[SomeGuyDude]

 

[gazzington]

most certainly my very first iem was the Unique Melody Miracle then down the rabbit hole I went. I now have a huge list of some very loved earphones and some absolute garbage in storage. Right now budget gear used is KZ ZSX, TRN V90, NiceHCK NX7. Mid-Fi BGVP DMS, Rythmos SD7, Toneking TK2

What have been your best purchases?

 

[SomeGuyDude]

@All Members how do you compare your budget-fi gear with the TOTL+ Mid-fi gear? Is it really worth to pay over $100 for an IEM? I'm asking this because in my country $100 is considered to be borderline premium and I am really restricted on a budget but always curious about TOTL sound that all reviewers mention in their reviews. Since this is a budget-fi thread, I'd like to have an opportunity to seek everyone's esteemed opinion which might be helpful to others like me.

I have the ZSX right now as well as the Mee P1 and 1More Quad, which are usually heralded as the $200 and under kings. I am 100% listening to the ZSX over either of them. It's more dynamic and engaging than the P1 and more detailed and airy than the Quad. My Periodic Be got stolen but the ZSX has me with very little incentive to replace them. I've been up and down the list as well, with the Shure se846/535, even took the Audeze iSine 10 and 20 for a trial run, not to mention my Bluetooth stuff.

ZSX + Dragonfly = my favorite portable setup so far. I'd use it at home at my big desk but I have an HD650/T1 combo that reigns supreme there.

 

[gazzington]

I have the ZSX right now as well as the Mee P1 and 1More Quad, which are usually heralded as the $200 and under kings. I am 100% listening to the ZSX over either of them. It's more dynamic and engaging than the P1 and more detailed and airy than the Quad. My Periodic Be got stolen but the ZSX has me with very little incentive to replace them. I've been up and down the list as well, with the Shure se846/535, even took the Audeze iSine 10 and 20 for a trial run, not to mention my Bluetooth stuff.

ZSX + Dragonfly = my favorite portable setup so far. I'd use it at home at my big desk but I have an HD650/T1 combo that reigns supreme there.

I think you've sold me the zsx!

 

[gazzington]

I was considering getting a periodic be but maybe I don't need to

 

[chinmie]

@All Members how do you compare your budget-fi gear with the TOTL+ Mid-fi gear? Is it really worth to pay over $100 for an IEM? I'm asking this because in my country $100 is considered to be borderline premium and I am really restricted on a budget but always curious about TOTL sound that all reviewers mention in their reviews. Since this is a budget-fi thread, I'd like to have an opportunity to seek everyone's esteemed opinion which might be helpful to others like me.

worth it or not, it really depends on the person.
the first time i joined headfi, i want to purchase some iems and earbuds for everyday purposes, aside from my recording/mixing monitors. at that time i was pretty happy with some KZ ATR and Edifier H185 that i was set not to go past the $10 threshold.

time passes.. tried many earphones/headphones up to $2k, now i currently settled for some set of gears that suits me (see my profile for current and past collections)

different price brackets would have different level of SQ.

great SQ don't mean much if you don't like the signature.

there's bound to be some outliers of cheaper gears that can match or even beat more expensive gears, especially cheaper new gears vs older gears.

but the general trend is level of price of gears from the similar release year would reflect directly to the difference of SQ, build quality, and accessories.

 

[Barusu Lamperouge]

Wow! This is really enlightening. Because one thing I've learnt from this is that price doesn't equal to guaranteed best performance. It's all dependent on the personal tastes. This might be helpful to many budding audiophiles from my country who really have a tight wallet. Thanks everyone for chiming in with your opinions.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I was considering getting a periodic be but maybe I don't need to

Don't get me wrong, the Be is probably my favorite IEM to date (from memory, it's been a while since I lost them), but even with the Be I had an "adjustment period" of sorts before I fully appreciated it. The ZSX was love at first listen, and I say with no hyperbole that I haven't had a moment like that since I tried out the Audeze LCD-X for the first time.

Now, obviously, the ZSX isn't in the same solar system as something like an Audeze, but it gave me that same moment of "ohhhhhh I love these" that I don't often get with headphones. I really do think if their tuning fits your tastes that the ZSX might quell any desire for upgrades.

