[astranberg]

Hello friends!

I am hoping somebody with experience may be able to help me decide which IEM to buy in the $150 to $300 price range.

I currently own two headphones, the HD6XX from Massdrop and the VSONIC GR06. I love my GR06 to death, but its cable is unfortunately breaking at multiple points and it is time to move on.

I have very limited exposure to hifi, but I'll to my best to describe what I like.

What I like about GR06: Decent sound-stage and immerses me in the music. It feels overall well balanced. The bass is warm although I wish it was a bit tighter. Highs feel smooth. Being my first high quality headphone (albeit certainly budget), these IEMs give me detail I had never heard in my music before.

Music I listen to: Although I play bass myself, jazz is only about 15% of what I listen to. When I do listen to jazz I would want the bass to be a strength, although not overpowering. Most of what I listen to is contemporary music, alternative christian and worship music. Examples include Switchfoot, needtobreathe, young oceans, hillsong, norah jones, phil wickham, and then of course bassists like victor wooten, stanley clarke, marcus miller etc.

I play music from my PC and my Galaxy S9+. I don't have any amplifiers or anything like that, although I may look into that arena in the coming months.

Nearly must have:

• Bass is a strength but not overpowering
• Replaceable cords (I'm frustrated my GR06 cord is crap now)
• Soundstage is a strength
• Amping isn't a must (although I may purchase one in the future)

Headphones I have considered:

• Audiosense T800 ($290) - currently the one I want, but at $300 it's at the top of my budget. Advice that would help me most is if you can convince me a cheaper set is just as good or better, or convince me it's out of this world good at that price range.
• Brainwavz B400 ($150) -
• Alpha & Delta KS3 ($150) -
• iBasso IT01s ($180) -
• Final Audio Design E4000 ($150) -
• Moondrop Kansas Pro ($180)

Thank you all in advanced for your help!
Adam

 

[PaganDL]

Hi @astranberg / Adam,

IT 01 is a solid choice

I suggest the following IEMs in no particular order :

iBasso IT01s
Sony IER M7 (Not sure latest US price so may stretch your budget)
Audio Technica E70
AAW A3H
Tipsy Dunmer
Periodic Audio C (5 Year Warranty will have you covered in the unlikely event the cable gets ripped out through wear & tear but it is sturdier than it looks)


There are potentially a few other options though you may have to stretch your budget a little.

Feel free to ask more if you need.

Hope you have a great day !

 

[astranberg]

Hey @PaganDL ,thanks for the reply.

Can you speak to the difference between the IT01s and the T800? I’m also very interested in the brainwavz B400 and the alpha delta KS3, if you can compare any of those.

‘thank you

 

[baskingshark]

Hello friends!

I am hoping somebody with experience may be able to help me decide which IEM to buy in the $150 to $300 price range.

I currently own two headphones, the HD6XX from Massdrop and the VSONIC GR06. I love my GR06 to death, but its cable is unfortunately breaking at multiple points and it is time to move on.

I have very limited exposure to hifi, but I'll to my best to describe what I like.

What I like about GR06: Decent sound-stage and immerses me in the music. It feels overall well balanced. The bass is warm although I wish it was a bit tighter. Highs feel smooth. Being my first high quality headphone (albeit certainly budget), these IEMs give me detail I had never heard in my music before.

Music I listen to: Although I play bass myself, jazz is only about 15% of what I listen to. When I do listen to jazz I would want the bass to be a strength, although not overpowering. Most of what I listen to is contemporary music, alternative christian and worship music. Examples include Switchfoot, needtobreathe, young oceans, hillsong, norah jones, phil wickham, and then of course bassists like victor wooten, stanley clarke, marcus miller etc.

I play music from my PC and my Galaxy S9+. I don't have any amplifiers or anything like that, although I may look into that arena in the coming months.

