[BCool]

Introduction​

While the cable-around-the-ear form factor is superior in most respects, some still prefer to wear their cables down (glasses, long hair, or ear issues caused by around-ear cables). Unfortunately this form factor is becoming less and less common among IEMs (barring generic, dollar store sets) and most lists and databases don't indicate whether an IEM is cable-up or cable-down.

Disclaimers:

• This list is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather serve as a reference for anyone looking to make a purchase, and is a work in progress. As such, this list will mainly focus on sets that are still in production and easily available to purchase. Sets that might be of specific interest may be included in the Honourable Mentions section at the bottom.
• The cost of each entry is only approximate as pricing and availability varies wildly between global regions.
• Sound signature is also approximate. This list has been compiled from a wide variety of sources, sometimes containing conflicting or vague information. I have also do not have the vast majority of these sets so cannot verify with my own ears.

The most up-to-date version of the list can be found on this spreadsheet.

Sub $30​

Astrotec	Vesna	Neutral	Fixed	DD
Blon	Fat Girl	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
CCA	CST	U-Shaped	Fixed	DD
DQSM	Hermit	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Faaeal	Poppy	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Faaeal	Crescent	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Fiio	JD3	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Final Audio	E500	Neutral	Fixed	DD
Final Audio	STUDY 1	Warm	Fixed	DD
Final Audio	E1000	Neutral	Fixed	DD
Hifiman	RE400	Neutral	Fixed	DD
KBEAR	Little Q	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
KZ	Ling Long	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Kinera	Tyr	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Moondrop	Quarks	Neutral, Warm	Fixed	DD
NiceHCK	X39	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
NiceHCK	X49	Neutral, Bright	Fixed	BA
OKCSC	A800	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD
Rock	Space Obsidian	Dark	Fixed	DD
Rose Technics	Aura Evo	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Sony	MDR-EX15	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Sony	MDR-EX110	-	Fixed	DD
Tanchjim	Zero	Neutral	Fixed	DD
Tanchjim	One	Neutral, Warm	2-Pin: 0.78mm	DD
Tanchjim	Tanya	Harman	Fixed	DD
Tangzu	Princess Chang Le	Neutral, Bright	Fixed	DD
TRN	CS3	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
TRN	M10	V-Shaped	2-Pin: 0.75mm C	DD + BA
Venture Electronics	BIE	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Whizzer	BS-1	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Zhulinniao	ShangHua Z2	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD

Sub $60​

Astrotec	Vesna Evo	Neutral	2-Pin: 0.78mm	DD
Azla	Azel	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Dunu	Titan 1es	Mid-Centric	Fixed	DD
Final Audio	E2000	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Final Audio	E3000	Warm	Fixed	DD
Flare Audio	Jet	-	Fixed	DD
GGMM	H300	U-Shaped	Fixed	DD + BA x2
Hiby	Beans	V-Shaped	2-Pin: 0.78mm	DD
Hiby	Thor	V-Shaped	2-Pin: 0.78mm	DD + BA
Hifiman	RE600S V2	Neutral	Fixed	DD
HZSOUND	Waist Drum	U-Shaped	2-Pin: 0.78mm	DD
KBEAR	F1	Mid-Centric	MMXC	BA
KBEAR	Neon	Mid-Centric	2-Pin: QDC	BA
Pioneer	CH3	U-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Smabat	NC02	V-Shaped, Bass-Boosted	MMCX	DD
Soundmagic	E11	U-Shaped	Fixed	DD
TFZ	Balance 1	Neutral	Fixed	DD
Tin HiFi	T2	Neutral	MMCX	DD x2
Tin HiFi	T2 Pro	Neutral, Bright	MMCX	DD x2
Zero Audio	Carbo i	Bright	Fixed	DD
Zero Audio	Carbo Tenore	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
ZhiYin	Z5000	Dark	MMCX	DD

