Budget IEM (Chit Chat)

[Lifeinmotion]

Thank you.

 

[Lifeinmotion]

Hmm... why the packaging so reminiscent of condoms...

Yeah.

 

[BlackWing1977]

I bought Xiaomi $5,. haven't arrive yet

My old one just uplorry... the L and R become like mono.. dunno why also..

 

[Lifeinmotion]

The last IEM I had was a Shure. Pretty good. Clean not so much bass. But the wire at the end give up on me. It broke near the tips somewhere.

 

[BlackWing1977]

The last IEM I had was a Shure. Pretty good. Clean not so much bass. But the wire at the end give up on me. It broke near the tips somewhere.

The cable cannot change?? The replacement cable selling on shopee quite cheap leh.

 

[EroNasubi]

I suggest those who are unsure... can pick up one under $20 to play with it... low costs low risk mar..

Just dunno when will I ever see this price again... by the time this discount pop up, I already bought 2 pairs from Amazon at $30++ to $20++...

That’s what I tot initially when I decided to buy the Castro Pro.
then I found the default ear tip no good, then I spent a little bit more on spinfit (actually the ear tips cost more than the IEM itself hahaha)
then I found the cable with usb end no good, then I spent a little bit more on FIIO KA13 (and this adapter cost much much much more than the IEM plus ear tips).
Overall, total cost is still cheaper than my old AirPod pro (battery almost died) or shokz openrun (which I used while working in office), and sound quality wise, castro pro is really good.. no regrets at all..

 

[Elfblade]

KZ ZS10 Pro (First Pair I bought from Amazon SG during Black Friday Discount)
Hybrid 1DD + 4BA per side
Price $30.10 (Discount at Amazon SG. I bought a 2nd pair at $26.97 and the price finally dip to below $20 at one point. Now about $56.90 at a local Shopee seller, not so common from seller in China probably because it is a old model there are newer model like ZS10 Pro X, ZS10 Pro 2 and ZS12 Pro etc.)

KZ PRX (Planar Magnetic IEM, 2nd pair of IEM after ZS10 Pro)
Planar IEM (Probably a 13.2 mm Planar Magnetic driver inside)
Price $50++ (Shopee seller from China)

KZ Castor Pro (Harman Tuned Bass Improved Black)
Dual Dynamic Driver (Both 10mm) per side
Price $19++ (Shopee Seller from China)

CCA Hydro (Probably most expensive I have ever buy.)
Hybrid 2DD + 8BA per side
Price $130++ to $140++ (Shopee Seller from China. Depending on whether if you choose the one with upgraded cable)

Please take note most if not all of the IEM are shown with upgraded cable and 3rd party ear tips.

Please keep discussion friendly and civil... thank you.

Someone suggested to me best to have a separate thread, dun hijack the older thread. So here we are.

1st look, I thought it was a toy for adults, used for Insertions.

 

[BlackWing1977]

 

[BlackWing1977]

1st look, I thought it was a toy for adults, used for Insertions.

If you have a 3.5mm or 4.4mm audio jack.. sure..

 

[BlackWing1977]

That’s what I tot initially when I decided to buy the Castro Pro.
then I found the default ear tip no good, then I spent a little bit more on spinfit (actually the ear tips cost more than the IEM itself hahaha)
then I found the cable with usb end no good, then I spent a little bit more on FIIO KA13 (and this adapter cost much much much more than the IEM plus ear tips).
Overall, total cost is still cheaper than my old AirPod pro (battery almost died) or shokz openrun (which I used while working in office), and sound quality wise, castro pro is really good.. no regrets at all..

Yeah, Castor Pro is very surprising... I mean maybe the high end and treble and separation/imaging not so good but it is decent enough for most fun pop/dance music and song.. and the bass certainly make it more exciting and fun. My CCA Hydro while bass is losing to Castor Pro just a bit but everything else is really up there, after it has also 2 x Dynamic Drivers in them also.. just smaller size.

 

[cesc-ark]

broke my ciem, next pair likely looking at chifi iems

any pair that emphasizes the clarity, non-bassy kind

 

[BlackWing1977]

Hmm... why the packaging so reminiscent of condoms...

Dunu S&S Eartips
Bore size: regular
Stem length: regular
Feel: rubbery and elastic

Bass: 4.00
Midrange: 4.50
Treble: 4.00
Soundstage: 5.00
Vocal presence: 4.00

The first time I tried these eartips was when I auditioned the Dunu Talos. The S&S eartips was part of their stock accessories. I immediately fell in love with these eartips. It presents clean yet balanced sound signature with a large soundstage, both width and depth, and good imaging. Perfect match for planar IEMs (these are attached permanently to my Timeless and Timeless AE). My only complain is they have an awkward fit and can be uncomfortable for some people. Comes in a plastic storage case with 3 pairs of your chosen size. Good stuff!

https://www.audioreviews.org/guide-to-iem-silicone-eartips/#K

Review of the ear tips came from audioreviews.org

And I can only say compared to Spinfit CP100 Plus or W1 or even foam tips.... it does somehow reduce the thumping bass sound.... from powerful bass thump to thinner thump... with less power behind it.

