Do you need to spend an arm and an leg on IEMs and Audio?
No. You don’t need to spend a lot to collect IEMs and audio. I losted my Bag, and ATH M50x, Etymotic ER3SE, Brainwave B400, Sony XBA H3 are losted. I recollected at lower costs. I only put the costs for the IEMs I bought. I bought on Lazada. The others are actually also cheap as they are not as Sennheiser IE900.
Lazada things are cheap. You may consider buying things like jade and etc.
How I Collect IEMs and Audio?
I bought Creative EP 630 when I study in Secondary schools and Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Creative EP630 is dynamic iem.
I pampered myself and bought the Creative Aurvana In Ear when in Polytechnic and there’s no going back. Creative Aurvana In Ear is Balanced Armature. Balanced Armature is very clear on highs and mids. Dynamic drivers is more on bass and natural sound. Creative Aurvana In Ear is very clear.
Creative Aurvana In Ear Spoilt, I bought Creative Aurvana In Ear 2 and uses the Creative Aurvana In Ear 2 when studying in National University of Singapore. The Creative Aurvana In Ear 2 later spoilt after I come back from Paris. I searched and bought a few IEMs like Sennheiser CX,.. in Changi, and later only Sony XBA H3 (2 Balanced Armature and 1 Dynamic) is my preference.
Sony XBA H3
I actually don’t know what is mids and highs. I know bass. On paper, lows is bass, mids, then highs is treble. What I like is that the sound is clear. From headfi forums and etc. audiophile don’t listen to bass heavy headphones like Beats. I also tried to listen to non-bass heavy IEMs and actually liked Etymotic ER3SE.
Types of drivers
Before we go to the collection, we can see the types of drivers in IEMs.
Dynamic Driver
Dynamic Drivers are most commonly used in headphones and are good in bass or lows and produce natural sound.
Balanced Armature
Balanced Armature driver produce very fast response and provide extremely clear and detailed sound. Balanced Armature is good for mids and highs.
Planar Magnetic
Planar Magnetic have many advantages of Dynamic Drivers but more even, accurate sounds. Planar Magnetic lacks natural feel of dynamic drivers.
DAC, DAPs, and Amplifier
DAC
DAC is digital to analog converter. Higher quality Digital to Analog Converter means better sound. You can think of it as a sound card.
Amplifier
Amplifier provides power to headphones. Amplifier amplifies the power to transfer to the headphones. Higher quality DAC and higher quality power supplied to headphones means higher quality sounds.
DAP
DAP is Digital Audio Player, capable of storing and playing high resolution music files. DAPs is to play high resolution or lossless music files.
Open-back and Closed-back headphones
Open-back headphones
Open-Back headphones allow air to pass through the earcups, hence, sound more natural and clear.
Closed-back headphones
Closed backed headphones are completely sealed but music might not be as natural-sounding as open-backed headphones.
Collections
— — — — — —
My previous headfi Signature
— — — — — —
Home: Raspberry Pi Smart TV>Lepy LP A1 Amplifer>Sennheiser HD598Cs(less V-Shaped)/ATH M50x (V-shaped)/Sonic Gear Armaggedon A7; DAP>Creative Stage Air V2
Office: PC>Fiio Q1 Mk2 (DAC)/Creative SXFI AMP (3D Holographic)>Etymotic ER3SE (precision)/Brainwave B400 (4 BAs)/Sony XBA H3(2BAs+1DD)/Creative Aurvana Trio LS(LSR)/Creative Chat(work from home)
Portable: Phone>Fiio Q1 Mk2/Fiio BTR3(Bluetooth)/Creative SXFI AMP>ER3SE/B400/XBA H3/Creative Muvo Play
Travel: Plantronics Backbeat Pro 2 (ANC, headband spoil)/Creative Outlier Pro (Hybrid ANC)
TWS: Outlier Pro Cables: 5N/6N/7N OCC silver plated;
— — — — — —
My current headfi Signature.
