In Ear Headphone recommendations

[Phinx]

As the title says, does anyone have a recommendation for quality IEMs? Mostly used for casual gaming and listening to music. They do not have do come with a mic, since I have an external one anyways.

[Twdft]

Hard to say, depending on your ears. In-ears sound best when they fit your ear perfectly. For me a couple foam replacement earbuds enhanced every single in-ear I ever bought. Cheap or expensive earphones didn't matter as much as them fitting in.

[Djuntas]

To many china direct shipping brands only avaliable on shitty amazon makes it hard. Im actually in the marked too, but haven't found any good once that I can buy locally thats like you OP: No bluetooth, no wifi, no smart BS and no mic. They are hard to come by unless you trust youtube reviews and buy from china brands thats apparently good.

[Phinx]

To many china direct shipping brands only avaliable on shitty amazon makes it hard. Im actually in the marked too, but haven't found any good once that I can buy locally thats like you OP: No bluetooth, no wifi, no smart BS and no mic. They are hard to come by unless you trust youtube reviews and buy from china brands thats apparently good.

Yes, it's a very over saturated market with many low quality products, sadly. Makes it hard to find something decent in terms of quality and price. I'm currently looking at stuff from Crinacle, who is - ironically - a youtuber, but as far as I know his whole gimmick are IEMs. Only problem with him is that he rates all the products he uses by sound quality alone. Stuff like comfort, durability, design are not really part of his rating.
That's why I was hoping to find someone here that has a good recommendation without any bias.

[Iliena]

Sorry cant give recommendations for in ear, I used to use them a lot but they now irritate my ears after an hour or 2, so now stick to over ear.

head-fi.org is a good place for headphone reviews from people who tend to know what they are talking about.

[Thoriangun]

For western brands look at sennheiser or Shure

China has made incredible strides for IEMs

https://shenzhenaudio.com/collection...-ear+Headphone

https://shenzhenaudio.com/collection...b718084e&_ss=c

These are a good pair and you may find these on sale

https://shenzhenaudio.com/collection...b718084e&_ss=c

I have these, they are tuned a bit differently to the standard arias and I think its the bass that has been toned down but I mostly like the look of them but they are comfy enough, I actually don't find that uncomfortable and I do like the sound of them, the bass isn't that strong but they aren't bright either and I own 1 pair of bright headphones and hate it.

It can take awhile for stuff to arrive from that retailer as its coming from China directly but the website is fine.

[Witchblade77]

a close acquaintance swears by Sennheiser. its pricey, but seems to be worth it. me I don't care enough to get invested in subtle differences in sounds so as long as its not utterly uncomfortable, I'm perfectly happy with random cheap stuff off amazon. been using the same pair of $20 bluetooth buds since before pandemic and other then occasional pairing glitch, they worked fine for what I needed them.

[mrgreenthump]

It all depends of your preference. I've been prefering Moondrop products for quite a while, but some view their cheaper parts as too bright or neutral. But in IEMs "ChiFi" is dominating atm.

I'd start with looking reviews of Moondrop Starfield 2 or Aria. If you want cheaper option then KZ ZS10 Pro is pretty hard to beat as it can be bought for under $50. But honestly you could ask a question of what is the best IEM near $100 or $50 and get a different answer from each person familiar with Chinese options.

Then if you want more expensive, I'd say this forum is probably not the place to make the decision over. I personally run Moondrop Variations nowdays, but while I can praise them to no end, they are starting to be in a price point where I would never recommend something of my preference.

[Thoriangun]

It all depends of your preference. I've been prefering Moondrop products for quite a while, but some view their cheaper parts as too bright or neutral. But in IEMs "ChiFi" is dominating atm.

I'd start with looking reviews of Moondrop Starfield 2 or Aria. If you want cheaper option then KZ ZS10 Pro is pretty hard to beat as it can be bought for under $50. But honestly you could ask a question of what is the best IEM near $100 or $50 and get a different answer from each person familiar with Chinese options.

Then if you want more expensive, I'd say this forum is probably not the place to make the decision over. I personally run Moondrop Variations nowdays, but while I can praise them to no end, they are starting to be in a price point where I would never recommend something of my preference.

Can we also just say how moondrop is killing it in packaging alone, I've kept my 2 boxes as they are just works of art ( subjective of course ).

[PACOX]

I have a pair of Moondrop Arias and Linsoul KZS10s. Both are great, especially for their price. Prefer the latter, they are more comfortable and have great bass. I know a lot people IEM uses prefer flatter sound profiles, in case the Arias are better.

[Djuntas]

Yes, it's a very over saturated market with many low quality products, sadly. Makes it hard to find something decent in terms of quality and price. I'm currently looking at stuff from Crinacle, who is - ironically - a youtuber, but as far as I know his whole gimmick are IEMs. Only problem with him is that he rates all the products he uses by sound quality alone. Stuff like comfort, durability, design are not really part of his rating.
That's why I was hoping to find someone here that has a good recommendation without any bias.

Oh yeah that guy...Gut its so weird how you can become big on a nieche in YT ^^ Anyway I don't care about the space, and frankly so does the marked not either since all seem to want to use wireless stuff these days.

I actually won a pair of airpods pro some time ago (A facebook page with very little followers, I saw my chance), but gave them to my brother cause I hate charging stuff and all that crap - They are nice if you wanna run or just have podcast/music when you are out, but when im away from home I just prefer no stimulation...Like when im running or outside I just wanna be offline. Tbh I only use my phone to watch content when im in a train.

Anyway I don't wanna buy from china directly without a middel man like proshop, komplett whatever. And not amazon either if it can be avoided. Us Europeans are not gonna be like that. Then Id rather just not buy anything.

...So for now I keep looking, but I dont need anything good besides no smart bullshit features for sure.