AFUL - Performer 8 (P8)

At $350 cad my setup would be Aful P5's and a cable with built-in mic. I haven't tried anything from Ziigat. They release a new IEM every 4 days and every time I compare models a new one comes out and I can't keep up lol. Cod Is the only game I play and I use my Aful P8's for it, and it's the only thing I use my Aful's for. If you're looking for iems for footsteps and clarity between sounds on a map, depth, then I think Aful crushes it there with the P series. The Explorers are trash for fps though, they give me a panic attack because I can't tell where anyone is. Maybe something else if you're looking for immersion though. Iems in that price range are going to come with replaceable cables and that's where the mic will be. That's where the mic will be on cheap iems with non removable cables too. If you want the Aretes or any similar IEM you're going to have to get a cable with a mic built-in or a separate mic entirely. Most IEMs with multiple balanced armature drivers are going to do a good job with call of duty though.

Aful performer 8 with the Qudelix 5k

1. Hekse (best overall) 2. Softear Studio 4 (best sounding iem for my music) 3. He6se V2 (more dynamic than Hekse but nostalgic as comfortable. Less spacious and open) 4. Aful Explorer (like a lesser Studio 4 for commuting. Very easy listening) 5. HD6XX (comfortable and the baseline benchmark but not my go to) 6. Aful P8 (most boring sounding. Used to like it but not these days. Might be a good gaming iem but I don’t game anymore) 7. EW300 (it’s meh. Use for monitoring)

I loved my aful P8 but if there’s something to critique it’s the nozzle. Some people love their nozzles I don’t since I can fit bigger ones and prefer them to have a lip.

Tea pro feel more premium because it is aluminium. My question to you - would like to show off you cnc IEM to friends or enjoy WEIGHTLESS feel of Top Pro, 0 ear tension and weight hanging out of your ear canals? So yes top pro is hollow resin, and I’m happy about it. Tea pro feel so heavy after top pro that it is hard to go back to them. I have dropped mine on a floor a few time, no issues. Top pro is not a tank like tea pro, they are fine acoustic instrument. Tea pro only get an edge by a tiny amount over top pro in how coherent low end is, but you will not notice it unless you really listen to both back and forth for some time, ao don’t stress. Vocals, treble, air, technical abilities and even mids are all better on top pro than tea pro DaVinci is just meh it sounds low res low quality compared to top pro - completely lacking in air and technicals (not worth the money at all there are so many better sets for same price, like Astrals and even Crescent would be better by a lot) Performer 8 is not even in competition, lower mids / lows are bad. Bass is mediocre. Treble and technicals are good, but what’s the point if everything else is not on par. — Actually I would also disregard tea pros and get Astrals if this is $ limit! Otherwise top pro! Astrals are better or at least equal to tea pro in every aspect, but they might sound peaky to you (due to your sensitivity - if it is in air region and not 6-7k region, most sibilance is not actually caused by peaks above 10k, but rather by peaks 3-7k region!) So my final conclusion for you would be: - got 450-500$ get top pro and never look at another IEM for long time, if you don’t step on your IEM… - out of budget, than find some where / some one who may be sells and can let you listen Astrals (they are better than tea pro man, or equal depending on your ear, so over all more consistent high result = safer buy at great price tag!) - if you REALLY can not get astral to listen to before buying than … buy Astrals I’m 99% sure your “sibilance sensitivity” comes from type of music you listen to + quality of recording + previously lower grade headphones most likely, so I don’t think Astrals will sound harsh at any point to you 👍🙂 (other wise save money and get top pro those do AMAZING on metal and hip hop or any genre because they never actually become harsh / sibilant while having good amount of bass and amazing mids and treble)

Moondrop Chu, and no. The Kato is the only Moondrop iem I still have and use. I liked the Aria but gave it to a friend to try to get him into iems (I failed). The Chu was good enough to get me into iems, but not good enough to keep me listening. I don't even know where they are now, lol. Of the early iems that I bought, I only have and listen to the Truthear Hexa (lifeless but decent, with wonderful imaging) and that Truthear Harmon-tuned one that Crinacle did with the subwoofer (I forget the name). It is fatiguing, but it is exciting until it wears me down. Good for techno. I listen mostly to the Aful P5, the Chopin, the Letshour S12, and the Kato now. Sometimes at home, I listen to the P8 and the Xenn Mangrid Top (they are too expensive to lug around with me--I have a $200 limit on iems that I'm willing to take in my backpack).

If money is not an issue tea pro. But on a limited budget you can’t go wrong with s12 pro 2024. Infact, when I went to an audiophile meet-up. I tried around 30-40 iems. Ranging from couple hundreds to thousands of dollars iems. Out of all these if I remember how the s12 2024 sounded then it must be good. Other most notable iems that day were hexa, mystic8, u12T, performer8 there was one from campfire but I don’t remember it clearly. Some iems that didn’t live upto my expectations were supermix4, davinci, butterfly 61T may be i was expecting too much. I liked the performer 5 but it was a bit underwhelming after I listened to perfomer 8. I hope this gives you perspective on how subjective this hobby is

Umm, honestly this is going to be very difficult. I mean I don't own the P8. I had tried it in a meetup. But I loved it really. If not for the sturdy build quality of Tea Pro (or price). I don't think any reason not to buy the P8.

Hifi Passion (NT Global Distribution GmbH) is my go-to, though you already talked about it. Recently I had my Aful Performer 8 lose most of its bass output in the right-side unit, so I sent them back and Hifi Passion replaced them without a hassle.

AFUL Performer 8. They were my entry into Chi-fi. I have had to replace them once due to the left unit losing most of its bass response (the company I bought the IEMs from replaced them under warranty). I have since bought various other IEMs, such as the Hexa and the Zero Red. No matter how much I tip roll and experiment with EQ, nothing has sounded as good to me as the stock non-EQ'd Performer 8. I paid around 370 euros for them in December 2023, and based on how much I've enjoyed them ever since, they have most definitely been worth it.

OK. I like V shapes closer to the extreme side like ZiiGaat Estrella for metal and balanced/neutral for rock like Aful Performer 8. New meta all rounders like Kiwi Ears Astral and Xenns Tea Pro are also good but I prefer more contrast and energy for metal. If you don't have any idea if you are sensitive to treble or how much bass you want, Astral and Tea Pro would be safe choices. Also check out some ThieAudio Hype 4 reviews.

Have Top Pro and P8, heard Tea Pro and DaVinci. I would get tea pro for your preference of genres. P8 and Top Pro would lack some bass for hip hop and R&B, DaVinci is muddy and was never good enough for the price.

I personally find the Performer 8 to be ass. No bass, shrill treble.