[dw1narso]

Can a champ give me a recommendation for this:

Source: samsung tablet, lossless, youtube.

Listening level and time: 20/40mins at a time, high volume.

Listening environment: home.

Preferred sound signature: not necessarily tight bass but full bodied (no midbass lump/bump and no subbass). warm sound. In your face (forward), sweet midrange, upfront voices (not articulated, extended), sparkly high mids i guess (i don't mind harshness or shoutiness) and not a dull or dark low treble (again no soundstage, air or ultra realism for instruments ambitions here) no "ch" and "s" higher treble sibilance recommendations please. engaging, coherent sound (instruments kinda out back, not like 2 ppl talking at the same time type effect, don't want higher treble distractions).

Preferred genre: rock, electronic, mainstream hits (not sad beats, hip hop, pop, R&B?)*, am not the type to sing along i just "bop my head" and take cues from vocals as filler, rhythm... , lounge, ambiance music. Fair amount of classical instruments used i guess but I'll attach my youtube playlist which you may enjoy as well* supposed to be 540 tracks (200 on head-fi) check out the arabic music if you can find it, am Algerian

Price range: ~300 usd though am interested to know what superior choices there are if double that.

Thank you so much and enjoy my playlist i made it just for this yesterday.

As Barusu reply with his post above... this is the forum for budget/under $100 earphones...

BUT...

.... if you never have a real good IEM before, and
.... you can put aside the idea that you HAVE TO spend $300 or even $600, and
.... want to get better audio experience with your tablet and You Tube.... then you might be asking on the right place ...

Seriously, if you never have good IEM before, $50-$100 nowadays can buy you really, really good IEM already... (Check PhoenixSong's wanted list above. They are all seems good ones.)
... and you can use the extra money to buy USB C to 3.5mm dongle DAC ($10 to $200 DAC, even the $10-$30 one can be surprisingly good) which will improve further your experience....

I'm pretty sure the IEM and the USB DAC combo will show much better audio improvement than just allocating all the budget on the IEM.

If you enjoy them... You can stop there...

OR... continue with the next steps..... upload your 'good' MP3 audio file (FLAC would be better if you have) to your tablet, and download audio player app from PlayStore that can drive/use/control the USB DAC exclusively; for example HiBy Player (free), or Neutron or USB Audio Player Pro (the last two are paid app). Set HiBy player to exclusively control the DAC. Use HiBy player to play the uploaded audio file... And VOILA....

 

[LikeHolborn]

Well said, except.. i don't think it's better to buy a 100$ 'phone with dac will get you a better sound than an 300$ standalone value 'phone, even with crappy samsung tablet o.o otherwise you reinvigorated my absence and i feel more like am up to date. Now, i found out about an rha ma750 by searching "shure" or "Sennheiser" sparkly cause those give you a midrange but dull rolled off high end, am looking for happy, exciting, sweet sound caused by rolled off treble but "sparkly" high mids, low treble.

 

[dw1narso]

Well said, except.. i don't think it's better to buy a 100$ 'phone with dac will get you a better sound than an 300$ standalone value 'phone, even with crappy samsung tablet o.o otherwise you reinvigorated my absence and i feel more like am up to date. Now, i found out about an rha ma750 by searching "shure" or "Sennheiser" sparkly cause those give you a midrange but dull rolled off high end, am looking for happy, exciting, sweet sound caused by rolled off treble but "sparkly" high mids, low treble.

Ah then apparently you have explore Head-Fi ...

Then with your believe that your tablet is sufficient as the source and with your budget in mind, you can try check "Discovery" thread.. This thread discussing everything discovered but mostly IEM but not limited by any price range. $300-$600 phones quite often come up there.. Especially since there are so many new and excellent models come up in the past 9 months..

 

[LikeHolborn]

Double well said feature, i will le check discovery thread if i can find the main one, hold on, i think might have already done that but with zero recommendations so far.. any other threads for recommendation?

I wish it was as efficient as it could be, shure/Sennheiser forward kinda mids with sparkly high mids/low treble despite a rolled off higher treble.

Maybe not sparkly low treble, higher. I know the old m50, however that arranged it's treble not to be painful thin kind but just sparkle and give it energy.. unlike Sennheiser with a dull sound, competent but boring.

Maybe just the high mids and low treble that's responsible for making voices/sound forward and later in the high treble for the sparkle with a dip in between to effectively recess treble for listen-ability in higher volumes and coherence in bringing the voices forward and instruments out back. Only seems fundamentally natural like that and what god intended for headphones, speakers is another story.

 

[PhonoPhi]

Well said, except.. i don't think it's better to buy a 100$ 'phone with dac will get you a better sound than an 300$ standalone value 'phone, even with crappy samsung tablet o.o otherwise you reinvigorated my absence and i feel more like am up to date. Now, i found out about an rha ma750 by searching "shure" or "Sennheiser" sparkly cause those give you a midrange but dull rolled off high end, am looking for happy, exciting, sweet sound caused by rolled off treble but "sparkly" high mids, low treble.

Exactly, DAC would be a great idea.
Here is an amazing enthusuast's resource:
https://andyaudiovault.com/donglemadness/#comment-18

Many $100+, even $50+ IEMs will not show their full potential with a smartphone/tablet.

