I can’t really get over how much I enjoy the Dunu Titan S, even more so than my Hexa. There is just enough bass to be satisfying but also very tight and controlled, vocals are the shining forefront and never get drowned out, and the treble is sparkly when it needs to be but never fatiguing (to my ears at least), love it. It also helps that the design of it looks badass.
Hexas are super bad, Titan S are obviously better. Both are worse than CCA Trio ($40) With foamtips, and if you get a low resistance cable for it like $15 KZ Silver Blue Cable (0.11 ohm resistance). Then you almost can't get better sound quality So it would be 55 usd for a big upgrade
Totally agree. I like them more than a couple of my multiple hundred dollars headphones... In fact, it's the precise equipment that made me think oh, fuck it, regardless of price, it's all about the tuning.
@@viciogamergd8061agree. Have and enjoy Titan S. Trio is better (for my ears). More spacious, separation, staging, imaging , that mid bass, and overall tuning. Mids tonality could be better but in the overall scheme of things, not a big deal
Last year, I tested as much IEMs I can try at E-Earphone during my Japan trip. Out of all the ones I tried, including the very expensive ones, Variations was my favorite sounding IEM
I am surprised that the Blessing 2 Dusk wasn't mentioned. It is still a fantastic iem, and it still remains competitive at its price even with the all the iems that have been released up to today. During the beginning of COVID I got introduced to the Starfield, but on the release of the B2D it quickly replaced them and nothing has sounded better. I would like to eventually get the Variations, but I am in no rush to do so.
Purchased my Variations 2yrs ago & haven’t looked back! Love these IEM’s!! I heard the MKIII’s were supposed to be the “end game” IEM that stomps all over the Variations, but I purchased the Monarch MKIII’s & ended up reselling them. I couldn’t justify the price because they honestly did NOT sound $500 better than the Variations. Had the MK3’s been around $700 then yeah.
@@torjones-7 as a blanket statement that's untrue. There's definitely a lot of overpriced nonsense; but you simply cannot get an IEM that sounds close to a Thieaudio Prestige Ltd (my personal favourites) or FF Maestro SE. There are others, but these are two I own that are absolutely worth the extra cash & nothing $500-ish competes at all.
I have the IE600. It's good for around $400-500 but not worth $700 in today's market. RSV is prob not worth buying when the Supernova exists unless you find one at a really good price because used Supernovas are expensive due to very limited availability.
Amazon US usually has the IE600 on sale for 500 and it's still great for that price (QC issues aside). Also the new MSRP is $800 lol. Sennheiser's strategy on all their newer products is to overprice and then run a lot of sales so it looks like you're getting a deal.
@@TOM7952 Actually the Sennheiser QC issue is a valid concern. I have sent my IE600 for RMA once alr earlier this year. Fortunately I'm from Singapore and there is a Sonova Sennheiser service centre here, and they replaced a new set for me immediately. A while back I found some Chinese repair merchant posted a video on bilibili showing that the IE series comes with a design flaw where the wiring to the dynamic drivers is quite fragile and prone to break. I don't have the link to that video now though.
Two years? I still have my HifiMan RE-400 and SoundMagic E10. lol. Btw, thx for the Tangzu Xuan NV recommendation! Balanced, single ended, sounds great.
My first ChiFi was Magaosi K3 in 2017, still alive and still enjoyable performance. Since then I bought around 20 different iems, but Magaosi still stands out. What is not ChiFi is my Final Audio Heaven II, also pretty old, but no one of my many iems can play classical strings like Heaven II, it is just like life performance.
Mangird Tea would be my top pick, and really enjoy the Tea 2 as well. The Olina SE is a legit beast in the $100 bracket. I concur about the Variations, and the S12.
I'm having Fearless X Crinacle Dawn iem (Pair with Dunu Hulk Pro cable) till today, and had let many audiophiles tried it and all of them are surprised how good it sounded overall. I have the Unique Melody MEXT, MEST MK2 and Letsheour Kindda Lava iems in my current possession.
Still have the Hifiman RE-262 of probably 15 years ago? I keep my gears well. The mids by today's standard is still the best I've heard. Also have Sony MDR EX-600 from around the same period. That one needs a bit of EQ to tame the lower treble peaks. We dont see a size of 15.8mm dynamic driver IEM anymore. It has the widest headstage for IEM even today
I see Softears RSV I hit Like. BTW have you tried the Softears Twilight?? That is my favourite single dynamic driver IEMs out there, and I would put her into my category of legends.
