DMA

Whether or not you like it is going to be HIGHLY subjective. But things like the Softears Volume S, or the BGVP DMA, or the Tanchjim Force, Dunu 242, Ziigaat Arcanis, etc. etc. I mean, there are so many options below $400, but most of the stuff is pretty samey. Because they all orbit around known targets with really mild flavor tweaks. Things like the Softears Volume S are big vocal sets, and the BGVP DMA has one of the best Bone Conduction implementations i have heard. So, different...but still somewhat samey.

Bgvp dma is the best at the price hands down!

I have iems ranging from $60 all the way up to $600. Unless your someone who just sits there and nitpicks everything and also listens critically you won’t notice much. I will say bass quality and things like that I can tell the difference in. My expensive iems are the TSMR Shock, Penon Turbo, Sliivo SLT6 and bgvp Dma.

Great bass, not so great treble, it sounds quite splashy to me.

My Bgvp Dma's definitely.

TSMR Armor, BGVP DMA, Punch Audio Martilo, Xenns Tea Pro. In that order.

I get what the others are saying about spending less, but we're all stupid nerds with a collection of 10 different IEMs. Don't be like us. If you just want one great set, and you've got $300 then spend $300. It's worth it. TSMR Armor is the best bassy all rounder I've ever tried. BGVP DMA if you want less bass and wider soundstage. The Martilo is a close second to the Armor (but easier to buy)

Ok so I chased the same bone conduction hype when I was getting in to IEMs.... The problem is, the better implementation, the less obvious it's actually doing anything at all. Kb02 vibrates at high volume, which is fun and obvious. But it HAS TO be high volume. BGVP DMA- The cheapest way to get the "proper" Sonion bc drivers, so I was expecting a lot. But I couldn't tell you what it's bone conduction is actually doing. I have no idea if it's even connected. The IEM sounds great, but if that's because of or in spite of the BC driver, I don't know. Bone conduction is voodoo.

Tsmr Armor, BGVP DMA, Tea Pros, Martilo.

I'd say it IS worth spending £300ish if you can, because everything I've tried at around that price has been a clear step up in sound- (TSMR Armor, Martilo, Tea Pro, BGVP DMA and ISN H60 (possibly my new favourite) Cheaper- Hidisz MP145 is a value king at about £100, I daily drive the £300 ones above, and I'm shocked how well the Mp145 keeps up with them. It's a bassy planar too. Hype- Melody Wings Venus (but I don't think it's particularly bassy. Hercules Noah has major hype, and I think pretty bassy. If you're in the UK, I'd take a train to London and go to Elise Audio to try before you buy.

Happy to help! The reason I mentioned the Armor vs the Martilo is because they have the same goal of being a big basshead set. The DMA is not a basshead set imo. It has plenty of bass, especially a great punchy midbass, (better than the Martilo) but it's not the huge quantity of sub-bass the other two have. It's probably the cleanest and highly resolving IEM I have- it rarely ever puts a foot wrong. It isn't always the most engaging or fun IEM I have- That's the ISN H60, which despite sometimes struggling a bit on busy tracks, has some magical special sauce where everything just sounds so rich and fun and weighty. The Armor has this special sauce too. The DMA is phenomenal with funk and soul, it is absolute magic with bass guitars. Very good with all instruments based genres, and even older sample based hip hop. With all that said, keep in mind every reviewer (including me) is just one random person's opinion, and you may hear something very different. You can read 1000 reviews, be absolutely convinced in your choice, and then feel disappointed when you get it.

Yeah I didn't realize the difference it made until I heard a funky bass guitar on the Armor and especially the DMA. Sounded delicious.

Herrs my thoughts on the YouTube version you sent, a high quality live version, my favourite blues song, and one of the standard audiophile test tracks... YouTube on DMA. Fine, but not really exciting, no separation or soundstage. Guitar at 3:20 was completely fine, but the 4:20 was sharper and unpleasant. Bass guitar wasn't very present. High quality on DMA. A whole new world of music. It sounds SO much better. Soundstage is so much bigger, I can hear the lead guitar in centre, the piano wide to the left and the bass guitar wide, lots of separation, and every instrument has a great natural warm tone. The harsh guitar isn't harsh- but that maybe this particular recording. Overall, really clean, clear, natural and musical. Very impressive YouTube on Armor. This lower quality sounds a bit better overall on the Armor, I think it's more forgiving and the extra note weight from the bass probably helps. The guitar at 3:20 was fine, but the 4:20 one again was a bit much for those few seconds- I don't think much different from the DMA. Overall I think Armor wins. High quality on Armor. Again, sounds so much better. It immediately feels warmer than the DMA- especially the bass has more weight and presence. Soundstage and separation is much better, but I don't think quite as good as the DMA. Everything just seems to have more weight behind it. Harsh guitar may be a little harsher on the Armor- I think it's slightly more dynamic with volume. But the bass guitar has way more presence than on the DMA- I don't know if that's natural, but I really like it. WINNER- ARMOR Gary Moore- Still Got the Blues (hq) Armor- Bass guitar is boosted and present throughout, I really like it. The strings may not be quite as clean because of it. Guitar solo sounds gorgeous and emotional. DMA- Bass guitar is actually really present in this too, tone is not as warm as the Armor. The strings sound better and cleaner. Drums- not exactly a drumming song but there's slight splashy metallics on cymbals. Treble slightly more detailed. Guitar solo not quite as emotional. WINNER- ARMOR Eagles-Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over Live) DMA - Guitar in intro sounds so nice, beautiful tone. Kick drum sounds heavy. Great separation and soundstage when it all comes together, every instrument layer has its own space, it truly sounds awesome. Armor- Intro guitar is nice, but not as nice. Kick drum is definitely heavier. Not quite as much separation, but it still sounds amazing when it all comes together. Generally a warmer tone with more note weight. Not quite as accurate as the DMA. WINNER- DMA Conclusion - that was actually really interesting to compare, I enjoyed it. They are both really impressive and trade blows. I think Armor works as an all rounder- the extra bass and note weight help it be more forgiving and musical. The DMA is generally more clear, not quite as musical, but bigger soundstage and separation of instruments- but the source track has to be recorded very well before it can sound it's best. Flip a coin!