So dun use them on very bass anemic IEM like the ZS10 Pro.. it will literally reduce your drumsticks to thin chopsticks...

I hope it is not because of the fitting... it is already XL size at 13mm width... my CP100 Plus is 13.3mm and W1 is 13.5mm really hope it is not worse because of the 0.3mm width...

Edit: Yeah just tested with the TRN T ear tips that is only 12.8mm in width but the bass sound fine.. wonder why... is it because of the material?

Final conclusion after testing with all the ear tips, decided to give the Dunu another go... this time... I try to jam it in as far as possible... and it worked.. the bass is finally fine.... I guess is the design that make it difficult to insert fully without really really pushing it in.

I was testing it with KZ PRX with balanced output from FiiO K7.

 

[fat_boyz]

KZ PRX (Planar Magnetic IEM, 2nd pair of IEM after ZS10 Pro)
Planar IEM (Probably a 13.2 mm Planar Magnetic driver inside)
Price $50++ (Shopee seller from China)

KZ Castor Pro (Harman Tuned Bass Improved Black)
Dual Dynamic Driver (Both 10mm) per side
Price $19++ (Shopee Seller from China)

Your keyboard quite erxin.

 

[BlackWing1977]

Your keyboard quite erxin.

Yes it is dirty.. lol

 

[Prince_Of_Darkness_Dracul]

KZ ZS10 Pro (First Pair I bought from Amazon SG during Black Friday Discount)
Hybrid 1DD + 4BA per side
Price $30.10 (Discount at Amazon SG. I bought a 2nd pair at $26.97 and the price finally dip to below $20 at one point. Now about $56.90 at a local Shopee seller, not so common from seller in China probably because it is a old model there are newer model like ZS10 Pro X, ZS10 Pro 2 and ZS12 Pro etc.)

KZ PRX (Planar Magnetic IEM, 2nd pair of IEM after ZS10 Pro)
Planar IEM (Probably a 13.2 mm Planar Magnetic driver inside)
Price $50++ (Shopee seller from China)

KZ Castor Pro (Harman Tuned Bass Improved Black)
Dual Dynamic Driver (Both 10mm) per side
Price $19++ (Shopee Seller from China)

CCA Hydro (Probably most expensive I have ever buy.)
Hybrid 2DD + 8BA per side
Price $130++ to $140++ (Shopee Seller from China. Depending on whether if you choose the one with upgraded cable)

Please take note most if not all of the IEM are shown with upgraded cable and 3rd party ear tips.

Please keep discussion friendly and civil... thank you.

Someone suggested to me best to have a separate thread, dun hijack the older thread. So here we are.

your 1x cable more exp than all the IEMs added up?

 

[BlackWing1977]

your 1x cable more exp than all the IEMs added up?

No lar... the gold and silver with non-detachable 3.5mm jack max $11+ to $12...

The black and silver with TRN on it.. those are around $14 for 1 cable + choice of your connector.. then you can choose to buy another connector that you can change out at around $7.

 

[BlackWing1977]

broke my ciem, next pair likely looking at chifi iems

any pair that emphasizes the clarity, non-bassy kind

Then you are looking at either hybrid or pure BA type.... Castor Pro you can choose the Harman Tuned Silver version...

Harman Target Version

 

[Prince_Of_Darkness_Dracul]

my IEM/ dap all very neglected now.
I go out in Airpods pro 2 and Airpods Max le ...

I started out with entry level and mid level IEMs from audio technica and sennheisers, mid tier ciems then bought a few chifi like the early KZs, then took a plunge buy expensive campfire ciem, now all the entry and mid ones also neglect and seldom pick them up
whenever have time to quietly listen to some music, auto grab the campfire ciem, because while the chifi ones sound is bang for buck, my ears quite picky with the universal fits and can't truly enjoy chifis

 

[BlackWing1977]

I started out with entry level and mid level IEMs from audio technica and sennheisers, mid tier ciems then bought a few chifi like the early KZs, then took a plunge buy expensive campfire ciem, now all the entry and mid ones also neglect and seldom pick them up
whenever have time to quietly listen to some music, auto grab the campfire ciem, because while the chifi ones sound is bang for buck, my ears quite picky with the universal fits and can't truly enjoy chifis

Ear tips lor... changing ear tips quite important...

 

[BlackWing1977]

broke my ciem, next pair likely looking at chifi iems

any pair that emphasizes the clarity, non-bassy kind

Can consider something like this with all BA... but I do not own this so hard to tell you how it sounds like but from reddit posts... I think it is quite neutral... not some bass enhanced thing as it does not even have dynamic driver on it or else you have to look at Planar Magnetic IEM but some of them will require some amp...





Or you can look at the non Pro one... some did say need a impedance adapter for it...