[piknikkopi]

A lot more.oney, but have you considered Thieaudio Voyager 3? It's another on my list. Not as popular as it's Legacy 3 brother but it is sporting 3 authentic Knowles drivers to includes 2 tuning dip switches. It was tuned to be similar to V14 which was designed as a reference monitor.

That's too big of a price jump though. I don't think I'm ready to be commited to that level of purchase.. yet

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

That's too big of a price jump though. I don't think I'm ready to be commited to that level of purchase.. yet

I've been wasting my money on hifi audio gear for 30+ years. fwiw, midfi is the budget tier endgame. You can live there for a long time and save a considerable amount of money instead of buying pair after pair of budget tier gear and never being quite satisfied.

Big fan myself of thundercat and badbadnotgood! Also fwiw, these sound great on the new CCA NRA. The price is right but you've got to keep expectations low'ish. You might also like KZ DQ6. Neither of those two sets are especially reference tuned but they both have tight and fast bass and have good treble. I love both pair.

 

[piknikkopi]

I've been wasting my money on hifi audio gear for 30+ years. fwiw, midfi is the budget tier endgame. You can live there for a long time and save a considerable amount of money instead of buying pair after pair of budget tier gear and never being quite satisfied.

Big fan myself of thundercat and badbadnotgood! Also fwiw, these sound great on the new CCA NRA. The price is right but you've got to keep expectations low'ish. You might also like KZ DQ6. Neither of those two sets are especially reference tuned but they both have tight and fast bass and have good treble. I love both pair.

That is actually a really good point. I've been cycling through a whole bunch of cheap IEMs, and most of the times I told myself "Why did I even buy that if I end up wanting more."

I read up a little bit about DQ6 and those seems to be good for the price. Rikudougoku even rank it with a bunch of far higher priced IEM. I will also look into NRA.
I'll also look more into Heart Mirror. But what you said really got me thinking into saving more for higher tier of IEMs haha

Appreciate all of youse's recs guys

 

[dw1narso]

Could you PM me or drop a link of where you bought them from? Most of them are like $70 and above, no product photo and no reviews.

I checked Toped and Shopee... Wow I'm surprised... the local price now increased a lot. I got it from Moticc store at Toped at about $50 last time (about 3months ago)

 

[cdsa35000]

Don't miss these: Jcally EP05 , JC10 Bio-cel Endgame $16 worth $1000!
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/jcally-ep05-jc10-bio-cel-endgame-16-worth-1000.959655/

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Hi everyone, I have been reading KZ, CCA, Kbear, and this thread from end of 2020 posts.

I am loving my Kbear Lark and trying to add to my collection but trying to up the price a little bit, looking for good detail with better technicality. Based on the posts I read, people might say I like neutral and slightly bright sound.
Trying to find something around $50, can go up but not much. I'd prefer sub $50

Some people recommended HE01, FH1S, TFZ Live 3 (<-- these three might be a little bit over my budget), ZAX, CCA C10 Pro, TFZ Live 1, Kbear KB04. But not sure which of these pairs' sound profile matches my search for Kbear Lark upgrade.

I'd suggest look no further than Heart Mirror. It's probably the best bright neutral IEM with brilliant technicalities under $50. Save your money and buy some other gear to bolster your arsenal if you have some extra cash to spare. They're by far my favorite IEM in this price range.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

x3 for Heart Mirror hype. This one is high on my list too for a neutral-bright budget set with good technicalities.

You sir, should get it because I know that you will definitely like them. They're too good for that price bracket.

 

[ExTubeGamer]

Don't miss these: Jcally EP05 , JC10 Bio-cel Endgame $16 worth $1000!
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/jcally-ep05-jc10-bio-cel-endgame-16-worth-1000.959655/

I find it hard to believe that an inexpensive earbud is that detailed.

 

[cdsa35000]

I find it hard to believe that an inexpensive earbud is that detailed.

