KB01

KBear kb01 is almost identical, costing half of the price

Personally, i feel the best of the three is the InAwaken Dawn. It just has a special quality about it that i find very engaging, and really enjoy. You and i listen to very simialr music, so take that as you will. Plus they look gorgeous, and come with a great accessory pack of quality tips, a good cable, and a fantastic carrying case. The Klean is also a good set. However, the tuning nozzles on it are, IMHO, a bit gimmicky. The alternative Black Nozzle is a little too bright and glaring. And, myself, and others, have experienced some QC issues with the filters. My Black Filters have one side that is quieter than the other. Some people have had that issue with the stock silver filters too. So, be aware that this may be a problem on your set also. The accessories pack on the Klean isnt anything to get excited about. Tips are sufficient, and the cable is functional, and the carrying case is decent enough. Now, i will say, that i do have some bias with the Klean. The Kefine Delci AE is one of my favorite sub $100 single DD sets. And the alternative nozzle on the Delci AE sounds amazing. And it really brightens up the tonality of what is a predominantly warm set. The Klean, on the other hand, is a little brighter on treble extension than the Delci past 10k on the stock tuning, while having very similar overall tunings. So the Klean gives at lot of the same energy i like from the Delci AE, but it gets to be a little too much with the alternative nozzles. So, this is where my personal head bias comes into play, because i am intimately familiar with the Delci AE's sound, and i find the Klean to be a little lacking in technicalities to the Delci AE, while also sounding too similar. Which is why i keep coming back to the Dawn more, because it has a different tonality to its flavor. Basically, because i have the Delci AE, the Klean becomes the orphaned step child of the two. Now, one area where the Klean will excel over the Dawn is durability. If you plan on wearing these outside a lot in direct sun, i would go with the Klean, as the Dawn being full resin, can, with time, have some yellowing, or crazing issues. As all fully resin IEM's can, when being exposed to the suns UV rays. I try to keep all my resin IEM's as indoor only sets for that reason. The Cadenza is a good little single DD set. But i dont think it is as good as the Dawn or the Klean. If you really want to have the Cadenza sound...just pick up the KBear KB01. Exact same driver and tuning made in the exact same assembly facility as the Cadenza, and its like $10 cheaper.

Cadenzas were the fastest return I ever made and I didn't even pay full price. I think they don't even beat JVC buds at half the price. I have no idea whay they're so highly recommended when the KBEar KB01 are $10 cheaper and absolutely murder them in every regard.

I've been in audio for decades. I'm a former recording engineer. It's not placebo effect. Also, just because manufacturers say that they are beryllium coated DLC drivers doesn't mean it's the exact same driver (until someone does a teardown to prove they are, they aren't) I owned both at the same time and the Cadenza was a bloated, slow mess while the KB01 was quicker with better mid representation despite having almost identical graphs.

Kbear KB01 is practically a cadenza clone and it’s cheaper

It didn't gain traction unlike its twin, but the KBear KB01 is basically the Cadenza for half the price. Imagine the Cadenza... but cheaper. You shouldn't, because it already exists.

Kefine Klean if you can find them in budget (they're generally right around that price, depending on sales etc.). Otherwise KBear KB01 or the Kiwi Ears Cadenza. The KB01 is a 1:1 clone of the Cadenza, so choose based on price/looks. They sound identical. Failing that I'd go for the Chu 2 as IMO they sound the best in that price range and have the best build & accessories (only the Klean is ahead of them). But they do need a bit more looking after than most IEMs and can be prone to moisture issues if not kept dry between uses. I've also heard good things about the Bunny DSP, but haven't heard it myself. The fact it's plastic makes it lower maintenance than the Chu 2, but it won't look or feel as high quality. They do have them on Aliexpress, but it's possible they don't ship to your region and that's why it's not showing up. Sometimes Aliexpress search can be a bit weird so try googling it with "site:aliexpress" (you need to add .com to that but I don't want to get caught in the spam filter). That will sometimes help with finding listings that Aliexpress decides not to show for some reason. If you get a "not found" error that normally means it's not available in your country. Also another one that's not on your list but is excellent is the QKZ HBB. It's a very warm, laid back tuning. Quite bassy, but not energetic bass, just really warm. One of my favourite IEMs at any price, because there isn't really much else tuned like that. It's not as good and all-rounder as the others, but I think it might suit the genres you mentioned quite well. I like it for background listening because it pushes vocals back a bit (without making them sound muffled or unnatural) so it can make otherwise distracting music sound less distracting. It also volume scales really well if you decide to crank it up (just don't damage your hearing doing this!)

