[yorosello]

It makes me realize buying too many iems is a waste of money, they sound the same.

I had the same thought when I was about to get the LZ A6 Mini yesterday & decided not to since I still have my Jade EA3 & Moondrop Starfield on the way, afraid they wouldn't sound too different from each other.

 

[baskingshark]

I just got my HiLisening1BA+1DD S8 MMCX Dynamic Driver & Balanced Armature IEM and with the blue filter it sounds normal with a very wide stage.

It makes me realize buying too many iems is a waste of money, they sound the same.

Two more sound filters to try. It comes with three.

The cable is terrible and the earpieces themselves are too small and too light and seem lame with the included cable.

Any questions?

I had the same thought when I was about to get the LZ A6 Mini yesterday & decided not to since I still have my Jade EA3 & Moondrop Starfield on the way, afraid they wouldn't sound too different from each other.

I think it's true to some extent, at the budget segment a lot of CHIFI are tuned harmanish/V shaped and after a while they are quite similar in tuning, with variations here and there. Especially this year when we have CHIFI releases on a weekly basis, we are spoilt for choice, and I feel a lot of releases are sidegrades at best. I try to skip new releases that are marginal upgrades and go for a release that is maybe more of a tangible improvement, or maybe go for something that is tuned differently from what I already own.

A few experienced audiophiles told me that it's part of the journey when you first enter this hobby to buy a lot of cheap budget sets to come to appreciate what sound signature you prefer or dislike, and once you know what you want, to buy something with higher quality up the ladder.

 

[Slater]

I just got my HiLisening1BA+1DD S8...

it sounds normal...

Any questions?

I have a question. What does that even mean?

 

[yorosello]

I think it's true to some extent, at the budget segment a lot of CHIFI are tuned harmanish/V shaped and after a while they are quite similar in tuning, with variations here and there. Especially this year when we have CHIFI releases on a weekly basis, we are spoilt for choice, and I feel a lot of releases are sidegrades at best. I try to skip new releases that are marginal upgrades and go for a release that is maybe more of a tangible improvement, or maybe go for something that is tuned differently from what I already own.

A few experienced audiophiles told me that it's part of the journey when you first enter this hobby to buy a lot of cheap budget sets to come to appreciate what sound signature you prefer or dislike, and once you know what you want, to buy something with higher quality up the ladder.

True. That's why also I get rid some of my IEMs that I rarely use anymore

 

[stimuz]

CM5 is legend status in my book. Super light, and very comfortable. I always used the OEM tips which some people hated. I don't know what tips you use but tip rolling can change them quite a bit. I preferred the stock ones as they sounded the most balanced to me and thus were good at everything.

Anyway, I just got a couple IEMs that remind me of the CM5. Gimmie another day or so to go over notes and listen to them some more. I unfortunately don't have CM5 anymore as I gifted it to my friend so everything is from notes and memory.
.

yea I use stock tips. They insert to easy for over ear and the rubber on the inside is comfy. I just like that they give good bass without sucking elsewhere. wire is good but I was hoping they had a new cm5 like iem with mmcx or 2 pin. oh well.

 

[Sunstealer]

I think it's true to some extent, at the budget segment a lot of CHIFI are tuned harmanish/V shaped and after a while they are quite similar in tuning, with variations here and there. Especially this year when we have CHIFI releases on a weekly basis, we are spoilt for choice, and I feel a lot of releases are sidegrades at best. I try to skip new releases that are marginal upgrades and go for a release that is maybe more of a tangible improvement, or maybe go for something that is tuned differently from what I already own.

A few experienced audiophiles told me that it's part of the journey when you first enter this hobby to buy a lot of cheap budget sets to come to appreciate what sound signature you prefer or dislike, and once you know what you want, to buy something with higher quality up the ladder.

I have a one in, one out policy to prevent them piling up, unopened in a drawer...

On another note, my Spring 1s have come alive after 100 hours burn in. Superb sound, with DX221, single ended copper cable and wide bore foams. Will swap out to the AMP8 and see what happens.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

I have a question. What does that even mean?

Average. Hence the comment that it's not worth owning a million iems in the $50 range. When I say average... its personality doesn't seem unique with the blue filter.

I think I remember hearing the silver filter is the best.

