[baskingshark]

The end of this damned year approach,it would be cool if headfier can share their personal favorite 2020 discoveries!

Mine:

IEM:
HZsound Mirror
Hisenior T2U
BQEYZ KC2
BGVP Zero (for vocal)
Moondrop Starfield
Final Audio E1000
KBear KB04
Blon BL-03
FIIO FH3
Dunu DK2001

DAC/AMP:
Topping L30 (bright, detailed open sound with powerfull output small size)
SMSL SH-9
QDELIX 5K (the BTR5 killer)
FIIO BTR5
Tempotec HD PRO (or even better Meizu hifi pro)
Audirect BEAM 2 (too expensive IMO but so powerfull and handy)
DIY ES9280C dongle

Worst IEM:
NiceHCK NX7 mk2 (Gold medal!)
Blon BL-05 (silver medal!)
Dunu DM480
KBear KS2 (Bronze medal!)
Tinhifi T2+
BQEYZ BQ3

My 2020 favourites in the following categories are:

$300 – 500 USD IEM:
LZ A7. Provides a mind boggling 10 tuning configs (or more with aftermarket tuning nozzles). It has excellent technicalities, good fit, good isolation, and the best part that surprised me is that the LZ A7 has very natural timbre for a BA/piezo containing tribid (other than the higher treble frequencies handled by the piezo). Most folks would find an ideal sound signature with it, maybe except diehard bassheads.


$200 – 300 USD:
Audiosense T800. It has good technicalities, is “fun sounding” and excellent isolation nearing 30 dB. Even though it contains a BA bass, it sounds like a DD bass due to a vented subwoofer. The T800 may be a bit on the bright side, so it isn’t the best option for treble sensitive folks, but you can use knowles filters, warm sources or eartips to tame the treble.


$100 – 200 USD tie:
TRI I3. Smooth, balanced, grand and coherent despite the weird 1 planar + 1 BA + 1 DD config. It needs amping though, the planars handling the mids are quite power hungry. It has one of the best soundstages at the $100ish region when amped, with sweet planar mids. Treble is safe, bordering on darkish, so maybe not for trebleheads.


$100 - 200 USD tie
KBEAR BElieve. “Bearly believable” for a full beryllium set at this price? The KBEAR BElieve sports a smooth and refined U shaped tuning, great technical chops in the mids and treble areas for a single DD. It has good timbre for acoustic instruments but is very hard to drive, as per the 98 dB sensitivity. It sounds muddy, congested and slow in the bass with a low powered source, but scales beautifully when optimally amped, so those that don’t intend to get an amp best look elsewhere. With power, the KBEAR BElieve does hit about 70% of the technical performance of the famed DUNU LUNA, at 10% of the price!


Sub $100 USD:
HZSound Heart Mirror. Nice mirror like shells, as per its namesake, it is a neutralish bright set, excellent timbre for acoustic instruments. I like how it manages to get a forward upper mids without going into harsh or shouty territory, a very fine line to balance. The Heart Mirror has good transients and speed on the driver. Note weight is thin and soundstage is not the best though, and it needs amping to shine, sounds meh from a smartphone. Good set for vocal lovers and timbre lovers, but maybe not so all rounded due to the lack of bass, but it takes to EQ in the bass like a champ.


Favourite earbud for the year:
SMABAT ST10S Black Gold. Neutralish set with subbass and upper mids boost. If you have always looked down on earbuds for not having subbass, think again. The SMABAT ST10S Black Gold has the best subass quantity and extension I’ve ever heard in a bud. It has excellent technicalities, is MMCX detachable and can be worn over ears or cable down. It needs amping though, as per the 150 ohm impedance. Not to be mixed up with the SMABAT ST10S Black Silver, which is tuned differently (and has lower impedance).


Best unlucky bag/Fukubukuro/Mystery bag:
Urbanfun YBF-ISS014 – it is extremely exciting to see whether u get a beryllium vs “noble metal” driver. Or a working versus wonky mmcx. Even newer batches of the Urbanfun have been reported to have QC problems in the audio forums.The Urbanfun can be summed up in this statement by Forrest Gump and headfier @lgcubana : “My Mom Always Said Life Was Like A Box Of Urbanfuns. You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get.”


Best price to peformance joke IEM of the year:
TRN golden ears $14,750.00 USD IEM paired with $3400 USD xiaofan ortiz “king of the gods” cable. Mere mortals cannot hope to use these gear if not you’ll be struck down by lightning! I hope the Bellsing BAs inside are also made of gold!

