LAN

Lately these are my favorites. I don’t know their exact sound signatures, but here’s how I’d describe them: Celest Pandamon 2.0 (with Kiwi Ears Flex eartips) – Super small, comfy, and chill—similar vibe to the Aful Explorer. I actually prefer these over the Salnotes Zero, 7Hz Sonus, Crinacle Zero Red, Artii T10, Tangzu Waner 1/2, Kefine Klean, IE200, Truthear Hexa, Moondrop Lan Reference, Chu 2, FDX1, Blessing 2, Kiwi Ears Cadenza, Inawaken Dawn, Dunu Titan S, and Truthear Gate. It’s about $20, a total “grower.” Boring at first, but comfort and tuning make it great. Likely warm or neutral-warm. Softears Studio 4 – Kicks ass. Especially on female vocals. I prefer it over all Meta-tuned and Harman IEMs. Campfire Andromeda 2020 – Neutral-warm with massive soundstage. Letshouer Cadenza 4 – On par with the Studio 4; I can’t pick a favorite between them. I can't describe how it sounds correctly and it's an IEM that shocked me because it (looks) like it'd be a Blessing 3 on graphs. Sounds nothing like anything out there. It's just an amazing IEM. I think it's U-shaped. Etymotic ER2XR – Love these for sentimental reasons. My EDC setup—always in my work bag. I use the Final Audio E multipack with the red adapter and my own tips. Dunu Kima 2 – The definition of neutral-warm to my ears. Filled the one gap in my collection (Lush, Dunu SA6 Mk2, Truthear Pure, S08, Explorer, etc.). The Kima 2 nails what I was missing. For budget stuff which surprised me. Xuan NV and Defiant. Both are spectacular with female and male vocals. Great punchy bass. Xuan NV is a bit more...liberal with bass. Defiant sounds more...correct with bass. But both are giant killers. Though the Defiant feels like more of a dragon slayer.

Better, at least according to Super Review. I like the original LAN but it does lean slightly bright (especially if you compare to something like the Hexa, although the Hexa has peakier treble and worse bass than the LAN - IMO the LAN is the better IEM out of the two). Apparently the LAN 2 REF is even brighter, so at that point it's probably just a bit too bright unless you're a serious treblehead. And Mark who is normally a fan of slightly brighter tunings didn't rate the REF very highly at all and only gave it 2 stars. Whereas he recently called out the OG LAN again in a recent video of things he underrated (even though he did rate it quite highly at the time). The comparison I'd be more interested in (and have not seen yet) is LAN 2 REF vs Simgot EA500, since the latter is an outstanding IEM, but it's definitely bright, so it's only for trebleheads or at least people who aren't treble-sensitive. I'd also like to see a proper comparison of the LAN 2 POP vs the Chu 2 because their FR graphs are basically identical but the Chu 2 is less than half the price (in fact the Chu 2 being so good is why the original LAN got overshadowed for a long time).

I've got a few [standard tip recommendations](/r/iems/comments/1dw6c4l/what_are_your_top_recommendations_for_eartips/lbspp1t/) but the thing about tips is that it's always going to take a bit of experimentation, so it's worth grabbing a few different ones, that aren't too expensive, and see what works best in your ear. As a rule of thumb narrow bores tend to be warmer and wide bores tend to be brighter, but it doesn't always work out exactly like that because sometimes a wide bore can even out the treble, making it sound less bright. I don't find tips do an awful lot to the LAN though because usually when a tip is a bit warmer, it's mainly adding some bass and reducing the upper treble. But the brightness of the LAN comes from the eargain region where it's a bit forward from about 1.5kHz up to about 8kHz, especially around 5kHz: [This graph](https://graph.hangout.audio/iem/5128/?share=Hexa,Lan) comparing to the Hexa shows how big the difference is in that area. I can't put it in the link but it's easier to visualise if you click the button to normalise at 800Hz instead of average dB. The trouble is that eartips don't really target that region very well. I get sibilance from the Aful Explorer from a peak around there somewhere and couldn't find any tips that fixed it. The only ones I've found that noticeably tend to down-tilt the midrange are Dunu Candy. I normally recommend 07 tips, because they're much cheaper and very similar, but this is one unique thing the Candy tips do that 07 tips don't, at least not as much. Some other warm tips that are worth trying are Final Type E Black and Penon Liqueur Orange. Those will add a bit of bass and roll off some of the upper treble, but they probably won't do much about that sense of brightness from the ~5kHz region. If you don't have any 07 tips I'd pick up a pack of those too because they're so cheap and sometimes they work better than anything else. The ones I'm using on mine currently are H570. They don't get rid of the bright tilt but I think they do help balance out the low treble and upper treble a bit so they sound quite "correct" and they add sub-bass extension without really adding much bass level. But bear in mind that I tend to use the LAN as my "bass fatigue antidote" IEMs so I intentionally don't want them sounding warm/bassy. I actually think the Hexa has a better tonal balance for that purpose, but there are so many issues with the Hexa with a big one being the uncomfortably large nozzles. In general though, even if you can't reduce the 5kHz region, if you add more bass that will usually make it sound more balanced and less bright. I just did a quick comparison between the H570, Dunu Candy and TRN T-Tips. The Candy and T-Tips definitely did add a bit more warmth but I find the H570 sounds a bit more correct in the treble with the test tracks I tried. YMMV a lot though. T-Tps are another one that's super cheap and worth having, although they don't have a multipack so I'd recommend buying either all 3 sizes (still only about $10 for 3 packs of 3 pairs), or S+M or M+L depending on which way your ear canal size leans. They're shorter than most tips - so if in doubt go larger not smaller. T-Tips are also medium bore like 07, and Candy tips are a bit narrower. If you're going to EQ I'd probably just add one filter to bring down the 5kHz region a bit. I think that's the main thing that makes them sound bright. I haven't experimented with that, but that's where I'd start as that's usually a pretty sensitive region.

