[Podster]

I see there is still a lot of Blon love out here! I always appreciated @NymPHONOmaniac for starting this thread for the budget minded listeners as I have friends that the Benjamin is their personal limit period Wish I had their restraint but the disease runs deep in me Just wanted to post all these pages later on some of my faves in his original list and one that for sure should be added to the $75-$100 but I also understand the fit issue for most

For an awesome dirt cheap iem the KZ ED9 and DT5 are to this day simply amazing for the money.
Stepping up just a little I think the VJJB K4S is crazy good and looks as sweet as they sound.
If you have $50 to spend you probably can't even find a Havi B3 P1 anymore and they require a little juice to get their potential but to this day they are the best $50 (OK $49) I've spent on an iem but alas one you can get is the NICE M6 plus a pair of BGVP filters which IMHO can slay some $100 to $300 offerings out here
Now for my personal Sub $100 offering lets go back to that first brand I started with up there

 

[PhonoPhi]

I see there is still a lot of Blon love out here! I always appreciated @NymPHONOmaniac for starting this thread for the budget minded listeners as I have friends that the Benjamin is their personal limit period Wish I had their restraint but the disease runs deep in me Just wanted to post all these pages later on some of my faves in his original list and one that for sure should be added to the $75-$100 but I also understand the fit issue for most

For an awesome dirt cheap iem the KZ ED9 and DT5 are to this day simply amazing for the money.
Stepping up just a little I think the VJJB K4S is crazy good and looks as sweet as they sound.
If you have $50 to spend you probably can't even find a Havi B3 P1 anymore and they require a little juice to get their potential but to this day they are the best $50 (OK $49) I've spent on an iem but alas one you can get is the NICE M6 plus a pair of BGVP filters which IMHO can slay some $100 to $300 offerings out here
Now for my personal Sub $100 offering lets go back to that first brand I started with up there

BA10 forever!
The brick does the trick!

 

[Slater]

Stepping up just a little I think the VJJB K4S is crazy good and looks as sweet as they sound.

I forgot how nice those little wooden beauties were. Premium build, stunning good looks, great sound. A nice wooden dynamic for the price.

I wish they’d update them, and re-release them with removable cables. That would be great

 

[Podster]

I forgot how nice those little wooden beauties were. Premium build, stunning good looks, great sound. A nice wooden dynamic for the price.

I wish they’d update them, and re-release them with removable cables. That would be great

Indeed but a fella with your skilz could put a sweet cable on them CMOY courtesy JDS Labs dual 9V

 

[Nimweth]

I see there is still a lot of Blon love out here! I always appreciated @NymPHONOmaniac for starting this thread for the budget minded listeners as I have friends that the Benjamin is their personal limit period Wish I had their restraint but the disease runs deep in me Just wanted to post all these pages later on some of my faves in his original list and one that for sure should be added to the $75-$100 but I also understand the fit issue for most

For an awesome dirt cheap iem the KZ ED9 and DT5 are to this day simply amazing for the money.
Stepping up just a little I think the VJJB K4S is crazy good and looks as sweet as they sound.
If you have $50 to spend you probably can't even find a Havi B3 P1 anymore and they require a little juice to get their potential but to this day they are the best $50 (OK $49) I've spent on an iem but alas one you can get is the NICE M6 plus a pair of BGVP filters which IMHO can slay some $100 to $300 offerings out here
Now for my personal Sub $100 offering lets go back to that first brand I started with up there

Still my favourite KZ! +1 for the BA10!

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

Ok, you convince me to try BL-01 and well, perrhaps the 05S too!

In 2020. I didnt try a tremendous amount of sub-100$ iem as im used too, but i can confirm those that stay at my side.

HISENIOR T2U is for me the best sub-100$ iem money can buy. Neutral, transparent, highly accurate sound with mature tuning.

BQEYZ KC2 is probably the most underatted chifi oldies gem right now, especially using KZ Starlines inversed eartips, it sound like a more bassy BQEYZ KB100, its very similar to FIIO FH3 which i love too. Smooth W shape with thumping bass, clean mids and snappy not so sparkly treble.

HZsound Mirror take me by surprise with its refined reference-like tuning. Crisp vivid sound with fast attack, bright but transparent and realist timbre, high clarity and lot of micro details. Its like a cheap Final A8000 with less bass weight.

FIIO FD1 have unique rich timbre, lush and textured that i rreally enjoy.

BGVP ZERO have among best vocal I ever heard under 500$.