Wow! This is really enlightening. Because one thing I've learnt from this is that price doesn't equal to guaranteed best performance. It's all dependent on the personal tastes. This might be helpful to many budding audiophiles from my country who really have a tight wallet. Thanks everyone for chiming in with your opinions.

And this is spot on. I've heard really expensive gear that I just plain wasn't a fan of. HiFiMan's top offerings, Stax, a bunch of other IEMs. Yeah they had all the "technical" prowess, but I'm not buying headphones for measurements and to be impressed with the tech, I'm buying them to make me love my music and that's what the ZSX do better than most of what I've owned over the years.

 

[Evoke]

@All Members how do you compare your budget-fi gear with the TOTL+ Mid-fi gear? Is it really worth to pay over $100 for an IEM? I'm asking this because in my country $100 is considered to be borderline premium and I am really restricted on a budget but always curious about TOTL sound that all reviewers mention in their reviews. Since this is a budget-fi thread, I'd like to have an opportunity to seek everyone's esteemed opinion which might be helpful to others like me.

I will be honest and say almost none of the budget iems can compete with the top of the line stuff in anyway possible. Even comparing a VX and a KPE, there is a huge difference between them in terms of details, resolution and treble. However, you can use budget iems to find your preferred your signature and move up to totl with that preferred sound signature. You won't enjoy some totl iems if it wasn't to your preferred signature

 

[SomeGuyDude]

I will be honest and say almost none of the budget iems can compete with the top of the line stuff in anyway possible. Even comparing a VX and a KPE, there is a huge difference between them in terms of details, resolution and treble. However, you can use budget iems to find your preferred your signature and move up to totl with that preferred sound signature. You won't enjoy some totl iems if it wasn't to your preferred signature

Depends on what you mean by "top of the line" and "compete". Diminishing returns do happen and while I don't think anyone here is saying a KZ is going to legitimately beat an Andromeda, the Chi-Fi market is definitely getting to a point where the desire to spend 10x more for a 10% increase sorta vanishes. They absolutely "compete" in the sense that they offer so much for such a low price point that unless someone really wants "best on the market" my first recommendation is becoming to look into the Chi-Fi products before worrying about any of the big names.

 

[gazzington]

That's the thing, I doubt these are as good as £2000 iems but even if you get 80% there for less than a £100 it's surely a no brainer

 

[SomeGuyDude]

That's the thing, I doubt these are as good as £2000 iems but even if you get 80% there for less than a £100 it's surely a no brainer

Bingo. And honestly depending on your tastes I have no doubts that these would sound 'better' to you than a number of TOTL products, even if their technicalities aren't in the same ballpark.

 

[gazzington]

Bingo. And honestly depending on your tastes I have no doubts that these would sound 'better' to you than a number of TOTL products, even if their technicalities aren't in the same ballpark.

I agree. For example I know that a like deep bass but also clear highs so that I get that sparkly sound.

 

[Seazer]

GUYS
I just realized something about the strange engrish on the BLON box

BELIEF
LETMUSICBURN
OPPOTY
NEVERGIVEUP

aka

B
L
O
N

 

[SoundChoice]

@All Members how do you compare your budget-fi gear with the TOTL+ Mid-fi gear? Is it really worth to pay over $100 for an IEM? I'm asking this because in my country $100 is considered to be borderline premium and I am really restricted on a budget but always curious about TOTL sound that all reviewers mention in their reviews. Since this is a budget-fi thread, I'd like to have an opportunity to seek everyone's esteemed opinion which might be helpful to others like me.

My first week on head-fi: $10 was considered a lot to pay for an IEM
My first month, $25 was a lot for premium IEM
After 2 months, why not try $50 to see if results were twice as good.
My 3rd month, I learned you can't get a good IEM for under $100.
Month 4, to get TOTL at budget cost, the DM6 and KPE are only $200.
The fifth month, why settle for those when you can get Andro quality in T800 for $300.
Six months in, I learned that the $5 MH755 for many uses is good enough.

Bottom line: the value of something is whether or not it brings you enjoyment of your music.