[kukkurovaca]

General preferences run to warm/dark, but I sort of have that covered and am looking for something that will offer more detail, soundstage, and positional cues. If I can get that in a warm IEM, that would be great, but more analytic suggestions or weird but effective tunings are also fine. Good bass performance, esp. subbass, preferred.

Hard to drive IEMs welcome! I have amps. (CDM, Phantasy, SR-71A, ES100) Plays well with high output impedance sources would be a plus, but not required.

I would prefer not to spend more than $200-300 but would hear suggestions up to $500. Cheaper is obviously even better, but only relevant if it's a notable improvement over what I have.

What I currently have IEM-wise:

• iSine 20: Would be near-perfect if they had isolation.
• Advanced GT3 Superbass: This is the IEM I currently use the most, and I think they're great with a bit of EQ, but I would like better detail retrieval and more accurate position/better soundstage. The Superbass don't sound closed in, but the positioning is a bit wonky compared to other IEMs/headphones.
• Massdrop Plus: These have a great level of detail and good imaging, but overly intimate and perhaps a touch...boring.
• iBasso IT01: The famous all-rounder. I don't use these much since getting the Superbass, but they're certainly good. I wish they didn't hiss so readily and in comparison to the others mentioned here, they can seem a bit...grainy? I dunno if I'm using that term correctly. I know there are a number of good single-dynamic IEMs that are positioned as IT01-killers, but it can be tricky to differentiate that market segment going by reviews. Would be looking for notable detail, stage, positioning improvements rather than just incrementally better overall quality.

Some things I've been looking at, in no particular order:

• Ikko OH10
• Kinera Idun
• Moondrop Blessing
• Audiosense T800
• BGVP DM7
• Advanced Furai

What I would not want: anything that's not coherent, that's extremely intimate, or very shrill/piercing, or particularly fragile. No fixed cables. Nothing that isolates poorly, since I've already got the iSine 20.

The Furai is on the pricey side for me at the moment, but I'm tempted, given how much I like the GT3 Superbass. Keeping that driver in a hybrid configuration seems like it could be perfect for me. But given the price I would probably want to wait for some additional reviews/comparisons. I'm also a bit apprehensive of the durability of the rubber part of the housing.

Anywho, with luck I'll vacillate over this for a few months before forgetting about it and thus avoid spending money.

 

[baskingshark]

General preferences run to warm/dark, but I sort of have that covered and am looking for something that will offer more detail, soundstage, and positional cues. If I can get that in a warm IEM, that would be great, but more analytic suggestions or weird but effective tunings are also fine. Good bass performance, esp. subbass, preferred.

Hard to drive IEMs welcome! I have amps. (CDM, Phantasy, SR-71A, ES100) Plays well with high output impedance sources would be a plus, but not required.

I would prefer not to spend more than $200-300 but would hear suggestions up to $500. Cheaper is obviously even better, but only relevant if it's a notable improvement over what I have.

What I currently have IEM-wise:

• iSine 20: Would be near-perfect if they had isolation.
• Advanced GT3 Superbass: This is the IEM I currently use the most, and I think they're great with a bit of EQ, but I would like better detail retrieval and more accurate position/better soundstage. The Superbass don't sound closed in, but the positioning is a bit wonky compared to other IEMs/headphones.
• Massdrop Plus: These have a great level of detail and good imaging, but overly intimate and perhaps a touch...boring.
• iBasso IT01: The famous all-rounder. I don't use these much since getting the Superbass, but they're certainly good. I wish they didn't hiss so readily and in comparison to the others mentioned here, they can seem a bit...grainy? I dunno if I'm using that term correctly. I know there are a number of good single-dynamic IEMs that are positioned as IT01-killers, but it can be tricky to differentiate that market segment going by reviews. Would be looking for notable detail, stage, positioning improvements rather than just incrementally better overall quality.

Some things I've been looking at, in no particular order:

• Ikko OH10
• Kinera Idun
• Moondrop Blessing
• Audiosense T800
• BGVP DM7
• Advanced Furai

What I would not want: anything that's not coherent, that's extremely intimate, or very shrill/piercing, or particularly fragile. No fixed cables. Nothing that isolates poorly, since I've already got the iSine 20.

The Furai is on the pricey side for me at the moment, but I'm tempted, given how much I like the GT3 Superbass. Keeping that driver in a hybrid configuration seems like it could be perfect for me. But given the price I would probably want to wait for some additional reviews/comparisons. I'm also a bit apprehensive of the durability of the rubber part of the housing.

Anywho, with luck I'll vacillate over this for a few months before forgetting about it and thus avoid spending money.

Hello friend, I have the Audiosense T800 and I would class it as a very bright IEM. It excels at details, imaging, instrument separation and clarity and some headfiers in the Audiosense thread said it can hit 80 - 90% sound quality of the CA Andromeda, though I haven't heard the latter to verify this. It is an 8 BA knowles set, $298 USD, but the bass on it can reach very low for subbass and almost sounds like a DD bass due to its tuning and vented design. Soundstage is very wide, but won't trump open backed headphones.
If u are treble sensitive, not the best option, but the T800's brightness can be tamed with knowles filters or eartip/cable change, but even so it is still on the brighter side with the mods, so I wouldn't advise it for u if u like warmth/dark signature. I would class it as very in your face with details, a good all rounder, but a set that doesn't sound overly boring/analytical. Best isolating IEM I have, ~ 30 dB isolation, I use it primarily for stage monitoring.
I haven't heard the other stuff in your short list though.

