Kinera is one of the longstanding players in the IEM industry. While I'm familiar with products from Kinera’s sister brands Queen of Audio and Celest, Freya 2.0 marks the first time I've spent an extended period of time with a Kinera IEM. There is a lot to discuss about these $269 IEMs, so let’s dive in. Disclaimers The Kinera Freya 2.0 I demoed was a tour unit sent out by Kinera, and I don’t get to keep it at the end of the tour. As I always say, everyone is biased one way or another, so take everything you read with a grain of salt. Also, I...

EA1000 has been one of the IEMs that I have been very curious to try since its release. Although the initial hype already died out, it doesn’t mean that it’s not relevant anymore. In fact, any newly released single DD that is around 200 USD is put against EA1000. Good gear is eternal after all. Coming at 219 USD, EA1000 Fermat isn’t exactly Simgot’s flagship, but it already overshadowed EA2000 Boson and the others with the positive reception. Disclaimers Simgot EA1000 Fermat was provided to me by Simgot for free and I only paid for the customs...

TRN is mostly known for their budget offerings and CS4 is one of them. Until these were offered to be sent to me, I wasn’t even aware that they existed. So here I am letting you know that these exist. This barebones set of IEMs starts from 9.90 USD. If you want a cable with a microphone you need to pay another dollar and if you want a USB-C type connector instead of a 3.5 mm you need to pay 11.90 USD. Disclaimers TRN CS4 was provided to me by Cloris from shenzhenaudio.com for free. As I always say, everyone is biased one way or another so take...

R6 Pro II is, as the name implies, the second iteration of the improved Pro version of the R6 line of Digital Audio Players from Hiby. Although I have known and followed Hiby as a company, R6 Pro II is the first of their products I have actually used. Retailing at 749 USD, this DAP has some impressive specs to boast about. Disclaimers I bought R6 Pro II with my own money from a friend pre-used so, of course I didn’t pay the full price if that matters. I have been using the device for some time as my personal unit, therefore review includes my own...

Hifiman is mostly known for their open-back planar magnetic headphones and I myself own 3 pairs. As you may already know, almost all of their headphone offerings have become benchmarks in their respective price ranges. Other than headphones, they make IEMs, digital to analog converters, amplifiers and digital music players which are more or less successful in their own right and this is a review of one such product: their bullet style IEMs RE-400. RE-400 is their cheapest IEMs as of now and although the original price for it was 79.00 USD when it...

EA500LM is Simgot's latest release at the date of this review. Just by the name, it promises to continue the legacy of the now legendary EA500. LM name comes from the materials used in the drivers which are Lithium and Magnesium, so it doesn’t stand for “Limited”. Apart from the tuning, the price was also increased to 89.99 USD and they added another pair of tuning nozzles to the package. Disclaimers Simgot EA500LM was provided to me by Simgot for free and I only paid for the customs fee. As I always say, everyone is biased one way or another so...

Celest has been on a roll with one successful release after another. For those who don’t know, Celest is Kinera’s sister brand that targets the more budget conscious audience. The most expensive Celest product so far was Phoenix Call which is sold for 129 USD. Plutus beast is the second priciest product Celest has released and sold for 89 USD. Celest also has a number of other successful IEMs like Wyvern, Gumiho and Pandamon and also other accessories like gaming cables with boom mics. Disclaimers Celest Plutus Beast was provided to me by Kinera...

Hifiman needs no introduction as they make some of the best headphones in every price category. I have owned several Hifiman headphones and reviewed a couple of them before. In general, they all impressed me and became my benchmarks. HE400se is Hifiman’s entry level planar magnetic headphones that are currently priced at 109 USD but can be bought for even cheaper during sales. Disclaimers Hifiman HE400se was provided to me by Mark from Hifiman for free and I only paid the customs fees. As I always say, everyone is biased one way or another so take...

Evaluating Artti T10 was rather easy for me. Because I’m pretty familiar with the planar sound, especially on the IEMs that came after 7Hz Timeless. But before spoiling the review too much, I should introduce T10. Artti T10 is the first IEM Artti has released. Before T10, I reviewed their R1, which was a 3 Dynamic Driver IEM. While it was tuned very well, it didn’t exactly suit my taste. I was expecting the T10 to be better for me because of how it measured pretty much the same as the other planars in the market with a cheaper price tag. Coming at...

TRN is one of the Chinese IEM makers that are better known for their budget offerings. They haven’t released a noticeable product for a while and seemed to have been left behind by their competition as other companies also released some bangers in their territory. But then they dropped Conch. For 35 USD, an IEM with metal shells, a cable with interchangeable terminations, 3 pairs of different tuning nozzles, decent selection of tips and an aluminum carrying case is still unthinkable below 100 USD. Disclaimers TRN Conch was provided to me by...