EQ is the answer. Tinnitus is often triggered by a specific frequency. If you can find out that frequency, you can EQ it away, which won't cure the tinnitus, but it will stop the IEMs from aggravating it as much. Also look for something comfortable so it doesn't irritate your ear canal too badly. So avoid things like the Zero Red unless you have huge ear canals. It may be that having anything in your ear canal will aggravate it, in which case you're stuck with headphones or maybe flatheads (something like the Yincrow X6 for example). Driver types generally won't make any difference, but peaks at whatever frequency(s) cause you the most problems will. Ideally you remove them with EQ, but if it has narrow peaks then those can be harder to deal with, especially in the treble. Planars can be a bit uncontrolled in the treble though, so they might be best avoided. Something like the KBear KB01 is overall pretty safe-sounding and it's a good platform for EQ because it has quite smooth, flat treble, so won't need fine-grained adjustments. If you don't have access to software EQ (e.g., on iOS) then maybe something like the Tanchjim Bunny, because it has a DSP cable that you can burn an EQ profile onto.

The Cadenza is pretty good. IMO quite a bit better than the Zero 2, both in terms of sound and also comfort (some people find the pointy edges on the Zero/Zero uncomfortable). I haven't heard the Vivian or seen any reviews from anyone reputable that I can think of. You could also have a look at the KBear KB01, which is a pretty much exact clone of the Cadenza, but it's usually around $20 instead of $40. It's a pretty safe all-rounder that most people will like for most music. The Zero 2 is more of a very-warm-neutral that can sound a bit dull and either too bassy or not bassy enough depending on whether you like bass or not. The only potential issue with the Cadenza/KB01 is that the nozzles are a bit above average, so I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with small ear canals. Another option is the Moondrop Chu 2, which sounds very similar to the Cadenza/KB01 as well, just with slightly sparklier but slightly less smooth treble - the differences in sound are pretty small tbh. It's small and the shells are metal. The overall package is quite nice & it's very pocketable. It can have some issues with condensation though, so needs a bit more looking after, especially if you live somewhere humid. And going up from that the Kefine Klean is very good. It's a bit bassier sounding than the Chu 2 but still quite clean-sounding. It's a bit of a step up in terms of the accessories, and I haven't seen as many reports of issues happening with clogged filters on these despite the metal shells - I think they use a different type of filter that's a bit less prone to that issue.

Kiwi Ears Cadenza or KBear KB01 if you have a chance to try them and make sure the nozzle isn't too big for your ear canal. The KB01 is a 1:1 clone of the Cadenza, so the fit and sound is identical, but the KBear is usually cheaper. My standard "blind buy" recommendation is the KZ EDC Pro because you can find them for around $7 normally, it's small, ergonomic and competently tuned, so it competes with the usual recommendations around the $20 mark. I don't normally recommend KZ as a company, so don't recommend spending more than about $10-15 on anything from them, but at this price point they're impossible to beat. Plus the EDC Pro has been out for a while, with no controversies about QC problems or other shenanigans. If you go with this one and decide to keep it long term you will want to upgrade the cable, but it works with standard 2-pin so any upgrade cable you buy should transfer to any more expensive IEM(s) you might buy in the future. Check the sub sticky for the common recommendations, in case neither of these is available or or the Cadenza nozzle is too big. The Tanchjim Bunny is another one that gets recommended a lot (specifically the DSP version because it has built-in EQ), which I haven't heard myself but it's worth considering as by all accounts it's very good (but only the DSP version, so not if you need the 3.5mm analogue jack).