The reason why ıe600 has that much treble is the method how they tuned it. Chifi brands rely on the nozzle depth to basically low pass filter the treble range. They boost it and hope for the best. Result is mostly acceptable but not impressive. Old mate senny however probably used a helmholtz resonator to cut those frequencies. Result? A more refined and smoother treble. Although I personally think it's overpriced I have no problem with accepting it's qualities. You might remember this technology from the ie900 as well but that one had 3 and I assume one of them cut the pinna gain (shame) Most recent iem with this tech is singolo but some people was so obsessed with the pricing they've missed the whole fucking point. God damn I should make videos about these
Timmy do you have any recommendations on the less pricier side that competes with the rsv? I remember my mind being blown by it when I auditioned it, and I'm still considering it to this day.
@@Gizaudio I mean it's still Legendary status lol. I do wonder what those thousand-dollar IEM sounds like, or how they compete against cheaper, mini versions., Those price range IEM is like an enigma for me.
I never bought an IEM, I have been only using headset cuz I don't like earphone, stuff in my ears but I keep hearing IEM is so good so I wanna try but idk which one Truthear zero red or blue nozzle is too big for my ears and I dun want to go that low like zero 2 or chu 2 so any recommendations?
Dunu Titan S. And if you end up disliking the feeling of an IEM in your ears, you won't have spent much. The nozzle isn,'t big. And they are so good... If you don't mind them in your ears, you will be condemned to explore the IEM rabbit hole further. Guaranteed.
Start with something very cheap like 7hz Zero 2. Only costs $20 and it's insanely good. You also get a bunch of eartips with it so mix and match to see what you like.
Mostly good list though I disagree with Monarch Mk2. Its shouty upper mids, and weak bass response has been surpassed by many iems. The mk3 is the better of the two and its bass still isn't great.
I think Variations is pretty mid. The bass has poor impact and sounds separate from the rest in a weird way. Soundstage a bit stuffy in general. Maybe some like the tuning more.
![If you can't hear this then you're not an audiophile [See description for link to followup video]](/img/n.gif)
IER Z1R is still one of the best IEM ever despite it being released 6 years ago. Legendary bass.
Legendary discomfort also
I would add legendary vocals too.
Legendary build quality too, there isn't another IEM that's more solidly built with Zirconium.
Scarlet mini is the new bass king
not for male vocals. scooped lower mids and elevated low treble according to crin@@audio_tron
I can’t really get over how much I enjoy the Dunu Titan S, even more so than my Hexa. There is just enough bass to be satisfying but also very tight and controlled, vocals are the shining forefront and never get drowned out, and the treble is sparkly when it needs to be but never fatiguing (to my ears at least), love it. It also helps that the design of it looks badass.
Hexas are super bad, Titan S are obviously better. Both are worse than CCA Trio ($40)
With foamtips, and if you get a low resistance cable for it like $15 KZ Silver Blue Cable (0.11 ohm resistance). Then you almost can't get better sound quality
So it would be 55 usd for a big upgrade
@@viciogamergd8061 noted
Totally agree. I like them more than a couple of my multiple hundred dollars headphones... In fact, it's the precise equipment that made me think oh, fuck it, regardless of price, it's all about the tuning.
@@viciogamergd8061agree. Have and enjoy Titan S. Trio is better (for my ears). More spacious, separation, staging, imaging , that mid bass, and overall tuning. Mids tonality could be better but in the overall scheme of things, not a big deal
@@viciogamergd8061 depends on the person. many will prefer the hexa over the titan s. for example, super review.
Last year, I tested as much IEMs I can try at E-Earphone during my Japan trip. Out of all the ones I tried, including the very expensive ones, Variations was my favorite sounding IEM
I am surprised that the Blessing 2 Dusk wasn't mentioned. It is still a fantastic iem, and it still remains competitive at its price even with the all the iems that have been released up to today. During the beginning of COVID I got introduced to the Starfield, but on the release of the B2D it quickly replaced them and nothing has sounded better. I would like to eventually get the Variations, but I am in no rush to do so.
Discontinued
Oxygen, ER2XR, BL-03 from the top of my head.
Will u recommend blon 03 ..i hear pop,lil bit of bassy and clarity.. soundstage and imaging...i m a beginner
I still love my Solaris SE and Andromeda(original one). They sound so unique still.
Moondrop kato, for the price, will allways have a special place, even after listening to much higher priced iems
Purchased my Variations 2yrs ago & haven’t looked back! Love these IEM’s!! I heard the MKIII’s were supposed to be the “end game” IEM that stomps all over the Variations, but I purchased the Monarch MKIII’s & ended up reselling them. I couldn’t justify the price because they honestly did NOT sound $500 better than the Variations. Had the MK3’s been around $700 then yeah.
after $400-$500 range, you are basically chaging ghosts.