Thats why I said hearing is believing. Just look at the tech. Bio-cel diaphragm for natural sound timbres, since they are here very thin, they sounds like electrostats easy non harsh detailed mids/high with pure aluminium voice coil, thats high ends stuff.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

You sir, should get it because I know that you will definitely like them. They're too good for that price bracket.

There's a pair that's been sitting in my AliE cart for like a month but ... I need another IEM right now like I need a free puppy

 

[dw1narso]

There's a pair that's been sitting in my AliE cart for like a month but ... I need another IEM right now like I need a free puppy

My buy wasn't really blind. I carefully read between the lines the strength and weakness the reviews. I owe to Baskingshark for his patient guidance on Heart Mirror.

 

[SpaceOperaVillain]

My buy wasn't really blind. I carefully read between the lines the strength and weakness the reviews. I owe to Baskingshark for his patient guidance on Heart Mirror.

Indeed. This IEM was ranked very highly by a handful of more experienced folks that gave it a try, but it hasn't really seen a large demand from any hype ... just steady streams of compliments. Nothing better you could say about a HP than that.

 

[dw1narso]

Indeed. This IEM was ranked very highly by a handful of more experienced folks that gave it a try, but it hasn't really seen a large demand from any hype ... just steady streams of compliments. Nothing better you could say about a HP than that.

I saw that you list CCA C12 as Jazz Master... I wonder what would be your thought about Heart Mirror...

(I listen to Brubeck, Bill Evans, Brad Mehldau, Chick Corea, RTF, Pat Metheny, Fourplay, Miles Davis, Harry Connick Jr., Sarah Vaugh, Ella F., Carol Kidd, Mel Torme, Louis Armstrong, Astor Piazolla, Garry Burton, Holly Cole, Mark Isham, James Carter, John Coltrane, to name some...)

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

There's a pair that's been sitting in my AliE cart for like a month but ... I need another IEM right now like I need a free puppy

Wait for sales as you can get them for as low as $30-33. Honestly, I can call it quits to this hobby by purchasing a couple of more Heart Mirrors because they're that good. But I have some nuts in my head loose as I want to spend my hard earned money of Chi-fi roulette to try various tunings and experiences.

 

[AmericanSpirit]

Hi everyone, I have been reading KZ, CCA, Kbear, and this thread from end of 2020 posts.

I am loving my Kbear Lark and trying to add to my collection but trying to up the price a little bit, looking for good detail with better technicality. Based on the posts I read, people might say I like neutral and slightly bright sound.
Trying to find something around $50, can go up but not much. I'd prefer sub $50

Some people recommended HE01, FH1S, TFZ Live 3 (<-- these three might be a little bit over my budget), ZAX, CCA C10 Pro, TFZ Live 1, Kbear KB04. But not sure which of these pairs' sound profile matches my search for Kbear Lark upgrade.

You can remove a hex filter of stock Moondrop Aria 2021 to make it close to KBEar Lark's bright-neutral signature, and it is a considerable upgrade. Aria on sale could go as low as $69 USD. HZ Sound Heart Mirror is also a bright neutral tuned single DD, but Aria's sound is more natural.

I have both KBEar Lark 4K(old version), and new Lark, Robin, pretty much all new CCA / KZ / Moondrop IEMs as well.
TFZ Live 3 < nah too V-shape, you won't like it.
ZAX< not your liking sound, it's still U-shape with bits of spikes compared to Lark
CCA C10 Pro < too V-shaped
TFZ Live 1< basically all TFZ are V-tuned
Kbear KB04<< KB04 is actually a discontinued product, replaced by Robin (4BA+1), it's warm-neutral-ish sounding with V-accents, but technicalities aren't far from Lark, only slight upgrades.

For sub $50, with a bright neutral approach close to Lark with a significant sound enhancement, is GeekWold GK10, it has a slightly higher mid-bass floor compared to Lark, but it can be adjusted by ear-tips with the likes of SpinFit CP360.