Best balanced IEM for around $100?
Mar 9, 2018 at 7:28 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 16

NewAudioGamer

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Hi their! I am looking for the best balanced IEM that is priced around $100. Some of the ones I am looking at currently are the Vsonic GR07, IBasso IT01, Massdrop MEE PX, or the Kinera H3. I dont know which of this options is the best or if their is a better option out their.
 
Mar 10, 2018 at 12:16 AM Post #2 of 16
im no longer knowledgeable about entry level iems, but there are a few important things when it comes to buying one. at entry level, the most important thing to think about is actually comfort, especially if youre gaming. I think the most important thing in regards to comfort is that the entire part of the ear tip and the body behind it should be narrow. its hard to explain but iems that have little space between the body and the ear tip are bad while iems that are really narrow or have a body that tapers toward the tip are good. once you wear iems you'll understand, what you want is as little contact between the body of an iem with your ear as possible, otherwise the parts that touch your ear will start aching. sound actually isn't too important at this level imo, i didnt find my sound preference until mid tier.

You describe that you want to listen to something balanced. i'm not sure what you mean by that. the sound glossary (link below) says it is a word to describe how each frequency is presented relative to each other. in other words balanced is not a sound signature. an old, more confusing definition of balanced was a v or u shaped signature where the bass and treble are balanced and the mids are recessed as if the entire frequency response was balanced on a scale. in that case, the well regarded (though quite old at this point) vsonic gr07 is not balanced, it is neutral (not a bad thing). ive only tried it a couple of times but its very small and very light weight, comfort should be alright. The ear tip nozzle is bendable so thats a unique feature. i havent tried any of the other three you mentioned, but from review, the ibasso and kinera are both balanced iems. i have doubts about their comfort though, they have pretty big bodies. i have a pretty low opinion of massdrop so im not gonna comment on the mee px.

good luck finding something you like, its a good idea to demo stuff if you can.

https://www.head-fi.org/articles/describing-sound-a-glossary.12328/
 
Mar 10, 2018 at 1:07 AM Post #4 of 16
im no longer knowledgeable about entry level iems, but there are a few important things when it comes to buying one. at entry level, the most important thing to think about is actually comfort, especially if youre gaming. I think the most important thing in regards to comfort is that the entire part of the ear tip and the body behind it should be narrow. its hard to explain but iems that have little space between the body and the ear tip are bad while iems that are really narrow or have a body that tapers toward the tip are good. once you wear iems you'll understand, what you want is as little contact between the body of an iem with your ear as possible, otherwise the parts that touch your ear will start aching. sound actually isn't too important at this level imo, i didnt find my sound preference until mid tier.

You describe that you want to listen to something balanced. i'm not sure what you mean by that. the sound glossary (link below) says it is a word to describe how each frequency is presented relative to each other. in other words balanced is not a sound signature. an old, more confusing definition of balanced was a v or u shaped signature where the bass and treble are balanced and the mids are recessed as if the entire frequency response was balanced on a scale. in that case, the well regarded (though quite old at this point) vsonic gr07 is not balanced, it is neutral (not a bad thing). ive only tried it a couple of times but its very small and very light weight, comfort should be alright. The ear tip nozzle is bendable so thats a unique feature. i havent tried any of the other three you mentioned, but from review, the ibasso and kinera are both balanced iems. i have doubts about their comfort though, they have pretty big bodies. i have a pretty low opinion of massdrop so im not gonna comment on the mee px.

good luck finding something you like, its a good idea to demo stuff if you can.

https://www.head-fi.org/articles/describing-sound-a-glossary.12328/

The word neutral is the one I was looking for. I actually had the Vsonic GR07 but I unfortunately lost them. Now my concern is that since many IEM in the 100$ price range has come out and I am wondering if the GR07 is still like the most recommended or should I look into other option. I know that the GR07 has some building quality issue mainly on the cable part, but I saw that if I spend $20 more I can get the one which has a detachable cable.
 
Mar 10, 2018 at 1:31 AM Post #6 of 16
The word neutral is the one I was looking for. I actually had the Vsonic GR07 but I unfortunately lost them. Now my concern is that since many IEM in the 100$ price range has come out and I am wondering if the GR07 is still like the most recommended or should I look into other option. I know that the GR07 has some building quality issue mainly on the cable part, but I saw that if I spend $20 more I can get the one which has a detachable cable.
i see, there arent too many neutral iems at that price range, gr07 is pretty special
 
Mar 10, 2018 at 4:47 AM Post #8 of 16
Hi @NewAudioGamer,

Before I offer my humble advice, I will ask why a detachable is necessary unless you want to use something other than the stock cable which is hardly necessary at this level unless there is something which is obviously better cable wise but then it becomes borderline ridiculous.
But then again that's my opinion.
In most cases, unless the stock detachable cable is available for replacement for a good price, it's just better to replace the whole iem, especially at that price point unless you can find custom cables which work nicely.

