x Fresh Reviews Arete

Ziigaat Arete 2’s have been waiting for them to drop for a good while now. Super happy with the original.

Save a bit more and get an arete 1 or 2. I have an arete 1 for sale if you Wanna get it at 160$ shipped

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.

Ziigaat x Fresh Reviews Arete are my go to for Comp COD

Ziigaat x Fresh Reviews Arete are my go to for Comp COD

Check out fresh reviews on youtube, he reviews iems for fps gaming and has a tier list. I've tested EW300 x hbb, ZiiGaat Arete 1s, Odyssey 2s, Xenns Tea Pros and Supermix 4s. The SM4s being the ones I decided to keep since they are the most comfortable for me and perform great for fps like R6 and BF6

I just tested the Supermix 4s on Siege but only for a game or 2 because of discomfort. The separation is good, picked up footsteps quite good but I found the treble can be harsh at times, for example, when ying candelas are thrown or after getting flashed. I was testing the SM4s against the ZiiGaat x Fresh Reviews Aretes and really liked them. Comfort was better for me, no pressure in ear canal, footsteps were a bit louder, might have something to do with how easy the Arete's are to drive compared to the SM4s. Found imaging to be better, for example on bank while holding top site, sitting in conference, I could hear the enemy nomad run from top square janitor closet hall to white/marble stairs back to janitor closet without having to guess. If you can get the Arete I would go for those but would also try to get from somewhere that has good return policy just in case they are not comfortable for you same with the SM4s. I used both with apple dongle and worked great.

The Ziigaat x Fresh Reviews Arete. If we are talking strictly for gaming, you don’t need to go higher than this. Out of all the gaming specific IEMs, these are my go to because the separation and layering are great and they are very comfortable for me so I can wear them for long gaming sessions.

So don’t buy it based on the mic support as you can just switch out the cable to one with a mic on it. I will warn you though I went down that rabbit hole and all the ones I tried sounded like straight ass. I would highly recommend a separate mic. That being said, I have tried just about all the hype gaming IEMs and I will tell you straight tho don’t spend more than about Supermix 4 money. The diminishing returns are crazy when you are strictly talking about gaming. I have the Ziigaat Arete and I can tell you for cod it’s really not significantly better. In fact, I’d argue the Truthear zero blue is all you really need.

I have the arete and it’s good for gaming but it’s not big on the bass side. I had the Thieaudio Hype 4 and I think that is probably more like what you are looking for- huge, clean bass but still maintains that separation you need for audio queues (and it’s amazing for music too). I only moved on from that because I kept chasing the best gaming IEMs thinking it would be a night and day difference. My advice? Don’t go down the rabbit hole too far. I have overspent on too many different IEM’s in the past and I’m still not even thrilled with the Arete. At this point I am in the wheelhouse of “As long as you have a decent IEM with good drivers, it will be good enough for gaming.”

I have both the Arete and the Supermix 4 and I would say the Supermix 4 is better for multi purpose use. The Arete is great for gaming, but it’s only slightly better than the Supermix and the Supermix is miles better for music listening or movies than the Arete. I personally think the Supermix 4 is one of the best values in IEMs.

Yeah they are really great especially for their price point. I had been using the Ziigaat Arete for gaming a lot lately and then yesterday I decided to give them a shot for the day just to switch things up I forgot how much I prefer them to the Arete for music.

Check out fresh reviews on YouTube. He has a gaming IEM tier list. A word of warning though- there are massive diminishing returns and I honestly wouldn’t spend more than like $200-$250. I personally run the Ziigaat Arete and it’s great, but it’s not night and day better from the Supermix 4 or even the Truthear Zero Blue so don’t break the bank if gaming is your primary use case.

I’m using Kiwi Ears Astrals ($250 on Amazon) and they’re top tier in my opinion. Ziigaat’s Arete’s are in Amazon used “like new” condition for $125. That’s a steal for the quality

Look at fresh reviews on YouTube. He has reviews of both, and a tier list. Astrals are ranked A- by him and are ranked best 2025 gaming IEM over on r/IEMS. Arete were #1 in 2024

Oh! So, for music production u want something as flat as possible, this are not bad, but maybe slightly bassy (for music production obv, cus this are not bassy at all) probably something like the Fission if u still want some sparkiness in the treble, but buying something studio focussed and not this type of iem is way better in that sense...(And u can get overear studio for really cheap, im not really into this Sector,but i have friends that works professionally and rarely they use iem). So don't count the music production in ur buy for iems, cus audiophile and music production are 2 separate things. My raccomandation rn are: U want bassy (not basshead obv) and warm (like a Jbl speaker): Kiwi ears Airoso U want basshead (don't start with a pure basshead set like the Legato,the Martilo..., never) U want best neutral (with great trebble so not completely flat): Tanchjim fission U want "neutral" with boosted bass (like the red...): if Qc work, Defiant? (But slightly more get u a lot more) Like the Ziigaat (Ziigoat) odissey and sincerely 99% of iem are tuned like this...so pick ur favorite Budget (under 50 and even 40/30) Warm (my goat) and comfy af(important, cus the Red are massive...):Kiwi ears Cadenza Bass: Qkz x Hbb Cheaper: Kz edx pro 2 (try this mf) My main: Kiwi ears Airoso (music), Ziigaat arete (gaming)