Audio Best IEMs under 2k

pauldmps

Skilled
Which is the best IEM under 2k? My budget is limited and I cannot extend beyond 2k.
I am looking for a balanced sound and not just bassy.
I am considering Soundmagic E10s. Currently I use Soundmagic ES18.
 
E10 is a pretty good choice for a IEM with decent enough clarity and sufficient bass (not going overboard) for enjoying most types of music genres.


If you could raise your budget by 1000 bucks then you can get current flagship (reference series) IEMs from Soundmagic known as "E80" (available at Flipkart). E80 are raved for their very balanced/neutral sounding qualities Or If you want to have little fun sounding, slightly warm sound signature then you can try "E50" (can be had for Rs 2500). E50 is considered as a spiritual successor of E10 with a better build quality and sound quality (in terms of bass response, overall clarity, & soundstage etc).



Outside Soundmagic, also have a look at this lesser known (in India) brand from china which is making very solid IEMs for under 15 US$. Some of its most popular models that may match your preferred sound signature (balanced and not overwhelmingly bassy) includes ED9 (comes up with two tunable filters to match listeners musical preference), ATE (warm, smooth,laidback sound signature with very big soundstage for fatigue free long hours listening), HDS1 (my personal favt for balanced sound signature & great clarity), ED10 (A "V" shaped customer centric sound signature with slight tinge of brightness at the treble).

(This is, if you are ok with importing IEMs from abroad using a site like Aliexpress and wait for at least 30+ days for them to arrive)
 
^the Chinese brand which he's talking about is Knowledge Zenith. And they make really good products. I know because I own four of their products: EDSE, ED8m, ED9 and ATE.
 
1. I would seriously like to have some kind of warranty on the headphones and I would rather not wait 2-3 months for it. So no buying from Aliexpress.
2. Both E50 and E80 are out of my budget.
I opened this thread because I was thinking about getting something from brands like JBL, Skullcandy, etc. as I am using SoundMagic now. So I wanted to know if there are other IEMs comparable to the E10.[DOUBLEPOST=1449424987][/DOUBLEPOST]And the Mi heaphones seem to be of pretty bad build quality. Plus, it costs half of my budget. Unfortunately, they stopped selling the Piston models in India.
 
How is Brainwavz BLU-100 ?

Have not tried it but going by the headfi user reviews, it appears to have consumer friendly warm sounding signature with a bass (mid-bass) that might bleed onto mids (also users not happy with its battery life). It's price bordering (Rs 2799 at Amazon India) on Soundmagic E80, though.

From my limited listening of DTX 102 ie (my colleague's), I find them to have smaller soundstage width and bass (light) compared to Soundmagic E10 (2 years old) but DTX still maintains a overall balanced sound signature that works with most common music genres. It is few hundred Rs cheaper than E10 as well. Since, you asked for a comparable IEM to E10 under 2k, i gave it as a choice.

Of these two, I would prefer E10 for my musical preference (i like my IEMs to have slight warmth sound signature whilst still maintaining decent clarity and wide soundstage)
 
I also currently own soundmagic es18 and e10s. Before these I have used skullcandy S2SBDY-209. My experience with skullcandy was pretty bad. I will never go to buy skullcandy. The mic stopped working after 15 days of usage and sometimes doesn't even get detected in my phone when I plug them in multiple times. So I decided to go for the soundmagic es18 after my friend suggested. It's far better than skullcandy. But es18 didn't come with a mic. So I bought the e10s, these earphones come with a mic. I must say that I was impressed. I've been using these earphones from the past year & i'm still waiting for any issues to pop up. The sound is pretty crisp and great base. before i got the e10s, i went through its reviews and they where all pointing towards satisfied customers. You can buy it from snapdeal or flipkart so you don't have to wait long.
 

I am using the non-mic version of HDS1 for the last week or so. To my ears, these are the most balanced (and highly resolving of details) KZ earphones till date (I have 7 different models from KZs). It has got an ever so slight warm sound signature (more mid bass oriented than sub-bass) with near natural mids (neither recessed nor too forward) and extended treble (no harshness). Best part of HDS1 for me is, its ability to retrieve great amount of details along with ability to scale up very well depending on the audio gear used. Only area I feel it misses out is, the width of the soundstage (somewhat small/intimate).

BTW, I bought these for 6.5 US$ from ebay.
 
I am using the non-mic version of HDS1 for the last week or so. To my ears, these are the most balanced (and highly resolving of details) KZ earphones till date (I have 7 different models from KZs). It has got an ever so slight warm sound signature (more mid bass oriented than sub-bass) with near natural mids (neither recessed nor too forward) and extended treble (no harshness). Best part of HDS1 for me is, its ability to retrieve great amount of details along with ability to scale up very well depending on the audio gear used. Only area I feel it misses out is, the width of the soundstage (somewhat small/intimate).

BTW, I bought these for 6.5 US$ from ebay.
Any better ones ?
This one ?

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/KZ-E...-HD-HiFi-Earphone-Headphones/32330216306.html
 
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It totally depends on your personal preference. Of all the KZs that I have, I prefer using ATE (smooth, laidback, wide soundstage IEMs for fatigue free long hours listening) and HDS1 (much more detailed and balanced sounding than ATE, good for critical listening) the most.

ED9 is another option from KZ that has two tunable filters which provides two distinct sounding experience (Shiny filter providing fun sounding V shaped signature while brass filter providing more neutral sounding slightly brighter sound signature).

I am not fond of EDSE's (in your link) sound, though (has too splashy treble for my liking) !
 
It totally depends on your personal preference. Of all the KZs that I have, I prefer using ATE (smooth, laidback, wide soundstage IEMs for fatigue free long hours listening) and HDS1 (much more detailed and balanced sounding than ATE, good for critical listening) the most.

ED9 is another option from KZ that has two tunable filters which provides two distinct sounding experience (Shiny filter providing fun sounding V shaped signature while brass filter providing more neutral sounding slightly brighter sound signature).

I am not fond of EDSE's (in your link) sound, though (has too splashy treble for my liking) !
Its not for me but for someone else and mic is requirement even if it works well with good sound i would be happy, thinking of KZ HDS1
 
Its not for me but for someone else and mic is requirement even if it works well with good sound i would be happy, thinking of KZ HDS1
If mic is mandatory then I would suggest you to try some better brands (cheaply priced Chinese IEMs very often ends up having cables with microphone implementation that rarely lasts long). Xiaomi Piston (both 2 and 3) has got decent quality microphone with working android support or else try Brainwavz Jive (has both android as well as iOS support versions).
 
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