[geralt_ll]

From this article, Giz Explains: Why You Can't Get Decent Earphones for Less Than $100 - Earbuds - Gizmodo the writer states that after a price range of $100, the improvement in sound in relation to cost (which increases exponentially) is slight.

Any recommendations for a single BA IEM? Of course details and soundstange and other qualities would be lower than a multi driver IEM, but remains competitive in terms of cost to performance ratio.

 

[tstarn06]

PFEs, X10s (on sale or used).

 

[jleewach]

PFE & Ety ER4's are the closest ones that I've heard. However, my opinion is that a dynamic driver iem of good quality will come closer in sq to a multi-BA driver than a single-BA iem will. RE line from head direct is one example.

 

[jjmai]

I believe Altec Lansing UHP336 is single BA. It's supposedly rebadged UE super.fi 3.
About $35~40 on amazon. It was at $20 one time during lightning deal.

 

[ClieOS]

Frankly that Gizmodo's writer doesn't really understand the market. It is NEVER about how much it cost to make a great pair of IEM, but how far can you price a pair of great sounding IEM even if it only costs $5 to make. It will be completely naive to assume a $500 IEM costs $250 to manufacture - in fact, I seriously doubt it will even cost $150 in mass production. The only question a manufacturer need to ask is, 'how high can I set the price before people start to complain about overpricing and turn to my competitors?'

So why can't you get decent earphones for less than $100 from a big brand name? Because they don't want you to spend less than what you are willing to pay for. This is how businesses get their net profit increase on the annual report. Just looks around, there are plenty of smaller companies much more willing to earn a bit less just to sell a bit more - and those are the companies that you can get more-than-decent earphones for less than $100.

On a different note: How much is your budget?

 

[geralt_ll]

ClieOS, I know where you're coming from. From my training as a mechanical engineer, I know that the cost to manufacture is definitely much lower than what we, as customers are paying for. Given the necessary knowledge, a simple single BA IEM can be made from an old earphone. But whether the DIY work function, and aesthetically pleasing, that is another issue.

I have a 3 driver IEM and a single IEM, and I still feel that I can live with a single driver IEM. Would I get a higher end IEM (e.g. JH)? I suppose I would if cost wasn't the issue and I've nothing else that I would particularly want to spend on.
My budget is under $200 for a single driver. Currently considering Etys.

I'm more comfortable carrying a single driver IEM when I'm working. The loss of it, malfunction etc. affects me less than my customs.

 

[mvw2]

Indeed.

There is also a matter of perceived value. People may see a 3-way BA setup that costs $50. Then they see a 3-way BA that costs $400. It is automatically assumed the $400 product is better. I mean it has to be, right? It's $400 and the other one is just $50. What if you were told the $400 product cost less to make then the $50 one? Now how do you think?

There is always a perception of quality from a price tag. It's a logical conclusion, and we are always led by marketing to believe it.

Do you think it costs GM that much more to produce a high level Cadillac off their assembly line versus a low level Chevrolet? A large number of the same processes and resources go into both, the same people, the same time. One has leather seats, an extra paint step, and 20 more parts out of the 500 that make up the car go into it. The price tag at the showroom is magnitudes different, 3x, 4x, greater. You buy it because you are willing to. You also buy it because other people haven't stepped in and undercut the business with a (knowingly) better product for cheaper. It's sort of like ClieOS's v3 shootout. Fischer Audio is new to most of us. As ClieOS points out, the Eterna is quite good, very good, placed along side the $400 IE8, but it's only $60. I mean it's not like the IE8 is a $400 IEM. It's not like Sennheiser needs to sell it at that price to make a profit. It's just that it's the market price range of that level of product that currently exists. Why sell it for $200 if you can sell it for $400?

 

[jjmai]

There's no doubt we are paying a premium for high-end IEMs. Probably one of the reasons Monster got into the headphone field.
But there's also an easily overlooked fact about why some smaller businesses can sell things at a much lower cost - they saved money by reverse-engineering. Research and development costs a lot, but it is not part of the assembly/manufacturing cost. Some of our money do go pay for the R&D process.

 

[geralt_ll]

The mention of reverse engineering brings one company to mind: Unique Melody.
Just to reshell universals to customs, they would be able to study the layout and design of major IEM manufacturers. With their business there is already a reduction in cost for their customs.

Once UM drives the cost of customs to a new low, lower than the cost of univeral IEM, perhaps we can expect a reduction in cost of most IEM across the board.

Intellectual property rights is crucial for any business involving innovations. If firms cannot protect their technology from being copied, they'd lose their business. For some of us, we pay a premium for that technology gladly.

 

[ClieOS]

Thus the reason why UE uses custom made BA drivers ordered from Knowless in some of their higher end models. You can get really close, but it still won't be the same.

 

[xguntherc]

a similar example of this would also be the Nuforce Ne-7M. its $60 dollar headphone IEM originally. And now u can get it for $49 at amazon and nuforce directly. Many say its one of the best sub $100 dollar sets u can buy. and that its so great at $50 dollars.

Now they release the NE-6. Same exact thing with no mic for $39, and Ive already seen it for $33. I almost got it even tho i sold my 7M... Thinking about it. They probably cost under $3 dollars to make each one. I thought $50 was a good deal, and many others here do. I bet people would pay $100 for em if we'd never saw the $50 price tag. We all percieve value different. Pricing and market demand is a weird thing...

Anyways.. good luck with ur find. a decent driver does good compared to a BA. I just got my OK2's n they sound way better than my last pair..