MonTay
New Head-Fier
Hi all, new user but I've used head-fi as a resource for a long time.
I am looking for an earbud (not iem) which are unfortunately kind of niche and hard to find info on. I listen to a wide variety of stuff but staying more on the orchestral or vocally driven side of things such as piano jazz, anything from John Williams, Billie Eilish, Noah Cyrus, Queen and a menagerie of other songs. I prefer female vocals for anything acoustic or pop and like to find songs with very unique sounds/experiences or really impressive vocal performances (also love vocal harmonies).
[Body by Moonbounce]
[Paul by Big Thief]
These are some examples but its hard to sum it up. I don't really listen on the go so I like to have something in the song to focus on whether that's the brass in a star wars soundtrack, or the abrasiveness of a cello in a small quartet, some funky synth in a dreampop song or listening to the intonations/breaths/fretboard sounds of a live/not-autotuned recording.
Coming from the ATH-AD700x, I found the kph30i's to be a lot more fun to listen to since the audio technica's have practically no bass. The soundstage could be better and there are some songs where I felt clarity was lacking but overall I was able to wear them 8+hrs a day for over a year without physical or sonic fatigue. I also have shure se215's and while I enjoy the clarity and bass, iem's are too uncomfortable to wear unless I'm on a plane. I typically listen in quiet environments so isolation is a non-issue.
Budget is preferably <~$75. I could stretch to like $150 (was looking at the rose masya mk2) but I'd have to really be convinced they are worth it. A metal shell and removable cable is a big+ since these will be shoved in my pockets a lot as a "just in case"
Looking forward to hearing your suggestions!
Edit: Source is a galaxy s7 or fiio k1.
I am looking for an earbud (not iem) which are unfortunately kind of niche and hard to find info on. I listen to a wide variety of stuff but staying more on the orchestral or vocally driven side of things such as piano jazz, anything from John Williams, Billie Eilish, Noah Cyrus, Queen and a menagerie of other songs. I prefer female vocals for anything acoustic or pop and like to find songs with very unique sounds/experiences or really impressive vocal performances (also love vocal harmonies).
[Body by Moonbounce]
[Paul by Big Thief]
These are some examples but its hard to sum it up. I don't really listen on the go so I like to have something in the song to focus on whether that's the brass in a star wars soundtrack, or the abrasiveness of a cello in a small quartet, some funky synth in a dreampop song or listening to the intonations/breaths/fretboard sounds of a live/not-autotuned recording.
Coming from the ATH-AD700x, I found the kph30i's to be a lot more fun to listen to since the audio technica's have practically no bass. The soundstage could be better and there are some songs where I felt clarity was lacking but overall I was able to wear them 8+hrs a day for over a year without physical or sonic fatigue. I also have shure se215's and while I enjoy the clarity and bass, iem's are too uncomfortable to wear unless I'm on a plane. I typically listen in quiet environments so isolation is a non-issue.
Budget is preferably <~$75. I could stretch to like $150 (was looking at the rose masya mk2) but I'd have to really be convinced they are worth it. A metal shell and removable cable is a big+ since these will be shoved in my pockets a lot as a "just in case"
Looking forward to hearing your suggestions!
Edit: Source is a galaxy s7 or fiio k1.
Last edited: