Astrum

Too many to list. Tea and Top Pro. Bgvp Astrum, Thieaudio Origin, Aful Cantor.... Fatfreq Maestro Mini, Softears Studio 4. Etymotic Evo, etc....

They're VERY different. The Astrum has much softer, wispy treble (maybe because of the ESTs? I dunno). You get the treble detail but without the "bite". Vocals are much more emphasized as well. I'd say it's like a Mangird Tea (original - with the holographic vocals) but with extremely "hard" bass like the Tea Pro. It's a very unique set. The Top Pro is much more of a "clean" sound. Crazy details, but everything tonally balanced and "right" sounding. They also have a much larger soundstage compared to the Astrum. The Astrum, for me, is for falling in love with the singer's voice, and hearing the "drive" of a rock rhythm section. The Top Pro is about hearing every nuance of the instruments *as they are*. Very different purposes. The thing the Top Pro and Astrum have in common is the hard texture on the bass. Very impressive. Other than that they don't sound anything alike to me.

Many of the sub-$100 recommendations in this sub-Reddit are older models that have been superseded by newer stuff. Still plenty of Harman-tuned models being recommended, and that tuning -- while OK -- is as old as grandpa's buckskin rubber. As for improvements being minute over $500, I sort of believed in that line of thinking until I bought the BGVP Astrum, which costs $679 new. It is SIGNIFICANTLY better than my three $350ish benchmarks, the Softears Volume S, Penon Fan 3 and ISN H60.

I've been avidly in the audiophile headphone and IEM game -- not Beats and Sony wireless shit -- for a decade. I know what sounds good and doesn't, and I can tell you the Astrum is SIGNIFICANTLY better than most of my $150-200 sets. I have patiently climbed all the price rungs of the audio ladder with both headphones and IEMs so I can discern the differences in sonic quality at each step. I climb because I want better sound, not so I can show off. Nobody in my family and friends circle gives a fuck about audio, anyways. And if you think the sound quality of an elite set at $679 isn't significantly better than an average set at $200, then you're just practicing reverse placebo psychology to justify your choice not to spend more or mollify your sadness that you can't afford better. That's not a blanket statement. There are some kilobuck sets that sound like ass, especially in a hobby as subjective as this. But I have not found diminishing returns yet with IEMs at $650ish. I'm sure that threshold will come soon. But not yet.