Most of the Dunu models have an impressive accessory pack. Like the Titan S2, or the upcoming Titan X.
Like dr_wtf said, TRN Shell has a ton of accessories. He and i are in lock step on that one.
Also sets like the Tangzu Wan'er 2 Jade, Red come with the Tang Sencai Wide and Standard bore, respectively. The Red also comes with the "HE Sonic" tips from Tangzu's gaming sub-brand, Harmonic Engine. For <$25, its like buying tips, and getting a free IEM with it.
They also have the Tangzu Xue Tao, which also comes with a set of Tang Sencai Standard Bore tips, as well as a fantastic set of silicone eartips.
Most of the Dunu models have an impressive accessory pack. Like the Titan S2, or the upcoming Titan X.
Like dr_wtf said, TRN Shell has a ton of accessories. He and i are in lock step on that one.
Also sets like the Tangzu Wan'er 2 Jade, Red come with the Tang Sencai Wide and Standardbore, respectively. The Red also comes with the "HE Sonic" tips from Tangzu's gaming sub-brand, Harmonic Engine. For <$25, its like buying tips, and getting a free IEM with it.
They also have the Tangzu Xue Tao, which also comes with a set of Tang Sencai Standard Bore tips, as well as a fantastic set of silicone eartips.
Because you want good passive isolation, you are going to want to avoid the Gate, the Bunny, the LAN, and the Wan'er. While i am a BIG fan of the Bunny, they might as well be open backed. Same with the Gate. The Wan'er also has a LOT of sound bleed.
The Vivace is a little better, followed by the Cadenza, the Zero2 and the Chu 2.
Overall, isolation wise, the Chu2 is the best on that list. But i would caution that, if you are going to be in the worship band, sweat is an issue. And 1: Metal Shells and Sweat usually means corrosion. 2: The Cadenza nozzles are WELL known for their corrosion. So...sadly, dont do that.
I would look at the Cadenza, or the Zero 1, not the 2. As they have a flatter bass profile, and a little more upper mids presence. Which will fit into the vocal range a little better for actual live monitoring.
Some other options i would look at are the TRN MT5, the Simgot EW100p, the BLON BL-03 II, Kinera Celest Wyvern Black, the Remix version if you want more vocal forwardness and less bass, and most importantly, tips tips tips. Get yourself some memory foam tips, and use them, this will GREATLY improve isolation and fit while playing. Or some foam filled silicone tips. To help reject outside sound.
If you do get Wan'er, for whatever reason, make sure it's the "SE" or Studio Edition. It has a flatter more neutral tuning, specifically for mixing and monitoring. It's still less than stellar sound dampening, but the tone is fantastic.
I have the regular Wan'er 2. That will largely depend on your ears talaga. For me it's actually small, short even. Ang ikli nung nozzles nya to the point na I've been tip rolling to find one for the Waner 2 where I don't constantly fiddle with it because it keeps falling out one of my ears. Yung kasama nyang Sancai tips kahit yung largest, lumalabas sa Isang tenga ko onting lakad lang haha.
IMO, if you can save the money for them, the Aful Performer 5+2 are the most bang for the buck iem you can buy if you want technicalities and soundstage. To me, they sound much better and coherent than for example the s12 ultra. They have enough bass to be impactful but be warned that if you’re sensitive to treble, they might be fatiguing after a long listening session. They go for 24k rn.
But if you can’t spend that much rn, then get the Aful Explorers. I love mine, and they’re the only set in my collection of 20+ iems that my brother, who’s a musician, likes a lot lol. They’re more bassy and have a darker tuning, but magical is the word I’d use to describe them.
For cheaper, I'd go with the kefine klean, 3.6k. I have the og black version and I put an eq on it that makes it sound amazing. If you end up buying the klean then lmk I'll give you that eq.
I haven't heard the new kefine klean sv, the silver one, so idk about the eq on that lol but I can try to figure it out.
I havent heard the zero 2 or the blon yet. Can confirm that the waner 2 is lovely and the og waner are similar I've heard. Same with the chu 2, those are my beater sets lol, at least one of those iems go with me everywhere.
For the conjested thing you're talking about, my eq widens them up quite a bit, so they deff punch above their weight after eq-ing. If you got an Android then I'd say go with the kefine and download poweramp eq app, and run with that. Can't beat that under 8k inr imo.
Red lions are meh, I only got them for the tips and the cable.
I love my tangzu wanger 2 red lions!
Smooth sound, nice but not overwhelming bass, scales super well with volume.
I feel like you can't go wrong for the price.
Amazing accessories too so great iem to start with.
Only thing is build quality not great (plastic shell)
I only run open backs for competitive games. They often lack the low frequency emphasis I prefer for single player titles -- which I use closed backs and IEMs for almost exclusively.
As for which format is better, that's going to be up to personal preference, and the quality of the headphone or IEM. You're likely going to want to test both yourself to make that decision.
One caveat is that, and this is not a hard-and-fast rule by any means, IEMs tend to offer better value for money at comparable price points. This curve tilts downward as you start to move past the kilobuck range and both headphones and IEMs suffer from diminishing returns as costs increase, but in general a $100 IEM is going to run circles around many of the $100 closed back headphones currently on the market. I'd take an EM6L, for instance, over a Sony MDR-7506 every time. And as much as I adore the budget FiiO FT1 and recommend it often here (especially for single player games), the similarly priced Aful P5+2, Punch Audio Portaza, Letshuoer S12 Ultra, Crinear Daybreak, or Ziigaat Lush are just an overall better listening experience for the money.
Again, this isn't always the case, but it tends to be the case a lot of the time.
On the other side of the argument, although closed backs tend to have a narrower stage compared to open backs, IEMs are even narrower and more intimate. There are exceptions to this; sets like the 64 Audio Volur are surprisingly wide, but those sets tend to be the exception and not the rule.
At the end of the day, the X2HR and Cadenza are a great jumping off point, both being very good sets for the price within their respective segments of the hobby. However, what you might find interesting is how well that $50 Cadenza performs compared to the X2HR.
FiiO FT1 with the CapraAudio Comfort strap. Same set I use for a lot of my single player gaming, and I have sets in my rotation that are 10x its price. It is a very good headphone for the money. I can wear that set with the Capra strap for 10 hours a day (and I have).
The IEM comparison above doesn’t diminish the recommendation or the FT1’s value, so much as point out how much better similarly priced IEMs tend to be on an equal playing field. FT1 is still my go-to recommendation until you get into the $600-$800 price range, where you start to see sets that pull ahead of it, especially in resolution.
Wan’er SG2, Salnotes Zero, Cadenza, all good sets for the price. If you can push further for the Truthear Pure, there’s some very good bang for your buck there, even though it’s over budget.
I tend to avoid cheaper sets from KZ and TRN, but if you wanted to go even cheaper that’s probably the best place to start. I can’t recommend any of those as I’ll only recommend sets I’ve personally owned or tested, but the bassier KZ Castor is well liked by the community for the price.
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Budget gaming pick, but poor cables and polarizing bass.
Buck-O
