Recommendation for IEM's from China or AliBaba..with 5 drivers etc. And happy xmas and NYE!
Dec 16, 2023 at 4:40 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 9

squidman

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Well have a pair of Kinera 3-driver Iem's, several years old, purchased for around 100usd, pretty good. Looking to upgrade via ebay or alibaba to 4/5 driver version, so not the whole hog with custom iems or custom in-ears, but better iem's around the 4-500 dollar mark. Any suggestions? Am aware that custom iem's are around a grand after fitting. Or more. Any suggestions welcome. Very happy with Kinera so far, they replaced a pair of defective iem's for me. But at least a thousand iem's out on alibaba and ebay, hard to know what is good. Any suggestions welcome. And happy xmas and NYE!
 
Dec 16, 2023 at 4:48 PM Post #2 of 9
Why do driver counts matter in this situation? More doesnt mean better!

But, there are good iems at the 400-500usd mark. For example the Thieaudio hype 2 and yanyin canon II are lovely iems, and have good reception! I personally reccomend the Hype 2 if you like a good texture of bass and the yanyins for an all rounder.
 
Dec 16, 2023 at 4:56 PM Post #3 of 9
I dunno was seduced by amount of drivers in alibaba adverts. Not a proper audiophile here. I figured more was better. And the fit around the ear of course, there Kinera is very good.
 
Dec 17, 2023 at 4:46 AM Post #4 of 9
Multiple drivers are not a straightforward matter. On paper, BA arrays are good because they handle harmonic distortion that usually cause big issues when in single or dual configurations. They have to be tuned properly though, because if they aren't you can end up with dead spots or resonance issues that cause other kinds of nonlinear distortion.

In smaller numbers like your current set, multiple drivers just make tuning the set overall easier. To handle harmonic distortion (specifically 3rd order harmonics because that one is the killer for BAs), a full range BA array needs at theoretical minimum 6 BAs to practically attenuate distortion (there's a reason why some people really like the Elysian Diva, I suspect it's that).

For this budget range, do your research because you need to have a good idea what your HRTF is like and you should be confident in a manufacturer's ability to tune a passive crossover. Thankfully the second is easy enough to spot when reading an uncompensated graph, and reviewers who are honest will mention problems like that if they hear it.

To help you out, try squig.link out. Your IEM is probably on there, so you can autoEQ to roughly try different tunings and see which one you like the best.
 
Dec 17, 2023 at 5:36 AM Post #5 of 9
I'm over multi driver IEMs since they can get the tuning wrong on one and it sounds weird. Try the 7hz Salnotes Zero:2 or Truthear Zero Blue and you can't go wrong. More isn't better, a good single driver can be amazing.
 
Dec 17, 2023 at 5:49 AM Post #6 of 9
If you like the 70s to early 80s spectrum (e.g. AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Bee Gees, Queen, . . ), where the music was meant to be played on a good stereo. I like Xenns Mangird line up; they get progressively fuller, as you climb the tiers. My preferred being the Top, haven’t tried the Up yet.
 
Dec 17, 2023 at 5:56 AM Post #7 of 9
I'm over multi driver IEMs since they can get the tuning wrong on one and it sounds weird. Try the 7hz Salnotes Zero:2 or Truthear Zero Blue and you can't go wrong. More isn't better, a good single driver can be amazing.
Which ones got it wrong? I haven't had anything but good experiences with hybrids/tribrids, at least sound wise (B2D, Variations, Oracle MK1, Maestro SE, Anole V14 in particular).
 
Dec 17, 2023 at 7:07 AM Post #8 of 9
Look at FiiO FH9 (7 driver) , i think it's the best thing around 500$.

But i would say...try a planar IEM for much cheaper. They give the most bang for the buck under 200-300$...hell even under 500$. The HIDISZ MP145 is what i would get first if i was looking for a second IEM to complement a hybrid IEM.
 
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Dec 18, 2023 at 2:04 PM Post #9 of 9
Thanks for input all! Many good suggestions! Didn't realize there were planar iem's out there, but will look it up. Again thanks for input.
 

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