[Grayson73]

  Zero Audio Carbo Tenore by far. Sounds like a $200 IEM. I don't know how it happened.

 
+1

 

[Ap616]

  Zero Audio Carbo Tenore by far. Sounds like a $200 IEM. I don't know how it happened.
 
 
If you want super-budget priced, the Philips SHE-3580 is less than $10 and easily the best under-$20 sounding headphone I've ever heard (way more than the famous Monoprice).

   
+1

This/these are also my favorites! Grayson, you haven't tried the Havi B3 Pro1 or TTPOD T1-E yet have you? 

 

[jcwyly]

TBH I've heard everything mentioned and the winner by a pretty significant margin is the Havi B3 pro (old version).

The only caveat is that it needs an amp to be the best. Compared to something like the tenores:
Havi (amped) >> Tenore >>> Havi(unamped)

I'd say your best bet is the Havis if you have an amp because their separation and soundstage is on a completely different level. Honestly even if you didn't have an amp I'd probably recommend getting the Havi and a cheap amp like the NX1 over just the Tenores.

Also note that the Havi are exclusively over ear and some people have fit issues so YMMV

 

[Grayson73]

  This/these are also my favorites! Grayson, you haven't tried the Havi B3 Pro1 or TTPOD T1-E yet have you? 

No, I have not.

 

[Ap616]

Ah, okidokie

 

[peter123]

Zero Audio Carbo Tenore by far. Sounds like a $200 IEM. I don't know how it happened.

Yes but they're disposables and you need ten pairs to get a "reference pair" so that start to sum up

 

[soundstige]

Sounds like second-hand information. My pair is great.
 
Quote:

Yes but they're disposables and you need ten pairs to get a "reference pair" so that start to sum up

 

[peter123]

Eh, have you read the Tenores thread?

 

[jcwyly]

Yes but they're disposables and you need ten pairs to get a "reference pair" so that start to sum up

This is definitely an over-exaggeration. The majority of people seemed to get something close to the "reference pair" on their first get.

 

[soundstige]

Of course. My point stands -- people read bad news/reviews multiple magnitudes of order more frequently than they read good news/reviews. Most Tenores are within range of how they're "supposed" to sound.
 
Quote:

Eh, have you read the Tenores thread?

 

[peter123]

Yes of course it's an over exaggeration, I thought people here had humor. Maybe this is the wrong thread for that....


That being said the QC issues with the Tenores are real and notorious enough for making them difficult to recommend even though they sounds great.

 

[peter123]

@soundstige

I think you're right. I've got no problem with my pair either but I know many people here that have drivers going dead so QC issues are there. Also reading the Tenores thread is pretty fun.

I was just kidding originally with the Tenores being THAT bad, hence the . I see now that wasn't popular so I move on.....

 

[soundstige]

No worries, we all love our headphones very much

 
Quote:

@soundstige

I think you're right. I've got no problem with my pair either but I know many people here that have drivers going dead so QC issues are there. Also reading the Tenores thread is pretty fun.

I was just kidding originally with the Tenores being THAT bad, hence the

. I see now that wasn't popular so I move on.....

 

[peter123]

 

 

[OMGLadyGaga]

How bad is the Tenore "problem"? I'm curious to try them since by most accounts they're the budget king but $50, $60 isn't exactly budget. I'm currently using Sony xba-3 and shure se-215 and used to have the gr07be but sold it since I like full size gear for at home and for portable I don't really care so currently rocking philips and pistons or quadbeat 2, and sennheiser sports iem for running; the sonys dont play nice with my phone and Shures I dont like the fit. Carbo would be an upgrade right? But, the QC is concerning definitely, so maybe vsonic vsd1 or vsd3 would be safer? (Treble on gr07 bothered me a bit and made it sound a little thin for me,worried the cheaper Vsonics are similar)

In the spirit of the thread, cheapo iems I like under $30:

Panasonic hje120 -amazon popularity contest winner, indeed not bad.
Philips SHE3590- sounds like a refined Panasonic with more sub bass
Pistons 2.0- bass and phone controls!
Senn cx680- sound like the shure se215 but better fit for me
Monoprice9927- they measure great, good mids, not too portable (cable and fit sucks, isolation too) and they do sound cheap and thin when outside, but indoors in a quiet place, very natural lol
Creative EP-630- look like senn cx300 but much much better sounding
Quadbeat 2- probably my favorite of the bunch, punchy with great treble and good clarity, my most used pair when listening to different genres and because phone controls.