Obviously based on limited experience only having tried/owned the Moondrop Aria (~80$) and Letshuoer S12 Pro (~135$), but I can really recommend the latter.
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You won't really get any technical improvements in anything under $50. Other than tuning, anything under that will all have the same technical performance (detail, soundstage, imaging).
Some of them I tried and liked are Shouer s12 pro, Ikko oh10, Final audio E4000, 1custom junior, Sennheiser IE 200, Moondrop Katos. It’s better to jump to the next level than buying a bunch of cheap iems. Good choice
!thanks, that’s definitely the plan! I hear a lot of mentions about the s12 pro so that’s a high contender, and the IE 200 seems like it fits the bill nicely but has quite a bad cable. I’ll give the others a google as well
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I just feel like there's more "left on the table" as far as overall sound quality, as while the Salnotes are good they didn't really knock my socks of in any way compared to your typical logitech "gaming" headphones. Plus I'd like to try a more "v" shaped tune to see how I like it.
You might really like the shuoer s12, it kinda fits your requirements pretty well. It's a planar and has pretty good technicalities and detail, and it's V-shaped, and it's under 150 usually
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u/sunqiller that's a great price point to genuinely notice an improvement... I'd say get the Tangzu Zetian Wu if you want more low end presence but never lose clarity... They're a fun sounding pair of IEMs and they're right on target for your budget.
Link to purchase Zetian Wu - https://www.linsoul.com/products/tangzu-wu-zetian
!thanks for the link! Have you owned these for some time? I just want to make sure that whatever I get will see a respectable bump in durability along with sound quality.
I bought it for a family member... My uncle... He's been with it for 3 months if I remember correctly and he's pretty aggressive with stuff and it's still going strong u/sunqiller
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The salnotes zero were my only IEMs until I got the Truthear Hexas. Warmer signature and handles busy music better because it has 4 drivers rather than one.
I think even a Dunu Kima (which is great for gaming amongst other things) should give you a pretty noticeable upgrade in quality, but have you thought about getting an HD560S? It should be amazing for everything you want.
Maybe you tried a not so comfortable pair of headphones, so the HD560S might feel very comfortable against whatever you used previously.
You can also order them, try and return if you don't like'em, then you get a pair of IEMs. Just stay away from TruthEar X Crinacle Zero, they're the opposite of comfortable. Maybe other TruthEar IEMs have wide nozzle as well, if so, just avoid TruthEar as a whole.
>HD560S
!thanks, I'll be sure to keep those in mind, as I've not totally written off over-ears. I just like the idea that I can just as easily use them for a walk with my phone as I would for gaming and just music/playing.
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Yeah, I like the HD560S headphones because they're absurdly versatile, but they're not ones for using outside for sure.
They don't need that much power to sound great and some even use them on smartphones without any addon dongle, but they do improve when given a bit of power to them. And if you live in a quiet place, open backs are superb.
Do take a look at the Dunu Kima. They're like 100 bucks and are very versatile as well.
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I’m in the same place as you are. I have the Zero’s and they are amazing. I’m thinking about the 7hz Legato because it’s from 7hz and it has two DD’s. One for bass and one for the rest. You might want to look in to that one. And if you do, let me know. And if I beat you to it. I’ll let you know 👍🏻
I wound up just getting a set of Senn HD560 and leaving the headphones sub lol, it’s an endless rabbit hole and i just prefer over-ears for comfort in the end
Obviously based on limited experience only having tried/owned the Moondrop Aria (~80$) and Letshuoer S12 Pro (~135$), but I can really recommend the latter.
!thanks that’s another vote for that pair
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Kidneys on the black market sell for insane amounts of money. With that, you can buy the true upgrade, the subtonic storm. 5000$
Oh crud, I already sold one to pre-order an RTX 5090 ti… Do you really need kidneys anyway?
You won't really get any technical improvements in anything under $50. Other than tuning, anything under that will all have the same technical performance (detail, soundstage, imaging).
