HOLA

For real, unfortunately my truthear holas are busted, they lasted a good few years though. Have some space travel 2s currently but will probably get more iems soon along with a Bluetooth dac amp

I really like my Truthear Hola's minimalist aesthetic

When I'm at home and playing games on my handhelds or doing chores around the house, I'm still partial to my Moondrop Aria from back in 2021. I use it with Moondrop's Spring Tips and a Tripowin Zonie for the cable, since I wasn't a big fan of the default cable. They're comfortable and sound great, why fix something that's not broken? I'll likely replace this with the Truthear Hexa when it eventually does break. When I'm outside/commuting or gaming on my PC at home, I'll usually carry my Tangzu Wan'er 2. The Truthear Hola was my favourite for this one, but mine broke, they discontinued it and I'm not really a fan of the Truthear Gate's sound signature personally, so I figured I'd try something different in the name of science. This one has a mic (since I use it for work calls and gaming), and I use the Spinfit CP240 double-flanged tips on them for maximum noise isolation. I don't plan on wearing them for an extended period of time, so the tips being extra intrusive for limited durations is okay. They are also really cheap, just 2k rupees, so I wouldn't feel terrible if I lost them outside or they broke from daily use. Bonus: for extended WFH sessions (assuming I don't need to make a work call) and listening critically to music at home, I use headphones actually, my Sennheiser HD600. They are really comfortable and make you forget you're wearing them, and they are incredibly neutral. Of course, they cost 23k rupees and aren't IEMs, so not relevant to your question, but thought it would be interesting to mention it as a frame of reference.

I’d suggest truthear Gate. I have its predecessor, hola. It’s a relaxed warm leaning tune with just enough brightness but not too much sparkle in the treble region, just the way I like it, and I guess you do too. The build quality is fantastic. It’s holding up very well after 2 years; no issues at all. I have used them while travelling, while walking, in sweaty conditions and everything. They are working just fine.

The Truthear Hola and maybe some other models have a reputation on audio forums as a budget banger. I have a pair and can confirm.

I'd say the Defiant. It's $80. It sounds incredibly good for the price. And from what I've seen I don't think it'll go cheaper than that on the used market. But I could see it, time and time again, beating IEMs that cost much more. I also think the Studio4 will continue to be good even years down the line. But I really love the Studio4. While unrelated yet still related, your comment reminds me of when I recently (last week) got the Truthear Hola. Damn, it genuinely makes me sad we can't get this sort of sound and IEM. It's a truly unique sound and it was insane this was once $20.

I agree with that Blessing 3 take! :D That's how I hear it too! :D "Thin, slightly shouty, basically no bass presence, reasonably textured treble. This one's purely for the weebs." Gad damn. That's what I thought too! Agree, ironically, with his take on Airpods Pro 2. Those are honestly really great/awesome especially when you factor size to performance and comfort to performance. Lush is legit. RSV Mark 2 is great. (though I like RSV Mark 1 better) :P There's so much 64 Audio stuff. (I have zero knowledge in that area) (but I am super curious). But there's so much 64 audio stuff on this chart and it's a huge gap in knowledge in my side. :P Agree on Truthear Hola! What a legend at $20. THAT is the $20 iem that was so good for its price. RIP indeed. Agree on the take on Hype 4. That did have a bit too much treble. It's why I don't care for the Hype 4 MARK 2. They added moar treble in Mark 2. no no. Agree on the take of Hexa. Hexa to me is more bright than neutral. And Hexa is very much inconsistent in that there are many people who hate it, but few who love it. I personally hated that shindig. Agree on the Andromeda 2020 take. That IEM is so strange. Usually I associate soundstage and spacious with bright-ish iems. But Andromeda 2020 is undoubtedly warm but has the most soundstage I've ever heard on an iem to date. It's puzzling. Slight disagreement on Letshouer Galileo. To me, Galileo is neutral. Most reviewers call it neutral. Then again, could be another situation where no one is wrong here :P

GK Kunten (before retune) (don't get it now). Could be bought for maybe 8 bucks? Basically a mispriced $60 iem. Artii T10. Nothing better below its price. Also gives $100 to $200 iems a fight. Dunu Kima 2. About a hundred bucks or so. Great vocals, great tuning, great bass. Not for trebleheads. Undoubtedly a warm iem. Also comes with a full rack of eartips that are some of the best out there ie, Dunu S&S, Dunu Candies, etc. Celest Pandamon 2.0 at 9 buckaroos. That was a hecking steal. Celest Wyvern Abyss at 9 buckaroos. Another steal. Great for vocals. Purely a vocal set. Terrible 'technicals', ie bad soundstage and imaging. But vocals are chef's kiss. Sivga Que (original). A pure vocal set iem. Insanely good for the price. Just listen to the female vocals on it and compare it to iems that cost more. A/B it. You'll just think, how the fuck is this so good at 60 bucks? Xuan NV. At 67 bucks or so. A well rounded iem. I think these are fantastic for hip-hop lovers. Juzear Defiant (if you get one that works). Outperforms iems double its price. Tangzu Wan'er Studio Edition - Discontinued. But imo the best of all the Wan'ers. Great vocal set. Use the white eartips on it. If those don't fit, buy Kbear07 eartips and get the size that fits you. Don't use wide bore on it. Truthear Hola - Was 20 bucks. If you have it. It seriously makes you question why iems cost more. yu9 Que - It's about $400. But it makes me question iems that cost double, triple its price. Letshouer Cadenza 4 - This is a point of contention but imo I tell everyone just to get Cadenza 4 instead over the $500 Tops Pro. It's an iem that seriously made me consider the worth of Tops Pro at $500. I genuinely believe that if you already have Cadenza 4 you'd be disappointed spending $500 on Tops Pro. I might really like Beryllium drivers.

I'd also call the Hola warm, or warm-neutral anyway. My point was that on the 5128 it follows the JM-1 target more closely than either the Pure or the Hexa, so is therefore "the most neutral" (even though it clearly isn't flat neutral). Supposedly the bass is a lot more accurate on the 5128 and it's been said that this explains "BA bass" where the measured level was much higher (on 711) than the perceived level. I've started looking at the 5128 to check where the bass level falls, but 711 to try to understand the actual tonal balance. The Hola improves a lot with the right tips btw, the stock ones aren't very good. I personally find Tang Sancai (balanced) works best, but they may not work the same for everyone. It goes from an OK budget set to a *really good* 1DD, just with a very relaxed tuning. They really tuned it to the driver, so where it lacks treble incisiveness, it doesn't matter, because that tuning doesn't require it. The QKZ HBB is very similar, in fact it sounds a lot like the Hola, just with a lot more bass. I really don't like the Gate at all. The treble just sounds gritty and knocks the timbre out. For that sort of mild v-shape, I'd much rather listen to the Chu 2. For a brighter take on that 1DD modified Harman, I find the EPZ Q1 Pro to be quite good. I personally had to so some tip-rolling to get rid of a resonance peak in the treble, but I've since asked a couple of people I recommended it to (with that caveat) and they didn't have the same problem, so I think that's just an interaction with my ear canal. For a reference neutral tuning, I like the Thieaudio Legacy 2 more than the Hexa. Similar mids (the L2 is just a touch more vocal-forward), but it has a sub-bass boost, so it's still fairly neutral but you can actually hear bass. The treble is slightly rolled-off, but less peaky and more natural sounding (just less airy). I haven't heard the Yume, but the Legacy 2 and Yume have nearly identical graphs.