Sub $100​

1More	Triple Driver	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD + BA x2
Alpha & Delta	D6	Neutral, Bright	Fixed	DD
Aune	E1	-	Fixed	DD
Cat Ear	Mia	U-Shaped, Warm	MMCX	DD
Etymotic	ER2SE	Neutral	MMCX,Proprietary	DD
Etymotic	ER2XR	Neutral, Bass-Boosted	MMCX,Proprietary	DD
Grado	iGe3	Bright	Fixed	DD
Hifiman	RE800 Silver	Neutral,Bright	Fixed	DD
Intime	Sora 2	U-Shaped	Fixed	DD + Piezo
Intime	Sora Light	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD + Piezo
KBEAR	Ormosia	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD + BA x2
Little Dot	Cu Rad	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Lypertek	Bevi 2	U-Shaped	MMCX	BA
Mashall	Mode EQ	V-Shaped, Bass-Boosted, Variable	Fixed	DD
Ourart	Tini	Neutral	MMCX	BA
Shuoer	Singer	V-Shaped	2-Pin: 0.75mm	DD + EST
Tin HiFi	T3	Neutral, Bright	MMCX	DD + BA
Tin HiFi	T2000	Bright	MMCX, TWS	DD x2
Venture Electronics	BIE Pro	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD
Yu9 (Fish9) Audio	ER4	Neutral	Fixed	BA
Yu9 (Fish9) Audio	ER4	Neutral	2-Pin: QDC	BA

Sub $200​

1More	Quad Driver	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD + BA x3
Acoustune	HS1004	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Akoustyx	R-210	Neutral	MMCX	BA
Akoustyx	R-220	Neutral	MMCX	BA x2
Coplinn	Alula (Bastogne Walnut)	-	MMCX	DD
Coplinn	Alula (Mahogany)	-	MMCX	DD
Coplinn	Alula (Cherry)	-	MMCX	DD
ddHiFi	Janus E2020B	V-Shaped	MMCX, 2-Pin: 0.78mm	DD
Dunu	DN-900	Warm	Fixed	DD + BA
Etymotic	ER3SE	Neutral	MMCX,Proprietary	BA
Etymotic	ER3XR	Neutral, Bass-Boosted	MMCX,Proprietary	BA
Final Audio	F3100	Neutral	Fixed	BA
Final Audio	E4000	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD
Final Audio	F4100	Bright	MMCX	BA
Final Audio	Heaven II	-	Fixed	BA
Final Audio	Heaven IV	-	Fixed	BA
Helm Audio	F2	U-Shaped	Fixed	DD + Planar
Intime	Miyabi	Mid-Centric	MMCX	DD + Piezo
Intime	Go	L-Shaped	MMCX	DD + Piezo
Intime	Kira	-	MMCX	DD + Piezo
OEAudio	BA-1Ti	Neutral, Variable	MMCX	BA
Ourart	Wine	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD
Periodic Audio	Magnesium	V-Shaped	Custom 2.5mm	DD
Rose Technics	Mini3Pro	Neutral	MMCX	BA x3
Rose Technics	Mini2 MKII	-	MMCX	BA x2
Rose Technics	Mini4	-	MMCX	BA x4
Toneking	TK12	Warm, Bass-Boosted	MMCX	DD + BA x2
V-Moda	Zn	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD
Yamaha	EPH-200	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD

