Earphones / Headphones: Where to try, what to buy?

I had no idea these were a thing. Thank you!

I tried Andromedas while in SF from a colleague. I bought them.

@rogan Hahahaha yes my guy. Jealous. Pretty special aren't they.

For $600 it was a literal no brainer, they're like nothing else

@rogan $600??? Elaborate please!

Colleague got them as cosmetic bstock but had barely used them so just got lucky!

Ahhhh I thought you meant you demoed his or hers then purchased some. Yeah, good deal that!

Anyone want to play what's wrong with these SE215s?
https://drive.google.com/open?id=11-C68XvtJQQeL6x2fXRW4IgMgnehLIV6

OK so nobody wanted to play but they're fake. Fairly passable in terms of looks, but giveaways were the shape of the bag, the buds, bad plastic moulding, the wires inside the headphones being the wrong colour and the fact they sound like the free headphones you get on long haul flights 😂

Bought them from the British Heart Foundation on eBay, I'm sure they didn't know what they were selling but turns out a brand new pair of SE215s for £55 all in is too good to be true. Who knew.

The main reason I fancied a pair is I used to have a pair of E2Cs back in the day. I know the market has moved on a lot since the SE215s came came out, so are there other IEMs I should be looking at listening to in the £80-100 kinda price range? And are the SE425s really so good they're worth the extra? I could always buy some VE Monks for the moment and save for something better.

I wouldn't bother even getting 425s in this day and age. Shure are really, really lagging behind and simply aren't very good value for money now. Posted this a page or two back:

At that price you've got lots of good options, but I'd be inclined to say there's not much else out there better than these for under 100.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Headphone-Dynam­ic-Sounding-Earphone-Detachable-Grey/dp/­B07QXXTFCH/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=tin+t2&qi­d=1568207471&s=gateway&sr=8-3

However at 200 quid you're getting to some really nice earphones. Lots of great chifi options at that price from the likes of Fiio, Moondrop, BGVP - which is definitely what I'd go for over something like Shure.

I think I looked at these last time you suggested them, I could do with upgrading the mmcx headphones I have. What makes you recommend them?

Interesting! I'm still rocking my recabled SE530s and was wondering last week if things have moved on in terms of sound quality (I think I bought them ~10 years ago of a dude on headfi).

Thou quite tempted to get a bluetooth amp for them. Anyone had experience of the Fiio BTR3?

I don't have any with the BTR3 but do with other FiiO gear - currently incredibly happy with my FH7s and my old Q1 MkII was great as well. If you can stretch to the Radsone ES100 I'd grab one in a heartbeat. The app itself is worth it's weight in gold. Do some googling - lots of people waxing lyrical. With that said, I'm sure there's absolutely nothing wrong with the BTR3.

Internet hype. People who have the same opinions as I do on equipment I've listened to rate them well so I must assume I'd do the same. I also think at their price they're worth a punt. Amazon accept returns on everything so it's a win win.

I also listened to a pair of SE215s recently and even at their US Amazon price I'd not touch them with a barge pole.

Thanks, I was hoping you'd reply, what with being the IEM oracle and all.

I was off sick today so had quite a bit of time to Google and my initial googling suggested exactly what you said about Shure and that the T2s are the go to budget IEMs!

My only hesitation about buying them is they're apparently not very bassy. I'm not a bass head, but I do like balance and am not all about treble. You can get them for £38 here on Amazon though from the official distributor so at that price...
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/LINSOUL-TIN-T2-Earphone-Headphones-Silver/dp/B07DL2FPBL/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=tin+t2&qid=1568834951&s=gateway&sr=8-5

People on Reddit are saying these are the new budget IEM king though
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/1Dynamic-Armature-Earphones-Headphone-Detachable-Blue-microphone/dp/B07MCZGZW5/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=kz%2Bzs7&qid=1568835869&s=gateway&sr=8-1&th=1

And bassier apparently. Hmmm.

From what I can see, lots of people are attracted to KZ stuff, based on the fact that they take design cues from high end IEMs from the likes of Campfire, and many of these people seem to be new to IEMs. Not to poo poo their opinions, but I doubt they have as much experience with IEMs as people who praise T2s. I'd probably skip 'em to be honest and go for the T2.

The biggest thing for me though is Tin's parent company, Linsoul, are putting some really great stuff out. They seem to be far more HiFi orientated than KZ. KZ are very guilty of just throwing as many drivers into their IEMs as possible to give you perceived value, but they're not tuning the IEM itself which means their response graphs are all over the shop. They're selling a 12 driver IEM for less than $100 and rumor has it they sound like total dog shit.

Tin on the other hand are actually tuning their IEMs according to feedback from people in the community and real world usage. Tin's for me all day.

Like @Fox I have great memories of Shure e2cs back when IEMs were aimed almost entirely at musicians. I then had some Klipsch S4i's which were a bit less clunky but died quickly, along with their warranty replacements.
Then apple started including not-horrible earphones with phones and I didn't need the isolation any more...

Would you say the current crop of IEMs are aimed more at hi-fi listeners or musicians? Obvs there's a load of crossover but things like cable routing/weight/staying put/movement noise become much more important.

I'd quite like a set for stage use but if Shure aren't any good any more I'm a bit lost!

Alright, fine. You win.
I know you weren't even talking to me but I've just bought some Tin's.

Ta

Definitely HiFi listening.

Out of everything I've tried. And there have been many... cable comfort, weight, monitor comfort and audio neutrality - Westone have been at the top without a doubt. Their Pro line should fit your needs.

Thanks, I think I'm sold :)

Especially because even if the KZ's sound good, everyone agrees the cables and buds are dog shit. The recommended cable seems to be £40 and add a tenner for some Comply tips and that's £50 on top of £42 and they end up a lot pricier.

Also they're kinda fugly tbh and MMCX seems like a better cable format.

They're selling a 12 driver IEM for less than $100 and rumor has it they sound like total dog shit.

Head-fi review went up today funnily enough:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kz-zsx.23948/reviews

This review has a comparison with the T2s:
https://primeaudio.org/kz-zsx-earphone-review/

if you love bass plus a clean sound and micro details, the ZSX would be the one to get and if you want a very natural and musical tone, the T2 is still the one to beat in the budget segment.

I think I'd prefer natural and musical although I would like to hear both.

Also find the ZSX ugly, they look like those Belgian chocolate seashells...

They're huge too, by the way, to me anyway.

Yeah I've heard very good things about the cable on the T2. Linsoul, the parent company, make good cables. Interested to hear your thoughts on whatever you get.

I'm sorry to barge, Linsoul not parent just one of resale companies that happens be very popular these days thanks to one potty mouth youtuber

Anybody got any interest in the following? A single 215 earbud attached to an aftermarket (decent) Bluetooth cable?

The other earbud got cracked and fell to pieces in my bag whilst travelling... I finally gave up on sound quality and opted for convenience and bought air pods.

Probably three months old if I remember well.

£30 posted?

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