The Ultra Cheap IEM Thread

@antdroid I blame you for this…

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@TylersEclectic I take the 5th. I don’t know anything. How do you like it? I brought my DMG to work with me today. Havent had a chance to use it though. Meetings every minute since I’ve been here.

@Brause The Focal Spark dropped to $20 and same day shipping, so I will be getting it tonight in blue color.

@Torq …and while looking for an add-on product for getting free same day shipping, I added a watch box with drawer. LOL. Drawer for cables and tips I guess.

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With the watchboxes being all the rage to store iem’s in I might invest in one in future. They look very neat. I like the look.

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They are very comfortable, and sound is also pretty good, I have no complaints at this price point…very fun listen, W shaped…? Only listened to a couple of tracks so far. Also I haven’t messed with the tips yet, just using stock tips…but they are very comfortable…

Edit: did you get a couple different nozzles? I can’t see a difference in them to the others other than color. Ok now I’m listening on my ADI-2DAC through the IEM port…and these are really nice, but the Andromeda is better :wink: lol…not a fair comparison. But if I didn’t have the Andromeda, these would be top bill of my current IEMs…this isn’t saying much though…

Speaking of Andromeda…they are soo very sensitive and make it hard to level match A/B, but when I turn the volume up the BGVP DMG is very appealing.

  1. CA Andromeda

  2. BGVP DMG

  3. CA Comet

  4. Tin Audio T2 Pro

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Yes each filter effect is subtle.
Gold - a little more mid-bass bump and lower treble.
Stock - neutral-ish
White - lower bass response and elevated treble

I like stock the best, by far.

Check out my review for measurements between the filters: BGVP DMG IEM Review

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I blame @antdroid too …

And a quick run through the filters, I’m leaning towards the default (body-color) one as well. Bass is still more satisfying (texture, detail, impact) than most of the pure-BA IEMs I’ve heard. Very nice, overall, so far.

Solid pairing with the SR15 as well (all up between the DAP, 512 GB card, Miter case, glass screen protector and the BGVP DMG it’s sitting at almost exactly $1,000 … which is close to the perfect point for what I had in mind).

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I hear the LZ filter sets also fit this IEM. I haven’t tried it yet though. I may buy a set since this IEM is still on my rotation while others have come and gone.

I don’t have the super cheap KZ IEM that had filters, but I wonder if those would work too.

The purple ones probably sound the best…

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purple is always the best.

I just saw that the purple one reduces -3dB to the treble region for the LZ A6 IEM

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Considering my teutonic background, I threw in an order for the Beyerdynamic Byron…a model praised by WhatHifii – and overlooked by everybody else. Hope it won’t be a dud.

It will be joining my selection of cheap but good sounding single DDs such as Sony MH1C, Soundmagic E10C, Pioneer SE-CH3T, HifiWalker A1 (modded) and Blitzwolf ES1 (modded).

My filters for the NiceHCK M6 have been waiting in customs for three weeks.

@antdroid: how do you like your Focals? Mine are blue, too, because they came at a discount.

Nice I actually took a look at the Byron as the Xelento was one of the few Beyerdynamic IEMs I enjoyed and I wanted to see how their cheaper IEMs performed. Excited to see what you think of them!

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It appears to be a discontinued model - that’s why it is cheap. In Germany, Beyerdynamic currently only offers Bluetooth versions. Their new wired models are the Beat Byrd and the Blue Byrd…which are not yet available in North America.

I really like my Beyerdynamic Custom Pro, still made in Heidelberg.

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@antdroid round two of blame coming your way :wink: @Torq gets some too lol

Edit: sound is good especially for the price, but they aren’t comfortable for me…maybe try a tip roll…bit I think it may be the way the case fits in my ear…also the purple and silver is quite nice!

Edit2: BGVP wins for me here…more comfortable and sound is better. But cost for performance the ZSN is very good.

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My feeling about almost all IEMs I’ve ever tried, regardless of price. When I need to use the phone at a conference and have to shut out the world, I will suffer. If there is something so loud that only a good seal will help, ditto.

I so much prefer distant neighbors and loudspeakers. As a second choice regular on or over ear headphones.

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Yes, I am definitely in the over ears camp… I like the idea of IEMs (hence buying these) but my ears tend to disagree with them over long periods.

Yea. IEMs and my ears never worked well together until I just bought a couple dozen different cheap tips to play around with. Finding a good combo helps. Not as comfortable as my CIEM though. I wish CIEM wasn’t such a hassle, otherwise, I’d only go that route.

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I let my co-worker listen to the KZ ZSN and AS06 today for the whole afternoon. He ended up liking the ZSN over the AS06. He felt it was more clean and clear. The AS06, he thought was not very clear in the vocals – I think he was referring to muddiness basically.

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I just ordered two fabulous music players with a headphone jack for cheap - Costco Canada. The SE went on sale for $249 in the US on 16th Jan and was sold out on 20th Jan (source: wikipedia). Hurrah!

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The Focal Spark did not deliver yesterday. In fact, it was delayed til today and has still not gone out for delivery yet! I made another order for goodies today (including the dayton mic) for same day delivery and it ALSO was delayed til tomorrow… I dont know whats up with the Rain Forest this week here, but it’s not making me happy.

I would have liked to get an iPhone, but the storage space is way too limited for the cost.

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Errr… Anthony, my wife recommended me not going for the (cheaper) Rose Gold. Be careful with the Dayton not to pull the top off. I was not the first to ruin one…

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