 

[unifutomaki]

The end of this damned year approach,it would be cool if headfier can share their personal favorite 2020 discoveries!

Mine:

IEM:
HZsound Mirror
Hisenior T2U
BQEYZ KC2
BGVP Zero (for vocal)
Moondrop Starfield
Final Audio E1000
KBear KB04
Blon BL-03
FIIO FH3
Dunu DK2001

DAC/AMP:
Topping L30 (bright, detailed open sound with powerfull output small size)
SMSL SH-9
QDELIX 5K (the BTR5 killer)
FIIO BTR5
Tempotec HD PRO (or even better Meizu hifi pro)
Audirect BEAM 2 (too expensive IMO but so powerfull and handy)
DIY ES9280C dongle

Worst IEM:
NiceHCK NX7 mk2 (Gold medal!)
Blon BL-05 (silver medal!)
Dunu DM480
KBear KS2 (Bronze medal!)
Tinhifi T2+
BQEYZ BQ3

Stuff I liked:
Moondrop SSP - Unparalleled imaging, instrument separation, detail retrieval and timbre among anything in the sub-$100 range. A very successful re-tuning of the SSR that brings forth the true potential of the Super Spaceship driver across the entire frequency range. (Honourable mention: Moondrop SSR)

KZ ZAX - Entertaining and dynamic, yet smooth, refined and easy to drive. Relatively unique semi-open design gives it a wider soundstage than its KZ hybrid predecessors. In my opinion, the only thing that KZ has done right this year over $50.

CCA CST - Wooden shells for USD 12. No technicalities to speak of, but for this bargain basement price point you get a well-built set of transducers with decent timbre, surprisingly good clarity, and a very listenable sound overall. No sibilance, no muddiness, no shouty upper mids. You can't really ask for much more at this price.

Stuff I didn't:
Tin Hifi T2 Plus - Refined and mature tuning with a wide and deep soundstage, marred by poor isolation, short nozzle and MMCX issues. Worse still, I found them to be pretty boring-sounding after a while, eliciting none of the foot-tapping and head-bobbing responses that other IEMs pull off in their presentation of the music.

Koss Porta Pro - Flimsy, toy-like construction, treble roll-off, overly muddy, lacking in detail; if I wanted my music to sound like it was being played back on a cassette I would have listened to a cassette.

Openheart OH2000 Grado clones - Excellent construction and build quality, but shouty, sibilant and fatiguing sound. For modders only.

 

[cappuchino]

Not the right thread to ask but has anyone tried shortening the stem of their eartips? Like, cutting a part off to get the opening of the eartip closer to the IEM nozzle?

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

My 2020 favourites in the following categories are:

$300 – 500 USD IEM:
LZ A7. Provides a mind boggling 10 tuning configs (or more with aftermarket tuning nozzles). It has excellent technicalities, good fit, good isolation, and the best part that surprised me is that the LZ A7 has very natural timbre for a BA/piezo containing tribid (other than the higher treble frequencies handled by the piezo). Most folks would find an ideal sound signature with it, maybe except diehard bassheads.


$200 – 300 USD:
Audiosense T800. It has good technicalities, is “fun sounding” and excellent isolation nearing 30 dB. Even though it contains a BA bass, it sounds like a DD bass due to a vented subwoofer. The T800 may be a bit on the bright side, so it isn’t the best option for treble sensitive folks, but you can use knowles filters, warm sources or eartips to tame the treble.


$100 – 200 USD tie:
TRI I3. Smooth, balanced, grand and coherent despite the weird 1 planar + 1 BA + 1 DD config. It needs amping though, the planars handling the mids are quite power hungry. It has one of the best soundstages at the $100ish region when amped, with sweet planar mids. Treble is safe, bordering on darkish, so maybe not for trebleheads.


$100 - 200 USD tie
KBEAR BElieve. “Bearly believable” for a full beryllium set at this price? The KBEAR BElieve sports a smooth and refined U shaped tuning, great technical chops in the mids and treble areas for a single DD. It has good timbre for acoustic instruments but is very hard to drive, as per the 98 dB sensitivity. It sounds muddy, congested and slow in the bass with a low powered source, but scales beautifully when optimally amped, so those that don’t intend to get an amp best look elsewhere. With power, the KBEAR BElieve does hit about 70% of the technical performance of the famed DUNU LUNA, at 10% of the price!


