit playing with the EQ it gets much better, thats true. 

 

[BloodyPenguin]

Taken!
 
Thought these would have been taken in two seconds, but I have some Ear Guides I am giving away in exchange for some positive feedback.
 
They are like new:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/757154/ear-guides-black-like-new
 
 
Free Shipping to the Continental US.  

 
..

 

[Suneth]

 


 
Zero Audio Basso 



 
Why?



 
More and Better Bass than the FX1X ,FX3X, FX101.
Mids are more foward,  you can hear more details from pianos, guitars, etc.. have more weight.
Treble is way much better, is more refined,  its not harsh or splashy.
Soundstage is Wider.
No fatiguing sound
More refined sound.
Makes the JVC sound harsh and metalic.



 
Basoo Vs Pistons.
Piston Bass sounds flaby and loose, no details. Mids are way recesed, and sound like there some kind of "hole" in the mids, way vshaped, treble is splashy.



 



 
Cons?
Almost no cables relief on the drivers, so you have to be careful.
I would score the JVC FX Series with a 6.2 points  and the Bassos with an 7.8points  out of 10.



 
Much better sounding iem with tons of bass... a lot!

Found 2  versions and a seller who ships to my country(surprisingly)  on amazon. carbo Tenore ZH-DX200-CT and carbo Basso ZH-DX210-CB which one do you recommend ?  it will cost me  around 5k after conversion but if they are as good as you say i'm willing to take the jump

 

[EISENbricher]

Found 2  versions and a seller who ships to my country(surprisingly)  on amazon. carbo Tenore ZH-DX200-CT and carbo Basso ZH-DX210-CB which one do you recommend ?  it will cost me  around 5k after conversion but if they are as good as you say i'm willing to take the jump

Pm me if you're from India.

 

[Hal Rockwell]

Hello guys! 


I'm coming to you now with a little research about my very cheap budget IEMs. Everybody needs a totally cheap pair of phones, even if you don't want to spend much, can't spend that much on it, or just want a unit that you don't want to pamper every time, just grab and put in your pocket/bag. 


So: I'm a newbie, newer had expensive audio gear, but I truly feel that the quality what I'm looking for is much more than these ones. :etysmile:


Source: Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 with Custom 5.0 rom
App: Jetaudio Plus

EQ: Flat with bass boost below 200hz sections. Moderate tweaks for better bass and wider soundstage as well.

Music: EDM.
State of IEMs: 20-40 hrs of burn-in.


Here are my results. You can see my color-based opinion on their value2price ratios as well (red means worst, green means best)



So, let's go from the bottom to the top.


6. VJJB K1 - DIY upgrade(?) IEM from Sidy DM2. Out of the box, pretty bad. Cable looks durable with the twisted style, but feels flimsy, too long part after the Y-splitter for me (though it can be a plus when wearing cables behind neck.)

Ergonomics is pretty bad, nozzle is short in an odd way, hard to find and fit the proper eartips, lots of them falling off.

Sound: TONS OF BASS. That's why it is muddy. There are much better choices under 10 dollars.


5. KZ R1 - Super cheap, super comfortable, super easy to put on or just change tips. Very tiny earpieces. Good for sport or just laying around and watching some movies.

Has durable strain relief at the L-shaped jack, even at earpieces. At the Y-splitter tho there are pretty much none. Cables are little thin from this crucial part, but you can buy 3 of them if you really like them. They don't seem too bad afterall.

Sound: Big step up from K1. Better controlled bass, better mids and highs. It's "okay", for 4 dollars? It's pretty much good, even considering the whole package. 

Extra: Very easy to drive! Even the lowest budget portable player (small ones without display for example) could easily drive these IEMs. Listening to it on quite low volume with my phone.

4. KZ DT3 - Star of KZ thread, but I'm not that impressed. It has potential and has a bit cleaner sound than R1, but I guess, it would need more burn in. KZ R1 is more "coherent",There are some problems with tip rolling here as well, but nothing too serious. 

Comes with straight jack, thick enough, or I would say kinda sturdy cables and plastic, lightweight earpieces. They are on the longer side (like Duoza), but nothing serious.

I feel like they can be better with more burn-in, that's why the higher rank.

3. Awei Q9 - My favourite here. Little brother of T1E maybe? - Highly recommended.

Sounds quite good even out of the box. Has nice wooden earpieces and fibre-covered cable, but quite thin cables. Strain relief is average on the critical parts. They feel a bit fragile..

As mentioned, has a wooden housing, but it's quite big! I dont have small ears but the bulk of the IEMs makes inserting a bit uncomfortable - the rim of the earpiece touches my inner ear. Nothing too serious, but certainly not a partner for long listening sessions. Deep insertion is not really supported because of chunky housing, unlike KZ R1. 

Sound: Big step up from DT3. Has plenty of bass, pretty well controlled, and not overpowering mids and highs. For 4 dollars? Excellent! Much less V-shaped than previous phones, better overall clarity.. king of 5 dollar IEMs for me.


2. Piston 2 & EDSE
-- EDSE: Incredible build quality. Super sturdy cable. Forward sound - full bass, but mids are definitely there and has quite a lot "treble energy" -> very versatile IEM. Sometimes can be harsh, but more burning/better tips/EQ surely can help. Has great potential, great cable and strain relieves, considering that it has an oddly long nozzle (makes eartips sit a bit weird on them), it is still an incredible value for it's price. (Cable twists quite easily, but easy to untangle, due to its thick, good quality)

-- Piston: The other side of the coin. Has much bass, has good sub-bass rumble, good build quality, remote control, mics, and OK mids and treble, tho it is lagging behind EDSE in terms of regions above bass. BUT it is very smooth, easy to listen for longer times, and your ears get used to it's sound pretty easily. With it's semi-open construction it's not the best for commuting.

1. T1E - much more coherent sound than any of these below, can't wonder why are they a bit more expensive. Has good mids, sparkling treble, good bass. But have to point out a very important thing: These are not basshead IEMs! I even find it a bit lacking in terms of bass.. (I <3 subbass)

Build quality is on par with EDSE I would say, but large housing can cause problems, tho maybe not on the levels of Awei q9. They need totally different settings in your player, than previous phones.

Getting proper tip and seal.. very difficult. Tried lunashops medium bore (heir style) tips in M and L sizes, several wide bore tips, now using Stock L sized whirlwinds on my right, general black wide bore tips (L sized, from lunashops as well) on my left. I feel like it could be better.. guys mentioning Piston L sized tips, too bad I dumped them when purchasing my Pistons.. 

But: the wider the bore, the better the sound as I see. JVC spiral dots would be interesting on them. They are really wide as I know.


So, that's it guys. Hope I could help some of you

Talking about cheap IEMs, I can't help but mentioning XKDUN. Great IEMs that shoot much higher than their price range. They have tight bass, great mids, extended highs that are not sibilant and all around very clear and detailed sound. If you are interested in trying some of their models - you can look for suggestions in my headphone inventory list.

 

[Ruben123]

It would be nice to compare the wooden xkduns to the wooden awei. Is edse (much) better than awei q9? Which is more natural?