[Briandress]

hey everyone, i play guitar and write music and am in search of some decent in ears that won’t break the bank.

i have some sennheiser hd58x and some
bose sound sport wired buds. the bose actually get the most use because they are so light weight and sometimes on on the phone for work on one ear.

i tried CCA C10s but they were a bit uncomfortable and were a bit heavy.

possibly can we open a discussion on in ears that are relatively flat and not over hyped in any specific area. will be using these for mixing sometimes so definitely not trying to get any kind of crazy low end or anything like that.

i’ve seen some low end shure and sennheiser in ears that look intriguing but maybe this chi fi scene can provide more bang for the buck.

my budget is hopefully below $200

 

[earmonger]

Etymotic are famous for reference tuning. They do NOT have a huge soundstage but they are very clear and precise for your mix.

If you are in the US, Adorama has ridiculous deals on hidden but not-so-secret links.

Here's the 3SE for $69.

https://www.adorama.com/etyer3se.html?emailprice=t

The S models, 2SE, 3SE and 4SR are studio reference, near-flat. The 3XR and 4XR have a little bass boost.

There's often an offer for the 4SR for $99 but it's not there at the moment.
https://www.adorama.com/etyer4sr.html?emailprice=t

You can also put other Ety models (ER2SE, ER3XR, etc.) into that formula and see if the offers are there. They come and go.

They fit deep inside your ears--isolation you might find useful if you are also going to use them for onstage in-ears.

I find them very comfortable with the foam tips, not so much with the triple flange, but everyone's ears are different.

Some people can't stand the fit, but Adorama will do 30-day returns if you don't wreck the package and pay $11 return shipping. The Adorama mailer is a shrink-wrapped plastic package, and the Etys have an outer sleeve around the box that's easy to rip, so open the package gently (scissors, not tear-open) in case you want to return them.

If you are going to look into Sennheisers, look at Pros, which are flatter. The IE300 has a big bass boast.

 

[Briandress]

Etymotic are famous for reference tuning. They do NOT have a huge soundstage but they are very clear and precise for your mix.

If you are in the US, Adorama has ridiculous deals on hidden but not-so-secret links.

Here's the 3SE for $69.

https://www.adorama.com/etyer3se.html?emailprice=t

The S models, 2SE, 3SE and 4SR are studio reference, near-flat. The 3XR and 4XR have a little bass boost.

There's often an offer for the 4SR for $99 but it's not there at the moment.
https://www.adorama.com/etyer4sr.html?emailprice=t

You can also put other Ety models (ER2SE, ER3XR, etc.) into that formula and see if the offers are there. They come and go.

They fit deep inside your ears--isolation you might find useful if you are also going to use them for onstage in-ears.

I find them very comfortable with the foam tips, not so much with the triple flange, but everyone's ears are different.

Some people can't stand the fit, but Adorama will do 30-day returns if you don't wreck the package and pay $11 return shipping. The Adorama mailer is a shrink-wrapped plastic package, and the Etys have an outer sleeve around the box that's easy to rip, so open the package gently (scissors, not tear-open) in case you want to return them.

thanks for the feedback. are these like better quality than a kz or cca? just getting into this world. appreciate you

 

[earmonger]

thanks for the feedback. are these like better quality than a kz or cca? just getting into this world. appreciate you

Way better, yes. The Chi-Fi stuff offen has shall we say eccentric tunings. You can look up reviews on the Etymotic models here on Head-Fi and on places like crinacle.com.

 

[Briandress]

Way better, yes. The Chi-Fi stuff offen has shall we say eccentric tunings.

cool thanks. are there any like these that have replaceable cables?

 

[Briandress]

Way better, yes. The Chi-Fi stuff offen has shall we say eccentric tunings. You can look up reviews on the Etymotic models here on Head-Fi and on places like crinacle.com.

how do you think these stack against the sennheiser momentum wired?

 

[earmonger]

how do you think these stack against the sennheiser momentum wired?

Never tried them for long enough--maybe someone else can help. The Head-Fi search box can help you find detailed reviews of just about everything.

As for replaceable cables, the Etys are replaceable but they're not standard MMCX--you'd have to get Ety cables (around $50--ouch!) or do some research on the few generic replacements made specifically to fit the Etys. For what it's worth, the included cable is thin but seems pretty sturdy. Sennheiser may have non-standard cables too--the IE300 does--so you'd have to check that out.

 

[Briandress]

Way better, yes. The Chi-Fi stuff offen has shall we say eccentric tunings. You can look up reviews on the Etymotic models here on Head-Fi and on places like crinacle.com.

how do you think the etys stack against like the sennheiser ie300?

low key worried about the deep penetration of the ety

 

[someguyontheinternet]

You could try the Moondrop Aria. According a video on Moondrop's channel they tune their IEM target to approximately match studio monitors.
The Starfield is not worth the increased price compared to the Aria from my experience. They are very very close to each other.

 

[Briandress]

You could try the Moondrop Aria. According a video on Moondrop's channel they tune their IEM target to approximately match studio monitors.
The Starfield is not worth the increased price compared to the Aria from my experience. They are very very close to each other.

aria vs etymonic thoufh? what’s the difference in these really

 

[someguyontheinternet]

aria vs etymonic thoufh? what’s the difference in these really

Etymotic tune to a different target. It's flatter in bass and has a larger hump in the region going from mids to treble. This probably has to do with how they fit into the ear and how that affects the perceived sound.
From what I gather both try to be reasonably close to studio monitors, but using different approaches.

 

[earmonger]

The IE300 would not be the best for guitar or mixing. They have a huge bass boost. The rest of the spectrum is there but the bass is very exaggerated. They are small, which is good, but I found them tricky to fit for a good seal. The cable is expensive to replace and also very microphonic--very noisy if you move. You can find much better alternatives for your purpose under $200.

I've never heard the Aria but they get very enthusiastic reviews here and elsewhere. Their fit is not as deep as the Etys. I see they are $68 on on a Black Friday sale at Amazon, which is as cheap as waiting for them to arrive from China, and with free returns, so you could easily give them a try.

https://www.amazon.com/Moondrop-Performance-Diaphragm-Dynamic-Earphone/dp/B091DPFLSH

Moondrop have a little more bass boost than Etymotic.
https://crinacle.com/graphs/iems/graphtool/?share=IEF_Neutral_Target,Aria_2021,ER2SE