[olivierhacking]

I'm looking for a Chifi IEM, mainly into EDM music but also soft rock or classical. I appreciate sub bass and a wide soundstage, in addition to some isolation (although I have silicon/foam tips for that as well).

I am currently using the Trinity Audio Phantom Master 4 but they pickup the noisy hiss of my laptop (impedance of these is 16Ω).
And yes, I know using a USB DAC or similar is better, but no, I cannot afford carrying any more things with me sadly!

So far I think the TRN V90 may be a good match, but I don't know if a 6Ω higher impedance will get rid of the hiss from my laptop... and if they will perform as well overall as my Phantom Master 4's. Hope to hear from you all!

 

[baskingshark]

I'm looking for a Chifi IEM, mainly into EDM music but also soft rock or classical. I appreciate sub bass and a wide soundstage, in addition to some isolation (although I have silicon/foam tips for that as well). Too many options out there!

I am currently using the Trinity Audio Phantom Master 4 but they pickup the noisy static of my laptop (impedance of these is 16Ω).
Hoping to find a Chifi IEM that has some more impedance as to not pickup this noise (please correct me if I'm wrong there), with the above characteristics
And yes, I know using a USB DAC or similar is better, but no, I cannot afford carrying any more things with me sadly!

A high sensitivity is the determining factor in noise/hiss, not impedance --> https://www.head-fi.org/threads/is-...y-more-influential-in-hiss-for-an-iem.915705/

I asked this question in the sound science forum and that's the predominant consensus, so you should look for something with a lower sensitivity, otherwise u can make do with an Impedance mismatch device, inline volume controller or an DAC/amp to remove the hiss (though options one and two may or may not degrade the audio quality). Anyway, just my 2 cents, but most laptop audio output is not optimal, they are generally noisy, and it would be a waste to use an expensive IEM with the default laptop audio messing it up with background noise. There's lots of cheap dongle type USB dac/amps that don't take up much weight and space to improve the on board laptop audio IMHO.

Anyway for your CHIFI IEM question, what is your budget?

 

[linkzex]

What is the best budget chifi that has a bullet style (like t2) instead of the over ear design that many chifis seem to have? Looking for one with decent bass as an upgrade from t2

 

[Nimweth]

What is the best budget chifi that has a bullet style (like t2) instead of the over ear design that many chifis seem to have? Looking for one with decent bass as an upgrade from t2

You could do worse than the KZ ED9 (with gold filter). Very good value and bass is excellent with that filter. You also have another filter which gives a more balanced sound. They are very comfortable to wear too.

 

[Nimweth]

I'm looking for a Chifi IEM, mainly into EDM music but also soft rock or classical. I appreciate sub bass and a wide soundstage, in addition to some isolation (although I have silicon/foam tips for that as well).

I am currently using the Trinity Audio Phantom Master 4 but they pickup the noisy hiss of my laptop (impedance of these is 16Ω).
And yes, I know using a USB DAC or similar is better, but no, I cannot afford carrying any more things with me sadly!

So far I think the TRN V90 may be a good match, but I don't know if a 6Ω higher impedance will get rid of the hiss from my laptop... and if they will perform as well overall as my Phantom Master 4's. Hope to hear from you all!

The V90 is a good choice. You might also consider the BQEYZ BQ3 and KZ ZS7, both of these excel with sub bass, have good soundstage and isolation. I don't know about the impedance specifications, though.

 

[genck]

You don't pick an IEM based off of hiss from prior headphones, IEM's. You fix the problem of your source first.

 

[RikudouGoku]

What is the best budget chifi that has a bullet style (like t2) instead of the over ear design that many chifis seem to have? Looking for one with decent bass as an upgrade from t2

Ve bonus IE 20 usd, very bassy and dark iem.

 

[xanlamin]

BIE is not bad for USD20. The build is pretty good.

 

[olivierhacking]

A high sensitivity is the determining factor in noise/hiss, not impedance --> https://www.head-fi.org/threads/is-...y-more-influential-in-hiss-for-an-iem.915705/

I asked this question in the sound science forum and that's the predominant consensus, so you should look for something with a lower sensitivity, otherwise u can make do with an Impedance mismatch device, inline volume controller or an DAC/amp to remove the hiss (though options one and two may or may not degrade the audio quality). Anyway, just my 2 cents, but most laptop audio output is not optimal, they are generally noisy, and it would be a waste to use an expensive IEM with the default laptop audio messing it up with background noise. There's lots of cheap dongle type USB dac/amps that don't take up much weight and space to improve the on board laptop audio IMHO.