The EW200 has a lot of treble energy but also a lot of bass (although this is very dependent on getting a good seal with the eartips), so it's more of a v-shape than a bright set per se. It's a slightly more aggressive v than the Chu 2, but still the same general tuning concept. Probably the best bright-neutral set is the Moondrop LAN. There isn't really anything better than the LAN with that style of tuning until you get up to the level of the Blessing 3, which is quite a big jump. If you want to spend a bit less, the 7Hz Zero is also bright-neutral, but it doesn't sound as smooth & refined as the LAN. If you want something that has tons of treble energy and resolving ability, while also being a mild v-shape so there's a bit more kick to drums etc. (but very much a bright IEM) then consider the Simgot EA500. The original silver version, not the LM or the new black one. This one comes with a health warning though, because it is *very* bright and potentially quite fatiguing. Definitely one to avoid if you're at all treble-sensitive. This is an incredible IEM in short bursts, but I can't listen to mine for more than an hour or so at a time. It sometimes goes on sale for as low as $50 since the LM got released. It's by far the most technical IEM at that price other than maybe the Artti T10.

Dunu Titan S (slightly warmer & more vocal-forward) or Thieaudio Legacy 2 (more of a reference-neutral). The Legacy 2 is maybe more suited to pro work as it can be a bit less forgiving about badly mastered tracks, but it's still a good IEM for listening to music, as long as you're not regularly listening to absolutely awful mixes. It has particularly good soundstage and imaging for the price. The Hexa gets recommended a lot, but I'm not a big fan because it has peaky treble, bad imaging, weak and flabby bass, and the fit is uncomfortable for a lot of people (including me), because of its large nozzles. There aren't really any other flat neutral options in that price range, but if you want a slightly brighter neutral then the Moondrop LAN is pretty good, as long as it hasn't sold out (it's been discontinued but the LAN 2 REF is even more bright and not as neutral). The Aria 2 isn't really neutral, it's more of a warm-leaning mild v-shape, but it's not some crazy Beats By Dre style of tuning or anything. It's probably close enough to neutral for most people and a good all-rounder (at least as far as I know as it's the only one I haven't heard, but I've heard what it's very frequently compared to). And of these will run just fine on the Apple dongle, even the EU one.

7Hz Zero (original not Zero 2) is the closest thing to neutral (leaning a bit bright) in that price range. If you want to spend a bit more (or can find it on sale) then the next step up is the Moondrop LAN. It's been discontinued so if you're lucky you might find one in a clearance sale. Avoid the LAN 2 because both versions are not as good as the original.

Truthear Hexa is probably what you want. Beware the nozzles are bigger than average, so it can be uncomfortable unless you have larger ear canals. There might be some brighter options with more boosted upper mids, which seems to be a more popular tuning in Asia for some reason. But they mostly get quite bad reviews, so I can't remember any offhand. That's if you intentionally want female vocals to sound shouty. The Hexa is more neutral than that, but it has a lot of treble extension so you shouldn't miss out on cybals, hi-hats, etc. The Moondrop LAN is also a bit brighter than the Hexa (but not to the extreme & not shouty), but it also has stronger bass (it's quite neutral bass, but the Hexa is a bit below flat neutral whereas the LAN is just above).

