[Podster]

What are your go-to IEM's for these price ranges:

• <500
• 500 to 1000
• >1000

Unfortunately @Kundi I can't participate in categories 2 & 3 since the most expensive iem I've ever bought are my FLC8S which I paid full retail $349, Noble X then my ASG Rockets followed by my P-1's. So let's try and put a little go-to in that sub $500 though Got to remember these may not be accurate unless I put what player as well (were not even going to go into external amps on these things) because order of preference may change depending on DAP so let me indicate DAP then a couple choices under each

Opus #1:
A4 (Blue Back/Gray Nozzle)
ASG Rockets
Rose No. 7

Cayin N3:
Trinity Master's (Green Nozzle)
Noble X
Havi B3 Pro1

Shanling M2:
Trinity Delta V2 (Gold Nozzle)
Klipsch S7
KZ ZST Carbon Silver KZ cable

FiiO X3ii:
Trinity Sabre's (Red Nozzle)
TFZ Series 1
Trinity Vyrus V1 (Gun Metal Nozzle)

Shanling M1:
Shock Wave III
Trinity Vyrus V2 (Black Nozzle)
**** 4in1


So now that you brought all this to my attention it seams I have a sub $500 threshold on any portable gear and really I guess I'm OK with that, shame I never put a lower threshold on some of my home gears

and since this is a portable rig thread I better be politically correct and post a pic See I managed to stay away from all my iDevices as well, I know many here don't care much for them but like many of these DAP's if addressed right they can sound pretty sweet IMO.

 

[AnakChan]

Finally got all 3 colours (including the Fujiya show special yellow) - Vannuys earphone protectors :-

Separately, at the Fujiya show (not my products) - Vannuys cases and systems for the Chord Hugo 2 :-

 

[kubig123]

Unfortunately @Kundi I can't participate in categories 2 & 3 since the most expensive iem I've ever bought are my FLC8S which I paid full retail $349, Noble X then my ASG Rockets followed by my P-1's. So let's try and put a little go-to in that sub $500 though Got to remember these may not be accurate unless I put what player as well (were not even going to go into external amps on these things) because order of preference may change depending on DAP so let me indicate DAP then a couple choices under each

Opus #1:
A4 (Blue Back/Gray Nozzle)
ASG Rockets
Rose No. 7

Cayin N3:
Trinity Master's (Green Nozzle)
Noble X
Havi B3 Pro1

Shanling M2:
Trinity Delta V2 (Gold Nozzle)
Klipsch S7
KZ ZST Carbon Silver KZ cable

FiiO X3ii:
Trinity Sabre's (Red Nozzle)
TFZ Series 1
Trinity Vyrus V1 (Gun Metal Nozzle)

Shanling M1:
Shock Wave III
Trinity Vyrus V2 (Black Nozzle)
**** 4in1


So now that you brought all this to my attention it seams I have a sub $500 threshold on any portable gear and really I guess I'm OK with that, shame I never put a lower threshold on some of my home gears

and since this is a portable rig thread I better be politically correct and post a pic See I managed to stay away from all my iDevices as well, I know many here don't care much for them but like many of these DAP's if addressed right they can sound pretty sweet IMO.

Nice earphone cable.

Who made it?

 

[Audiotistic]

What iems are those? Rose No. 7?

 

[Podster]

Nice earphone cable.

Who made it?

Well I'm not sure who made it but HCK sells it out of his AliEx store here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hig...32763788227.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.ewdrnj

@Audiotistic the iem is also HCK's called the UE Custom, they sound pretty sweet for a single dynamic and I loved the clear when I ordered it but now it is yellowing which makes me sad

Wow @AnakChan , thought I loved the red socks until I saw that sweet yellow

@Kundi If you noticed I did not put my FLC8S with any of those rigs because they sound awesome on everything I own provided you get the right filter setup Same applies to my Mee Pinnacle 1's

 

[Kundi]

@Podster Thank you!

 

[Audiotistic]

@Audiotistic the iem is also HCK's called the UE Custom, they sound pretty sweet for a single dynamic and I loved the clear when I ordered it but now it is yellowing which makes me sad

Interesting, they look nice though!

 

[Podster]

Ooh, almost forgot to throw down a rig! Nothing like a $295 Amp on a $25 DAP driving $25 iem's eh

Interesting, they look nice though!

This is when they were new and were not yellowish looking! Obviously moved the cable here to my D2002's and put that HCK cable on them. Now that they are yellowing I wish I had gotten them in a colored shell

This was them https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201...32567488610.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.Z8fvol from a couple years back, don't really think they are any better than our ZST/ZS5's though

 

[Audiotistic]

This is when they were new and were not yellowish looking! Obviously moved the cable here to my D2002's and put that HCK cable on them. Now that they are yellowing I wish I had gotten them in a colored shell
This was them https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201...32567488610.html?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.Z8fvol from a couple years back, don't really think they are any better than our ZST/ZS5's though

Hard to beat the ZST/ZS5's for price to performance imo

 

[Podster]

Right Audio, so I'll probably get blasted for posting such high dollar rigs in here but I also know we have some very discerning eyes so which is it fellas (again try to ignore how much mullah I have into these)

Do you prefer the Black, Carbon and gold accents or the Candy Red and black (guess I better count that silver cable as well)?????

 

[Deftone]

Would you rather not have couple high end rigs over a dozen budget rigs?



I love what an excellent source can do to lower tier iems though.

 

[Whitigir]

My portable system

 

[Deftone]

I would not walk the streets here in those! Brave man...

 

[Podster]

Would you rather not have couple high end rigs over a dozen budget rigs?



I love what an excellent source can do to lower tier iems though.

You know that is a good if not the million dollar question Def but like all the excessive stuff I own now having just two $2 to $3K in rigs could not give me enough variety so the "Hunt for Red October" ensues and before you know it I'd have over $10K in fancy rigs mostly not getting used. For me I'm quite pleased with many of my setups to include low budget ones and I can sure live with and justify only having $3 - $4K in 10/12 rigs. I'm sure as soon as I bought an AK380 and some $3K plus ciem's I'd be like this is heaven until I slapped in my FLC8S to my Opus 1 and realized for the most part that once again I spun my wheels and spent way too much money on something to hard to justify in the portable environment!! Now the real rube here is I could easily live with my N3/Trinity Master pairing and not spend another dime but like most of us "I just have to know" but I sure don't have to spend over $10K finding out

Even this little ditty sounds really good and if lost I'd not have to go and have a coronary

Speaking of my FLC8S/Opus #1 rig this one here is top notch as well and comes in under $600

 

[ipaulpereira]

colorfly c3 / topping nx1a / monk +