IEM general discussion thread

I have a hard time choosing, so here’s a top three of top threes.

For all-rounders, I’d say:
Audio-Technica LS200
Massdrop Plus
Noble K10

Guilty pleasure picks:
FitEar MH335DW
Sennheiser IE800
Shure SE846

Really guilty pleasure picks:
HiFiMan RE2000
Ocharaku Flat4 Sakura
Tralucent Plus5

 

The LS200 is a really balanced sounding IEM at a reasonable price which I don’t feel paranoid about wearing while going on walks or to the gym. More of a “top pick” for me when it comes to overall price and performance ratio.

The K10 is just a really pleasing [to me] sculpted kind of sound. What I often call the “boutique sound.” Accuracy takes somewhat of a back seat to a tailored FR that tends to make a wide variety of genres and recording qualities sound pleasant. In other words, it’s something that doesn’t seek to tell it like it is, but rather something that gives you its own rendition. Sometimes the boutique thing can be really bizarre (a la Piano Forte line...), especially among Japanese designers who often seem to pay homage to a particular tube or speaker of yesteryear by attempting to duplicate the experience of listening to it.

The K10 is more of a “what if we make every part of the FR sound really pretty and enjoyable” kind of thing. At least for me.

The RE2000 is classified as super guilty for a number of reasons: The cost, the materials which are really attractive but worry me in terms of long term durability. I wouldn’t wear these outside personally. Also. The sound is a little sizzley at times, and it’s one of those experiences that can be awesome or meh depending on the track being used and the player being used. At this point I just kinda prefer the laziest approach of sticking the IEMs into my DAP and skidaddling out the door.

Really, I like all these IEMs (and more) for different reasons. It’s just as price goes up and the situations in which I feel comfortable using them goes down... well, feels more like a guilty pleasure for me.

 

@Mimouille
It’s mainly the finish of the RE2000 that worries me: a smol 24k gold layer over brass. Final used a rose gold plating for their TOTL dynamic back when they were FAD, the 1601, and so many of them ended up looking noticeably corroded within a few years. The 1602 aka Piano Fortes seem to hold up better. Well, I don’t know about the gold finish on the PFX specifically, but I haven’t seen as many unpleasant pics.

Same things happen to Ultrasone. These boutique brands just don’t have the foresight to account for skin reactions so as to make something that will look good in 10 years.

The LABII sounds like the 1602s, aka the Piano Forte dynamics. Wide stage and very open sounding as one might expect. Even weirder tonality than its siblings IMO. Pretty funky, for better or worse. The weirdest of the weird sounding Final IEMs for sure.


@Mystic
The K10 doesn’t hold up against the Andro in terms of technical capabilities, much less the PP8. For me however its frequency response is just really... “agreeable?” I can listen to a wide variety of genres and recording qualities and never feel a need to use EQ or pull the Nozzles of Sibilant Woe from my earholes. The K10s don’t have a particularly natural sound. They don’t stir the soul like some of the other IEMs I listed can. For me it’s more a matter of their not doing anything particularly wrong, Yknow? They are a safe choice. I know they aren’t gonna let me down.

<hushed voice> I actually find Campfire’s IEMs to all be a little overrated round these parts. But don’t tell anyone okay? <shhhhh>