Stop paying for those branded use-and-throw crap, and get yourself one of those modular chi-fi headsets.
Cables broken? Now you don’t have to throw the entire thing. Want this, but in USB-C? Just get them cables in the format you prefer. Earbuds uncomfortable? No worries, get them replaced. Want to go wireless? Get yourself one of those Bluetooth module - the neck ones, or the around-the-ear, if that’s what you prefer.
i have never heard of this, ever in my life, but i am terribly interested now. please send some recommendations
Right now, I have the TruthEar Hola, which has been discontinued and replaced with the TruthEar Gate - they’re essentially the same thing, but I like Hola for it’s aesthetics. It is also a flat sound signature headphone, with just one dynamic driver on each side. Personally, I’d prefer to pick the TruthEar Zero next time (tuned by Crinacle, BTW), or the TruthEar Hexa, or maybe the Letshuoer DZ4 or the S12 pro.
But you could not go wrong with other brands like:
- 7Hz (Salnotes Zero, Zero:2)
- FiiO
- KZ (ZST, ZSN)
- TangZu (Wan’Er)
- MoonDrop (Aria, Aria2, Quark)
- Tripowin (Olina, Piccolo, Kailua)
- Final (E4000, A5000)
- Blon (BL01, BL03, BLO5, BLO5s, BLA8 Prometheus)
- Dunu (Titan S, Titan S2)
Just make to check out their sound signature spectrum. For starters, you may pick something that has a flat sound signature, and has a dual driver setup (1 dynamic driver + 1 balanced armature driver), although you may preferably pick a single driver (1 dynamic driver).
At least in India, we have a audiophile-only site, (www.headphonezone.in), so it makes searching for audio-related stuff really easy. What you could do is search for beginner audiophile IEMs in the above page, and maybe try searching for them locally or on Amazon or other alternative sites out there.
I have a pair of 7Hz Salnotes Zero IEMs and I adore them. Sub-$20, sound great, fit my ears and are comfortable for long play sessions - they’re the complete package.
Contrasting them to some Etymotic ER3 IEMs buds I received for my birthday years ago the Salnotes sound just as good, but cost four times less. I was terrified of wearing the ER3s out and about in case I broke them somehow, but the Salnotes come with me everywhere.
Both the 7Hz Salnotes Zero and the TruthEar Hola are consider to be almost similar - they both target the Harman neutral, and do so decently well for the money it costs. The Salnotes Zero is a little on the darker side from what I hear, as opposed to the Hola, which is probably just a matter of preference.
The silicon in the Hola are not the best - they’re loose and uncomfortable, so I’ll probably replace them. And the cable have some minor damage (only physical), so I’ll probably get one from Tripowin once it wears down completely.
no pictures or specific brand/product recommendations
yeah im totally gonna wade through a random ocean of piss like amazon under the sterile moonlight for this
You’re tossing me down a well comrade, modular headphones!? This will not be good for my wallet.
I still buy those 2002 type headphones that wrap around your ears. Typically you’re only gonna find them online, but fuck they’re cheap and last forever. I don’t care that I’m thy ugliest person in the room.
2002 type headphones
Never heard of them - what are they? Do you have an example pic?
Oh, you mean clip-on headphones? They’re still sold - Koss, AudioTechnica and JVC still makes them.
I use over-ear bluetooth headphones (they do have audio jack so not strictly bluetooth), but I checked out some in-ear KZ buds, and their description sounds nice (great sound at low price, plus the modularity). Might get a pair sometime later.
Great thing that the official storefront for KZ (and probably other brands) is Aliexpress (so that I can actually buy stuff).
Thanks for the recommendation!
The big problem with KZ and related brands like CCA is stealth revisions (selling a new model under the same name as the old model without telling anyone) and quality control issues. The CCA CRA has to be the most egregious example of a stealth revision, the new CRA sounds completely different to the old one. But otherwise they usually deliver a good bass and treble heavy V shaped sound signature for a cheap price.
