[LaughMoreDaily]

I bought the Audio Sense T100 (dynamic - now discontinued) from Beteran HiFi Audio Store, and T180 (Knowles balanced armature) from Audiosense Official Store

What do you think of the T100? I remember at one point you had them in your signature but you've switched them out for the T180. Do you prefer the 180 now? Is it the Pro 180 version you have or what uhh... what's it called, did you put in it? Filter?

I think I prefer the T100 myself, but the T180 has a more unique signature but it's not something I would use daily. Heck, what audiophile uses any headphones daily?

 

[DBaldock9]

What do you think of the T100? I remember at one point you had them in your signature but you've switched them out for the T180. Do you prefer the 180 now? Is it the Pro 180 version you have or what uhh... what's it called, did you put in it? Filter?

I think I prefer the T100 myself, but the T180 has a more unique signature but it's not something I would use daily. Heck, what audiophile uses any headphones daily?

In this case - Stereotypes are accurate:
The dynamic driver in the T100 has better Bass, and the balanced armature in the T180 has better Treble.
.
When I'm laying down to sleep, I prefer the T100, but for general listening to TV and music, I prefer the T180. Although, one of my favorite single balanced armature earphones is actually the less expensive KB Ear F1.
.
I don't have the T180 Pro, which has the Knowles damper/filter in it - but I could order some from AliExpress, for around the price difference between the original T180 and the T180 Pro.

 

[IcarusIX]

I am with you on going over the $100 mark...pretty happy with ZS10 Pro and TFZ Live 3...I would be lying if I did not say that the
Thieaudio Legacy 3 has my attention though.....anybody know how much of an upgrade these would be ?

quick mini initial impression of the L3 for my first few minutes of listening: Wow, if these are considered bassy then I'm glad I didn't go for the Moondrop starfields haha
though I probably need to go ahead and play around with tips.(don't get me wrong, they can shake with subbass and explosive punch with some encouragement from equalizerapo and a shanling amp dac with some edm and bass oriented music, but stock I mean) Best vocals I've heard so far in an iem personally, the sound mids and upwards is wierdly 'different' to the iems I've had so far, I'll try and put in into words later. I'll post more detail later vs the cheaper stuff I tried too
edit: also holy wow comfort, it's my first ciem-styled uiem and after looking at these types of iems, I have always wondered how they fit different ears well and was worried about my own smaller ears, but I reckon I'll be able to sleep in these and I'll likely even use it for VR in HLAlyx, VRChat, Onward, Rec Room, Beatsaber because they really feel like they disappear in my ears (My previous iems weren't uncomfortable at all but this effect is unique to these l3's for me)

 

[Tonymac136]

I don't follow KZ anymore, I'll allow others to be their guinea pigs.

Is the EDX the new best $10 iem?

I own a lot of $10 earphones that I think the next step is $100 iems on sale for $50. (Semkarch CNT1/HiLisening Magic Beans)

The EDX is a good one. With a cable (yeah I know I know, but it genuinely does seem to make a difference) and a pair of Xelastecs (taking the price waaay over $10, it actually competes in the same kind of ballpark as the (new) Blon BL01 and the DQ6. Without the accessories, it's on the same level as the (old) BL01 and the MH750/5, with the advantage of being available unlike the Blon and not massively faked like the Sony. The only thing is if you already have a load of cheap IEMs, they don't really bring anything new to the table.

Regarding $100 earphones on the cheap, I recently bought a pair of Tin P1, which on a few recordings sound amazing but on a lot of others sound "meh". I've also got Sennheiser IE60 which aren't as good as anything out of China in the last year or so and the LZ A6 Mini which I found both slightly underwhelming and had build issues. Oh and the Semkarch CNT1 which I couldn't say is empirically "better" than the Blon BL03, among others. Yet the earphone that I like the most right now, for my own tastes and preferences, is the BL05S.

A higher cost of entry doesn't guarantee a better sound, especially when personal tastes are taken into consideration.

That said if someone can recommend something with the timbre of the BL03, the weighty delivery and separation of the BL05s and a bit more detail than either, with any treble spikes being at the very very most the same as the KZ DQ6 and ideally ever so slightly less, for any money, I'm all ears!

 

[ironbrewer]

I don't follow KZ anymore, I'll allow others to be their guinea pigs.

Is the EDX the new best $10 iem?

I own a lot of $10 earphones that I think the next step is $100 iems on sale for $50. (Semkarch CNT1/HiLisening Magic Beans)

Just got some Hisenior T2U's. I really like them. They come with a good cable and lots of accesories including 7 pairs of eartips, and a nice gasketed plastic case. They sound great to my ears and are $79 shipped.

