Iems are all about tuning. I just started, and budget wasnt too much of an issue for me, so I went with all mid range stuff to start with. I grabbed a Protocal max for a dongle, an IFI Zen DAC V3 for a computer DAC, then the IEM i chose to start with were the Crinear Daybreak for music + Movies, and the Zigaat Arete 2s for Gaming. I love every single part of each item I bought, but I did vigorous research before I came to those conclusions. Norw that I understand my taste, I went all out and ordered a pair of Mangird Top Pros to see if I could reach my endgame pair quickly. But all in all ive spent about 1500$ in the last month or so and im not mad at a single penny spent. So my reccomendations would be, if youre using mainly your phone, get a nice dongle, the protocol max is good, but too powerful for iem, so I qould go down a bit on that. For PC use, the IFI Zen v3 is a DREAM. And for your first set, I would recommend the crinear daybreak. Those things are what sent me down this rabbithole.
Get something metal, like the new Kiwi Ears Halycon coming out. Or the zigaat arete 2s, those are super comfy to wear around. Idk about the dust thing though bro, most IEM aren't meant to abuse. They do break easily.
Arete 1 or 2. The 2’s are a fairly small upgrade based off my A/B testing. You can snag the 1’s for cheap and the best bang for the buck IMO. They’re also easy to drive with a simple Apple dongle. You can get a pair + dongle + long cord for under $200. As mentioned earlier, price doesn’t equate to increased FPS performance. I’ve got kilo buck IEM’s that are amazing for music, but terrible for FPS games.
IEM’s are worth it. In every game I play with my friends who have headphones my hearing is incredibly more accurate it’s so OP.
I did end up paying quite a bit for mine though they were like $230 🫠
However I will say worth every dollar. I couldn’t believe how accurate the directional audio is, and I can hear things from further distances than my friends can. For example in Tarkov, I’ll be like “ audible, left side up stairs” and they’re like “what? I didn’t hear anything?” 😂
They work flawlessly in apex too. I very rarely have a horizon sneak up on me anymore
[ZIIGAAT Arete IEM](https://a.co/d/03fyBnDk)
ClassicWow26