I have a dark and warm IEM at $300+ USD, the Westone W30 (3BA). It is non fatiguing and quite laid back, bass is typical of a BA bass, it is fast but doesn't really reach low in subbass in quantity. Quite detailed and good instrument separation, but I think at that pricing, there might be other CHIFI IEMs in your shortlist that give better price to performance ratio.

I've also have the Hisenior B5+ (5 knowles BA), ~ $80 USD. Very mid centric, with subbass and treble roll off. Good for vocals, acoustics, jazz. Takes to EQ well so u can boost the bass for bassforward genres (which is what I usually EQ with this set). Quite good details, imaging, clarity and details but soundstage average. Hisenior is a universal/customs maker and they can tune the IEM for no additional charge to whatever sound signature u prefer, just talk to them on Aliexpress. They apparently have inhouse audio engineers for this and can customize shells, cable connectors and tuning for u.

All the above are detachable cables and BA sets (which usually have better details and clarity than DDs IMHO).

 

[kukkurovaca]

Hello friend, I have the Audiosense T800 and I would class it as a very bright IEM. It excels at details, imaging, instrument separation and clarity and some headfiers in the Audiosense thread said it can hit 80 - 90% sound quality of the CA Andromeda, though I haven't heard the latter to verify this. It is an 8 BA knowles set, $298 USD, but the bass on it can reach very low for subbass and almost sounds like a DD bass due to its tuning and vented design. Soundstage is very wide, but won't trump open backed headphones.
If u are treble sensitive, not the best option, but the T800's brightness can be tamed with knowles filters or eartip/cable change, but even so it is still on the brighter side with the mods, so I wouldn't advise it for u if u like warmth/dark signature. I would class it as very in your face with details, a good all rounder, but a set that doesn't sound overly boring/analytical. Best isolating IEM I have, ~ 30 dB isolation, I use it primarily for stage monitoring.
I haven't heard the other stuff in your short list though.

Thanks! I'm definitely open to suggestions that differ from my usual preferences. In full-size headphone terms, I mostly use Argons, but I have an HD800 (picked up used for cheap) that for some kinds of music is just clearly more suitable, and I think that kind of division would also make sense on the IEM side.

 

[nhumdorn]

General preferences run to warm/dark, but I sort of have that covered and am looking for something that will offer more detail, soundstage, and positional cues. If I can get that in a warm IEM, that would be great, but more analytic suggestions or weird but effective tunings are also fine. Good bass performance, esp. subbass, preferred.

Hard to drive IEMs welcome! I have amps. (CDM, Phantasy, SR-71A, ES100) Plays well with high output impedance sources would be a plus, but not required.

I would prefer not to spend more than $200-300 but would hear suggestions up to $500. Cheaper is obviously even better, but only relevant if it's a notable improvement over what I have.

What I currently have IEM-wise:

• iSine 20: Would be near-perfect if they had isolation.
• Advanced GT3 Superbass: This is the IEM I currently use the most, and I think they're great with a bit of EQ, but I would like better detail retrieval and more accurate position/better soundstage. The Superbass don't sound closed in, but the positioning is a bit wonky compared to other IEMs/headphones.
• Massdrop Plus: These have a great level of detail and good imaging, but overly intimate and perhaps a touch...boring.
• iBasso IT01: The famous all-rounder. I don't use these much since getting the Superbass, but they're certainly good. I wish they didn't hiss so readily and in comparison to the others mentioned here, they can seem a bit...grainy? I dunno if I'm using that term correctly. I know there are a number of good single-dynamic IEMs that are positioned as IT01-killers, but it can be tricky to differentiate that market segment going by reviews. Would be looking for notable detail, stage, positioning improvements rather than just incrementally better overall quality.

Some things I've been looking at, in no particular order:

• Ikko OH10
• Kinera Idun
• Moondrop Blessing
• Audiosense T800
• BGVP DM7
• Advanced Furai

What I would not want: anything that's not coherent, that's extremely intimate, or very shrill/piercing, or particularly fragile. No fixed cables. Nothing that isolates poorly, since I've already got the iSine 20.

The Furai is on the pricey side for me at the moment, but I'm tempted, given how much I like the GT3 Superbass. Keeping that driver in a hybrid configuration seems like it could be perfect for me. But given the price I would probably want to wait for some additional reviews/comparisons. I'm also a bit apprehensive of the durability of the rubber part of the housing.

Anywho, with luck I'll vacillate over this for a few months before forgetting about it and thus avoid spending money.

Just found this post about you want to try ADV. Furai. What I suggest you is, buy it. Furai is special, very special. For me, I stop wanting anything else since I've got Furai. Furai can pair with anything, from cheap source to expensive source and reproduce the greatest sound especially in vocal area which so thick and analog. Extremely musical with proper detail. Not detail monster, opposite with its own approach. To generate this kind of timbre, you need to tame down many areas so the result is just heaven's IEMs. A must have.