[athani]

Need: An IEM
Use: almost exclusively at home/indoors
Source: exclusively iPhone - I have the dongle so I don’t need IEM with lightning
Music genre: pretty much everything
Budget: under $1000
Genre: pretty much everything. I think I would like a slightly warm/dark sound signature

Although I’ll be using the IEM at home, I would not like the hassle of having to use an amp and/or dac. Appreciate suggestions..

 

[surfgeorge]

The Sony IER-M9 is an excellent IEM with a warm signature.
It's a bit more mid centric and being a full BA IEM does not move a lot of air in the bass, so it doesn't really thump and rumble but still has good bass quantity and quality. It has excellent resolution with a little emphasis on upper treble and great vocals, both male and female. Overall a really coherent listen with good attack and decay, avoiding the smearing of a DD and the overly sharp decay of many BA IEMs.

Just be aware that the Apple dongle will not extract the best performance from the M9.
my main sources are the Chord Mojo 2 and Hugo 2 with the corresponding streamers. They sound livlier, more defined, have a much clearer stage and texture. Especially on the Hugo2Go the M9 delivers excellent sound quality.

 

[baskingshark]

I second the Sony IER M9!

Warm neutral, excellent technicalities, natural timbre. It is a bit hard to drive though.

 

[athani]

I have a follow-up question.

I’ll be getting the Sony IER M9 to listen to hi-res lossless on my iPhone. Will a DAC/Amp enhance the listening experience over using the Apple lightning to 3.5mm dongle? If yes, could you please recommend portable dongle-style DAC/Amps. Would prefer the ones that don’t need charging. Thank you

 

[baskingshark]

I have a follow-up question.

I’ll be getting the Sony IER M9 to listen to hi-res lossless on my iPhone. Will a DAC/Amp enhance the listening experience over using the Apple lightning to 3.5mm dongle? If yes, could you please recommend portable dongle-style DAC/Amps. Would prefer the ones that don’t need charging. Thank you

What's your budget for a dongle DAC/AMP?

 

[athani]

What's your budget for a dongle DAC/AMP?

Thanks for the reply. I hadn’t given it a thought since I thought dongle style devices couldn’t cost more than a few 100 bucks. I suppose I could spend 3-400 if necessary. Cheaper would do too..

 

[oknenir]

Questyle M12 is pretty good and tiny. There is also M15 which adds more power and balanced HP output, not sure if adss SQ. For IEMs I think it's redundant.

For home use Cayin RU6 works well also (a bit bulky for outdoors).

 

[baskingshark]

Thanks for the reply. I hadn’t given it a thought since I thought dongle style devices couldn’t cost more than a few 100 bucks. I suppose I could spend 3-400 if necessary. Cheaper would do too..

Would recommend the Questyle M15. It has 3.5 mm and 4.4 mm outputs, no hiss with sensitive IEMs, dead neutral, and has a great mix of musicality and technicalities. Great timbre and doesn't use much power too. Great pairing with the Sony M9 on both outputs. It sells around $200ish

 

[Deferenz]

Some portable dac/amps worth checking out are:

Lotto Paw S1 and S2
Luxury & Precision W2
Cayin RU6
iFi Go Blue
Audioquest Dragonfly Red and Cobalt
Chord Mojo and Mojo 2 (bit bulky but great sound)

 

[athani]

Thank you everyone for the advice. Appreciate it

 

[gobu]

I do not have a IEM recommendation as I have only owned the cheaper ones, but I do use Apple music hi res lossless with my IEM and headphones. The only way of doing this cleanly would be a portable DAC AMP as the standard lightning to 3.5mm dongle won't be able to handle hi res lossless but only the lossless. Cannot say if it will affect the sound quality but if you are streaming hi res lossless , might as well make sure your setup can handle it.

I have a Fiio BTR5 2021 Apple edition, this ones comes with a lightning to type c cable in the box. Hi res lossless playback can only be done wired and I use it indoors mostly, but the bluetooth comes in handy if I am out (generally use it during cycling as iems feel safer to use than tws and the btr5 also has a plastic clip case which is nifty).

The above options are solid and you can decide based on size and usecases.

 

[Death_Block]

Thanks for the reply. I hadn’t given it a thought since I thought dongle style devices couldn’t cost more than a few 100 bucks. I suppose I could spend 3-400 if necessary. Cheaper would do too..

I really like the oppo HA-2. Stacks nice with a phone, uses its own battery so won't drain your phone. Also I think from memory it can double up as a battery pack for possible phone top ups

 

[wailord]

thieaudio monarch/clairvoyance
ej07