— — — — — —
Home: Raspberry Pi Smart TV>Lepy LP A1 Amplifer>Sennheiser HD598Cs(less V-Shaped)/Sonic Gear Armaggedon A7; DAP>Creative Stage Air V2
Office: PC>Fiio Q1 Mk2 (DAC)/Creative SXFI AMP (3D Holographic)>Etymotic ER4SE (precision, future)/KZ AS24 Pro(24 BAs, future)/TRN VX Pro+(8BAs+1DD)(TRN redchain plus cable with mic, work)/KZ PR3(Planar)/Creative Aurvana Trio LS(LSR)/Blon BL-07(high end Dynamic)/TRN EMA(Dynamic)/Creative Chat(work from home)
Portable: Phone>Fiio Q1 Mk2/Fiio BTR3(Bluetooth)/Creative SXFI AMP>VX Pro+/PR3/Trio LS/BL-07/Creative Muvo Play
Travel: Plantronics Backbeat Pro 2 (ANC, headband spoil)/Creative Outlier Pro (Hybrid ANC)
TWS: Outlier Pro Cables: 5N OCC silver plated;
From the headfi Signature, when doing collection, it is good to have some reason or plan.
When I collect IEMs, I collected single Balanced Armature high precision, all BAs, Balanced Armature + Dynamic, Planar Magnetic, Liquid Silicon Rubber (LSR), high end dynamic, and low end dynamic. This allows me to use planar Magnetic or Balanced Armature or Balanced Armature and Dynamic whenever I like. Balanced Armature are good for highs and mids, Dynamic is good for bass, and planar Magnetic may be better than dynamic. Balanced Armature + Dynamic means mids and highs use balanced Armature, bass use dynamic.
When collecting DACs and Amplifier, I collected DAC, 3D holographic amplifier, Bluetooth amplifier.
When collecting Headphones, I collected less V-shaped Sennheiser , V-shaped M50x. You can also collect opened or closed.
From headfi Signature,
For Home
Raspberry Pi Smart TV → Lepy LP A1 Amplifer
connect to
Sennheiser HD598Cs (less V-Shaped)
Or
Sonic Gear Armaggedon A7;
For Home,
DAP → Creative Stage Air V2
For Office
PC → Fiio Q1 Mk2 (DAC)
Or
Creative SXFI AMP (3D Holographic)
connect to
Etymotic ER4SE (precision, future)
Or
KZ AS24 Pro(24 BAs, future)
Or
TRN VX Pro+(8BAs+1DD)(TRN redchain plus cable with mic, work)
Or
KZ PR3(Planar)
Or
Creative Aurvana Trio LS(LSR)
Or
Blon BL-07(high end Dynamic)
Or
TRN EMA(Dynamic)
Or
Creative Chat (work from home)
For Portable or Go Out
Phone → Fiio Q1 Mk2
Or
Fiio BTR3(Bluetooth)
Or
Creative SXFI AMP
Connect to
TRN VX Pro+
Or
KZ PR3
Or
Creative Trio LS
Or
Blon BL-07
For Portable or Go out
DAP → Creative Muvo Play Speaker
For Travel
Plantronics Backbeat Pro 2 (ANC, headband spoil)
Or
Creative Outlier Pro (Hybrid ANC)
Cables
5N OCC silver plated;
References
- https://bloomaudio.com/blogs/articles/whats-the-difference-between-dynamic-balanced-armature-and-electrostatic-iem-drivers?srsltid=AfmBOoqnYm0Affo_HDZnkVIMqXrdtI3NTi_tCYRlSLEJ2WO9nj5Ig_cE
- https://www.basnaudio.com/blogs/basn-blog/dynamic-vs-hybrid-headphones?srsltid=AfmBOoq52Phz6meZtB3VtPcHF_J-A3to9RLA3U09zMvT4zhVnbq3VZ4o
- https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/qtdrpa/can_someone_clear_up_the_purpose_of_a_dac_and_amp/
- https://www.moon-audio.com/pages/archive-what-is-a-digital-audio-player-dap?srsltid=AfmBOoqGvUWwOEpNzWA3Xf1JW-iALdLHBYJgQm2Ukkmdnuyi41zI8qf-
- https://www.soundguys.com/open-back-vs-closed-back-headphones-12179/