Sub $100 USD:
HZSound Heart Mirror. Nice mirror like shells, as per its namesake, it is a neutralish bright set, excellent timbre for acoustic instruments. I like how it manages to get a forward upper mids without going into harsh or shouty territory, a very fine line to balance. The Heart Mirror has good transients and speed on the driver. Note weight is thin and soundstage is not the best though, and it needs amping to shine, sounds meh from a smartphone. Good set for vocal lovers and timbre lovers, but maybe not so all rounded due to the lack of bass, but it takes to EQ in the bass like a champ.


Favourite earbud for the year:
SMABAT ST10S Black Gold. Neutralish set with subbass and upper mids boost. If you have always looked down on earbuds for not having subbass, think again. The SMABAT ST10S Black Gold has the best subass quantity and extension I’ve ever heard in a bud. It has excellent technicalities, is MMCX detachable and can be worn over ears or cable down. It needs amping though, as per the 150 ohm impedance. Not to be mixed up with the SMABAT ST10S Black Silver, which is tuned differently (and has lower impedance).


Best unlucky bag/Fukubukuro/Mystery bag:
Urbanfun YBF-ISS014 – it is extremely exciting to see whether u get a beryllium vs “noble metal” driver. Or a working versus wonky mmcx. Even newer batches of the Urbanfun have been reported to have QC problems in the audio forums.The Urbanfun can be summed up in this statement by Forrest Gump and headfier @lgcubana : “My Mom Always Said Life Was Like A Box Of Urbanfuns. You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get.”


Best price to peformance joke IEM of the year:
TRN golden ears $14,750.00 USD IEM paired with $3400 USD xiaofan ortiz “king of the gods” cable. Mere mortals cannot hope to use these gear if not you’ll be struck down by lightning! I hope the Bellsing BAs inside are also made of gold!

Nice list...i got my Audiosense T800 in 2019, but hey, it is still among my favorrite in 2020 and will surely be in 2021 too! I just can't have this type of fun well resolved bassy sound with any other multy ba, neither single DD.

TRI I3 look excellent too. I tryr to suggest it to a friend that wanna buy UM Mest lol...im really curious how these 2 would compare (1.4K vs 140$)

LOL, you nail it for best joke of the year, we got a big laugh about this on NBBA too...to the point ive decided to contact seller to know HOW MUCH GOLD we got for 15K. The answer is 50gram of pure chifi gold.

By the way, do you have a link for the Knowles filters??

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

Not the right thread to ask but has anyone tried shortening the stem of their eartips? Like, cutting a part off to get the opening of the eartip closer to the IEM nozzle?

Yes i do it often with KZ starlines eartips....but its hard to do precise cut and sometime it can make the tips holding looser. Still, Reversed KZ starlines eartips with shorthen nozzle can be game changer!

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

Stuff I liked:
Moondrop SSP - Unparalleled imaging, instrument separation, detail retrieval and timbre among anything in the sub-$100 range. A very successful re-tuning of the SSR that brings forth the true potential of the Super Spaceship driver across the entire frequency range. (Honourable mention: Moondrop SSR)

KZ ZAX - Entertaining and dynamic, yet smooth, refined and easy to drive. Relatively unique semi-open design gives it a wider soundstage than its KZ hybrid predecessors. In my opinion, the only thing that KZ has done right this year over $50.

CCA CST - Wooden shells for USD 12. No technicalities to speak of, but for this bargain basement price point you get a well-built set of transducers with decent timbre, surprisingly good clarity, and a very listenable sound overall. No sibilance, no muddiness, no shouty upper mids. You can't really ask for much more at this price.

Stuff I didn't:
Tin Hifi T2 Plus - Refined and mature tuning with a wide and deep soundstage, marred by poor isolation, short nozzle and MMCX issues. Worse still, I found them to be pretty boring-sounding after a while, eliciting none of the foot-tapping and head-bobbing responses that other IEMs pull off in their presentation of the music.

Koss Porta Pro - Flimsy, toy-like construction, treble roll-off, overly muddy, lacking in detail; if I wanted my music to sound like it was being played back on a cassette I would have listened to a cassette.

Openheart OH2000 Grado clones - Excellent construction and build quality, but shouty, sibilant and fatiguing sound. For modders only.

Oh, im not alone to dislike the T2+....OK. I was afraid to create an unwanted polemic....pretty sure the T2+ pseudo-hype will fade away like the Starfield does...i remember people were paising them everywhere until some find them boring and to be honnest they are way more dynamic, fun and open sounding than the T2+.