Simgot’s single DD IEMs got countless praises but when they released a 1+4 hybrid, everyone was curious to see how they would perform, myself included. Not only that, with their 109 USD price, they would be one of the cheaper 1+4 hybrids out there. There is no need to raise the hype here since EM6L has been out for a while and some people already named it one of the best releases of 2023. Disclaimers Simgot EM6L Phoenix was provided to me by Simgot for free and I only paid for the customs fee. As I always say, everyone is biased one way or another...

Artti is a relatively new brand and R1 is their second IEM in the market. They are priced at 79 USD but can usually be bought for cheaper through their Aliexpress store. Although newly established, some things might look very familiar because they are manufactured by LetShuoer, at least that’s what it says on the back of the box. Disclaimers I bought Artti R1 with a discount in exchange for a review. As I always say, everyone is biased one way or another so take everything you read with a grain of salt. Also I will try to be more concise and to...

Moondrop is one of the bigger players in the IEM market and May is their projection to the future in my opinion with the removable DSP cable and endless possibilities. With the 65 USD asking price, let’s see if Moondrop delivers on these promises. Disclaimers Moondrop May was provided to me by Shenzhen Audio for free in exchange for a review. As I always say, everyone is biased one way or another so take everything you read with a grain of salt. Also I will try to be more concise and to the point in my reviews from now on without worrying about the...

Sony needs no introduction. Being an electronics giant, they have some consumer level audio products, but also they are audio professionals with record labels, studios and such, they make some of the best pro and enthusiast level audio products. IER-Z1R is one such product in their line. When they were released in 2018, you had to dish out 1999 USD, but nowadays they can usually be found around 1699 USD or less depending on the time of the year. Disclaimers Sony IER-Z1R was loaned to me by a friend of mine along with a Kinera x Effect Audio Orlog...

Simgot had a great year. They obtained great success with their single DD EA500 and released hit after hit since then. One of those hits is EW200 Maze. I had my eye on a pair ever since their release and when Simgot reached out to me, I especially asked them for one to see what’s the fuss about these 40 USD IEMs. Disclaimers Simgot EW200 Maze was provided to me by Simgot for free and I only paid for the customs fee. As I always say, everyone is biased one way or another so take everything you read with a grain of salt. Also I will try to be more...

Chopin is Timmy Vangtan a.k.a. Gizaudio’s second collaboration with an IEM manufacturer to create a product that would suit his listening preferences as well as market trends. He is a pretty well known and liked individual by the community. Binary on the other hand, is the dark horse in this relationship. They are, by no means a new manufacturer, but Chopin is their first product in the international market as far as I know. Priced at 199 USD MSRP, which is very crowded with highly competent iems by the way, the 1+3 hybrid iem Chopin promises a lot...

Kinera’s Celest branch has arguably the most successful line of products among all of the Kinera brands in my personal opinion. For those who don’t know, Celest aims at younger audio enthusiasts and releases budget conscious no frills products unlike Kinera or QoA which also pays great attention to design and packaging. I have reviewed their cable with boom microphone; Ruyi, that converts any iem into a gaming/communicating one earlier and praised it for its performance. Now Celest did it again and for the same price of $29 MSRP for the Pro version...

Hidizs is one of the better established audio companies from China. Their DAPs, portable DACs and amplifiers are highly popular. They also had several IEMs earlier, which unfortunately I have never tried but, lately they have been storming the market with release after release. Hidizs MS3 has been out for months now and this review was supposed to be released much earlier but the first unit I got had a slight problem. After I contacted Hidizs, they sent me another unit after I sent the first one back, so I’m kind of late to the party. MS3 is...

EPZ Q5 is the brand's newest IEM that is aimed at the budget market. As far as I know it is only sold on Aliexpress and the price is not constant. However for convenience’s sake I will say it is a 50 usd IEM which is very competitive. EPZ is not a new brand but it looks like they are getting noticed by more and more people recently. Earlier I reviewed their 1+4 Hybrid K5 and acknowledged what they did with it. It was well built and accessorized. In that sense Q5 is no different. Pros Great build and comfort Premium packaging Very balanced tuning...

Twilight is Softears’ second single dynamic driver IEM that comes at a whopping $930. It may sound steep but in this review you are going to read, you may start to think that price tag might just be justified. Softears is one of the few IEM manufacturers from China that doesn’t come out with a new product every other month. Their cheapest release is $285 Volume and prices go as high as $2499 with Turii Ti which is also a single dynamic driver. So you can confidently say they are a premium brand. Pros Exceptional execution of warm-neutral tuning...