[resolved] Looking for advice on IEMs

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Impostor
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[resolved] Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by Impostor »

I'm in the market for new, wired, in-ear-monitors for my mp3 player. A look on Amazon is bewildering with the variety in brands, models, and prices.

Sound quality is very important, but so is affordability (say max 75 euros) and build quality. Any recommendations you may have are welcome.

Last edited by Impostor on Fri Mar 17, 2023 5:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by sunrat »

IEMs are a system generally used for performance or recording:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In-ear monitors (IEMs) are devices used by musicians, audio engineers and audiophiles to listen to music or to hear a personal mix of vocals and stage instrumentation for live performance or recording studio mixing.

What you are looking for are generally called earbuds, or sometimes earphones. Those used as part of professional IEM systems are mostly much more expensive and robust than the average ones used for listening to phones or portable players.

I can see the benefits for portable use, but I prefer over-ear headphones for proper music listening.
No recommendations here, but €75 should start getting in the range of acceptable quality.

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Re: Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by Impostor »

sunrat wrote: Wed Feb 22, 2023 8:52 pm

What you are looking for are generally called earbuds, or sometimes earphones.

Could be. But with earbuds I tend to think of those horrible things in the lower picture which just hang onto your outer ear, while I'm looking for a model like in the upper one:

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Re: Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by Impostor »

Update:

I'm leaning towards the Tinhifi brand (because of reasons I don't really understand).

Now I just need to decide which model: T2, T2-2022update, T2Pro, T2Plus, T2Evo, T3, T3plus, T3Premium, T4, or T4Plus.

.....

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Re: Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by wjl »

Well for under 100$/€ you might get the Sennheiser IE100, have seen them in a local music store, but haven't tried them.

The website TechPowerUp has some reviews from time to time, I'd recommend to read this for instance:

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/moon ... -monitors/
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/trut ... -monitors/ and
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/moon ... -monitors/

I bought the latter ones, originally for my daughter who didn't like them, so I kept those. Here's a video review from a guy from Singapore whom I trust on quality - he has measured hundreds of headphones already, with real equipment and methods:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMy3DJ18ntE

These 'Chu' aren't bad indeed...

Hope that helps?

Cheers,
Wolfgang

more about me on my blog
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Re: Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by Impostor »

I've decided to buy the T2 Plus. Hope I won't regret it.

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Re: [resolved] Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by Impostor »

Well, got the T2Plus in my ears right now.

Soundquality-wise nothing to complain about really. (that's a breath-of-fresh-air review compared with some of the audiophile reviews out there, not?)

Got the best sound with the supplied foam eartips. Sadly, those seem to be of single-use quality. After listening for an hour I removed them, and now they seem to be permanently disfigured already, providing no fit and isolation at all anymore. The supplied silicone tips are all single flange, and don't provide the desired fit either, so now I'm wearing the IEMs with some old double flange tips I had lying around.

The greatest difference with my previous IEMs is the cable: the chafing sound this cable transfers is almost negligible with respect to my old one. Makes listening while on the move all the more comfortable.

Now I just need to find out if there exist durable foam tips, since these do seem to provide the best sound quality.

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Re: [resolved] Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by GMaq »

Impostor wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:18 am

Well, got the T2Plus in my ears right now.

Soundquality-wise nothing to complain about really. (that's a breath-of-fresh-air review compared with some of the audiophile reviews out there, not?)

Got the best sound with the supplied foam eartips. Sadly, those seem to be of single-use quality. After listening for an hour I removed them, and now they seem to be permanently disfigured already, providing no fit and isolation at all anymore. The supplied silicone tips are all single flange, and don't provide the desired fit either, so now I'm wearing the IEMs with some old double flange tips I had lying around.

The greatest difference with my previous IEMs is the cable: the chafing sound this cable transfers is almost negligible with respect to my old one. Makes listening while on the move all the more comfortable.

Now I just need to find out if there exist durable foam tips, since these do seem to provide the best sound quality.

Hi,

Good info! I'm on the edge of buying an Xvive wireless in ear monitoring system and the receivers come without buds so I'm looking for some decent quality buds to go with them without breaking the bank. In the case of in-ears for live performance probably a bit of sound err... uhm... 'leakage' (ewwww) is more of a plus than a minus...

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Re: [resolved] Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by Impostor »

GMaq wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 9:53 pm
Impostor wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:18 am

Well, got the T2Plus in my ears right now.

Soundquality-wise nothing to complain about really. (that's a breath-of-fresh-air review compared with some of the audiophile reviews out there, not?)

Got the best sound with the supplied foam eartips. Sadly, those seem to be of single-use quality. After listening for an hour I removed them, and now they seem to be permanently disfigured already, providing no fit and isolation at all anymore. The supplied silicone tips are all single flange, and don't provide the desired fit either, so now I'm wearing the IEMs with some old double flange tips I had lying around.

The greatest difference with my previous IEMs is the cable: the chafing sound this cable transfers is almost negligible with respect to my old one. Makes listening while on the move all the more comfortable.

Now I just need to find out if there exist durable foam tips, since these do seem to provide the best sound quality.

Hi,

Good info! I'm on the edge of buying an Xvive wireless in ear monitoring system and the receivers come without buds so I'm looking for some decent quality buds to go with them without breaking the bank. In the case of in-ears for live performance probably a bit of sound err... uhm... 'leakage' (ewwww) is more of a plus than a minus...

I wish you all the wisdom in choosing, and luck. Now I've listened for quite a few hours to diverse genres, and with both foam and silicon tips, I must conclude that the high end lacks "sparkle" (I'm turning audiophile). The EQ of my mp3 player can't remedy this. My previous Mee Audio IEMs sounded better there, though the T2Plus sounds better in the low end. But this is also very dependent on the fit: pressing the buds a bit tighter improves the sound a lot. So it may be I just need better tips*.

The foam tips had regained their shape after a couple of hours: useless if you need to remove the buds temporarily now and then.

*Probably most definitely

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Re: [resolved] Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by sysrqer »

Which tips are you using?

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Re: [resolved] Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by Impostor »

sysrqer wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:44 pm

Which tips are you using?

Just the ones provided with the IEMs in the box. Before buying new ones (if I do), I have to figure out if I need smaller, larger, or equal size ones for a perfect fit. Or just buy a collection of three sizes for once..

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Re: [resolved] Looking for advice on IEMs

Post by sysrqer »

Impostor wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:05 pm

Just the ones provided with the IEMs in the box. Before buying new ones (if I do), I have to figure out if I need smaller, larger, or equal size ones for a perfect fit. Or just buy a collection of three sizes for once..

Yeah it's a bit of long and annoying process, not only for the seal but also the difference in the sound they can make. I tend to stick to comply but they are expensive.

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