Sub $500​

Acoustic Effect	YSM-01	-	Fixed	BA
Acoustic Effect	YSM-03	-	2-Pin, Proprietary	BA
Acoustic Effect	YSM-02	-	Fixed	BA
Acoustic Effect	YSM-04	-	2-Pin, Proprietary	BA
Akoustyx	S-6	Neutral	MMCX	Planar
Coplinn	Alula (Olive)	-	MMCX	DD
Coplinn	Alula (Peruvian Walnut	-	MMCX	DD
Dunu	DN-2002	Warm	MMCX	DD x2 + BA x2
Etymotic	ER4SR	Neutral	MMCX,Proprietary	BA
Etymotic	ER4XR	Neutral, Bass-Boosted	MMCX,Proprietary	BA
Final Audio	E5000	Warm	MMCX	DD
Final Audio	F7200	Neutral	MMCX	BA
Final Audio	Heaven V	-	Fixed	BA
Final Audio	Heaven V aging	-	Fixed	BA
Final Audio	Heaven VI	-	Fixed	BA
Flare Audio	E-Prototype	-	Fixed	DD
Grado	GR10e	Bright	Fixed	BA
Intime	Sora Ti3	-	Fixed	DD + Piezo
Intime	Sho DD	-	MMCX	DD + Piezo
JVC	HA-FDX1	Neutral	MMCX	DD
JVC	HA-FD01	V-Shaped, Bright	MMCX	DD
JVC	HA-FD02	V-Shaped, Bright	MMCX	DD
JVC	HA-FW01	Dark	MMCX	DD
JVC	HA-FWX1	Warm	MMCX	DD
JVC	HA-FW1500	V-Shaped, Warm	MMCX	DD
MAS	X-5i	V-Shaped, Bass-Boosted	MMCX	DD + BA x4
Periodic Audio	Titanium	V-Shaped, Warm	Custom 2.5mm	DD
Periodic Audio	Beryllium	V-Shaped	Custom 2.5mm	DD
Periodic Audio	Carbon	V-Shaped	Custom 2.5mm	DD
Radius	HP-W100	-	Fixed	DD + Piezo
Rose Technics	Mini6	-	MMCX	BA x6
Sony	XBA-N1	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD + BA
Sony	XBA-N3	Neutral, Bass-Boosted	MMCX	DD + BA
Tanchjim	Darling	Neutral, Warm	MMCX	DD + BA x2
Toneking	Shockwave III	V-Shaped	Fixed	DD + BA x4
Toneking	Shockwave III	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD + BA x4

Sub $1000​

Audeze	LCDi3	Warm	Proprietary	Planar
Audio-Technica	ATH-CK2000Ti	V-Shaped	A2DC	DD x2
Coplinn	Alula+ (Mahogany)	-	MMCX	DD + EST
Final Audio	Heaven VII	-	Fixed	BA
Final Audio	Heaven VIII	-	Fixed	BA
Intime	Sho	-	MMCX	DD + Piezo
JVC	HA-FW1800	V-Shaped, Warm	MMCX	DD
Radius	HP-W200	-	MMCX	DD + Piezo
Radius	HP-W300	-	MMCX	DD + Piezo
Sennheiser	IE800s	Neutral	Fixed	DD

Kilobuck+​

Audeze	LCDi4	Mid-Centric	2500	Proprietary	Planar
Campfire	Atlas	Warm	1300	MMCX	DD
Final Audio	FI-BA-SS	Bright	1100	Fixed	BA
Final Audio	FI-BA-SST	Bright	1100	Fixed	BA
Final Audio	Lab I	-	1500	Fixed	BA x2
Final Audio	Lab II	-	7000	MMCX	DD
Final Audio	Piano Forte X	-	2200	Fixed	DD
Final Audio	Piano Forte X-T	-	2200	Fixed	DD
Spirit Torino	Twin Pulse Beryllium	Neutral, Variable	1100	2-Pin: 0.78mm	DD x2
Technics	EAH-TZ700	Flat	1400	MMCX	DD

Honourable Mentions​

Sony

MH755

Harman-Neutral

Fixed Cable

DD

Can only reliably be obtained by purchasing SBH24 bluetooth adaptor that bundles the IEMs with them. ~$30

Tin HiFi	T2	Neutral	MMCX	2 DD
Tin HiFi	T2 Pro	Bright-Neutral	MMCX	2 DD
Tin HiFi	T3	Bright-Neutral	MMCX	2 DD

Designed to be worn over-ear, but can be worn cable-down if you switch left and right with suitable a cable ~$50-70

Discontinued​

Aurisonics	Rockets	Neutral	Fixed Cable	DD
AAW	Q	U-Shaped	Fixed Cable	DD
Cowon	EH2	V-Shaped	Fixed Cable	DD + BA
Dita Audio	Project 71	Warm	MMCX	DD
JVC	HA-FX750	V-Shaped	Fixed Cable	DD
JVC	HA-FX850	V-Shaped	MMCX	DD
JVC	HA-FX10000	Neutral, Diffuse-Field	MMCX	DD
Moondrop	Crescent	Harman	Fixed Cable	DD
Moondrop	Spaceship	Harman	Fixed Cable	DD
Shozy	V33	Warm	Fixed Cable	DD

A spreadsheet containing the above data can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZHLeW8ZnYslIR8DZeJwjWpIMPZLS0lWgtWj0JzVFGos/edit?usp=sharing

I am always open to suggestions for entries or ideas for the list. If you have one, please comment with information about cost and especially sound signature!