If you're planning to get the LAN then you should act quickly while there's still stock left. It got discontinued and the replacements don't seem to be as good as the original. I wouldn't rush out and buy the Clarion tips right away, as it might be fine on the stock tips. I don't like the Clarions on it personally. The effects of Clarions seems to vary quite a bit from person to person, because the shape means they seal abnormally well for some people, but they're usually bass-reducing and treble-increasing (and the LAN is already a slightly bright IEM). I've got some general [tip recommendations](/r/iems/comments/1dw6c4l/what_are_your_top_recommendations_for_eartips/lbspp1t/) if you happen to want to experiment. Just bear in mind it's a potentially expensive rabbit hole, as it's impossible to predict anything exactly without just trying for yourself. It's best to disregard any overly-specific recommendations (this tip on this IEM etc.) because how a given combination sounds in one person's ear canal and how it sounds in yours may be quite different. You can usually get a rough idea, like narrow bore tips tend to be bassier, wide bore tends to be brighter, etc., but even that doesn't hold 100% of the time.

Overrated: * Truthear Zero / Zero Red: The nozzles are huge and the sound is just OK for the price. They were a big deal at the time for target adherence (although the "full Harman" Zero actually has terrible Harman compliance), but that's more of a technical curiosity than actually good. Fortunately there are much better options these days, so the hype has died down a lot. * Truthear Hexa: Bass is anaemic, treble is peaky and the nozzle is also huge, though not quite as bad as the Zero. * Simgot EW300: The worst Simgot I've heard for coherency, although it does have the safest tuning as long as you don't get the killer treble peak around 11kHz (that's solvable with eartips, its other issues aren't). * GK Kunten. I mean it's *OK* for the price, but it's literally just a slightly downgraded and more expensive [ZVX Pro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eQc95TR0Ls), which in turn is almost identical to about half a dozen other KZ IEMs. All of which have the same driver as the Zenith too. The hype around this one is insane. A very successful astroturfing campaign though, so I guess well done for fucking up the sub with a tsunami of spam, and congrats to everyone who fell for it (including me, because I bought one too out of curiosity). Underrated: * Moondrop LAN (the OG one): A very good bright-neutral IEM for its price, overshadowed by the Chu 2 costing half as much, and the 7Hz Zero having nearly the same tuning (but much lower build quality, comfort and less refined treble). * Dunu Titan S: it's like the Hexa if it were better in every way and also cheaper. Actually these were a very highly regarded IEM at launch but I believe the hype machine moved on to the bassier Moondrop Aria and they got a bit forgotten about. Still a very good IEM though. Unclear if they're still in production or not, but everyone seems to agree the S2 isn't tuned as well. * Ikko OH300: Just one of my favourite IEMs with a fun but mostly natural-sounding warm v-shape tuning and incredibly holographic imaging. Nobody else ever talks about them. * TRN Shell: One of the few TRN IEMs that's actually good. It's like the EW300 but better in ever possible way aside from having a more pronounced v-shape tuning (personally I like it though, especially after some tip-rolling). It's also only $40 (on frequent sale) and comes with an insane set of accessories for the price. * Aful MagicOne: It's not an all-rounder IEM, it's not for everyone, and it's probably overpriced at RRP. But it's a very unique IEM in every way and nothing else sounds quite like it. I only paid about $60 for mine on sale and it's absolutely one of the best things I've bought.

The Pure is a flat-out better IEM. Neither is perfectly neutral but if you want to achieve neutral with EQ, it's easier to do with the Pure because the treble quality on the Hexa is not good, whereas the Pure really only needs one filter and it's in the "easy to EQ" region. If you want any bass, avoid the Hexa because it has very limp bass that's a bit below neutral and not very good quality. The Pure is further away from flat neutral, but it's within the bounds of warm-neutral and probably a lot closer to what most people would actually want anyway. Arguably the Pure has a bit too much upper midbass and it can bleed into the mids slightly, but it generally sounds quite good and is certainly an upgrade from the Wan'er, especially when it comes to the *quality* of the bass and upper treble. Another thing to watch with both the Hexa and the Pure is comfort. The Pure is going to be safer for most people, because the nozzle on the Hexa is pretty big. They did improve that quite a lot with the Pure, although it's still not as comfortable as something like the Wan'er. A more direct upgrade from the Wan'er for a bit less money is the Dunu Titan S, which I would also recommend over the Hexa. It's warm-neutral with a bit of vocal forwardness. So it's closer to the Wan'er style of tuning, but not quite as warm. It has much better clarity, resolution and build quality (anodised metal shells). The Pure has better treble than the Titan S and punchier bass, but if you don't want to EQ and are worried about that slight bass bleed, the Titan S is a safer option. It's also a lot safer comfort-wise for most people.

