Looking for Beginner Commute IEM with Bass and Detail (CA Io, FiiO FA7, etc.?)
Mar 5, 2020 at 7:39 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 4

OneBoot

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Hello!

I am new to the forum. My audio background includes breaking a bunch of headphones as a kid (mostly cables, sometimes from listening too loud), taking a couple EE courses in college, buying some Bose sport earphones, finding some Beats Powerbeats 3, and having those die on me after 3 years of use. Basically, I'm new to HiFi audio, but love music and looking to up my game.

What I'm looking for is as follows:

- Suitable for an hour-long train commute each way, 5 days a week.
- Leaning toward IEM.
- Enough bass response to communicate the energy of artists such as Bassnectar, Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot, etc.
- Enough detail to highlight music such as The Lumineers, Florence and the Machine, etc.
- Enjoyable on their own when paired to a Galaxy S8.
- Versatile enough to be improved with an amp if/when I get into at-home listening.
- Portable and/or secure enough storage to be stowed in a bike pannier once I get off the train
- Budget = $200-$300

Over the past week, I've obsessively looked at reviews. I started out my search contemplating a pair of cheap Anker buds. After reading some bad reviews, I moved to the more expensive Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro TWS buds. Then I obsessed on other TWS offerings, aptX, aptX HD, seeing people complain about hiss and spotty connection when the phone was on their person, and said "Screw TWS!". My Powerbeats 3 would cut out if I put my phone in my pocket.

Then I started the rabbit hole of closed-back over-ear headphones, and settled on the Drop / Meze 99 Noir due to their warmth, bass response, and aesthetic. I got turned off to them by the fact that they're bulky and the wooden cups scratch easily.

After reading numerous reddit forums, other audio forums, and this forum, I decided that IEMs would probably be best for isolation on public transit. IEMs also seem to have quite a bit of color based on tuning.

I've become pretty overwhelmed by the wealth of options in the IEM category. I've looked at:
- IMR R2 Red (sold through on Drop yesterday)
- Campfire Audio Io (Local and affordable - DRAMA)
- Campfire Audio Polaris ( bass - way over budget, but local to PDX)
- FiiO FA7 (for bass?)
- FiiO FH5 (another bass option?)
- Meze Rai Solo (Good bass extension)

I read every comment on the 32 page Campfire Audio Io discussion on this forum, and it seems worth a shot (I appreciate how this community was able to pull in the reins and get to the heart of the matter). I've also looked at multiple comparisons, youtube reviews, etc. These are the IEMs I'm looking at the hardest because they are local to Portland (where I live), the quirkiness might be fun, and they're beautiful. The bottom line, is I don't want to be disappointed when I throw on Florence and the Machine to just hear the high end of her voice with some strings and cymbals. I love a bright high-end, but don't want to lose the low-end for those days when I need an aggressive metal song to snap me out of my funk.

Coming from the Powerbeats 3, I didn't always get perfect insertion, the bass was decent, and they were great (for free). I listened to them at 75-100% volume most of the time. The Polaris seem like an almost perfect fit (audiologically), but I am having a hard time justifying spending $500 when my budget has already jumped from under $100 to $200-300.

Are the Campfire Io's worth a shot? Or should I focus on FiiO et al.? Thanks for having me here!
 
Mar 5, 2020 at 7:44 PM Post #2 of 4
Maybe fearless s8 if you can find a used one. Io is not recommended unless you've heard it before, you could probably get a demo from campfire?
 
Mar 5, 2020 at 10:37 PM Post #3 of 4
Maybe fearless s8 if you can find a used one. Io is not recommended unless you've heard it before, you could probably get a demo from campfire?

Those look pretty sweet. I'll keep my eye out. Have you used them? I might reach out to campfire, their business hours are my work hours, but we shall see. Thanks for your suggestion!
 
Mar 6, 2020 at 10:18 AM Post #4 of 4
Hey,

I don't find the FiiO FA7 to be very bassy, but it's still warm and very precise. It also responds well to EQ if you want more bass.
Isolation in my experience is top notch and that's very important if you're going to use them on the train since you don't want the external noise ruining the HiFi experience.

Regards,
Me x3
 

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