Nearly must have:

• Bass is a strength but not overpowering
• Replaceable cords (I'm frustrated my GR06 cord is crap now)
• Soundstage is a strength
• Amping isn't a must (although I may purchase one in the future)

Headphones I have considered:

• Audiosense T800 ($290) - currently the one I want, but at $300 it's at the top of my budget. Advice that would help me most is if you can convince me a cheaper set is just as good or better, or convince me it's out of this world good at that price range.
• Brainwavz B400 ($150) -
• Alpha & Delta KS3 ($150) -
• iBasso IT01s ($180) -
• Final Audio Design E4000 ($150) -
• Moondrop Kansas Pro ($180)

Thank you all in advanced for your help!
Adam

Hi i use IEMs for both stage monitoring and casual music listening.
In general IEMs have Dynamic (DD) or Balanced armature (BA) drivers. In general, the DD tend to have better tonality and timbre and sound more natural for acoustic instruments while the BAs generally have better details/clarity/instrument separation. There's hybrids which have both DD and BA to get the best of both worlds, but they may have crossover issues.

The T800 is my end game all BA set IEM. I actually use it mostly for stage monitoring due to its great details and isolation (30 dB).
It is about $260 - 280 during 11/11 on aliexpress with coupons. It excels at details, clarity, instrument separation and imaging. It's a U shaped sound signature (boosted bass and treble).
But the treble frequencies are quite hot and bright, so not the best option if u are treble sensitive. There's ways to tame the treble a bit such as knowles filters, eartip change and cable change though. It's not a warm signature but quite in your face with details, so it's not the same signature as the GR06.
I've heard some $1000 - 2500 USD IEMs and the T800 can hit about 80% sound quality of some of these TOTL models, so not too shabby for the price. Some folks in the audiosense thread said T800 can hit 80 - 90% sound quality of a campfire andromeda (though i never heard the latter before). It definitely beats some of my more expensive western midfi multidriver IEMs like the westones and shures in details and clarity for sure.

T800 is very source sensitive. If u use it with a low end smart phone, it won't sound too far away from some 50 buck CHIFI set like the KZs. But give a good source and source file and it will extract a superb amount of details and dynamics. Soundstage is wide, but not as wide as some TOTL sets.

I actually find it too detailed sometimes. When i wanna chill back and relax, i actually use some single DD IEMs (an example of a DD is your moondrop kanas pro, though i don't have it). These generally have less details but are more "musical".

So it really depends what u are looking for in your music, but T800 ia suitable for most genres, great bang for buck. U can read more or ask the others in the audiosense thread.

Kanas pro is discontinued from what i know, so u gotta get its successor the KXXS, which has some improvements.

I haven't heard the others in your list, but good luck in your search and all the best!

 

[nishan99]

These seem to fulfil your needs (~$100)

 

[serman005]

Good suggestions above. That said, you know what, if you are looking to maybe keep the budget down just a bit and still get a lot of performance in the areas you mention, I think you should at least consider the IT01. It does a lot right for the modest money and it is very fun. Just a thought.

You know, in this hobby of ours we sometimes spend enormous amounts of cash for pretty modest improvements in performance. Same thing is true in my other hobby, cycling. I think at times we lose sight of the concept of value. I'm sure I will take a beating for sharing this, but I think it's true. I am as guilty as anyone in chasing the headphone dream. But my little secret is that I often get more enjoyment from lower-performing, less spendy stuff, because it is such a damn good value. It makes me happy. Like a ZS10 Pro or an IT01, for example.

Anyhow, if keeping the budget down a bit is a potential goal, I cannot imagine you being unhappy with either of the above, given your fondness for the GR06.

 

[CoryGillmore]

Brother if you are running that 6xx straight from a PC then you haven't really heard them yet. Spend that $300 on a desktop amp/DAC combo device like the Burson Play or similar and be blown away by them!

 

[baskingshark]

Good suggestions above. That said, you know what, if you are looking to maybe keep the budget down just a bit and still get a lot of performance in the areas you mention, I think you should at least consider the IT01. It does a lot right for the modest money and it is very fun. Just a thought.

You know, in this hobby of ours we sometimes spend enormous amounts of cash for pretty modest improvements in performance. Same thing is true in my other hobby, cycling. I think at times we lose sight of the concept of value. I'm sure I will take a beating for sharing this, but I think it's true. I am as guilty as anyone in chasing the headphone dream. But my little secret is that I often get more enjoyment from lower-performing, less spendy stuff, because it is such a damn good value. It makes me happy. Like a ZS10 Pro or an IT01, for example.

Anyhow, if keeping the budget down a bit is a potential goal, I cannot imagine you being unhappy with either of the above, given your fondness for the GR06.

There's definitely diminishing returns in this hobby.
I find the last 10 - 20% sound quality is where the TOTL stuff provide compared to the midfi stuff.

It's really up to the individual whether they are ok with getting a good price to performance ratio or they wanna pay much more to chase that marginal improvement. Nothing right or wrong, it's subjective and at the end of the day just set a budget for your self and be comfortable with it, and most importantly, enjoy the music, that's what we are here for.

 

[astranberg]

I appreciate all the feedback, @baskingshark @serman005 . I am certainly leaning IT01S now.

since they’re all in the same price range, can anybody speak between the following headphones (given what I like...see OP)

• Brainwavz B400 ($150)
• Alpha & Delta KS3 ($150)
• iBasso IT01s ($180)
• 
  

  Brother if you are running that 6xx straight from a PC then you haven't really heard them yet. Spend that $300 on a desktop amp/DAC combo device like the Burson Play or similar and be blown away by them!

  
  yes yes I know @CoryGillmore . Again, I don’t have a huge budget can you point me in the right direction? I’m not sure but think I want a portable amp I could use with my S9+.
• 
  edit: looking at the Magni 1 from schist based on some searching. Can somebody please explain if I need a dac and what all that stuff means?.....you can link me to an faq that’s fine lol

 

[CoryGillmore]

I appreciate all the feedback, @baskingshark @serman005 . I am certainly leaning IT01S now.

since they’re all in the same price range, can anybody speak between the following headphones (given what I like...see OP)

• Brainwavz B400 ($150)
• Alpha & Delta KS3 ($150)
• iBasso IT01s ($180)
• 
  
  
  yes yes I know @CoryGillmore . Again, I don’t have a huge budget can you point me in the right direction? I’m not sure but think I want a portable amp I could use with my S9+.
• 
  edit: looking at the Magni 1 from schist based on some searching. Can somebody please explain if I need a dac and what all that stuff means?.....you can link me to an faq that’s fine lol

Yes you'll really need a DAC. To bypass the onbard DAC (digial to analog converter) that's on your mother board. I suggest an all in one device (DAC and amp in one box) to keep things simple. And I suggest you buy used from the forums. I snagged a Burson Audio Play for $150 last spring and it was money well spent. Was also my first proper desktop setup after a decade of pissing money away on portables. If you're wanting to involve your S9 I'd just suggest getting some IEMs, like you want and plugging them directly into the phone. I mean you can buy a DAC/amp like the Dragonfly Red if you want, but it's not nessecary for most IEMs. But since you already own a 6xx I really suggest a good desktop amp/DAC. I wouldn't bother trying to get a portable for the 6xx, I mean it can be done but your money goes so much further with desktop gear in comparison to portable gear, where you pay a huge premium for portablity.

 

[serman005]

My HD650 is still one of my favorite headphones. Just start a little desktop DAC/amp fund and slowly fund it. In time, you'll be able to get something like the Schiit stack or maybe an Atom and one of the other good, affordable DACs. Or, in my own personal opinion, even better would be a DarkVoice 336SE plus a decent budget for tube rolling to upgrade. That setup with the HD650/6XX is a ton of fun and great value for the cash. Just my take and everyone's mileage of course, varies.

 

[astranberg]

@CoryGillmore I will definitely look into a desktop setup.

Now back on track.

Can anybody speak between the following headphones (given what I like...see OP)

• Brainwavz B400 ($150)
• Alpha & Delta KS3 ($150)
• iBasso IT01s ($180)

 

[astranberg]

If anybody can give feedback on the IT01S vs B400 vs KS3, please do so here:
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/help-b400-vs-ks3-vs-it01s.918974/