Affordable vs Expensive IEMs! Can Normal People Tell the Difference?

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[sidesaladaudio]

The budget IEM range has been on fire lately. Nice video

[kevingest]

3:30 "felt less compressed" actually very accurate considering he was comparing wired to Bluetooth earbuds.

[rajithfernando]

Grace is a prodigy 😄 she nails the prices mostly, she explains it clearly with minimal vocabulary. I might even buy myself a cadenza, 😅

[halbrooks]

This was really interesting. I own three of these (Dusk, IE 200, Cadenza), and I can totally understand their reactions, even though I would not rank them the same way. The Cadenza really is an amazing deal, and it’s a great walking-the-dog, running-errands IEM. Relaxing, comfortable, and very well tuned.

[SumbaListens]

Shoutout to Grace! She’s got this hobby down and she’s barely in it 😂

[angel_killzit]

timbre of single dd is just so smooth could see why they'd enjoy the cadenza the most, maybe throw a 2dd model like red and couple planars in the next one

[piotrdziulka]

I spent quite a bit on this hobby over the last couple of years. I have the RME ADI-2 DAC, LCD-X 2021, HE6SE V2, among some other things. I wanted a bassy closed back, knowing that I'll have to sacrifice some soundstage and detail. I got a Denon D9200. I hated them, and returned them. Last week I got the Cadenda, I didn't know what to expect. I was wowed. They were everything I wanted the Denon to be. Just goes to show you don't have to spend a ton for pure musical enjoyment. For most people, they will probably sound better then 99.5% of systems they heard before. Especially the bass. Most domestic hifis don't reproduce bass like that.

[jhonscot]

Without marketing bias and product reviewers, you are left with only the purest impression of how an inear sounds to their ears. Do you know how to evaluate in a more technical way? no... Are they wrong in their impressions? Of course not... Excellent video, and it makes us reflect on the value of these inears, they are definitely not worth what they cost.

[TheHanleyProject]

Great advert for the Kiwi Ears, I've been on the fence of adding them to my collection but this might just tip me.

[MostAmazing]

I like your recap at the end, Chrono. The hobby is at a point where "good" or clean reproduction of your music library is attainable for cheaper than ever before. In spite of massive growth in the budget IEM space, though, there is still a prevalent bias for more expensive gear, not necessarily because it sounds better than the cheap stuff (though in some cases it certainly does) but because it feels more premium. We saw this with the release of Project Red, where people were upset that Crin's IEM was priced at only $55. As Crin said, he could have charged $200 for the same sound quality and a nicer build. But he couldn't bring himself to do that, knowing that he could achieve his target frequency response with cheaper materials and charge $55. In the grand scheme of things, there are few IEMs that are worth their MSRP for improvements in tuning and technicalities over the options available at under $100, and typically it's the hardcore enthusiasts who find these price increases to be worth it. So for anyone who just wants a good-sounding product, they can get that for under $100 easily, even under $50. But for people who enjoy the hobby and like to explore different tunings and appreciate subtle differences in technicalities, it makes sense to explore different options at different price points to find something that matches their niche preferences.

[solonyetski]

Would it have killed you guys to add the price of each headphone as they were being tested? I have no idea what these are as there are probably more headphone brands than energy drink brands in the world.

[inrgb]

Nice vid but you should put up the prices of the eim when they use them so that the audience knows what price range they are listening too if we aren’t already familiar with the iem

[nglfmark]

Great video. Unbiased and non-Audiophile (normal person's) honest impressions. Makes you think about the hype and price point of the supposed "audiophile" grade iems.

[edforshort]

Question, why is everyone in the comments defending their expensive IEMs? I mean, if we as audiophiles are indeed the more mature crowd and know what's good and what isn't, why do people feel they need to defend against what 'general consumers' think? This speaks volumes about how confident people are with their purchases. While you think about that, I'm gonna grab some Candenzas to add to my collection.

[MaximzM]

i honestly really like this video, as someone who recently bought a few budget IEMs this made me feel a bit validated so to speak. when reviewers talk about IEMs i struggle understanding what they are saying but hearing your friends talk about them made me understand and granted the current IEMs i own is the 7hz zero, kiwi ears cadenza and now the hbb x blon z300 and hearing your friends talk about the kiwi i felt so validated like i really like the cadenza and hearing them like felt like a victory for me lol i like the cadenza even more than the 7hz zero i kinda dont like how the 7hz fits it hurts a bit its not something i can wear for long periods of time, where as like the cadenza its comfy the music sounds so good and its just overall really good, but now i got the hbb x blon n im trying this one out and im stuggling if i like it more than the cadenza the feel of it is so nice its got a nice little weight to it and i noticed certain sounds are louder n maybe clearer but i cant quiet say if i like it more than the cadenza i do like the weight of it more tho.

[slverhand_]

Can't agree more with the cadenza price guesses though😂. It actually felt fire to me in my first trial

[mehmetgurdal]

Grace might be able nail the prices but man Hans has a measuring rig level hearing. :D he's spot on with the frequency response.

[dragrosethezeroth]

This was very surprising. Maybe it's the bass and warmth doing the trick for Cadenza. Would love if next time you can try the test with some FatFreq iems, would be interesting how your friends regard those.

[alexeiboukirev]

A lot of music out there was not recorded to showcase stage and technicalities of the gear. For these I put IEM comfort at the top and tuning next. But there are musical pieces that benefit from highly technical gear. I can tolerate even some discomfort to listen to these. An audiophile is someone who can pick the proper/matching gear for a particular piece of music for the most enjoyment. Cadenza is one of those gems that can handle gracefully multiple genres. A piece recorded with elevated highs can make expensive IEM fail and sound well on an otherwise unimpressive IEM.

[erichieger]

Chrono, good to see you in NY, and great video again with your friends! We (the reviewers) are so often all over the place with our opinions, it's quite funny. It's not that complicated for almost every other human listening to music. In addition, the high-end IEMs can really take some getting used to and a lot of time to appreciate. That said, in today's market, none of them above approx. 250 can justify their price tag based on $$/performance ratios. The point of diminishing returns is almost at floor level for IEMs now - mind-boggling progress!