Introductory open back IEMs under $250
Nov 6, 2019 at 12:10 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 14

FarrellSounds

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I work in a kitchen, and therefore need to hear my surroundings well, but over the ear headphones are far too high profile. I need a durable set of IEMs, preferably with an open back. Style, and wired/bluetooth, are not factors. I mostly listen to podcasts, 80's, Greenday and QUIN XCII, so versatility is a plus for me. That being said, I'll daily drive these on Spotify off of a Galaxy S9+, with occasional listening through higher quality mediums. This is the first set of quality audio equipment I'll be investing in, but I want something nice that I'll be able to continue to use, and reference as I grow in knowledge. Can anybody help me out with this one?
 
Nov 6, 2019 at 9:16 PM Post #2 of 14
I work in a kitchen, and therefore need to hear my surroundings well, but over the ear headphones are far too high profile. I need a durable set of IEMs, preferably with an open back. Style, and wired/bluetooth, are not factors. I mostly listen to podcasts, 80's, Greenday and QUIN XCII, so versatility is a plus for me. That being said, I'll daily drive these on Spotify off of a Galaxy S9+, with occasional listening through higher quality mediums. This is the first set of quality audio equipment I'll be investing in, but I want something nice that I'll be able to continue to use, and reference as I grow in knowledge. Can anybody help me out with this one?

Do u have any preference when it comes to sound signature, like u prefer more bass, more treble, or vice versa? V shaped, neutral etc?
I've been using IEMs for 15 years for stage monitoring and music listening and I personally would not advise u to jump into a $250 range IEM at the start, in case u don't like the sound that would be money wasted. It would be safer to start with a cheap sub $50 set (there are many good Chinese options that are bang for buck), and upgrade from there once u know what u like or dislike. YMMV.

2 cheap "open back" IEMs that I use are:
1) **** - $16 USD. Triple driver, good soundstage, good details, instrument separation, clarity. Good subbass. It lacks a bit in having a bit of an artificial timbre for acoustic instruments, but if u are not listening to jazz/classical, it handles most other music genres well and at bang for buck.

2) Toneking Nine tails - $80 USD ish. Single DD IEM. Good soundstage, tonality, timbre, clarity, details. The best part about it is is it has 2 tuning filters at the front and back so u can have 9 configurations for sound signature, ranging from basshead to V shaped to neutral, hence very versatile. The design looks unorthodox but it is very comfortable and well fitting once u know how to put it on.

Hope u find what u are looking for!
 
Nov 6, 2019 at 9:31 PM Post #3 of 14
If you don't need any isolation whatsoever I'd suggest considering old fashioned earbuds. Check out the Earbuds Round-Up thread for suggestions.

Personally I just one-ear a "closed" IEM (Etymotics ER2 or ER4P) and keep the volume low so I can talk to others and be aware of surroundings without getting too absorbed in the music, but I don't know if that is enough awareness for a kitchen.

If you don't want to spend to much on something that might get ruined at work, Zero Audio and Final Audio make some well regarded <$100 low profile IEMs as well (AFAIK Zero's Mezzo has open back, but not sure).
 
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Nov 6, 2019 at 9:54 PM Post #4 of 14
I work in a kitchen, and therefore need to hear my surroundings well, but over the ear headphones are far too high profile. I need a durable set of IEMs, preferably with an open back. Style, and wired/bluetooth, are not factors. I mostly listen to podcasts, 80's, Greenday and QUIN XCII, so versatility is a plus for me. That being said, I'll daily drive these on Spotify off of a Galaxy S9+, with occasional listening through higher quality mediums. This is the first set of quality audio equipment I'll be investing in, but I want something nice that I'll be able to continue to use, and reference as I grow in knowledge. Can anybody help me out with this one?
Audeze makes a couple in your price range for open IEM’s. iSine 10 and iSine LX. Have not heard the LX but have heard the 10,20 and own the LCDi4’s . The open backs of them does give a good soundstage and they are Audeze so they will bring the bass.
 