So spending ~$100 on a DAC would be a strategic investment.

Sorry for not advising you on IEM, my listening preferences are quite different.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

You can recommend less that 300$ might even be better recommendation than higher priced one, once you've used all your cumulative experience on the subject...

Basis your requirements, I guess a Harman-ish IEM would be a good solve. Apparently, Geek Wold GK10 is the hottest property at the moment. And, I have one incoming but can't recommend them at the moment as I haven't heard them myself. You can try Moondrop Aria or any of their offerings for that matter.

 

[G777]

Basis your requirements, I guess a Harman-ish IEM would be a good solve. Apparently, Geek Wold GK10 is the hottest property at the moment. And, I have one incoming but can't recommend them at the moment as I haven't heard them myself. You can try Moondrop Aria or any of their offerings for that matter.

Aria is better

 

[PhonoPhi]

Aria is better

Great to hear.
Aria is really great: nicely built, and on top of fairly flat/boring Harman, they added a touch of 5k/10k splash to make it more engaging. While not my personal choice (I am all into all-BAs), iI definitelt see Aria as a single universal IEM that can please most.

 

[Krucoz]

Heart Mirror amazingly sound very very similar to Starfield, very good single DD Value IEM

Hi, not for my ears! Hz are not dull, mids are more vivid. They sound more energetic, Starfield sounds very (too much !?) relaxing.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Aria is better

Probably. Harman is very safe tuning and will mostly appeal to majority users. I wouldn't be surprised if they're better than GK10 because Moondrop has a competent tuning department and their IEMs have good build quality.

 

[LikeHolborn]

Exactly, DAC would be a great idea.
Here is an amazing enthusuast's resource:
https://andyaudiovault.com/donglemadness/#comment-18

Many $100+, even $50+ IEMs will not show their full potential with a smartphone/tablet.

So spending ~$100 on a DAC would be a strategic investment.

Sorry for not advising you on IEM, my listening preferences are quite different.

To think of it a dac can really make a big difference especially if you got a crappy tablet along with it's crappy eq.

I have a limited 'phone try outs library myself.. although if you tried a 'phone with congested soundstage, in your face sound/vocals, recessed treble but not completely dark with energy you might be in the ballpark

Basis your requirements, I guess a Harman-ish IEM would be a good solve. Apparently, Geek Wold GK10 is the hottest property at the moment. And, I have one incoming but can't recommend them at the moment as I haven't heard them myself. You can try Moondrop Aria or any of their offerings for that matter.

Well geek wold gk10 is pretty satisfactory to most here because it's got a wide soundstage (as opposed to depth) among other things, that means for me that it has that painful, uneven treble that most 'phones do (especially at higher volumes), but at the same time i think harman or safe tunings (apple bud, b&w) are almost perfect for me.. i might be on to something.

There is that Japanese illustration i saw somewhere (maybe sony) that shows different soundstages, my preferences is singer front and center.. like old m50

Great to hear.
Aria is really great: nicely built, and on top of fairly flat/boring Harman, they added a touch of 5k/10k splash to make it more engaging. While not my personal choice (I am all into all-BAs), iI definitelt see Aria as a single universal IEM that can please most.

That sounds/might be perfect for me, I'll research it and confirm, thanks alot

..right up my aria code

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Hi, not for my ears! Hz are not dull, mids are more vivid. They sound more energetic, Starfield sounds very (too much !?) relaxing.

Sounding similar in a broad definition which includes technicalities as well, HeartMirror is more bright and Starfield is tuned to Harman curve.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

To think of it a dac can really make a big difference especially if you got a crappy tablet along with it's crappy eq.

I have a limited 'phone try outs library myself.. although if you tried a 'phone with congested soundstage, in your face sound/vocals, recessed treble but not completely dark with energy you might be in the ballpark


Well geek wold gk10 is pretty satisfactory to most here because it's got a wide soundstage (as opposed to depth) among other things, that means for me that it has that painful, uneven treble that most 'phones do (especially at higher volumes), but at the same time i think harman or safe tunings (apple bud, b&w) are almost perfect for me.. i might be on to something.

There is that Japanese illustration i saw somewhere (maybe sony) that shows different soundstages, my preferences is singer front and center.. like old m50

I think you should go for Aria and a good DAC like Fiio BTR5/Qudelix 5k. This is a very competent setup and would cost you ~$200 i.e. well within your budget of ~$300

Tanchjim Tanya for $20 is also a very good one for a backup pair. With extra cash you can get one and still save $80.

 

[LikeHolborn]

Aria sounds like it has more wide soundstage in turn more treble and less excitement at the same time than i desire, maybe less forward too (relatively) in the midrange.

 

[LikeHolborn]

I think you should go for Aria and a good DAC like Fiio BTR5/Qudelix 5k. This is a very competent setup and would cost you ~$200 i.e. well within your budget of ~$300

Tanchjim Tanya for $20 is also a very good one for a backup pair. With extra cash you can get one and still save $80.

We'll save that spot for a more fitting 'phone, meanwhile if that would work (compatible) with a tablet.. on point recommendation thanks , if i could only find one that is priced 80$ and not a 300$ 600$ with ameliorated sound quality with the same sound signature.