Stop paying for those branded use-and-throw crap, and get yourself one of those modular chi-fi headsets.
Cables broken? Now you don’t have to throw the entire thing. Want this, but in USB-C? Just get them cables in the format you prefer. Earbuds uncomfortable? No worries, get them replaced. Want to go wireless? Get yourself one of those Bluetooth module - the neck ones, or the around-the-ear, if that’s what you prefer.
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i have never heard of this, ever in my life, but i am terribly interested now. please send some recommendations
Right now, I have the TruthEar Hola, which has been discontinued and replaced with the TruthEar Gate - they’re essentially the same thing, but I like Hola for it’s aesthetics. It is also a flat sound signature headphone, with just one dynamic driver on each side. Personally, I’d prefer to pick the TruthEar Zero next time (tuned by Crinacle, BTW), or the TruthEar Hexa, or maybe the Letshuoer DZ4 or the S12 pro.
But you could not go wrong with other brands like:
- 7Hz (Salnotes Zero, Zero:2)
- FiiO
- KZ (ZST, ZSN)
- TangZu (Wan’Er)
- MoonDrop (Aria, Aria2, Quark)
- Tripowin (Olina, Piccolo, Kailua)
- Final (E4000, A5000)
- Blon (BL01, BL03, BLO5, BLO5s, BLA8 Prometheus)
- Dunu (Titan S, Titan S2)
Just make to check out their sound signature spectrum. For starters, you may pick something that has a flat sound signature, and has a dual driver setup (1 dynamic driver + 1 balanced armature driver), although you may preferably pick a single driver (1 dynamic driver).
At least in India, we have a audiophile-only site, (www.headphonezone.in), so it makes searching for audio-related stuff really easy. What you could do is search for beginner audiophile IEMs in the above page, and maybe try searching for them locally or on Amazon or other alternative sites out there.
I have a pair of 7Hz Salnotes Zero IEMs and I adore them. Sub-$20, sound great, fit my ears and are comfortable for long play sessions - they’re the complete package.
Contrasting them to some Etymotic ER3 IEMs buds I received for my birthday years ago the Salnotes sound just as good, but cost four times less. I was terrified of wearing the ER3s out and about in case I broke them somehow, but the Salnotes come with me everywhere.
Both the 7Hz Salnotes Zero and the TruthEar Hola are consider to be almost similar - they both target the Harman neutral, and do so decently well for the money it costs. The Salnotes Zero is a little on the darker side from what I hear, as opposed to the Hola, which is probably just a matter of preference.
The silicon in the Hola are not the best - they’re loose and uncomfortable, so I’ll probably replace them. And the cable have some minor damage (only physical), so I’ll probably get one from Tripowin once it wears down completely.
no pictures or specific brand/product recommendations
yeah im totally gonna wade through a random ocean of piss like amazon under the sterile moonlight for this
It would be hard to recommend them became each buds have their own unique sound signatures. However, you could start with a balanced sound signature. Flat is probably good for sound engineers. However,you could pick something like the Letshuoer DZ4 or the TruthEar Hexa.
You’re tossing me down a well comrade, modular headphones!? This will not be good for my wallet.
They are waaaay cheaper than the fruit company stuff 👉 👈
I think you’re allowed to say Apple here.
I still buy those 2002 type headphones that wrap around your ears. Typically you’re only gonna find them online, but fuck they’re cheap and last forever. I don’t care that I’m thy ugliest person in the room.
I got a set of those because of persona 3 back in the day. They do last forever.
2002 type headphones
Never heard of them - what are they? Do you have an example pic?
I just Googled it. Apparently they’re called “ear clips”.
Oh, you mean clip-on headphones? They’re still sold - Koss, AudioTechnica and JVC still makes them.
I wasn’t aware. I gave up finding them in shops.
Get yourself a pair of KOSS KSC75’s. £25. They are incredible value. Sound quality like nothing I’d ever heard before. It punches ridiculously far out of its price bracket. I was actually shocked. I bought them thinking I was gonna hate on the hype they’d got, but they really got me. I was hearing notes in my favourite songs I’d never been able to hear before. Plus, KOSS’s warranty policy is amazing.
Some people hate the clips (I do, so I bought a headband and some better ear pads and made them into over the head headphones). Then I lost them.
The only downside for me was that they’re open ear, so it wasn’t the best for listening on the loud underground trains. The sound bleeds quite a bit of you’ve got them loud. As they do with any clip ons that don’t have in-ear-monitors.
I would recommend them in a heartbeat, but I won’t oversell the Koss KSC75s. In ear headphones at this price point from brands like moondrop slap them and plenty of over ears are better at sensible <£100 mark price points. I also find the KSC75s never last long. The wires are sooo thin they all eventually fail for me after being traveled with for a while. With that said, I keep buying replacement pairs because they are really very good sounding and comfortable too for the price.
I’m looking to buy a new set - which moondrops would you recommend? I do prefer in ear really.
I use over-ear bluetooth headphones (they do have audio jack so not strictly bluetooth), but I checked out some in-ear KZ buds, and their description sounds nice (great sound at low price, plus the modularity). Might get a pair sometime later.
Great thing that the official storefront for KZ (and probably other brands) is Aliexpress (so that I can actually buy stuff).
Thanks for the recommendation!
The big problem with KZ and related brands like CCA is stealth revisions (selling a new model under the same name as the old model without telling anyone) and quality control issues. The CCA CRA has to be the most egregious example of a stealth revision, the new CRA sounds completely different to the old one. But otherwise they usually deliver a good bass and treble heavy V shaped sound signature for a cheap price.
Yeah I spent two days researching, so I now know about issues of KZs.
I’d like to get Hexa, find comfortable eartips, and try doing a little bit of EQ, but 20 dollar options (many of them) also look very good.
What do you recommend for someone who mostly listens to wierd french baroque music and is lugging around a pair of high end open back Sennheiser reference headphones from the 90s? Greatly prefer clarity to bass, since the most I’ll be hearing are 1600s timpanis.
I’m actually not an expert and I’ve not used a lot of these, but since you’re looking for something that produces good vocals, you might as well also include balanced signature. Maybe the Final A4000, TruthEar Hexa or the Tin HiFi P1 Max?
Honestly, I’m not sure if you are particular about a good soundstage, in which case, an open-back is probably the best choice, like the one you have right now. Or maybe pick some of the IEMs made by Campfire Audio, like the Andromeda 2020 (wtf, it costs two and a half kidneys)?
If you can solder koss porta pros can be made wireless and parts are cheap because they’ve been around forever.
Not sure if you’re serious but sony mdr. They’re everywhere and parts and guides to repair them yourself are cheap and they’re most likely the headphones the musicians were monitoring themselves on when they recorded the music you like.
If you want quality and clarity from wireless headphones, get the ones that go with your phone.
Well, I am due for an upgrade from my 2008 Beats by Dre.
I had a pair of shure in ears which i would replace the cable maybe once every 6 months to a year depending on use and had them for about 7 years before i somehow stupidly ran them under a tap.
I replaced them with shure in ears :D
The lower end ones are super affordable as well so no real excuse not to get them.