 

[LaughMoreDaily]

I think it's true to some extent, at the budget segment a lot of CHIFI are tuned harmanish/V shaped and after a while they are quite similar in tuning, with variations here and there. Especially this year when we have CHIFI releases on a weekly basis, we are spoilt for choice, and I feel a lot of releases are sidegrades at best. I try to skip new releases that are marginal upgrades and go for a release that is maybe more of a tangible improvement, or maybe go for something that is tuned differently from what I already own.

A few experienced audiophiles told me that it's part of the journey when you first enter this hobby to buy a lot of cheap budget sets to come to appreciate what sound signature you prefer or dislike, and once you know what you want, to buy something with higher quality up the ladder.

I think its really hard to figure out which iems are improvements for your collection. I chose the HiListening because of the red/blue earpieces and the fact that it's made by Magaosi, a company I'm not familiar with.

It definitely needs a new cable. The cable looks to be made in a similar place to the Semkarch CNT1. It revolves 360 degrees and that's a terrible design.

 

[baskingshark]

I think its really hard to figure out which iems are improvements for your collection.

Since we are spoilt for choice this year especially for CHIFI, I can think of a few ways to see if certain releases/hypetrains are gonna be an upgrade to what you already have:

1) Wait a while for some reviews to filter out before jumping on new purchases. A lot of sets may be hyped in the prerelease phase by sponsored reviewers and such, but sooner or later more reviews will come out, especially from lay consumers or those reviewers who you trust/who u think suit your preferred sound preferences.
Issues like QC and derailed hypetrains will come out in the forums sooner or later. After certain IEMs stand the tests of time among reviewers and headfiers in the forums, and are still recommended after a few months, you know this set is a potential keeper.

2) You can ask others via PM on headfi for their honest impressions of an IEM you are interested in, I've done that a few times, and the community here is extremely helpful to provide their honest impressions.

3) Check out graphs/FR - they won't tell the full story for subjective areas like timbre, imaging, instrument separation etc, but you'll at least know if it will suit your preferences in areas like bass, treble brightness etc. From the get go, if you know the FR is not gonna suit you, at least you won't waste time. But if the FR suits your tastes, maybe you can go dig around for more reviews and impressions.

4) Some reviews and headfier impressions compare sets that you are interested in with those you already have, so you can tell if it's gonna a sidegrade or upgrade.

5) Buy from certain shops like amazon with a return policy, in case the IEM is not your cup of tea, you can still return it.

6) Buy second hand gear, at least you ain't making a big loss should it not suit you.

7) Audition at local shops if you can. This is pretty difficult for CHIFI admittedly.

8) Attend CAMJAMs if you can.

Though for option 7 +8, the caveat is that you can't unhear stuff that you have heard LOL. After that the market has been spoilt and the only way is up up up and deeper down the rabbithole.

 

[Tonymac136]

I like the small differences between sets. I like the sweet spot where you partner an IEM with different tips or a different source and suddenly it sounds better than you remember.
Only last night I partnered the CNT with the NiceHCK HB1 which I'd never used before and... Wow.

I'm not so keen on the eternal sidegrade path that budget gear brings. When I have figured out my favourite, I'll probably buy one IEM to rule them all.

For the moment I know I don't like the sound of the Bonus IE, V80, ZS10 or Echobox audio Finder. I like the KBear F1 but have the wrong drivers and the Dunu I3CS renders it irrelevant.

 

[baskingshark]

I'm not so keen on the eternal sidegrade path that budget gear brings. When I have figured out my favourite, I'll probably buy one IEM to rule them all.

Agreed, once you know your preferred sound signature, it might be more cost effective in the long run to get one better set and stop buying budget sidegrades/marginal upgrades. Easier said than done, but the good news is that these past 3 years, the CHIFI companies are really lowering the price of good sound more and more. I'm sure give a few years and we might get CHIFI sounding exactly like TOTL sets but for a fraction of the cost.

 

[chickenmoon]

Everybody needs an Urbanfun YBF-ISS014.

 

[sareer007]

How do pianos sound on **** pro ?

 

[FastAndClean]

Everybody needs an Urbanfun YBF-ISS014.

nice, i am glad you like it, it is a beast

 

[timleg002]

Why is **** banned? i bought my tin t, from there, should i be worried?