[silverfishla]

I like the Ikko OH10. I know it's old but it is the most sonically rewarding. I have the 7hz Timeless, but I appreciated the Ikko's bigger sound and fit and comfort. Shuoer Tape is pretty good too, but Ikko beats that one out too. I haven't heard the other two.

 

[baskingshark]

Thank you @baskingshark !

Any suggestions for an IEM that might meet my desired tuning?

Do you like the Chopin a lot?

 

[ernie633124]

EA1000 or the Shuoer S12

 

[musedesign]

I received five more IEMs and updated my rankings.

In order of preference:

1. Sennheiser IE200 3.5mm $119 - They sound, correct, balanced, musical, lacking technicals of 7hz, Sounds great with volume turned up

2. Mooddrop Starfield 3.5mm $109 (2020) - Muddy bass overtakes midrange, but I am used to the tuning; not nearly as technical as the others, and prefer without the thump, thump sub-bass, which all the others have. Why do people like that overly boosted sub-bass? Very listenable, although not technical. They feel old, like a generation ago. Gets muddy and confused with volume turned up.

3. Truthear Nova 3.5mm $127 - Too bright, Overly bright and recessed bass, V tuning with extended treble, missing midrange, screeching treble, hollowed out mid-range, great technicals, but Aful better technicals. Better sound stage than Aful, not as good as Chopin. Gets, muddy and confused with volume turned up. Not a great fit, it extends out of ear canal.

4. AFUL 5 3.5mm $219 - Boosted bass, accurate balance, Nice balance, gets scratchy with the volume turned up, not great technicals, not great tonality, but none of the thump, thump, thump. Not very musical, technical, but not musical

5. 7hz Timeless 4.4mm $224 - Not very rich sound, does not sound like a planar, none of the over-boosted bass and none of the shrill treble of other IEMs. Great technicals. More across the entire range, even balanced sound. Very engaging, great technicals. Very revealing, hearing things I had not heard before. The midrange is hollowed out. The instruments sound “correct”, not a musical sound, but the instruments sound accurate. I want to listen more. A little fatiguing. Would be difficult to listen for a long time. Impressive, but tiring. No soundstage, zero. Gets stretchy with the volume turned up.

6. S12 4.4mm $119 - Very airy, great technicals, no bass or midrange, treble and high midrange only, no soundstage, zero soundstage, it is like listening to music only treble, I like the bass level, just not very well defined or technical. Like an experiment not ready for release, unfinished. Not a great fit. They stick out too far.

7. Truthear Zero Blue 3.5mm - Good technicals, okay sound stage. They are not a great fit; they stick out too far. Starts to hiss with turned-up volume.

8. Chopin 4.4mm $199 - thump, thump with great technicals, over boosted bass, bass overtakes midrange, treble is there but over overtaken by muddy mid-bass. Better sound stage than Aful. Limited soundstage, the treble and bass is overpowering.

9. Moondrop Chu II 3.5 $19 - Listenable, but hollow sounding, good sound stage, To sparkly, bass is good, but midrange is hollowed out, treble boosted. Decreasing the bass and boosting the treble does not create balanced sound quality. The technicals not very good, but engaging, good soundstage.

Would be interested in listening to Sennheiser IE 900, Moondrop Blessing 2, Westone Mach10

 

[musedesign]

Do you like the Chopin a lot?

Hi @baskingshark

Not my favorite, see me updated ranking above

 

[maximum3535]

Honestly blessing 3, I would say midrange shines with it. Used goes for just a touch above $200, which will probably drop when B3D comes out.

 

[KinGensai]

..well last night I went a little crazy and ordered a whole bunch of IEMs just to see about the differences, today the first three arrived. @baskingshark I would love to hear any feedback. Thank you!

In order of preference:
1. Chopin 4.4mm $199 - thump, thump with great technicals, over boosted bass, bass overtakes midrange, treble is there but over overtaken by muddy mid-bass. Better sound stage than Aful.

2. Aful 5 3.5mm $219 - Overly bright and bassy, V tuning, missing midrange. More technical than Mooddrop Starfield, less muddy than Starfield, and missing midrange, like instruments are jumping out without a midrange. Great bass, but too much bass, thump, thump, thump. Most listenable, least offensive of the three. Compressed sound stage

3. Truthear Nova 3.5mm $127 - Too bright, Overly bright and recessed bass, V tuning with extended treble, missing midrange, screeching treble, hollowed out mid-range, good technicals, but Aful better technicals. Aful better. Better sound stage than Aful, not as good as Chopin.

