Kinera - Celest Pandamon 2.0

Just bought a pair! Was going to get the GK Kunten on aliexpress, but these are cheaper and on amazon.

Grab thr Kinera Celest Pandamon 2.0, they are currently on Amazon for $10. Considering they launched at almost $80, that's a lot of bang for the buck. Very neutral, and flat tonality. While maintaining a lot of dynamism. Hexa is also a solid option.

UPDATE: This deal's done. Out of stock! Let's hope Celest/Kinera/QOA gets more in stock before the end of the week. PS: Now I only have a pair; I couldn't buy a second one in time. I kind of regret telling you guys... but not really. Why isn't anybody hypin' these up? The Celest Pandamon 2.0 are $8.49 on Amazon US right now if you have a Prime subscription. A "Square Planar Driver" that has a Etymotic-ish taste. It comes with a very good cable, a nice case, two sets of silicone ear tips, and the IEMs, which are built very well (resin) and are quite compact (small ears). Very relaxing presentation, with great mid-bass texture, although not as detailed as the ER2XR in the treble region. They used to be around $60.00 MSRP, but at $8.49 they're a steal! Without a Prime subscription, they're $20.00 (still worth it, but get a free Prime trial and you save even more).

I got 'em for $9.90 some weeks ago, and boy, they're my daily drivers (and I have some planar magnetic IEMs, including the Letshuoer S12 Ultra).

I work in a nice office with air conditioner, so I can allow myself to take my $100.00 sets with me... But I still prefere my $10.00 Celest Pandamon 2.0.

Celest Pandamon 2.0, very similar tuning to Etymotic ER2XR, even though they aren't as detailed as other planars. https://preview.redd.it/kklskw8w0r1g1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=75d0ddf93f7c10d0afa653edae74f57315b844ea

Xuan NV Celest Pandamon 2.0 is actually my new EDC—despite owning far pricier IEMs. It’s not the best-sounding set, but it’s effortlessly comfy and I can wear it all day. Comfort is S-tier. Retails for $50 (was $20 for a while), and I pair it with Kiwi Ears Flex tips. I use the Pandamon 2.0 about 90% of the time. It sounds better than IE200 and everything in its comfort tier—easily beats LAN, Chu 2, Gate, etc. I even prefer it over Hexa, Kefine Klean, Tangzu Waner 2 (non-Studio), Dunu Titan S, Tanchjim Bunny, LAN 2 Reference, Kiwi Cadenza, and Salnotes Zero. I also find it more enjoyable than Blessing 2. The sound won’t wow you at first, but it grows on you—super chill, my daily go-to. Sometimes, comfort just wins. Ironically I prefer them over everything people are mentioning here. Xuan NV is a safer bet though. Then again, no. I'd say the Pandamon 2.0 is a safer bet since it's dirt cheap.

If you're in the United States just get this here for $13. Pandamon 2.0. Pair it with Kiwi ears flex eartips for best results. https://www.amazon.com/QOA-Earphone-Detachable-Musicians-Engineers/dp/B0DG279DXM/ref=sr_1_3? This is more of a chill sound, ie kinda like Aful Explorer.

I'm not sure about planars being better suited to headphones. I have the Edition XS which is very good, and I've tried a few Audezes as well. There's a lot of similarities in terms of the "planar sound" between those and the full-size planar IEMs (of which I have 5). It's hard to match a full-size planar IEM for resolution. The same is not true of the Shell. However, I can say that the Shell has some similarities with the Simgot EW300, which is another hybrid that includes a planar (different driver architecture though). They do have a fairly distinctive sound. I would describe it as exaggerated texturing throughout the midrange, without especially elevated treble (although the Shell is definitely quite v-shaped). Whereas a full planar is quite different, especially in how it presents bass. Planar bass gives you a lot more detail, instrument separation and quite linear extension, but it doesn't have the same mid-bass slam that you get from a DD. Planars can have a slightly metallic timbre generally (that I've tried, only the S08 doesn't, but I'd put it in a different category of planars, with afaik the only other one like it being the T10 Pro). This is something I notice on the full-size headphones like the Edition XS and Audeze LCD-X as well. It's important to realise that an SPD/micro-planar is more like a DD than a true planar and it sounds more like a DD. So if you want to hear a planar, you need to get a full-size planar. If you want to see them taken apart, there's a [teardown video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e75AUDGfGhE&t=2345s) you can watch (timestamped to the relevant bit). In fact I also have the Kinera Pandamon, which is one of the earlier SPD implementations that uses it as a full-range driver. It does sound like a DD, not like a planar. And in that case, not a particularly good DD either. Agree about the T10 being a bit ugly. It's unfortunate and I don't know why they didn't just make them in different colours like an Apple product, instead of beige. They'd be printing money if they did that. But aside from being one of the cheapest planars, it's also one of the best tuned ones and doesn't have fatiguing treble, but still has that planar resolving ability. I actually think they made it ugly on purpose to avoid cannibalising sales of the S12. BTW, my initial impressions of the Shell are that it's better than the EW300. Partly because the PZT on the EW300 adds a huge annoying treble spike. I got rid of that with tip-rolling, but ultimately returned it because of other tuning issues (that so far I haven't run into with the Shell and I did try some of the same test tracks to see if it handled them better). The Shell is definitely one of the best looking IEMs around as well.

Does the [Pandamon](https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/kinera-celest-pandamon.26255/reviews) count as a waifu? I bought one because it's the most ridiculous looking IEM I've ever seen.

Not great TBH. It's an early SPD (one that's actually square), so got some hype as a "planar", but it really doesn't sound like a planar. Sounds more like a DD and not a very good one. Best I could describe it is "dull". Very lacking in resolution & mostly midrange-oriented with slightly muddy bass. Not midrange-oriented in a good way like the Aful MagicOne either: the timbre is a bit wonky & technicalities aren't really there. I haven't listened to them enough to give much more detail than that because I made a few attempts at trying to like them, with a few different tips, but just didn't like listening to them enough to continue. I'm planning to try doing something with them in the future, either with EQ or modding, but haven't had time yet, so they're just sitting in a drawer of "not great" IEMs. Incidentally, AFAIK the 2.0 with the nicer faceplate is exactly the same IEM, just with a new faceplate. I think there was a small tweak to the driver, but it wasn't an "upgraded" driver as such, more just a manufacturing change (probably to reduce the cost), so it has the same FR. Hi-Fri did a [teardown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npXLs8l_OJw) of it and was quite disappointed, because he'd initially been told they were going to use a new (significantly different) driver. He also had bad channel imbalances with his, but I haven't spent enough time testing mine to tell if they have similar issues, nor do I have a coupler to measure them. But it's pretty safe to assume the manufacturing variance is quite high / QC is low.

I bought em when they first went on sale. The upper mid boost is definitely sorta rough without EQ, but not too bad. They're really, really good for $9.

Pandamon 2 is really good

That's such a relatable feeling I'm glad I'm not the only one who was reignited by a nice set!! I wish I could get my more affordable sets to feel good in my ear. I adore my pandamon 2.0 but it fits so goofy!!

Currently using these with the KZ AZ09s, pretty insane quality for $10

I got the blue pair for 10, now they’re 15 and the black which were 20 are 10 so I really dont know 

and with a little EQ I was shocked at how much I enjoy them.