To my ears they are cold, mellow sounding, with a tamed dynamic impact that tend to make the sound ovelry compressed. I can't find the silence between instrument with T2+. Bass doesnt thump enough, mids arent open and fowards enough, treble isnt sparkly and snappy enough...everything is so safe it feel sterilized.

Thanks fo being the courageous guinea pig for the Grado clones, was on my radar....but not anymore.

While im not thinking the same as you for the legenrady Portapro...lol, i can understand your conclusion. HAve you try it well amped? My revelationwas with my Ibasso DX90, clear detailed powerfull reference sound that tend to clean the Portapro ''analogish'' persona!

Hum, would you consider yourself a treble head? Or vivid dynamic sound lover? Your winner seem bright iem, but im curious now about those cheap CCA CST...

 

[IEMusic]

Oh, im not alone to dislike the T2+....OK. I was afraid to create an unwanted polemic....pretty sure the T2+ pseudo-hype will fade away like the Starfield does...i remember people were paising them everywhere until some find them boring and to be honnest they are way more dynamic, fun and open sounding than the T2+.

I personally think that the T2+ deserved all the praise it received, even though the shells don’t fit me well. I don’t think it was overhyped, like some other products. That certainly doesn’t mean everyone will like it, and I’m wary of items that people seem to never criticize. I find the criticisms of the T2+ to be fair, but remember, they are 1/2 the price of the Starfields.

 

[baskingshark]

Nice list...i got my Audiosense T800 in 2019, but hey, it is still among my favorrite in 2020 and will surely be in 2021 too! I just can't have this type of fun well resolved bassy sound with any other multy ba, neither single DD.

TRI I3 look excellent too. I tryr to suggest it to a friend that wanna buy UM Mest lol...im really curious how these 2 would compare (1.4K vs 140$)

LOL, you nail it for best joke of the year, we got a big laugh about this on NBBA too...to the point ive decided to contact seller to know HOW MUCH GOLD we got for 15K. The answer is 50gram of pure chifi gold.

By the way, do you have a link for the Knowles filters??

The knowles filters can be bought on aliexpress or amazon, just search "knowles filter" or "knowles damper". Do buy a damper removal tool too for easier removal of the filter.
The knowles filter doesn't just tame the treble, it also increases the soundstage a bit IMHO. I bought mine here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32580267018.html but you can just buy it from the cheapest shop or something.

This is not an Audiosense T800, but putting in and removing the knowles filter is done similarly.

The knowles stock damper inside the T800 shell is white, and so u can add another knowles filter into the nozzle (most of in the Audiosense thread bought brown or green or white or grey), and if you do this, it is additive in damping (add the stock white damper's 680 ohms + whatever damper u put into the nozzle).
Others are more adventurous and removed the stock white damper within the T800's shell and put their aftermarket damper inside the IEM (I haven't tried this personally, afraid of accidentally damaging something).

 

[chinmie]

Oh, im not alone to dislike the T2+....OK. I was afraid to create an unwanted polemic....pretty sure the T2+ pseudo-hype will fade away like the Starfield does...i remember people were paising them everywhere until some find them boring and to be honnest they are way more dynamic, fun and open sounding than the T2+.

To my ears they are cold, mellow sounding, with a tamed dynamic impact that tend to make the sound ovelry compressed. I can't find the silence between instrument with T2+. Bass doesnt thump enough, mids arent open and fowards enough, treble isnt sparkly and snappy enough...everything is so safe it feel sterilized.

if IEMs are like drinks, then the T2+ would be water....


mountain spring water that we drink after walking for hours or days without hydration...

so one of it the best plain water that one could ever have

but in the world of sweetened soft drinks and chocolate milks, understandably water would be the last thing people would seek.. unless they're on straight detox diet.

i didn't buy many IEMs this year but the T2+ (and the LZ A7) is definitely one of the best purchase this year, and some of the best sounding for my taste

 

[unifutomaki]

Oh, im not alone to dislike the T2+....OK. I was afraid to create an unwanted polemic....pretty sure the T2+ pseudo-hype will fade away like the Starfield does...i remember people were paising them everywhere until some find them boring and to be honnest they are way more dynamic, fun and open sounding than the T2+.