Nov 6, 2019 at 10:24 PM Post #5 of 14
Do u have any preference when it comes to sound signature, like u prefer more bass, more treble, or vice versa? V shaped, neutral etc?
I've been using IEMs for 15 years for stage monitoring and music listening and I personally would not advise u to jump into a $250 range IEM at the start, in case u don't like the sound that would be money wasted. It would be safer to start with a cheap sub $50 set (there are many good Chinese options that are bang for buck), and upgrade from there once u know what u like or dislike. YMMV.

2 cheap "open back" IEMs that I use are:
1) **** - $16 USD. Triple driver, good soundstage, good details, instrument separation, clarity. Good subbass. It lacks a bit in having a bit of an artificial timbre for acoustic instruments, but if u are not listening to jazz/classical, it handles most other music genres well and at bang for buck.

2) Toneking Nine tails - $80 USD ish. Single DD IEM. Good soundstage, tonality, timbre, clarity, details. The best part about it is is it has 2 tuning filters at the front and back so u can have 9 configurations for sound signature, ranging from basshead to V shaped to neutral, hence very versatile. The design looks unorthodox but it is very comfortable and well fitting once u know how to put it on.

Hope u find what u are looking for!

Thanks for the suggestions! I'll certainly look into them. I also was a bit worried about jumping straight into the deep end, but it's rare that I treat myself to a big purchase, and am willing to make some sacrifice to keep from leaving some sound to be desired. Thankfully I have a brother who is a true blood audiophile and I've been privileged to listen to some pretty good sound, and I have to say that whereas neutral headphones have their place, I get a little bored while casually listening with them. Having listened to bose and beats and other stereotypically low-end heavy products, I'm not a huge fan. I perfer nice meaty mids with clear separation from the low end, and tight, clear treble, but I don't want it to feel lacking in the low end. I really do enjoy an immersive soundstage, and a versatility to allow freedom to explore new genres. I do like the idea of the Nine Tails you suggested, I was actually looking into some IMR Zenith R1s for a while, when bad press and questionable quality turned me off. Is it a similar concept with the interchangeable filters?
 
Nov 6, 2019 at 10:30 PM Post #6 of 14
If you don't need any isolation whatsoever I'd suggest considering old fashioned earbuds. Check out the Earbuds Round-Up thread for suggestions.

Personally I just one-ear a "closed" IEM (Etymotics ER2 or ER4P) and keep the volume low so I can talk to others and be aware of surroundings without getting too absorbed in the music, but I don't know if that is enough awareness for a kitchen.

If you don't want to spend to much on something that might get ruined at work, Zero Audio and Final Audio make some well regarded <$100 low profile IEMs as well (AFAIK Zero's Mezzo has open back, but not sure).

Great! I'll look into those. I am worried about them getting ruined at work, but at the end of the day, I want to buy them to be used, and I only really listen while at work. I've tried the one ear closed method, and while it is a good idea, it kinda just handicaps both sides of the equation for me. I haven't considered (outer ear earbuds I guess you could call them?) But that's more or less from a stigma of lower quality on my part, which is totally my ignorance. Do they really stack up against the competition?
 
Nov 6, 2019 at 10:34 PM Post #7 of 14
Audeze makes a couple in your price range for open IEM’s. iSine 10 and iSine LX. Have not heard the LX but have heard the 10,20 and own the LCDi4’s . The open backs of them does give a good soundstage and they are Audeze so they will bring the bass.

Cool, I'll read up! Would you say the upper end suffers at all from being low end heavy, or do they maintain fairly balanced? Again, I'm rediculously new to this and appreciate any guidance you can give.
 
Nov 6, 2019 at 10:39 PM Post #8 of 14
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll certainly look into them. I also was a bit worried about jumping straight into the deep end, but it's rare that I treat myself to a big purchase, and am willing to make some sacrifice to keep from leaving some sound to be desired. Thankfully I have a brother who is a true blood audiophile and I've been privileged to listen to some pretty good sound, and I have to say that whereas neutral headphones have their place, I get a little bored while casually listening with them. Having listened to bose and beats and other stereotypically low-end heavy products, I'm not a huge fan. I perfer nice meaty mids with clear separation from the low end, and tight, clear treble, but I don't want it to feel lacking in the low end. I really do enjoy an immersive soundstage, and a versatility to allow freedom to explore new genres. I do like the idea of the Nine Tails you suggested, I was actually looking into some IMR Zenith R1s for a while, when bad press and questionable quality turned me off. Is it a similar concept with the interchangeable filters?

