Pilgrim

Tbh i used to enjoy my hd800s a lot, but iems have spoiled the fun for me. The first iem where i realized i wouldn't go back to headphones were the Pilgrim Noirs. Already loved the Pilgrims, but the Noir sounded so much better, more separated, way mire effortless where the Silver Pilgrims are pushing the bass and mids way too much into your face. Those were exactly what i wanted, except for realist timbre and a but better imaging. When i got the Final A8000s, it was all over. Nothing sounds as good as those to my ears. I prefer them over the HE-1, which I've spent lots of time on. I EQ them, because i think i have a mild hearing loss around 620-780Hz, and i prefer more linear treble. But the raw capabilities of those IEMs are just nuts. Whatever you plug them into, you hear the flaws of. Even 6kUSD dacs, even top of the line niche headphone amps built in Poland by boutique builders. TL DR i think IEMs are just plain better than headphones. Bit of a pain in the ass to admit but i've switched fully and happy to do so

A big leap... Elysian Pilgrim. It is currently on sale on AliEx (sale and coupon) Well within your budget. This set usually sells for just under 400. It is a slight U shape with good treble extension and nice bass presence. Out of YOUR list...Kiwi Ears Astral and Ziigaat Odyssey are both good buys as well.

The Pilgrim is very neutral, it feels like nothing is boosted, it reminds me of the Hexa but with better technicality. The Top Pro is a bit brighter, more exciting and I wanna say technically is slightly better than the pilgrim. To me the Top Pro is the way to go for sure.

The Horizon kinda reminds me of the Astral but wider, brighter and better at details retrieval. The soundstage is wide and open probably due to the elevated treble, it gives a sense of mystical, surreality and dreamlike to certain songs. I like it a lot

The pilgrim has clean midrange and It’s a great IEM, but no excitement whatsoever, technicality is good but it’s a bit boring. I would go for the Dusk, it is slightly bright neutral with beautiful bass boost. More exciting than pilgrim. Don’t expect a huge jump from the P7 but they are different I like having both.

many shops i go to don't display lower end iems, or a lot of them. and lower end iems are hard to buy second hand, so for me they'd have to compete with iems double the price, because second hand iems are around 1/2 msrp or less dita (forgot the exact model), ulim(almost certainly oem), elysian pilgrim, yu9 que, are worth trying out. none are worth blind buying

Elysian Pilgrim, easily the widest soundstage I have heard till date, 2nd will be xenns top pro, Monarch Mk3, Fatfreq Grand Maestro Universal

Elysian Pilgrim, wait for it to be on sale at hifigo aliexpress. If you want more energetic treble with this set, you can easily mod it by removing the mesh filter on the nozzle.

https://preview.redd.it/7nk4x7xkwoag1.jpeg?width=2252&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b3dd9d6b187312fdd4da6b74d28c0dd01360eb5 Daily driver: Moondrop Robin tws Qudelix 5k/Fiio BTR3K Elysian Pilgrim (pre-production tuning mod) PC: SMSL Sanskrit 10th MKII Zen Can v1 Moondrop Variations The Moondrop Starfield was the first serious IEM I got so I decided to keep it. Not in this picture is my vintage Sansui SR-222 vinyl player hooked up to an affordable behringer phono preamp connected into tube amp and out to either my IEM or to my speaker. Also Fiio DM13 for my portable CDs need.