The only one out of your list I can guarantee is the best value is the iBasso IT 01 & since I own it I heartily endorse it nor would I be surprised (actually not surprised) the stock cable it comes with beats most custom cables for its pricepoint.
I'm a little ways off from the halfway point of the recommended burn in time but so far everything is nicely presented by being smooth & natural with lots of detail, clarity & space on top of being tuned very well for its pricepoint so in terms of specs alone (Keep in mind I haven't demoed the others on your list nor do I feel it necessary to so this may be a bias but a good bias nevertheless), it has a very good driver, perhaps the only company who uses graphene & basically dual sub transducers which makes bass response natural & accurate.
In this regard, it beats a lot of triple drivers & most $ 300 + iems but that's just my humble opinion.
 
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Mar 10, 2018 at 8:54 AM Post #10 of 16
Havi B3 Pro is a very neutral iem . It does like a amp to get the best from them though but not horrible out of a phone.
 
Mar 10, 2018 at 1:43 PM Post #11 of 16
I will ask why a detachable is necessary unless you want to use something other than the stock cable which is hardly necessary at this level unless there is something which is obviously better cable wise but then it becomes borderline ridiculous.
I've been thinking about this, and detachable would let me add a BT cable such as this:
BTX1-BK_1__93181.1513712280.630.630.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/****-Bluetooth-Comfortable-Lightweight-Microphone/dp/B0793HZXYL/
 
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Oct 9, 2019 at 2:29 AM Post #12 of 16
You may consider the Nuforce EDC 3. I am also looking for a neutral IEM and I am pretty close to choosing that one. It seems to offer a lot for the $100 price. Reviews indicate they are durable and comfortable earpieces with a neutral signature and detailed mids. Basically what I want in an IEM for my commute. They also come with two different, replaceable cables, one with a mic and one braided without mic.
 
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Oct 10, 2019 at 8:11 AM Post #13 of 16
Hi @NewAudioGamer,

Before I offer my humble advice, I will ask why a detachable is necessary unless you want to use something other than the stock cable which is hardly necessary at this level unless there is something which is obviously better cable wise but then it becomes borderline ridiculous.
But then again that's my opinion.
In most cases, unless the stock detachable cable is available for replacement for a good price, it's just better to replace the whole iem, especially at that price point unless you can find custom cables which work nicely.

For me it is pretty simple: the cables break much sooner than the rest of the IEM. I don't really hear much difference when it comes to cables -- though there is an obvious difference in terms of build quality -- so even non-proprietary cables are often fine. I am not willing to shell out over 100 bucks every year for new IEMs, but 15 for a cable is pretty reasonable.

You may consider the Nuforce EDC 3. I am also looking for a neutral IEM and I am pretty close to choosing that one. It seems to offer a lot for the $100 price. Reviews indicate they are durable and comfortable earpieces with a neutral signature and detailed mids. Basically what I want in an IEM for my commute. They also come with two different, replaceable cables, one with a mic and one braided without mic.

40 dollars extra to get it in the EU though. Not sure if it is an issue for OP but it is for me.
 
Oct 10, 2019 at 10:47 AM Post #15 of 16
The word neutral is the one I was looking for. I actually had the Vsonic GR07 but I unfortunately lost them. Now my concern is that since many IEM in the 100$ price range has come out and I am wondering if the GR07 is still like the most recommended or should I look into other option. I know that the GR07 has some building quality issue mainly on the cable part, but I saw that if I spend $20 more I can get the one which has a detachable cable.

I have a quite neutral set, the Hisenior B5+, it is a 5 knowles BA driver IEM. Quite flat on FR, but has a bit of boosted lower mids. Very good for vocals, classical, acoustic and jazz, but may be lacking for bass forward genres like EDM. It has good clarity, separation, imaging and details. It takes well to EQ, so you can finetune the signature you prefer.
Retails ~ 80ish USD on Aliexpress, and there's a big Aliexpress sale coming up on 11/11.

I also dislike non detachable cable IEMs due to the cables generally being the first point of failure in IEMs (I had 2 IEMs fail on me in the past due to the non detachable cables and had to do a MMCX mod for them to salvage the drivers). The Hisenior B5+ has detachable cables, no worries, and in fact, the shop can let u decide if u want a 2 pin or MMCX type, and they can also tune the IEM to your specific request for free as they have an inhouse audio engineer.

Hope u find the IEM you are looking for!
 

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