Anyway for your CHIFI IEM question, what is your budget?

The V90 is a good choice. You might also consider the BQEYZ BQ3 and KZ ZS7, both of these excel with sub bass, have good soundstage and isolation. I don't know about the impedance specifications, though.

Thank you for that interesting resource @baskingshark , good to know sensitivity is what mainly governs hiss! I do believe a DAC has a lot to offer compared to onboard audio. But I want the most plug-and-play setup I can have...
Do you reckon $50 Chifi IEMs (my budget +-) are worth getting a DAC for then?
I could also just stick to my Phantom IEMs if I were to get a DAC, but I wonder how much better (if at all) the BQEYZ BQ3, for example, is compared to my IEMs.

Anyway: I see my Phantom Master 4's have a sensitivity of 108db/mW. The TRN V90 is 110db/mW whereas the BQEYZ BQ3 is 95db/mW. I wonder if the latter would hiss hooked up directly to my laptop, seeing it is 13db/mW less sensitive.

 

[genck]

Thank you for that interesting resource @baskingshark
Do you reckon $50 Chifi IEMs (my budget +-) are worth getting a DAC for then?

YES! If you want complete clarity with a bit of fun you can go for something like the Khadas tone board+JDS labs atom. Or for more fun something like the magni 3+, topping d50s. There is quite a difference even with $50 IEM's.

 

[baskingshark]

Thank you for that interesting resource @baskingshark , good to know sensitivity is what mainly governs hiss! I do believe a DAC has a lot to offer compared to onboard audio. But I want the most plug-and-play setup I can have...
Do you reckon $50 Chifi IEMs (my budget +-) are worth getting a DAC for then?
I could also just stick to my Phantom IEMs if I were to get a DAC, but I wonder how much better (if at all) the TRN V90, for example, is compared to my IEMs.

Anyway: I see my Phantom Master 4's have a sensitivity of 108db/mW. The TRN V90 is 110db/mW whereas the BQEYZ BQ3 is 95db/mW. I wonder if the latter would hiss hooked up directly to my laptop, seeing it is 13db/mW less sensitive.

Hard to say what value sensitivity will hiss on your laptop until you try it out for yourself as each laptop's specs are different. But I would consider 108 db/mW to be high in general, I usually get hiss around 104 dB/mW onwards on my smartphone/laptops without a DAC/AMP. For your Phantom Masters, does the hiss become negligible once music starts playing? If so then that's no biggie, but if you are very troubled about the noise even with music playing, then the only options would be the above we discussed (impedance mismatch device, inline volume controller, DAC/AMP) or to change the source.

Not only does the DAC/AMP remove noise/hiss, but it helps improve soundstage/details/clarity to some extent (some IEMs/cans have big difference with DAC/AMP, some less so). After going down the DAC/AMP route, nowadays I can't listen to music at home purely from a laptop/smartphone, maybe my ears are spoilt. I use DAC/AMP all the time now, even with a cheap $6 Sony MH755 I find improvements than without amping.

A cheap entry level plug and play USB DAC/AMP would be the Hidizs/Tempotec sonata HD, sub $30. It's not the best sound wise, but affordable.
There's rave reviews for these DACs here you can check out, I don't have them but a lot of headfiers use them, and they'll probably be better than the sonata HD: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/e1d...-pdv2-9038s-9038d-9038x-hifitoy-hptoy.915835/
I'm sure others can recommend some DAC/AMPs too.

 

[CoiL]

BIE is not bad for USD20. The build is pretty good.

It IS BAD when you get bad unit (like I did). Otherwise great budget IEM.

 

[Nimweth]

My review of the Tin Hifi T4 is here:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/tin-hifi-t4.24037/reviews

 

[yseviel]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I didnt realize what I was looking for was a DAC so I will redirect to the correct thread!

 

[kukkurovaca]

And yes, I know using a USB DAC or similar is better, but no, I cannot afford carrying any more things with me sadly!

There are dac integrated iem cables on the market for usb-c. Might be worth researching if you truly cannot deal with an extra dongle : )