(I have posted this on r/headphones but would also love to hear the opinion of IEM people) Hi all, First of all, two disclaimers: 1. I’m not trying to start a fire. I’m just asking a question that I’ve had basically all my 5 year audio journey.  2. I am a “””seasoned””” audiophile. Not trying to brag (consumerism really isn’t something to brag about), just saying that I’ve been around the block and owned around 30 or so pairs of IEMs, most of them in the mid-high end range, as well as about 10 wired mid-high end headphones, and a few bluetooth headphones and TWS. I also think I’ve gotten really good at EQ over the years, and I never use a headphone without it. All right, so over the years, I have always, always enjoyed IEM sound more than headphones. Even $100 IEMs, EQed to my preferences, just sound more dynamic, lifelike, and detailed than the headphones I’ve tried. So far, my favourite IEMs have been the Elysian Pilgrim (amazing value) Night Oblivion Butastur, MEST MKIII, ISN EBC80, and the U12T, still my reference for sound. All these sound better than the HD800 (my current headphone of choice and the best I’ve personally tried, which, for the record, I also EQ), as well as other decent headphones I’ve had (some Focals, quite a few HiFiMans (men?), ZMF Bokeh, FT1, Azurys, a few others. Not to bore you with endless audiophile terms, but with IEMs, the sound is alive, lifelike, and just makes me want to move. It’s also simply quite a bit more detailed. To give a single example, the beginning in this ([https://youtu.be/EzPTLCZVjQs](https://youtu.be/EzPTLCZVjQs)) track sounds so lifelike on my Pilgrim, whereas my HD800 just sounds a bit dull to be honest. When the song really starts, it’s intoxicating on IEMs, but just sounds so-so on headphones for me. (For the record, I add 6db of bass and reduce treble peaks on the HD800, and I reduce the sub bass on the Pilgrim by quite a bit and remove some peaks as well). I am trying to understand why. Not only just to know, but also because I cannot wear IEMs anymore. My ears have gotten allergic to all the tips I’ve tried (trust me, I’ve tried them all), and IEMs just have never been as comfortable as lightweight headphones, which is really a shame. I am wondering, are there others that have tried the “endgames” of headphones and IEMs, and like me, just really prefer IEMs for sound? And, is it possible to somehow make headphones sound a bit more in-your-head and dynamic in the manner of IEMs with EQ? I’ve EQ’ed headphones this way and that for the past year and have not been able to really achieve the effect. Maybe headphones sound worse to me because of my ear anatomy, my ears are very small, my ear canals’ opening is smaller than that of most people, and I think the canal is also shorter. Maybe there is less “space” for headphones to get their sound in when compared to IEMs, which can just bypass the whole thing?  I am also still open to the possibility that I just haven’t found the right headphones for me, as I have had many more IEMs than headphones. However, as I said, even many budget-ish IEMs have sounded better to me than the expensive headphones I’ve tried, so I am skeptical of that explanation. I also have a beefy DX5 II, so lack of power also isn’t a plausible explanation.  Hoping someone can shed some light on this. Any comments are much appreciated! 

Hi all, First of all, two disclaimers: 1. I’m not trying to start a fire. I’m just asking a question that I’ve had basically all my 5 year audio journey. 2. I am a “””seasoned””” audiophile. Not trying to brag (consumerism really isn’t something to brag about), just saying that I’ve been around the block and owned around 30 or so pairs of IEMs, most of them in the mid-high end range, as well as about 10 wired mid-high end headphones, and a few bluetooth headphones and TWS. I also think I’ve gotten really good at EQ over the years, and I never use a headphone without it. All right, so over the years, I have always enjoyed IEM sound more than headphones. Even $100 IEMs, EQed to my preferences, just sound more dynamic, lifelike, and detailed than the headphones I’ve tried. So far, my favourite IEMs have been the Elysian Pilgrim (amazing value) Night Oblivion Butastur, MEST MKIII, ISN EBC80, and the U12T, still my reference for sound. All these sound better than the HD800 (my current headphone of choice and the best I’ve personally tried, and which, for the record, I also EQ), as well as other decent headphones I’ve had (some Focals, quite a few HiFiMans (men?), ZMF Bokeh, FT1, Azurys, a few others.) Not to bore you with endless audiophile terms, but with IEMs, the sound is alive, lifelike, and just makes me want to move. It’s also simply quite a bit more detailed. To give a single example, the beginning in this (https://youtu.be/EzPTLCZVjQs) track sounds so lifelike on my Pilgrim, whereas my HD800 just sounds a bit dull to be honest, in comprison that is (it’s still the best headphones I’ve had though!). When the song really starts, it’s intoxicating on IEMs, but just sounds so-so on headphones for me. (For the record, I add 6db of bass and reduce treble peaks on the HD800, and I reduce the sub bass on the Pilgrim by quite a bit and remove some peaks as well). I am trying to understand why. Not only just to know, but also because I cannot wear IEMs anymore. My ears have gotten allergic to all the tips I’ve tried (trust me, I’ve tried them all), and IEMs just have never been as comfortable as lightweight headphones, which is really a shame. I am wondering, are there others that have tried the “endgames” of headphones and IEMs, and like me, just really prefer IEMs for sound? And, is it possible to somehow make headphones sound a bit more in-your-head and dynamic in the manner of IEMs with EQ? I’ve EQ’ed headphones this way and that for the past year and have not been able to really achieve the effect. Maybe headphones sound worse to me because of my ear anatomy, my ears are very small, my ear canals’ opening is smaller than that of most people, and I think the canal is also shorter. Maybe there is less “space” for headphones to get their sound in when compared to IEMs, which can just bypass the whole thing?  I am also still open to the possibility that I just haven’t found the right headphones for me, as I have had many more IEMs than headphones. However, as I said, even many budget-ish IEMs have sounded better to me than the expensive headphones I’ve tried, so I am skeptical of that explanation. I also have a beefy DX5 II, so lack of power also isn’t a plausible explanation.  Hoping someone can shed some light on this. Any comments are much appreciated!