Maybe look a good second hand 64 audio tia trio. Its the best I have tried to far. Only Rn6 is a bit better imo.
Also depends on what kind of sound you are looking for ofcourse
Yup I've heard about them and was thinking on getting a Mentawai but the manufacturer was advising against buying them as CIEM as they are primarily tuned as universals, and I'm too pampered by CIEMs to go for universal for a kilobuck set.
Ultimately after more research I went for Fir Audio's Radon 6
I was skeptic about the Kinetic Bass too but that physical presence from the dynamic driver is really nicely done.
One of the underrated features of the Radon 6 is that the wide nozzle, compared to the usual tubes you have on CIEMs, makes it easier to clean up.
I got artist pricing on them so it wasn’t too bad. But I do 90% of my listening with some sort of in ear / headphones so I figured get something that I won’t need to upgrade for a very long time
All but one of my sets is less than $1k retail - and that set can trade blow for blow with many well regarded $2000 sets... and out of the hundreds I've heard, it is the only one that I can say that for.
It is of course the Moondrop Variations, and they easily sound like a decent $1200 - $1300 set.
The only $1k set I own that does not sound like a. $1k set is the Campfire Alien Brain. I'd say 600-700 would be a fair price for these. Fortunately I got them for $500 open box & /they are my out & about set & have the right characteristics for that.
My list of others, their retail price & my thoughts as to whether they represent good value.
Canpur 622b - $5500
I think this is an INSANE amount of money for a set. I lucked out & bought (technically) secondhand as an unwanted gift & unused.
These are so far from my favourite typical kind of set as they have very little sub bass (not that I need to have every set be a basshead set) - BUT - that does not stop them from easily being the most impressive pair I've ever put in my ears. I savour them. I used them twice a week & really make sure I have no distractions & no one is home.
For funk/rare groove/soul etc, they are unbelievable. For excellent pop/rock in eg Prince, Queen & MJ, same thing. For the Blade Runner 1982 Vangelis soundtrack - best I've ever heard it & I've heard it a lot.
It's really difficult to qualify $5500 as a price for ANY IEM - but if one set does - it's these.
Others -
Final A8000 - $2000 - absolutely. Most clear & natural anything I've ever heard. For well recorded jazz, absolutely unbeatable. Good with lots of other stuff, too.
Empire Ears Raven - $3750 - the best sub bass heavy 'basshead' set that have ever existed IMO. This is basically the dream sound I had in my head as a 'basshead' set & I've been through them all. Absolutely yes - absolutely worth it, but the build quality could certainly be better for that price.
Campfire Astrolith - $2200 - the best planar set that exist IMO. Decent value. Incredible proprietary tech.
Thieaudio Prestige Ltd CIEM - $1800 - my most used set of all time. All day every day for two years solid.
Fatfreq Maestro SE CIEM fully custom - $3500- technically sound, bass is decent but nowhere near the Raven. Still, it's great to have a bottom heavy set that are so comfy, look stunning (my choice of around 200 aesthetic designs + additional options).
FiR RN6 - $3000 - the ultimate one & done!
Thieaudo Valhalla - $2000 - no idea, haven't arrived yet 😅
I have more but I gotta Run.
Sorry, I can't narrow this down to one.
The ultimate one & done - as in buy this & just don't bother with anything else, competent with all genres (especially with the tuning modules) - FiR RN6
Most used of all time - Thieaudio Prestige Ltd; laid back/zero fatigue, but still has guts/excellent technicalities, but still a fun listen. This is the *only* set I've converted from UIEM to CIEM.
Best basshead set of all time (coming from someone who has worked with & enjoyed bass heavy club rigs for 25 years & made ddum n bass for a similar amount of time) - Empire Ears Raven. They are exactly the sound I had in my head as the basshead set I wanted. It's just a shame about the build quality.
Most impressive set I've ever heard - Canpur 655b - so so so far from my favoured tuning, but these are absolutely spectacular. They are absolutely not an all rounder, don't play nice with what are my two most listened genres (jazz/drum n bass), but for anything mid centric - Jesus CHRIST!!!!! Funk/disco/soul/rare groove/decent pop (eg Prince/MJ/Hall & Oates etc) - absolutely out this world. They raised the bar & are now the only set I can give a full 10/10 to. I savour them for a session or two a week.
Some IEMs do surpass full-size heaphones but the price of those are in the several hundred to thousands. I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a canjam this year and had 4 of my best IEMs that can deliver all aspects of music really well. The IEMs I had were the FirAudio's Xe6 and Rn6, 64Audio's Volür, and FatFreq's Grand Maestro Anniversary Edition. Only some of the top-of-the-line full-sized headphones from ZMF, Meze, Grado, T+A, Sennheiser, Hifi-man, Focal, and Audeze could compete with those IEMs in terms of detail retrival, layering, instrument positioning in 3D space, and musicality. Soundstage and bass were done better in full-sized headphones due to physics of driver size but otherwise those IEMs I own were competing quite close and easily surpassed other full-sized headphones. The company representatives at those headphone booths where I let them try the different IEMs (while I was trying out their respective full-sized headphones) to compare to their showcase full-sized headphones agreed as well that those IEMs easily competed with their top-of-the-line full-size headphones of similar price ranges as the top-of-the line IEMs I had brought.
Lightgun26
