[Jacobguy]

Hey everybody so I'm getting my brother a christmas gift and I'm waiting to spend $20 maybe $30 on his gift (I'm not cheap I'm 16 lol). Anyways I was wondering if any of you had some suggestions, you guys helped me with my first few pairs of decent IEM'S so I figured this was the place to go. Thanks so much for the help, many thanks!

 

[baskingshark]

Hey everybody so I'm getting my brother a christmas gift and I'm waiting to spend $20 maybe $30 on his gift (I'm not cheap I'm 16 lol). Anyways I was wondering if any of you had some suggestions, you guys helped me with my first few pairs of decent IEM'S so I figured this was the place to go. Thanks so much for the help, many thanks!

What music genres does your brother listen to?
Does he need isolation eg for commuting/transit, or he will use it mostly at home?

Some good sets I can recommend:
1) **** - around $16 - 17 USD. Triple driver hybrid. Poor isolation but good soundstage. Rather balanced in tuning, good instrument separation, clarity, details. Timbre a bit artificial but it is only apparent for genres that use acoustic instruments. If it's mostly EDM, rock, pop genres, it is a very cheap and good set. It can be driven from a smartphone based on specs, but does better with amping, with the treble being brighter and more detailed/dynamic with amping (the piezo drivers used for the treble frequency do appreciate more juice).

2) TRN IM2 - around $15 - 20 USD. Built like a tank (nice resin shell), great isolation and comfort. V shaped, good details and clarity and instrument separation. My only complaints are it is too V shaped, so mids are a bit sucked out and the timbre is artificial like the above ****.

3) I've read good reviews on the Venture Electronics Bonus IE. Haven't tried it myself but worth checking out, around $20 USD. It had a non detachable cable (unlike the above 2), so I skipped it, that might be a point of failure down the road in my experience.

4) CCA C10 - sub $30 USD. check out reviews, quite all rounded. I don't have it personally, but reviews look quite good.

5) TRN V90 - has rave reviews on headfi, V shaped, good bass and good details/instrument separation/details. It is $30 USD now on sale at AE sale, usually around $50. I think this is one of the better recent CHIFI releases.

6) Sony MH755 - great sound and timbre, harman tuned. Non detachable cables, short and microphonic, so might need an extension cable or mods. Otherwise around $5 USD. Super bang for buck. A lot of fakes (especially black coloured ones), so check with the rest/reviews on legit sellers.

7) BLON BL-03 - around $25 - 28 USD. great timbre/tonality, good for acoustic instrument predominant genres. Also a big hypetrain on CHIFI headfi thread now. It isn't that good in technicals, so not the best for complex instrumentation/multiple competing instruments or those wanting a more analytical sound. But the tuning is excellent, harmanish with midbass boost. Isolation lacking and it has poor stock tips +/- cables, so will need some aftermarket tips for most westerners due to the too short nozzle. As such, it may not be the best recommendation for new IEM users who don't know how to tiproll. But if u can switch tips/cables, the sound can compete with some $100 USD IEMs IMHO.

All the best in your search! Hope others can chime in too with their recs.

 

[Jacobguy]

Thank you so much for the reply sir! As to your question he listens to mostly country, so (trying to learn forgive me I'm wrong) but I believe that is instrumental, vocals, and mids? I've started looking into these IEM's and they look nice! Thanks so much! Let me know if theres anything else.