Chu 2

From $200 to $1000 there’s practically no gain its like 800 extra for like 3% gain but from $20 chu2 to $200 iems omg the sound is so amazing all those extra drivers help so much it’s like your rediscover musice once you step into $100+ iems it’s impossible to listen to budget sets

use mine while playing bass. it highlights too many mistakes lol

Alright so everybody here has an opinion, most of them based on "trust me bro". There is a bunch of ~20usd iems, all of them having very similar tuning (tuning is ALL that matters in the sound of earphones/headphones). A lot of them, because they are cheap, come with bad cables that break over time (cables are usually the nost fragile thing on this stuff). Thus I would recommend the Truthear Gate, it comes with a cable that is far better than even cables that vome with iems costing 5x the price. Under 100usd, I would recommend the the Truthear Pure. It is tuned to be what we call neutral now (jm1 and -1db/Oct. Tilt), leaning a bit warm. KZ is... questionable. Some praise it for its price to performance, others hate it. What we are certain about is that they do not sound *objecitevly* correct, not even close to it sometimes. On top of that, they got questionable QC... and marketing practices (paying reviewers, silent revisions for the worse...) 7hz Salnotes Zero:2 - is a good option with a solid tuning, but many find it uncomfortable. Edit: The moondrop chu2 is also a solid option, but I would still go for the Gate.

Hi OP, Fair warning; wired audio can be a huge rabbit hole, ESPECIALLY if you start with a hard to drive open back. It’s really rewarding when I finally got my HD650 to sound the way I wanted, but I sank 300+ dollars into an amp to make it do so (and had a $$$$ DAC). There are some really high value options nowadays for nice, cheap open back headphones and IEMs. My recommendation is actually a nice IEM that you can drive with your phone to see if you even like (or care about) having good transducers for your music. I really, really liked my 7Hz/Linsoul Zero 2 and they cost like 10 bucks, and would probably feel the same way about other cheapos like the Moondrop Chu2. I *can* imagine buying a pair of R70x or Verum2 and finding a DAC/Amp combo to make them work for not much more, but I think having a frame of reference that lets you know what you like just from a phone would do a lot long term (and save a ton of money). Just my 2cents. I hope you enjoy this corner of our hobby!

if you can afford 2 sets...get the Salnotes zero 2 and either the Chu2 or the Wan'er. They should have different enough sound signatures that you can start making a decision which you might like. Watch the reviews for the two sets you buy. Learn the lingo...and what it is you're hearing. That knowledge will help you when you're looking for an upgrade later on

I WHOLE HEARTEDLY AGREE WITH YOUR POINTS: https://preview.redd.it/vwxf7i53neye1.jpeg?width=2377&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9aafdf70e38f01e9e6e88692e4c7f79caca103d8 This is MY collection...and I'm very early in the journey. I don't have the budget, knowledge or experience to blind buy a 500USD+ set of in ears that may or may not fit my ears or my preferences. While my journey doesn't completely fit OP's blueprint...I have/had the same thought process regarding purchasing IEMs. Not pictured are the Moondrop Chu 2 and 7Hz Sonus. I started with the Chu 2, 7Hz Zero 2 and Kiwi Ears Cadenza. From listening, watching and reading reviews...I was able to learn about all the terms, labels, and vocabulary to describe what I like or don't like. I threw money at the Wyvern Abyss...I mean...LOOK AT THEM😂. The Kz Castor Bass was a curiosity buy...want to hear if a set touting bass response was really that bassy. My next steps were the NiceHCK F1 Pros, Kiwi Ears Canta and the 7Hz Sonus. The F1 Pros and the Sonu were on sale at the time of purchase...good value and able to narrow things down more for myself. I knew I liked the planar sound...I have a set of open ear planar cans. The F1s felt disappointing (until I tip rolled) The Sonus was about much for my taste (in the mids) The Cantas were quite nice for me. By this point...I had a good grasp of what I was looking for and the direction (s) I want to go in. AFUL Performer 5+2 is currently my go-to...for all around listening. Sourced from R2R DAC lined out into a desktop tube amp. It's like a warm blanket on crisp bright and snowy winter day. I picked up the Hexa because I wanted to hear the hype...and yes...they definitely fulfill the hype and then some. I've EQed my IEMs... especially the planar. They can mimic the sound...but it's only a part of the equation. I now rotate through 3-4 sets at my desktop listening station. The cheapo ones all have 3.5mm out for around the house or for bed. If they break...ill decide if I want to replace. Tip rolling is a journey of itself. Some tips can dramatically change an IEM and rescue it from the bottom of the pile. My Planars now sport foam tips...easing off the treble was huge. Anyway...long post...if you got this far thanks for sticking with my diarrhea of words. TLDR: I agree with the OP

OP... don't get rid of your Astral. Someone else mentioned it already...but it's a lack.of reference that has you second guessing. EQ (parametric EQ) is a good tool. It can help you fine tune the sound of the IEM to your liking. But...the IEM should sound good to you out of the box. HD550...hmmm... just go for the legend. Save for the HD600. I wrote down my experiences and things I learned as a beginner [Posted here](https://www.reddit.com/r/iems/s/u2D7CWFQw9) Go and find all the reviews you can on the Astral. Listen to the terminologies and try to associate what you hear from the Astral. Then pick up a budget set or two (if you want to learn) watch those reviews from the same reviewer. See if you can hear what they are hearing...and establish a frame of reference. Hope that makes sense. Outside of that...you picked a really good IEM. Stick with it. HD

check the community recs for under 50...that's where I started (kiwi ears cadenza, Moondrop Chu 2, and the 7Hz Salnotes x Crinacle Zero 2) There should be enough of a difference between 2 of those sets to start getting a frame of reference. You'll likely hear the differences between those and your Astral

You want both an iem and a DAC/amp, since computers and even phones have garbage defaults. If you have an American apple dongle, you can skip this part and use that, but look at the jcally jm6. For IEMs, salnotes zero:2, moondrop chu2, and kiwi ears cadenza are my recommendations. $30 is a hard budget but it gets much easier past that.

Decent headphones recommended to me on a synth discord I’m on. I like them.  https://www.amazon.com/Moondrop-CHU-II-Performance-Interchangeable/dp/B0CB8HHS8V

I wanted to say I thought they were pretty flat and good for mixing but I couldn’t remember.  I’m a novice among novices who midlife crisis’d into some gear.