Both have a weird fit, so probably aren't the best buy nowadays. It has trouble staying in the ear because of its shape. The new one has a less weird connector for the cable, which is a good thing. However, they made the tuning worse, so it's not really an IEM anyone recommends. It's pretty meh for the price range and you still have the problems with the weird fit. The original BL03 is a bit of a classic and still holds up for how it sounds, if you want a fun-sounding but competent IEM with good bass and reasonable technicalities. However the stock cable is crap and the weird connector makes it awkward to get a replacement. It's TFZ, but even TFZ cables don't fit perfectly because they made it nonstandard. They fit securely, but there's a gap that doesn't look quite right. I would suggest instead looking at something like the KBear KB01, which is around the same price and is a better IEM overall. Not exactly the same tuning, but it still has decent bass and an overall balanced tuning that works for most music. When you get your phone without an audio jack, buy a dongle DAC at that time. For Apple, you may want to stick with the Apple dongle. For Android, the JCally JM6 Pro is the most recommended. This also has a bit more power, which you won't need for these, but might be useful in the future if you get something else that's harder to drive.

I would get the Moondrop Chu 2. It's very well balanced. Mild v-shape so it's not going to be lacking bass like the Hexa, it's not risking overly sharp treble like the EW200 (this depends on your ears, but you won't know until you try it and you might not like it) and it's a lot more comfortable than the Truthear Zero. The bass is enough, but not so much that it overpowers the mids. It has enough treble that all the details come through without sounding bright or harsh. Alternatively, if you're worried about possible condensation issues because of the metal shells, the KBear KB01 is another good option for basically all the same reasons. If you want to spend slightly more the Kefine Klean is another good option. Metal shells again, slightly better cable and case. Arguably a slightly better driver than the Chu 2 as well, but it's not a massive difference.

I would argue it's overrated, despite not being rated much at all. I paid ~$30 for mine on sale and still feel like it was overpriced. I much prefer the Cadenza or KBear KB01.

If you need isolation then nothing is going to beat the Etymotic ER2XR. But buy from Amazon or somewhere with a good returns policy in case your ear canals can't handle them. They go in *deep*. Otherwise around $100 I'd probably be looking at the Aful Explorer, as it's very comfortable and has very solid bass, with no Harman tuck or anything (you'll want to avoid all Harman IEMs because of the dip in the midbass, which is exactly where the bass guitar's fundamental frequencies tend to fall). Most 1DD IEMs are going to be pretty safe because, even if they follow a Harman-like tuning, like the Cadenza, it's not possible to fully achieve the Harman bass tuck with a 1DD. You need to be more careful about 2DDs and hybrids though. Cadenza is probably already one of the best budget options. You might be interested in the KBear KB01 which is a 1:1 clone of the Cadenza, using the same driver. The shell is very slightly different but it's basically the same size and the tuning is identical. Not sure what you mean about the faceplate smudge (never seen any other complaints about that), but the KB01 faceplate is different anyway. You might like the black/grey version. The Cadenza has a good reputation for isolation compared to most IEMs. I don't use mine that way, so I'm mostly going off previous conversations with musicians. With the exception of the Etymotics which have special tips, you probably want to look at tip choices if you want to maximise isolation. Foam will be best, but rolls off the treble - though that won't matter for bass and you'll still be able to hear the rest of the mix. Hybrids like Render tips will also work well, but those are discontinued. If you sweat a lot they might not be the best anyway because they're not grippy. There's a new version of these due in the future, but no date announced yet & no idea if they'll be as good as the old ones. > i think there should be this list specifically for live performers especially if gamers are going to get their own rank list. Have to say I kind of agree with this, except that the number of people discussing IEMs for stage monitoring in this sub is tiny. You'd be hard pushed to find 5 people let alone come up with a list of 5 IEMs. IEMs for gaming are a bit of a meme, as they make virtually no difference, and yet the sub has been increasingly flooded with gamers over the past few months looking for "wall hacks". It's mostly influencers spreading nonsense.

I'd suggest something like KBear KB01 as your first IEM also EPZ G20 is a really good option as a first IEM

Kiwi Ears Cadenza is a really good option, but KBear KB01 exists. It's literally the same IEM as the Cadenza, but cheaper. Like literally, the only difference might be the shell, but from what I've heard, a lot of people prefer KBears shape more. And yeah, I haven't found any info on the silent revision of EDC Pro

I think they are ok, but in my opinion there are cheaper options that could give you the same, if not a better performance. I would choose Tangzu Wan'er SG Studio Edition or KBear KB01 and EQ them, instead of Kefine Klean