@@torjones-7 That’s a great way to put it because honestly that’s what it feels like.
@@torjones-7 as a blanket statement that's untrue. There's definitely a lot of overpriced nonsense; but you simply cannot get an IEM that sounds close to a Thieaudio Prestige Ltd (my personal favourites) or FF Maestro SE. There are others, but these are two I own that are absolutely worth the extra cash & nothing $500-ish competes at all.
My reset set is still the Softears RSV to this day. It's extremely well-tuned, near-reference tuning. Great listing!
RSV, every day for me too! And I have the first pair to ever leave Asia and which introduced Softears to Head-Fi. That was January ‘21.
In a sea of IEMs, Dunu Titan S was really able to stand the test of time. I still love how it sounds.
So glad I finally found a group of Buyers!! Glad to subscribe.
I have the IE600.
It's good for around $400-500 but not worth $700 in today's market.
RSV is prob not worth buying when the Supernova exists unless you find one at a really good price because used Supernovas are expensive due to very limited availability.
Sennheiser do once a while put ie600 on 'sale' (the actual asking price) for 500 bucks though
Amazon US usually has the IE600 on sale for 500 and it's still great for that price (QC issues aside). Also the new MSRP is $800 lol. Sennheiser's strategy on all their newer products is to overprice and then run a lot of sales so it looks like you're getting a deal.
@@TOM7952 Actually the Sennheiser QC issue is a valid concern. I have sent my IE600 for RMA once alr earlier this year. Fortunately I'm from Singapore and there is a Sonova Sennheiser service centre here, and they replaced a new set for me immediately. A while back I found some Chinese repair merchant posted a video on bilibili showing that the IE series comes with a design flaw where the wiring to the dynamic drivers is quite fragile and prone to break. I don't have the link to that video now though.
Two years? I still have my HifiMan RE-400 and SoundMagic E10. lol. Btw, thx for the Tangzu Xuan NV recommendation! Balanced, single ended, sounds great.
Wow, those are some names I haven't thought of in a while lol
My first ChiFi was Magaosi K3 in 2017, still alive and still enjoyable performance. Since then I bought around 20 different iems, but Magaosi still stands out. What is not ChiFi is my Final Audio Heaven II, also pretty old, but no one of my many iems can play classical strings like Heaven II, it is just like life performance.
Mangird Tea would be my top pick, and really enjoy the Tea 2 as well. The Olina SE is a legit beast in the $100 bracket. I concur about the Variations, and the S12.
Hidetion Viento B Custom. The legendary Best IEM in the entire world.
Hbb Tri Kai is my safety island. Warm tuning but with enough punch and clarity, zero hashness. Just lacks treble extension, but Im ok with that.
Own two of these, feeling like a proud papa :')
OG Oracle FTW!!! Great neutral-ish IEM that's still very enjoyable 🤘🤘🤘
Competitive just means price / performance. Pure sound quality wise, we haven't moved a whole lot.
I'm having Fearless X Crinacle Dawn iem (Pair with Dunu Hulk Pro cable) till today, and had let many audiophiles tried it and all of them are surprised how good it sounded overall. I have the Unique Melody MEXT, MEST MK2 and Letsheour Kindda Lava iems in my current possession.
Oxygen, ikko oh10
Yeah, Oh10 still holds up imo
Haven't tried the oxygen but have the olina.
Er2xr, er4xr are still good IMO.
I bought the Variations as a new year gift, and I'm just so happy. :)
Still have the Hifiman RE-262 of probably 15 years ago? I keep my gears well. The mids by today's standard is still the best I've heard. Also have Sony MDR EX-600 from around the same period. That one needs a bit of EQ to tame the lower treble peaks. We dont see a size of 15.8mm dynamic driver IEM anymore. It has the widest headstage for IEM even today
I see Softears RSV I hit Like. BTW have you tried the Softears Twilight?? That is my favourite single dynamic driver IEMs out there, and I would put her into my category of legends.
RSV and fearless x crinacle dawn seem to be already in the "new meta" for mid range tuning before it became a thing.
Man the iem market moves way too fast for me, I still feel like the ie600 is a new product.
Mh755 and Blon bl03 💪🏻
The reason why ıe600 has that much treble is the method how they tuned it.
Chifi brands rely on the nozzle depth to basically low pass filter the treble range. They boost it and hope for the best. Result is mostly acceptable but not impressive.
Old mate senny however probably used a helmholtz resonator to cut those frequencies.