Yes the Ninetails is a similar concept to the Zeniths. These tunable IEMs can be considered getting more than one IEM in a purchase as u can tune the IEM to whichever sound signature u want, as not all musical genres are suitable with certain tunings/IEMs.
I was actually very close to purchasing the Zeniths (they are on massdrop now for ~ $250ish now I think, previously > $600 USD), but there was some hoohah with the folks in the threads alledging that the founder previously scammed kickstarter consumers in the previous brand (trinity). Nobody knows if it's true or not, though nobody on headfi has reported the new brand (IMR) defaulting on promises/deliveries. The Zeniths look a bit harsh on the treble with most tuning filters, so I gave it a miss in the end.

There's another IEM with tuning filters (Massdrop JVC HA FDX01) that is considered "endgame" by quite a number of audiophiles for a single Dynamic driver IEM. It was $250 previously at preorder, I think it's $280 now on massdrop, so a bit out of your budget, but it looks very well built and most reviewers are impressed with it. It may suit your above "nice meaty mids with clear separation from the low end and tight clear treble". The Ninetails has a bit of recessed mids in all tuning configurations unfortunately. Ninetails has a bit of a higher treble rolloff even on the most treblish tuning too.

For your query on earbuds, they generally have better soundstage than IEMs but poorer isolation, and may lack in bass due to this tradeoff. So it depends which is more important to u, YMMV.
 
Nov 6, 2019 at 11:19 PM Post #9 of 14
Great! I'll look into those. I am worried about them getting ruined at work, but at the end of the day, I want to buy them to be used, and I only really listen while at work. I've tried the one ear closed method, and while it is a good idea, it kinda just handicaps both sides of the equation for me. I haven't considered (outer ear earbuds I guess you could call them?) But that's more or less from a stigma of lower quality on my part, which is totally my ignorance. Do they really stack up against the competition?

Earbuds have a different set of compromises than in-ears, the 'lower quality' stigma is I think in part because they tend to be cheaper, partly the absence of isolation, and partly because the nature of their design means the sound is more variable due to individual fit/ear anatomy- as far as I understand, the effect is basically that they tend to have more eccentric 'colored' sound signatures than the best IEMs. There is still some consensus around the best earbuds but seemingly less than w/ IEMs.

The positives are that a good earbud can have an impressively open sound for something so small (although in a noisy workplace this is a nonfactor), lower cost for quality (relative to other earbuds), for some people a more comfortable fit, and for your purposes almost zero isolation- although maybe a little isolation might be better YMMV.
 
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Nov 7, 2019 at 11:04 AM Post #10 of 14
Thanks for the suggestions! I'll certainly look into them. I also was a bit worried about jumping straight into the deep end, but it's rare that I treat myself to a big purchase, and am willing to make some sacrifice to keep from leaving some sound to be desired. Thankfully I have a brother who is a true blood audiophile and I've been privileged to listen to some pretty good sound, and I have to say that whereas neutral headphones have their place, I get a little bored while casually listening with them. Having listened to bose and beats and other stereotypically low-end heavy products, I'm not a huge fan. I perfer nice meaty mids with clear separation from the low end, and tight, clear treble, but I don't want it to feel lacking in the low end. I really do enjoy an immersive soundstage, and a versatility to allow freedom to explore new genres. I do like the idea of the Nine Tails you suggested, I was actually looking into some IMR Zenith R1s for a while, when bad press and questionable quality turned me off. Is it a similar concept with the interchangeable filters?

Your description makes me think of the Sony EX800ST.
This IEM is exceptionally highly ranked by Crinacle https://crinacle.com/rankings/iems/, it's semi-open with a big vent which gives it a n unusually wide and open sound stage for an IEM.
They are availabe through amazon Japan (you have to make a new account)

Soundwise they have fast and detailed bass, a warmer upper bass lower mid, the upper mids are more neutral, not as forward as some others and the treble is clear and coherent, not boosted unduely.
If you are looking for a more Harman tuned IEM with elevated (upper) mids I think the JVC FDX1 from DROP should be excellent (I have a modded FD02, which shoud be almost identical). Smoother, cleaner, a little more exciting than the EX800ST but slightly slower and I find the EX800 a bit more honest.
 