I have the Martilo and the DMA. Both are great. But for a bass head set, I rank the TSMR Armor higher than the Martilo, plus it's cheaper.

Depending what you're listening to, the DMA can actually feel bassier than the Martilo... The Martilo has a ton of sub bass, but they cut the mid bass too much, so for things like bass guitars and kick drums, the DMA actually has more punch and life. If you mainly listen to sub heavy stuff like EDM and modern hip hop, choose Martilo. If you mainly listen to funk, soil, rock, RnB, older hip hop, choose DMA.

There's honestly so many great choices around the $300 mark, it's going to be hard to choose just one. I've been disappointed by almost everything from $50-250 and then loved everything I tried at $300ish (I now own 4 because I can't decide which to sell) Isn H60 is probably the most exciting balls to the wall IEM I've got. It has some magic special sauce that makes instruments feel ALIVE. I don't really understand what it does differently, but it makes everything sound huge. TSMR Armor is quite similar, but the Basshead version with huge bass and less treble. Xenns Tea Pro and BGVP DMA are my other personal picks.

Literally was my answer haha. But I've actually had a bit of a revelation too. I listen to a lot of sample based hip hop, funk, soul, rock- I've actually found that non- Basshead sets like ISN H60, Hidisz MK12, BGVP DMA can sound REALLY punchy and alive with these genres. The mids are the soul of music. Cutting midbass should be a crime.

What other IEMs do you like? (If you've tried others) There's a LOT of amazing stuff in your budget, it's where I think price to performance peaks. Good suggestions already, I can definitely vouch for the Tea Pro, the Armor, and the BGVP DMA. My personal pick is the ISN H60. I think it's very special. It's the most engaging thing I've ever listened to, it just has an ability to make music sound better. Most IEMs you can describe with technical words about why they are good... But with the h60 you lose the analysis and just get swept away in music.

Bone conduction is voodoo. It was my obsession for a while so I've had quite a lot of BC sets. Something like the Kiwi Ears Etude has a big obvious bone conduction effect- it's really fun having your ear vibrate on drum hits. But the more "sophisticated" BC the less obvious it seems. I have a BGVP DMA, which I bought primarily because it had a proper Sonion bone conduction driver rather than the cheap stuff... And my verdict is... I have no idea what it's doing. It doesn't sound particularly wide or grand to me. It's a great sounding IEM, but how much bone conduction contributes to that, I have no clue.

Bone conduction is VOODOO that sometimes does nothing and sometimes does everything. Mini reviews- 1) Kb02 Most days- "This sounds pretty bad, and I hear no bone conduction". Random days "WTF why do I hear bone conduction really strong with Oasis, this is fun" 2) Kiwi Ears Etude - "This actually has really strong vibration, it's so fun... But... Why is it doing it only on snare drums and not the bass?" 3) Apevoix Grit - A great IEM, but the BC is usually fairly mild, but occasionally, wild. 4) Penon Fan 3s - "Why can I feel and hear it vibrate really strongly in my hand, but it changes nothing to the sound?" (I returned this one- it just wasn't very good. But may have been broken) 5) Bqeyz Wind- Didn't get very long with these but no obvious BC to me. 6) BGVP DMA- "Everything else used cheap BC. I bet if I buy one with Sonion BC, it will be great!" It was not great. It's a really great IEM, but it has the LEAST obvious bone conduction effect. 7) QoA Martini - Borrowed it... I loooove this IEM. BC is good, and always noticeable, huuuuuge soundstage and seperation.

I think open back IEMs is a total marketing thing- just think the holes aren't big enough to have the effect an open back headphone has. The only difference it makes is they might sound louder and more annoying to people near you. Zero effect on soundstage imo. Eg, my BGVP DMA is open back AND bone conduction- (both supposed to increase stage) but it has nowhere near the soundstage of an ISN H60.

The main thing I've learnt about myself compared to almost everyone else is minor changes in sound are meaningless to me. For example, I don't even think ear tips make that much difference (although I do think there are tips that sound worse) but if I already like an IEM with stock tips, putting Baroque Stages on them isn't going to improve anything. (Deep regret buying those!!) So anything more controversial like DAC differences I am definitely not going to notice/care about! It's quite a weird position I'm in, because I also dislike the people that argue with DAC/cable believers. I wish I could swap ears with them, because my *guess* is just that they put much more importance in minor differences/ it's all just placebo, but as I believe people put WAY too much value in frequency graphs too, maybe there is some magical immeasurable voodoo some people hear.

To be honest most of these types of polls whether here or for other hobbies are a "vote for what you bought" poll rather than any indication of what's best. If many people bought IEM X because of some hype or whatever, that will be at the top of the poll meaning more will buy IEM X, and so on. So it's more of a popularity contest/what I bought is best thing rather than a true "best of". The results are interesting, but I've never seen them as particularly useful. For example my favorite IEM is the BGVP DMA, but there are very few reviews of it on YouTube, none of the "big" reviewers talked about it, it's rarely mentioned on reddit, and I imagine it didn't sell a ton. Therefore, it would never appear high up in a poll like this. So to me, these types of polls are moreso "what are the most purchased" lists rather than "what's the best" lists.

Bgvp DMA can be endgame for most people

Bgvp dma it cheap and sound good