Do you mean as opposed to the S2? The S2 is v-shaped. There are loads of v-shaped IEMs around, but very few neutral-ish ones like the Pure, the Hexa and the Titan S. There's also the Moondrop LAN which is bright-neutral, and has also been discontinued - replaced by two different versions, neither of which is as good as the original. Seems to be a trend. I haven't heard the S2 myself but every single review I saw, where they had also heard the original, preferred the S to the S2. The S2 has arguably better accessories, but the tuning just isn't as good.

I don't have it anymore but it would be somewhere around 250Hz and reduce by about 2dB. You could maybe go a bit lower with a higher Q to bring down more of the bass, or keeping it around 0.7 should target just the part that bleeds into the mids. Listener himself mentioned in one of the Headphone Show live streams that's what he does personally, though I forget if he mentioned an exact frequency. I did notice a slight elevation around there causing some bleed into the mids, so that's what I would change, but it didn't bother me enough while I had them to actually do it. In fact I quite liked the bass presentation overall - it has a nice well-rounded thump to it. The best thing would be to do it by ear and see what sounds neutral to you. Another trick you can do is go into auto EQ and set it to work in just the bass frequencies (say, allow it to adjust 20Hz to 800Hz), and constrain it to a single filter. Then Auto-EQ to JM-1. That would at least give you a good starting point to then adjust to what sounds right to you. Doing a quick experiment on squig.link gives me good results with 1 filter on 711 (although the level came out weird and I had to adjust it manually). On 5128 I needed 2 filters to get it looking nice, but that's compensating for a rocking mode that isn't really there (that weird S-shape bump around 200Hz), so I'd be careful about that. That's a problem with the 5128.

I haven't heard the iM4 so I can't comment on that one, but if you aren't treble-sensitive and prefer a bright tuning, you should probably look at the original EA500 (the silver one). It's an incredible IEM but it's also quite bright, so it's not for anyone treble-sensitive. The EA500LM adds a lot more bass so it's quite aggressively v-shaped, but it sounds like more of a mild v-shape than it appears on a graph. It loses a lot of the magic of the original (especially in the soundstage), in order to be a bit safer for more people. It actually has even more treble energy than the original, but it's more balanced out by a lot of bass, so it doesn't sound quite as bright. The Hexa is more neutral but IMO it has a lot of technical issues in the treble, and it also has large nozzles that can be very uncomfortable unless you have larger than average ear canals. Some people describe it as bright, but it's not really bright, it just has peaky, inconsistent treble, and lacks bass. It's actually more of a warm tuning, aside from the bass being a bit below neutral. If you're specifically looking for a brighter tuning I'd skip the Hexa and either go with the EA500, or if you want something a bit safer then consider the Moondrop LAN instead (the original version which is now discontinued, but there is still stock left).

Original Moondrop LAN. I wouldn’t say they’re my absolute favorite or anything. But they’re very comfortable, have a very neutral all-rounder sound, and don’t clog (every metal IEM I’ve ever tried slowly clog with moisture as I wear them… except the LAN for some reason, I’d love to know why.) I’m still hunting for the perfect set though.

since u mostly listen to j pop, i wouldn't recommend either. i would recommend u spend an extra 20 dollars and get the moondrop starfield 2, both those iems are too boring for jpop imo. and if u want to save some money, get the lan 2 pop. this is coming from a fellow j pop fan btw

for me it's either the moondrop dawn pro 2 or moonriver 2:ti, but don't get either of them with your current budget, save yourself the money and get the jcally jm6 pro

the imaging on them is bad, that's a fact. i like flat iems too, i have a lot of neutral iems, i ordered an aroma audio jewel alongside my fei wan, and it's a really flat sounding iem. If i hate flat sounding iems, i won't be spending so much money on one. And I quite like the hexa for music, but the imaging on them is just so terrible, it's bad for games. Also the hexa has like no bass, which op wants. And tbh, i've always found the hexa too boring for j pop, especially compared to something like my moondrop psyche

S12 Pro - On sale hits near 100. Not a big fan of the base tuning but eqs extremely well with modular termination through I had to mess with the earhooks a lot. Moondrop Lan OG - Closest thing to the OG Chu currently available. Costs 45 which is imo too much but to me as an individual, worth it for jazz. Quietsea II - Around 50 typically. This would be my go too when I want extra midbass for stuff like EDM or hip hop. Crinear Daybreak - With about 200 left, id probably grab this. My favorite IEM without EQ I've tried to date at any price though take that with a grain of salt. Enjiy it more then the Sogno, Hype 4, or Dusk which is basically everything I've tried over the 200 mark so far. One of the best mid ranges I've heard and treble as enjoyable to me as my Sundaras with ample bass. Could've also gone with the er2se as my last spit but Daybreak is a bit more versatile.