 

[xanlamin]

FiiO FD1 is really a very nice IEM. It is definitely in my top 3 Chifi IEMs this year.

 

[Edge1337]

Just put my order for the new BL-01's, hope it's a fun one. I'm currently on KZ ES4, which are alright, and before that I had KZ ZS5, which I loved, but lost on the bus one day. I don't trust my pockets anymore.

 

[kennyhack]

Just put my order for the new BL-01's, hope it's a fun one. I'm currently on KZ ES4, which are alright, and before that I had KZ ZS5, which I loved, but lost on the bus one day. I don't trust my pockets anymore.

That's a major upgrade you're doing... from KZ ES4 to BL-01... Yesterday I had a brief listen to my "old" sets of IEM's (in which there's KZ ES4) and I can tell you that you'll be more than happy with BL-01.

 

[Podster]

Just put my order for the new BL-01's, hope it's a fun one. I'm currently on KZ ES4, which are alright, and before that I had KZ ZS5, which I loved, but lost on the bus one day. I don't trust my pockets anymore.

Curious why you did not order another ZS5, AliEx has them under $20 still. Now I do understand if you had a v1 as it may be very hard to track a v1 down anymore your getting a v1 You might even consider a ZS7 (may also be hard to track down and if found could be 3 times the price!) as for me I found it to be the end game version of the ZS5/6/7 shell and best overall SQ but that may just be my old ears Now another one that would be a nice replacement for a 5 would be the X but thinking it may be too bass forward to you if the 5 was a fave. Just sticking my nose where it probably don't belong here any way Not too mention I have a soft spot for KZ and them being an awesome bang for your buck iem

 

[Edge1337]

That's a major upgrade you're doing... from KZ ES4 to BL-01... Yesterday I had a brief listen to my "old" sets of IEM's (in which there's KZ ES4) and I can tell you that you'll be more than happy with BL-01.

It's gonna gonna take like 20 days to get here, and you've just made me too excited. Can't wait!

Curious why you did not order another ZS5, AliEx has them under $20 still. Now I do understand if you had a v1 as it may be very hard to track a v1 down anymore your getting a v1 You might even consider a ZS7 (may also be hard to track down and if found could be 3 times the price!) as for me I found it to be the end game version of the ZS5/6/7 shell and best overall SQ but that may just be my old ears Now another one that would be a nice replacement for a 5 would be the X but thinking it may be too bass forward to you if the 5 was a fave. Just sticking my nose where it probably don't belong here any way Not too mention I have a soft spot for KZ and them being an awesome bang for your buck iem

It's really because I ordered my ZS5 locally, and ES4's too because I only got those once I lost\broke my previous one, and I just didn't want to wait too long without any headphones at all. And they didn't have any ZS5, so I picked something I thought would be similar. This time I'm ordering while my headphones are still working and threads here piqued my interest, for price like that should be great.

 

[Podster]

It's gonna gonna take like 20 days to get here, and you've just made me too excited. Can't wait!


It's really because I ordered my ZS5 locally, and ES4's too because I only got those once I lost\broke my previous one, and I just didn't want to wait too long without any headphones at all. And they didn't have any ZS5, so I picked something I thought would be similar. This time I'm ordering while my headphones are still working and threads here piqued my interest, for price like that should be great.

Ah, excellent plan and it's always good to have one or two back up budget iem's because I can tell you after 10+ years dallying with portable failures can happen any time even with the best of them What, did he just say that LOL (Of course some more than others and always YMMV) ANother not on Nymph's list but to this day one of the lightest, best fitting iem's I own and in balanced like here I find them to be an excellent traveler

Why yes I bought both colors so I could have a red right/black left

 

[mbwilson111]

Ah, excellent plan and it's always good to have one or two back up budget iem's because I can tell you after 10+ years dallying with portable failures can happen any time even with the best of them What, did he just say that LOL (Of course some more than others and always YMMV) ANother not on Nymph's list but to this day one of the lightest, best fitting iem's I own and in balanced like here I find them to be an excellent traveler



Why yes I bought both colors so I could have a red right/black left

What is it?

 

[Podster]

What is it?

Hey Mary, hope you are doing well. Those are my beloved ZS4’s. Easy listen, killer fit

 

[kennyhack]

It's gonna gonna take like 20 days to get here, and you've just made me too excited. Can't wait!

Just make sure you use a different set of tips (throw stock tips away) and if you can, also replace the stock cable with a better one.