Was just using my Kiwi Ears Septet out of my Schiit stack (Jotunheim 2, Lokius, Bifrost 2) for some gaming, but I plan to do some music listening with my FATFreq Maestro SE and HiBy R4 later today.
Agreed, the Aether is this expressive and emotional sound. I would argue if money isn’t an issue try the Kiwi Ears septet as it’s my favourite out of the Kiwis I’ve tried (ranking in order from best to worst) Septet, Aether/Orchestra, Quintet, anything else, then the Etude as these were seriously muddy imo
Hisenior cano cristales maybe? Jk i like the faceplate tho
Well i think you should try cheaper iem. Price is in order >
Sgor Luna>KZ PRX>Artti t10 (planar)
Tanchjim one>Tin Audio T2>Truthear Hexa>Truthear Pure (Neutral)
Tangzu wan'er SG>Tanchjim Bunny>Celest Wyvern Black/Abyss>Simgot EW300 DSP>Aful Explorer (Warm)
Or cheap Bone conduction iem like KBear KB02
Edit: And if you like Kiwi Ears they have plenty of good iem like the Septet, Astral, orchestra lite
Maybe like the helios for an arya equivalent?
I'm actually kinda looking for that too ngl. I have some lcd i3s I've been fiddling with to see if I can get similar technicals with a bit of a warmer sound for the mids without over boosting the lows but it's a work in progress so far.
Otherwise, yeah you'd have to spend more towards the 300- 500 range or up I think to get a tuning as refined as the headphones all mentioned.
I'm personally looking into the u12ts and symphonium crimson to pick up and see what it's like all the way up there.(second hand of course cause 2k on an iem is wild to say the least.)
Yeah at least to me, the helios was super airy and technical but not fatiguing. Lean sounding tho but ig that was the trade off for the technical sound performance.
I'd only suggest checking second hand for that one since it's in a more reasonable ballpark of 450 or so( any totl stuff atp is exclusively a 'second hand buy' situation cause DAMN this economy rn is dog) but I totally get not going for it.
Tbh I'd advise against just cause I'm in that boat and I'm dying to know what the 2k range iems sound like rn..... I'm cooked.
On the i3, could find an isine 10 or 20 and just break out the eq if you ever wanna experience that as well, like 100 bucks second hand. Otherwise rapthook go? Don't know the exact name but it's something like that, same idea, different design, more readily available. Really odd iems tho ig the septet makes more sense for a semi transparent iem, sparkly/ treble spicy set.
Def try the s12 again when circumstances permit. Might bit be the ideal sound but it's always fun to experience something different o7.
Crinicle dusk and theaudio Oracle OG. Are may favorites. But I have many others I still have that I haven't gotten rid of yet. Trn conch is crazy nice with eq. Orchestra lite for gaming, ikko oh10, and recently kiwi septet I have really enjoyed.
I brought the S12's first. They were too screechy for me. Then I got the MP145, and thought they sounded really, really good. I then got some Crinacle Zero 2's as a travelling set, they are okay, but, you know, budget, so for me weren't in the same league, but I'd have gotten over it if they went missing or got damaged.
Can't really remember what I went for after, but did realise the £200ish area is where the action is for me. It's all about the tunings now. I generally like a "warmer" profile, so the Septet were a bit of a risk, but I love them, in the right circumstances (they're not an out and about set).
I'm not sure what advice to give really, graphs don't mean that much to me, they give a clue to the sound, but aren't going to tell you whether you'll like it.
I have different sets for different moods, where I am, type of music etc.
One and done? That's tough. More than likely the Martilo for it's versatility, but I'm on holiday at the moment and grabbed the KE4. Guess I'm lucky I can return home to the rest of the kit!
For the record I use a BTR15 Bluetooth dac or M21 dap when I'm out, and a FIIO K7 as my desktop.
48-Cobras