 

[The3DCie]

I'm skeptical of any KZ... especially after reading this review and comments (and way before that ): https://audio-monkeys.com/in-ear/kz-edx-en/

I do like the white color of the EDX with the copper cable and will probably buy them eventually based on that. And, be disappointed? Except for the physical presentation.

PS: What do you like about them and how often are they used?

Ok, I'm bad at explaining what I hear, I don't have any technical background and I would be an awful reviewer but what I can say is that I like the build (mind you, it's all plastic but that smoke transparent shell is cool, it's lightweight and it disappear in my ears, I really like that), the sound is very coherent if that means anything, in that the music flow naturally.

Sound signature in general is warm, but bass isn't boomy, I was quite surprised that it's so well controlled from a $6 IEM, it's quite quick and doesn't overwhelm the rest of the spectrum. Mids are a bit recessed but not veiled at all and I like the upper mids and treble, even if I've read that a lot of people find them a bit harsh sometimes, I think it has to do with me listening at low volumes?
And, contrary to the review you linked (which is one guy opinion on Internet, even though I'm quite in phase with what he's writing), I find the soundstage to be big with the pair I have, in fact it's even an impressive quality of EDX, which proves, once again, that we all hear things differently.

All in all they are my second most used pair of IEM, just after my TFZ Live1, which are more detailed and lively, but they are the one I use when I just want to get lost in my music, which is the goal of any audio gear imho. They even got a special cable (TRN T2 black, nothing too fancy) for them, just to have a good looking cable to go with!

 

[sinuhe]

Hey, I want to thank you all here for a great discussion where everyone's opinions are appreciated. It's rare these days to have such discussions without drama or personal emotions to get mixed up with actual topic. I've been long time lurker in head-fi and due to this thread I just had to create account and really say I'm really happy I ended reading this thread and seeing your posts here(!)

It's amazing how good quality sound you can get with ~100$ (or even for lot less). What that has caused is that I have re-found my love for the music, all of its small nuances and its emotions. Inspired by the discussion here I set up limit of 100$ to spent in iems to see how good they actually are.

I bought Tin Hifi T2+, HZSound Mirror and Blon BL-03 (I run them from Sonata HD Pro -> Schiit Magni 3+ ->). Reason why I chose those was the I wanted to get three different sounding iem's to actually see what I really want and prefer.

• Blon BL-03 - For the money they're good since you can get them around 20$, still bass bleeding to mids is too much for me. Least used of the bunch.
• HZSound Mirror - Complete opposite of BL-03, clarity and energy in mids & treble are magical but sound stage and bass are lacking. I'm using these with acoustic music and songs where bass doesn't play big role.
• T2+ - Everything sounds good on these, they do everything better than BL-03 but are missing energy and clarify of HZSound Mirrors. Sound stage is wide and instrumental positioning is good. They are neutral but in my books that's only a good thing, since you hear the music as it was intended.

What I also noticed is that dac/amp playing big role in sq. For example Sonata HD Pro sounds so much cleaner than my old Fiio E07K that at the beginning I could not believe it. Anyways, each of those are easily worth the value and they all sound good, when I compare the chi-fi I used to have 10 years ago. They're actually so good that I don't know if its worth to pay more but as most of here know rabbit hole gets deeper and I'm already looking into next steps.

Talking about next steps, I want something neutral that's next step from T2+ and currently I'm thinking between Fiio FH3, Moondrop Starfield and NICEHCK NX7 mk3, any opinions on these? I know these are on fence of sub 100$ but I think many here have gone through this

 

[baskingshark]

Hey, I want to thank you all here for a great discussion where everyone's opinions are appreciated. It's rare these days to have such discussions without drama or personal emotions to get mixed up with actual topic. I've been long time lurker in head-fi and due to this thread I just had to create account and really say I'm really happy I ended reading this thread and seeing your posts here(!)

It's amazing how good quality sound you can get with ~100$ (or even for lot less). What that has caused is that I have re-found my love for the music, all of its small nuances and its emotions. Inspired by the discussion here I set up limit of 100$ to spent in iems to see how good they actually are.

I bought Tin Hifi T2+, HZSound Mirror and Blon BL-03 (I run them from Sonata HD Pro -> Schiit Magni 3+ ->). Reason why I chose those was the I wanted to get three different sounding iem's to actually see what I really want and prefer.