Nov 7, 2019 at 11:32 PM Post #11 of 14
Leftfield suggestion: I was in a store today, and they had those new Bose speaker sunglasses... surprisingly decent sounding while environment is completely audible, though I'm doubtful they'd be useful in high noise areas. Could proably have a glasses shop replace the lenses with plain or prescription clear lenses.

surgeorge has a good suggestion on the sony ex800 (I am assuming the openness is similar to ex1000, only ex series IEM I've heard.. although definitely not low key looking, but I think the trend for gigantic bluetooth IEMs lately make that frankenbolt style blend in better than it used to).
 
Nov 7, 2019 at 11:41 PM Post #12 of 14
Thanks for all the help guys! So far I'm really liking the way the Sony Ex800ST has been described, but I think I'm going to research some products that aren't open back if I want the well rounded quality I do. I should probably start a new thread for this, but what are your opinions on "clip on" style earphones? It seems like they would remain low profile, and not very noise isolating, but I wonder about quality. I've heard that the Koss KSC75 is pretty top notch in this category, but at 15 bucks I really wonder. There's also the Audio Technica EW9, but there's mixed reviews on that as well.
 
Nov 8, 2019 at 2:13 AM Post #13 of 14
Thanks for all the help guys! So far I'm really liking the way the Sony Ex800ST has been described, but I think I'm going to research some products that aren't open back if I want the well rounded quality I do. I should probably start a new thread for this, but what are your opinions on "clip on" style earphones? It seems like they would remain low profile, and not very noise isolating, but I wonder about quality. I've heard that the Koss KSC75 is pretty top notch in this category, but at 15 bucks I really wonder. There's also the Audio Technica EW9, but there's mixed reviews on that as well.

Clip-ons are like earbuds in that it is a form factor that tends to be cheaper and has some compromises affecting the type of sound you can get, but can be very enjoyable when taken on their own merits. KSC35 and 75 are great values and deserve the 'classic' status IMO, though not terribly durable (have been through 3 or 4 pairs myself. Portapro/KTX1 w/ headbands in my experience more durable).

If you're now looking at closed IEMs, I can +1 the Drop/JVC FDX1 others mentioned (though I only have heard DIY modified FD01 it is based on), not sure I'd call the mids 'meaty' (could just be my mod variation). Sony N3 is my other favorite I've heard around this price though could have more bass than you'd like (also a little v-shaped w/ lower mids slightly recessed but well balanced).
 
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Nov 8, 2019 at 7:44 PM Post #14 of 14
Having listened to bose and beats and other stereotypically low-end heavy products, I'm not a huge fan. I perfer nice meaty mids with clear separation from the low end, and tight, clear treble, but I don't want it to feel lacking in the low end

I haven't considered (outer ear earbuds I guess you could call them?) But that's more or less from a stigma of lower quality on my part, which is totally my ignorance. Do they really stack up against the competition?

I've heard that the Koss KSC75 is pretty top notch in this category, but at 15 bucks I really wonder. There's also the Audio Technica EW9, but there's mixed reviews on that as well.

I would 100% second the suggestions of looking into earbuds as well as the KSC75, especially since you don't want isolation, and you aren't looking for tons of bass. The KSC75 is a great-sounding headphone, the only (potential) trouble is getting the right fit with them. Same goes for earbuds, TBH. I have some Venture Electronics earbuds (cheap Monks and not-cheap Zen) that are really excellent, but do check out the main earbud thread for more current recommendations.

The Audeze iSines that were also recommended are also very good, but many users find they need EQ to sound their best. On the plus side though, they do respond extremely well to EQ, so you can really tailor the sound to your liking. The other thing to be aware of with the iSines is that they can be very tricky to get the right fit for. You may have to experiment with different tips and earhooks to make them comfortable.

Also, this is somewhat off topic because they're pretty bad for music, but for podcast listening with situational awareness, it's really hard to beat a bone conduction headset like the Trekz Air. These are great for situations where you really MUST be able to hear what's happening around you and where it's happening. (I use 'em for cycling -- but just for podcasts or audiobooks, not music.)
 

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