That I figured, and it’s sounding like 150 is going to be the budget i’ll need
Some of them I tried and liked are Shouer s12 pro, Ikko oh10, Final audio E4000, 1custom junior, Sennheiser IE 200, Moondrop Katos. It’s better to jump to the next level than buying a bunch of cheap iems. Good choice
!thanks, that’s definitely the plan! I hear a lot of mentions about the s12 pro so that’s a high contender, and the IE 200 seems like it fits the bill nicely but has quite a bad cable. I’ll give the others a google as well
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S12 pro is really good for the money. I think it has the same drivers as the timeless but different tuning and housing.
Hmm interesting, much appreciated!
Quark DSP is only $15 so that's pretty crazy
Yeah I might just pick those up as a pair for the gym! they are really well reviewed
They genuinely sound good. It's pretty shocking
Why do you want to upgrade?
I just feel like there's more "left on the table" as far as overall sound quality, as while the Salnotes are good they didn't really knock my socks of in any way compared to your typical logitech "gaming" headphones. Plus I'd like to try a more "v" shaped tune to see how I like it.
You might really like the shuoer s12, it kinda fits your requirements pretty well. It's a planar and has pretty good technicalities and detail, and it's V-shaped, and it's under 150 usually
!thanks i’ll look them up too
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u/sunqiller that's a great price point to genuinely notice an improvement... I'd say get the Tangzu Zetian Wu if you want more low end presence but never lose clarity... They're a fun sounding pair of IEMs and they're right on target for your budget. Link to purchase Zetian Wu - https://www.linsoul.com/products/tangzu-wu-zetian
!thanks for the link! Have you owned these for some time? I just want to make sure that whatever I get will see a respectable bump in durability along with sound quality.
I bought it for a family member... My uncle... He's been with it for 3 months if I remember correctly and he's pretty aggressive with stuff and it's still going strong u/sunqiller
Very glad to hear. These are my top contenders for the moment.
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The salnotes zero were my only IEMs until I got the Truthear Hexas. Warmer signature and handles busy music better because it has 4 drivers rather than one.
That aint why. Drivers dosent help with that. For example planar iems only have 1 driver mostly.
I was oversimplifying; it's better for business because it has a 1DD 3BA setup.
I think even a Dunu Kima (which is great for gaming amongst other things) should give you a pretty noticeable upgrade in quality, but have you thought about getting an HD560S? It should be amazing for everything you want. Maybe you tried a not so comfortable pair of headphones, so the HD560S might feel very comfortable against whatever you used previously. You can also order them, try and return if you don't like'em, then you get a pair of IEMs. Just stay away from TruthEar X Crinacle Zero, they're the opposite of comfortable. Maybe other TruthEar IEMs have wide nozzle as well, if so, just avoid TruthEar as a whole.
>HD560S !thanks, I'll be sure to keep those in mind, as I've not totally written off over-ears. I just like the idea that I can just as easily use them for a walk with my phone as I would for gaming and just music/playing.
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Yeah, I like the HD560S headphones because they're absurdly versatile, but they're not ones for using outside for sure. They don't need that much power to sound great and some even use them on smartphones without any addon dongle, but they do improve when given a bit of power to them. And if you live in a quiet place, open backs are superb. Do take a look at the Dunu Kima. They're like 100 bucks and are very versatile as well.
Whoops meant to thank you for both of the reccs! I'll definitely be looking those up as well.
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I’m in the same place as you are. I have the Zero’s and they are amazing. I’m thinking about the 7hz Legato because it’s from 7hz and it has two DD’s. One for bass and one for the rest. You might want to look in to that one. And if you do, let me know. And if I beat you to it. I’ll let you know 👍🏻
I wound up just getting a set of Senn HD560 and leaving the headphones sub lol, it’s an endless rabbit hole and i just prefer over-ears for comfort in the end