• Blon BL-03 - For the money they're good since you can get them around 20$, still bass bleeding to mids is too much for me. Least used of the bunch.
• HZSound Mirror - Complete opposite of BL-03, clarity and energy in mids & treble are magical but sound stage and bass are lacking. I'm using these with acoustic music and songs where bass doesn't play big role.
• T2+ - Everything sounds good on these, they do everything better than BL-03 but are missing energy and clarify of HZSound Mirrors. Sound stage is wide and instrumental positioning is good. They are neutral but in my books that's only a good thing, since you hear the music as it was intended.

What I also noticed is that dac/amp playing big role in sq. For example Sonata HD Pro sounds so much cleaner than my old Fiio E07K that at the beginning I could not believe it. Anyways, each of those are easily worth the value and they all sound good, when I compare the chi-fi I used to have 10 years ago. They're actually so good that I don't know if its worth to pay more but as most of here know rabbit hole gets deeper and I'm already looking into next steps.

Talking about next steps, I want something neutral that's next step from T2+ and currently I'm thinking between Fiio FH3, Moondrop Starfield and NICEHCK NX7 mk3, any opinions on these? I know these are on fence of sub 100$ but I think many here have gone through this

I would recommend the LZ A7. 10 potential sound signatures from V shaped to U shaped to neutralish. Good fit and good isolation, extremely good technicalities. Timbre is very good for a pizeo/BA hybrid, but the higher frequencies handled by the strings can still sound a bit artificial, so it ain't as good as a single DD timbre, but beats most other hybrids in timbre. Good mesh of timbre, technicalities and tonality in this set, my recommended endgame midfi set if you wanna upgrade from the budget segment. I think only diehard bassheads will not have suitable tuning config.

 

[Banbeucmas]

I'm not really a metalhead, but I have found myself listening to a lot more metal with the Blon BL05S (s model, not plural) than any other IEM. It has a weight and a punch to its presentation and it, while not having a huge soundstage, separates instruments so well it is easy to hear what is going on even in complex and heavily distorted sections of music.

BL-05s imo is the best BLON out there rn. And that was what the BL-05 should have been. What a pity that they missed the chance.

 

[baskingshark]

BL-05s imo is the best BLON out there rn. And that was what the BL-05 should have been. What a pity that they missed the chance.

+1 to this.

But too bad the BLON BL-05S comes in a garish green colour, I've a few friends who outright won't buy it cause of the colour. Also, I suspect quite a few folks got burned by the BL-05 (non S) and are scared to get the BL-05S.

 

[whirlwind]

+1 to this.

But too bad the BLON BL-05S comes in a garish green colour, I've a few friends who outright won't buy it cause of the colour. Also, I suspect quite a few folks got burned by the BL-05 (non S) and are scared to get the BL-05S.

I am not fond of that green color either.

 

[Slater]

+1 to this.

But too bad the BLON BL-05S comes in a garish green colour, I've a few friends who outright won't buy it cause of the colour. Also, I suspect quite a few folks got burned by the BL-05 (non S) and are scared to get the BL-05S.

Yes and yes.

 

[Nimweth]

I am not fond of that green color either.

I like it! Definite 50s vibe.

 

[RONJA MESCO]

I am not fond of that green color either.

Amen and amen...that color threw me off too...and it looks like a cheap earbud that comes with a cheap MP3 player. Yeah, we want budgety good things, but Blon needed to class this thing up a bit more.

 

[RONJA MESCO]

In some ways, you're looking for the Tinhifi T4.

It's warm-neutral, has a respectable bass by TinHifi standards, treble is revealing but isn't outrageous.

However, I can't easily recommend it because:

-the fit is awkward, as it still uses last-gen bullet-shaped housings

-isolation is poor

-MMCX connectors could lead to issues


OTOH, it is considered the $100 reference set for a reason. It usually reproduces the audio somewhat like must have been intended, which is not something I can say for all IEMs. [With its average soundstage, listening to it is like looking at an accurate photo of a painting through a small hole].

It is good for alternative, in my experience. And it has the detail you are looking for. Fairly easily driven.

There's the aformentioned IT00. It's supposed to be crisp and bassy from what I understand. Almost certainly has greater bass texture than the T4.


Given the specific music genres requested, maybe a recent KZ like the ZSX or ZAX?


Maybe should recommend something like the BQEYZ KB100? Supposed to be a balanced set. Decent isolation. Easily driven. Enough bass for rock.

I need to try the Tin iems..I always avoided them for some odd reason. But maybe its time to check out the hype...it dont hurt.