Result? A more refined and smoother treble. Although I personally think it's overpriced I have no problem with accepting it's qualities.
You might remember this technology from the ie900 as well but that one had 3 and I assume one of them cut the pinna gain (shame)
Most recent iem with this tech is singolo but some people was so obsessed with the pricing they've missed the whole fucking point.
God damn I should make videos about these
what do you guys think of Final E5000's position in today's market?
A more natural IEM in tone and timbre than the Softear RSV: another Softear, the Twilight.
Timmy do you have any recommendations on the less pricier side that competes with the rsv? I remember my mind being blown by it when I auditioned it, and I'm still considering it to this day.
Yes, that's also me
Yo I bought the pula pa02 cause of you mainly, and I love them. It was an upgrade for my hexas. Thanks
I was expecting Annihilator at the end, I wonder if there's any competitor on that ultra high end segment able to de-throne it?
@@Mercyguyat $3200, it's hard to call any IEM worth it lol
@@Gizaudio I mean it's still Legendary status lol. I do wonder what those thousand-dollar IEM sounds like, or how they compete against cheaper, mini versions., Those price range IEM is like an enigma for me.
I still enjoy my moondrop kanas pro from time to time. In chifi terms, I guess that's considered vintage 😅
How does the AKG N5005 stack up to these nowadays? Especially with it now being available for around $180
Timmy making variations to the Variations
Timmy make a list of high volume iems. The best if loud iems. Thanks
A bit surprised Sony ier Z1r not in the list😂😂
Xenns TOP still worth?
I would really like to buy if they release a tws earbuds with buds design like that 0:37 3:32
Does the moondrop dusk will be incredible as the variations?
I thought it was a video for mega5est.
I am looking for an end game IEM under $1k. Can you please give me some recommendations?
Please tell me an iem under 50$ that offers the best detail retrieval regardless of it's tuning(bright or warm).
Artti t10
Kefine Delci is a winner if you catch it on sale which is most of the time.
KZ AS10 pro
detail IS tuning. watch precog's video on this topic.
Etymotoc ER--R series (esp the 2 and 4). Nothing does what they do
Glad s12 is in the list.
What tips you run on s12?
what do you think of the MK3 oracle
kek
No love for the Anole VX?? Also, I personally find I/O Volare to be a better version of the Variations.
KZ ZS10 Pro
ew weird pinna gain and peaky lower treble. dogshit
Moondrop "Very asian". Lol
Why did the SA6 U and SA6 MK2 drop out of S- tier?
need an upgrade from my old iKKO OH1 , anyone got any suggestions?
🎉
What about the BA king? QDC Anole VX.
Timmy - do you think the IEM world really took off because of Covid?
I joined the community because of covid too
Andromeda 2020
I never bought an IEM, I have been only using headset cuz I don't like earphone, stuff in my ears but I keep hearing IEM is so good so I wanna try but idk which one Truthear zero red or blue nozzle is too big for my ears and I dun want to go that low like zero 2 or chu 2 so any recommendations?
Dunu Titan S. And if you end up disliking the feeling of an IEM in your ears, you won't have spent much. The nozzle isn,'t big. And they are so good... If you don't mind them in your ears, you will be condemned to explore the IEM rabbit hole further. Guaranteed.
Start with something very cheap like 7hz Zero 2. Only costs $20 and it's insanely good. You also get a bunch of eartips with it so mix and match to see what you like.
@@Aarghon i bought truthear hexa, what do i do with eq(realtek)
I'm geekin
How about MiM Dark Magician OG?
Oxygen has left the video
How about the Moondrop KXXS?
ayy variations gang
QKZ x HBB
I got anni recently and it has made me dislike all my other iems which I used to regard highly 😅
Mostly good list though I disagree with Monarch Mk2.
Its shouty upper mids, and weak bass response has been surpassed by many iems.
The mk3 is the better of the two and its bass still isn't great.
IER-Z1R!!!
Ily
I think Variations is pretty mid. The bass has poor impact and sounds separate from the rest in a weird way. Soundstage a bit stuffy in general. Maybe some like the tuning more.
S12 its pretty crap lol, there is a lot many better options even in the same brand at the same price.
Yincrow RW2000
So the original Titan S is better than Titan S2?
For me: IE900>>IE600>IE300>>>>>IE200
where's the andromeda? still a unique IEM even in 2024.
B2Dusk
hi
S12
Etymotic
nyeh
tripowin olina se
Nah, V16 is better than the Dawn
Who copy crin name why 😂
FIRST!
etymotic er2xr, still think its competitive. But ear rape.