Budget IEM for a new-comer to the hobby!

Final E1000 is also a good one.

This comparison will help a bit

IMO highest value is in the 6-10k range, Truthear Hexa, Etymotic ER2SE, Dunu Titan S punch way above their price class. I found some good gear in indianaudiophileforum, good luck.

For newbies, moondrop chu 2 is the safest and most likeable option in a budget. Choose the dsp version if your phone/source has type c port.

Check here:

With your budget I’d go for the Moondrop Chu 2 too.
Have listened to the Blon BL-03, OG Chus, the Salnotes Zeros and a buncha KZs, all under the 2k range.
The Chu 2s was the most enjoyable of them all imo, and bonus points for waifu.

I owned 2 IEMs from Moondrop - Chu & Chu II. They sounded great but both died within a year, Moondrop IEMs have the worst QC of all Chi-fi.
Luckily Chu 2 died within 8 months, RMA in progress with HPZ.

Having used the 1st versions of both the Chu and Zero. I would suggest getting the Chu 2s as it is a great IEM for beginners.

You can also check out Tanzu Wan'er. It is really great if you are looking for more of a neutral tuning.

Honestly, any IEM in 1k to 2k price range sounds so much nicer than any TWS available at this point, until you get around the 6k to 10k range of TWS. So, pick the IEMs you like the look of the most.

If you want the nicest sound, Truthear Gate, Moondrop Chu 2 or the Crinacle ones are the best choices. However, they might sound a little irritating for longer use. Truthear has the nicest cable among the bunch that I've used, but the others have Type-C variants I think. Take your choice.

I suggest looking for "warmer" IEMs if you want to listen for longer, or just use an EQ and tune down the treble/high frequencies a bit.

Also check out foam eartips, it enhances bass and dampens high freqs, plus massively improve comfort and isolation, but need to be replaced regularly.

Darth Vader said:

View attachment 212718
Check here:

Best 'Bang for your buck' IEM - Poll

After reading the TRUTHEAR x Crinacle Zero:RED review and thinking to myself that I should get at least one pair of IEM (even though I mostly listen with speakers and subs for the soundstage and tactile experience). I almost fell into the 'buy now and think later' mentality with the Zero Reds...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Click to expand...

I don't know why the Salnotes Zero is so highly rated. It is the most uncomfortable IEM that I have. The mic quality is top notch though.

Blon bl3 are also of similar design but quite comfortable. It's ever slightly bit bass heavy.

Personally I prefer the SOUNDMAGIC E10C.

Can't say about TRUTHEAR as I have never had that one.

In my opinion if you are new they all sound more or less the same. Most of the differences you read are just youtubers and "influencers" trying to hype them up.
I have bought a whole bunch of iem's in the 2-10k range and they all sound within 98% of each other. Pick a random one. Try to identify what is better compared to the ones you had, and then use that to figure out what to buy next

yep, they are more or less the same sound wise but the comfort/ear fit and wire/build quality will vary greatly.

greenhorn said:

In my opinion if you are new they all sound more or less the same. Most of the differences you read are just youtubers and "influencers" trying to hype them up.
I have bought a whole bunch of iem's in the 2-10k range and they all sound within 98% of each other. Pick a random one. Try to identify what is better compared to the ones you had, and then use that to figure out what to buy next

Click to expand...

This is absolutely true. I have several of so called decent IEMs (2-4K range) and they are indeed similar sounding.

The SOUNDMAGIC E10C and the SENNHEISER CX275s (the older model) are the ones I use the most out of all of them.

I have the BLO 03 but never use it for some reason. Will sell it soon.

I agree about the 2-4k range of iems sounding the same. Only difference I've noticed personally is in my current pair of simgot ew200 but the QC on these is terrible. I have to replace the right iem for the second time now due to either moisture or ear seal buildup or some other fault where the volume has reduced significantly. The filters on it aren't sturdy either so I think that's the main issue. The other one could be the cable, I remember seeing some video on youtube around a year back where he had issues with the stock cables giving the wrong amount of power to the iems or something. I wish I could find the video but can't find it anymore.

One issue that I do have with all these chi fi reviewers is that the longetivity or build quality aside from "Oh yeah it's steel so it won't ever break" is honestly the max that they look into, long term reviews of IEMs are nonexistent from written to recorded reviewers.

But sound wise when they're working? Excellent, honestly no joke. Compared these to my friends expensive sony xm4 headphones and either I'm a fool but I really felt they were on the same level wise in terms of satisfying that small I want better audio itch. Also Linsoul is amazing, support is great for an international site. You should check out their 11.11 sales rn too, a good deal might be there on the more expensive pairs. I paid only 2.5k on my ew200s around this time only last year lol. They also use yanwen shipping so it came within 2 weeks with no customs everytime

Personally though, if after the replacement these break again, I'll pick up a decent pair of hd 6xx for once and just stick to headphones lol

And to add to that, if you buy a known popular model, you can use an app like wavelet to apply a calibration file using auto EQ to remove the remaining 1.99999999% gap.