4. Mooddrop Starfield 3.5mm $109 (2020) - Muddy bass overtakes midrange, but I am used to the tuning; not nearly as technical as the others, and prefer without the thump, thump sub-bass, which all the others have. Why do people like that overly boosted sub-bass? Very listenable, although not technical. They feel old, like a generation ago.

+ Learned there is a LOT of hype in IEMs

There's a theme here, you don't like midbass at all. It's a common complaint because midbass can quickly mask low mids.

Easiest solution here is to take your first pref (chopin) and apply a low shelf filter at 250 hz 0.7Q down to your preferred level. If you want to preserve some subbass, another low shelf at 60~80 hz bringing it back up would do the trick. Since you aren't increasing response overall, no need to drop preamp gain.

Otherwise, you'll have to go hunting for an IEM at this budget range that has a midbass tuck. IMO, this is unnecessary given how cheap/easy it is to EQ now, you seem to have a pretty unique HRTF given those sets are pretty popular.

Also, if you don't like muddy bass, you might be interested in going for an all-BA set. 3 BAs handling bass can play back low freqs very cleanly.

https://kiwiears.com/products/kiwi-ears-orchestra-lite

 

[DunninLA]

I waited to reply until I had the Aful P5 here to compare. I once had the Starfield, and also the Timeless.

I get that what you want is a forward midrange that isn't muddied up by too much bass energy in the 150-250 range.

It looks like you found what you want in the SE200. In case you want to explore further, I'll add this --

Firstly, I only listen through my Iphone and my MB Air 2020. So I am sure some IEMs sound different when using different sources than I use.

I like the P5, but something to me is a little off in the bass, I'm guessing b/c they're trying to do a lot with an 8mm driver. It just doesn't sound like a 10mm driver. But no matter, what you care about is vocals. To me to P5 is slightly pulled back in the stage with vocals, but what is there is very, very nice.

Essentially, for clear vocals, the midbass energy has to have a volume match in the presence region ... 2k-4kHz. The poster above pointed that out that you don't prefer IEMs with a good amount of midbass. That is half the story... the other half is the 2k-4k, and whether it matches the midbass. In the case of the P5, the midbass is too much for the 2k-4kHz... not a lot, but enough to notice. That is what gives a slightly boomy, slightly muddy presentation to vocals, and also pulls them back in the soundstage. So the P5 audio engineers either needed to boost the 2k-4kHz by a couple of db, or drop the 125-250Hz, approximately, by a couple of db in order for the human voice to appear clear, balanced, and not boomy or muddy.

I'm going to suggest another single dynamic driver IEM that does vocals really well but does bass better than the Starfield ... either the Tanchjim Oxygen, or the Tripowin Olina SE (which apparently is not in stock at the moment at Linsoul.) I've just been A/Bing the P5, one that has over 100 hours of burnin, with the Olina SE and much prefer the Olina SE. Primarily, more forward and clear vocals. But also, better bass texture, and slightly less distracting treble extension. Just my personal taste, as I know many prefer the excitement of that P5 treble. The P5 for my taste is just not great in the presentation of vocals.

 

[musedesign]

Hi All,
Happy Holidays!

Thank you all for your patience and suggestions. I have returned all IEMs except the Sennheiser IE 200 and the Moondrop Starfield 1 I already owned. I am listening to the Sennheiser IE 200 as I write, setup: ifi HipDac 2, 4.4mm balanced Tripowin Cable with Comply T-200 tips; the tips are pulled out to the less bass position.

This is what I was looking for; a Sony MDR7506 analytical sound quality; vocals are forward, the bass is realistic without muddying up the midrange, it does not have the soundstage of the HD650 or the dynamic range and soundstage or precision of the HD800s. But the instruments are musical and not muddied up by over-boosted bass, and I can roughly position instruments within a very compressed sound stage. I can compare recordings, and the IEMs can expose poorly engineered recordings. With the proper recording, the setup "sings," and I forget about the technical and become lost in the music. For me, this is the objective of audio equipment: the moment when it all works together to produce music.

I started this journey reading Audio Science, Crinacle, Gizaudio, and Super* Reviews; now that I have found a sound signature that I like, I searched for reviews of the IE 200 to find the reviews below:

• Headfonia Sennheiser IE 200 Review
• What Hi-Fi Sennheiser IE 200 Review
• Headphones.com Sennheiser IE 200 Review
• Headfonics Sennheiser IE 200 Review

I welcome any suggestions for IEMs with similar sound signature.