 

[jant71]

Buuut, one of the draws of bullet style is being able to be worn both ways. Most of them anyhow. Why list them as cable down only??

 

[ShaneyMac]

And what about Sony MH-1/MH1c, Hifiman RE-400 / RE-600 / RE-800, NICEHCK X49 and most beautiful of them all, Meze Audio 12 Classics V2?

 

[mochill]

So many missing

 

[BCool]

Buuut, one of the draws of bullet style is being able to be worn both ways. Most of them anyhow. Why list them as cable down only??

I think you misunderstand. This is just a list of IEMs that can be worn cable down. Most IEMs are cable-up only.

And what about Sony MH-1/MH1c, Hifiman RE-400 / RE-600 / RE-800, NICEHCK X49 and most beautiful of them all, Meze Audio 12 Classics V2?

If you have information about them, I'd be happy to add them to the list.

So many missing

I would be happy to take suggestions, this list is intended to be a work in progress.

 

[BCool]

Sets added:

• NICEHCK X49
• TRN CS3
• Whizzer BS-1
• Meze Audio 12 Classics V2

 

[mochill]

All the final audio, e series , f series.
Flare audio iems including flare gold
Hiby thor
Etymotic er series.
Aurisonics rockets
Aaw q
Audiosense t15
Still more .

 

[BCool]

All the final audio, e series , f series.
Flare audio iems including flare gold
Hiby thor
Etymotic er series.
Aurisonics rockets
Aaw q
Audiosense t15
Still more .

The Final Audio E series and the Ety ER series were already on the list, the rest mostly seem to be discontinued. Do you have any information on them? Specifically sound signature and driver type.

 

[mochill]

For sure ,
Etymotic had series gen 1 with different ba and gen ii which are xr and sr with different ba as well. Gen one is Er4 ER4S ER4P ER4B.
For gen ii ER2XR and ER2 SR both DD and , ER3XR, ER3SR , ER4XR, and ER4SR are ba . XR series are bass boosted by a few DB and SR is flat.

Final e series from E500 to E5000 uses same 6.4mm DD but different tuning and from e2000 to e5000 uses metal body and from E4000 and E5000 detachable cable.

 

[BCool]

Added:

• Final F3100, F4100, F7200
• Hifiman RE400, RE600, RE800
• Aurisonics Rockets
• AAW Q

 

[ShaneyMac]

More to consider: Moondrop Crescent and Moondrop Spaceship, Kinera Tyr, Shozy V33, all of Periodic Audio (Beryllium, Magnesium, Carbon, Titanium), Cowon EH2 and legendary Cambridge Audio SE1 ...

 

[BCool]

More to consider: Moondrop Crescent and Moondrop Spaceship, Kinera Tyr, Shozy V33, all of Periodic Audio (Beryllium, Magnesium, Carbon, Titanium), Cowon EH2 and legendary Cambridge Audio SE1 ...

Hmm, it looks like Periodic have revised all of their lineup so I'm struggling to find reliable third-party information on them. If you can tell me their sound signatures I'll add them to the list.

 

[jant71]

Radius W series....

W100/W200/W300

 

[-rowan-]

Too many to name in jap-fi. Pretty much everything from Intime, Ocharaku, Zero Audio…

 

[BCool]

Radius W series....

W100/W200/W300

I can't find anything about these on google

Too many to name in jap-fi. Pretty much everything from Intime, Ocharaku, Zero Audio…

Unfortunately it's hard to find much information on Japanese IEMs online, otherwise I'd love to add them to the list!