To my ears they are cold, mellow sounding, with a tamed dynamic impact that tend to make the sound ovelry compressed. I can't find the silence between instrument with T2+. Bass doesnt thump enough, mids arent open and fowards enough, treble isnt sparkly and snappy enough...everything is so safe it feel sterilized.

Thanks fo being the courageous guinea pig for the Grado clones, was on my radar....but not anymore.

While im not thinking the same as you for the legenrady Portapro...lol, i can understand your conclusion. HAve you try it well amped? My revelationwas with my Ibasso DX90, clear detailed powerfull reference sound that tend to clean the Portapro ''analogish'' persona!

Hum, would you consider yourself a treble head? Or vivid dynamic sound lover? Your winner seem bright iem, but im curious now about those cheap CCA CST...

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the T2 Plus. Objectively speaking, there's nothing offensive or "wrong" about it, yet they gradually became increasingly underutilized in my collection.

With the PortaPros, perhaps there was a mismatch between what it was and what I expected it to be. At the time I was running them out of my NW-A55 Walkman, so there may well have been a synergy issue as well. I have certainly not ruled out trying other Koss products though!

I do gravitate towards a clean sound with detail, resolution, sparkle and "air", with a realistic timbre for acoustic instruments. Not sure if that qualifies me as a treblehead, but it probably explains my picks right there

 

[RikudouGoku]

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the T2 Plus. Objectively speaking, there's nothing offensive or "wrong" about it, yet they gradually became increasingly underutilized in my collection.

With the PortaPros, perhaps there was a mismatch between what it was and what I expected it to be. At the time I was running them out of my NW-A55 Walkman, so there may well have been a synergy issue as well. I have certainly not ruled out trying other Koss products though!

I do gravitate towards a clean sound with detail, resolution, sparkle and "air", with a realistic timbre for acoustic instruments. Not sure if that qualifies me as a treblehead, but it probably explains my picks right there

Try the KSC75, you be surprised on how different it is from the porta pro in both profile and quality.

 

[IEMusic]

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the T2 Plus. Objectively speaking, there's nothing offensive or "wrong" about it, yet they gradually became increasingly underutilized in my collection.

Tuning involves a lot of difficult decisions and compromises. There are several quite stellar IEMs that are not liked by many due to sounding boring to them. Best example is probably the qdc Anole VX, but there are many others. On the other hand, when one tunes an IEM to sound more exciting, it risks sounding offensive (certain frequency peaks) or too colored.

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

I think you hit the nail on the head regarding the T2 Plus. Objectively speaking, there's nothing offensive or "wrong" about it, yet they gradually became increasingly underutilized in my collection.

With the PortaPros, perhaps there was a mismatch between what it was and what I expected it to be. At the time I was running them out of my NW-A55 Walkman, so there may well have been a synergy issue as well. I have certainly not ruled out trying other Koss products though!

I do gravitate towards a clean sound with detail, resolution, sparkle and "air", with a realistic timbre for acoustic instruments. Not sure if that qualifies me as a treblehead, but it probably explains my picks right there

Hehe, not sure about treble head, cause some are bright head and other like me is more about good treble sharpness, free of these bright timbre grain....but one thing i might know is: To give a look to HZsound Mirrror for your next bet. Similar graph to SSP-SSR but not as overly boosted in high mid-treble, like a more delicate SSP perhaps (still waiting the SSR to arrive cause i bypass SSP).

When somebody ask me to compare HZ and T2+ I answer: HZ sound wake me up while the T2+ sound make me sleepy.

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

Try the KSC75, you be surprised on how different it is from the porta pro in both profile and quality.

Yes, KSC75 might be more up its alley. Its the more neutral and crisp sounding of the Great 3, which include Portapro and KPH30i, another winner, but the smoother of the bunch too.

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

if IEMs are like drinks, then the T2+ would be water....


mountain spring water that we drink after walking for hours or days without hydration...

so one of it the best plain water that one could ever have

but in the world of sweetened soft drinks and chocolate milks, understandably water would be the last thing people would seek.. unless they're on straight detox diet.

i didn't buy many IEMs this year but the T2+ (and the LZ A7) is definitely one of the best purchase this year, and some of the best sounding for my taste

Great analogy. Good IEM to RESET your ears if your a reviewer or dangerously polygamous iem lover that wanna go from bright to warm or vice versa, use the glass of T2+ water to make your ears fresh again!

I have the Starfield and Final E4000 for that purpose....or Fiio FA9 or BGVP VG4 but i prefer DD timbre.