[money4me247]

dude how long did it take for the dude to listen to all those headphones?!?! there are like hundreds of iems listed. 

 

[tjz1984]

  dude how long did it take for the dude to listen to all those headphones?!?! there are like hundreds of iems listed. 

 WOW!! Great job in reviewing to all the headphones. Seriously wonder how do you actually get the time to do it.

 

[BrecMadak]

Since this topic has not been updated since 2013, is there any other topic that is up-to date with tests including new comers and such ever ?

 

[getclikinagas]

  Since this topic has not been updated since 2013, is there any other topic that is up-to date with tests including new comers and such ever ?

ClieOS still puts out reviews now and again. You can check them out on his profile page or his website www.inearmatters.net
 
ljokerl also has an ongoing multi-IEM thread here on head-fi, and can also be found on his website www.theheadphonelist.com

 

[nessuno1234]

Fabulous thread!!!
I wanna buy a good pair of balanced iem, but some of the stuff reviewed here are not more on the market.
It would be great to see this thread upgraded.
Someone can suggest me a good pair of balanced iem under 100 buck? Thanks 

 

[0MoUsE0]

Damn............. this is a huge post !
 
Thank you very much for all the info too, it must have taken tremendous time to write these

 

[ballaz]

Great roundup and comparison

 

[SilentNote]

While this post may be a bit outdated, it is by far the most helpful thread to help me narrow down IEMs.

 

[Lifted Andreas]

While this post may be a bit outdated, it is by far the most helpful thread to help me narrow down IEMs.

Agree!

I'm wondering if anyone knows what the most well rounded cheapish micro driver IEMs are to try? Not looking to spend more than 30 bucks.

Just have an appetite for new sound.

 

[frankensmurf]

Woudl be interested to hear comarisons to the Shure lineup.

 

[Midcentric]

Thank you man. I'll be investigating this list..

 

[mvw2]

Agree!

I'm wondering if anyone knows what the most well rounded cheapish micro driver IEMs are to try? Not looking to spend more than 30 bucks.

Just have an appetite for new sound.

Some of the challenge in this is there does seem to be a price barrier to entry for anything truly great. Also, the relative scale of pricing on this site and for enthusiasts in general starts higher. For example $30 is barely in the budget realm and a price bracket many ignore. Budget starts in the $50 to $150 range. Mid level is in the $150 to $300 range. High end often exists in the $300 plus and can be well north of $1000. It can get wacky for pricing. There are some absolutely stellar options in the $250 to $400 range that realistically are the "bang for the buck" kings that represent top level sound at a reasonable (relatively speaking) price point. With this said and with the market generally operating in a much higher range of price, there are far fewer good products at a low price point like $30. This doesn't mean there aren't decent products that are cheap. It's just that $30 is the realm of generic Chinese mass production products rather than a name brand manufacturer. Even an entity level name brand will start in the $50 to $80 as the most base level product that offer. Then comes the question is that product worth owning? It's it good enough to buy into? If I add $20, $50, or $100, how much better can I get? Where is the point of diminishing returns? Is the $70 earphone worth every penny? Is the $100 or $130 option that much better? This of course creates a downward spiral until you're spending $1000 on something silly asking the exact same questions.

As for $30, I wish I knew. I know over a decade ago when the IEM craze really started, there were great, cheap options. But everything was brand new and everyone was trying to get into the market space. There were a lot of cool products, great for the time, unique for the time, but I don't think that market space really exists anymore (I could be wrong). The IEM world is pretty well established, and much of the modern play area is in the higher end spectrum where you're often spending $300 plus. There's enough dollars there to do so. On the cheap side, you're basically white labeling a Chinese product with your own branding to exist. I know that market was and still kind of is a big thing, aka chick, but I don't know if the lower price point end is all that active. You might still be starting out at $50 and heading up from there.

This seems like a very interesting website for the whole chifi space, seems to have a lot of details reviews. This might be a very useful tool to select and try out a couple choices.

https://audiobudget.com/leaderboard/iem