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jdeoxys
235
May 28, 2018
Earbuds > IEMs. Prove me wrong.
Jnss98b
34
May 29, 2018
jdeoxysIt's not possible...
jdeoxys
235
May 29, 2018
Jnss98bIt literally is.
Eli35
653
May 30, 2018
jdeoxysMaybe your ears fit earbuds better than mine, but I've tested several chi-fi well-reviewed earbuds and none of them fits me better than most (if not every) IEM I have. And the bass...
If you want open, airy & natural sound, go for open-back headphones. Earbuds are like a stupid compromise (for me), being less comfortable than IEMs and lacking bass and isolation (I can live without bass, for certain genres is ok, but isolation is crucial on some environments).
jdeoxys
235
May 30, 2018
Eli35Earbuds don't cause ear wax buildup. And they're much more comfortable because they don't seal so there's occlusion effect which causes the thump-thump-thump sound when walking around. You can also wear them in bed and lay on your side. When you go out and about you have more situational awareness and if they get yanked out it doesn't hurt as much because they don't seal as well.
When it comes to sound, every earbud I've tried destroys every IEM in sound stage. Bass is possible if you use the little foam donuts and an equalizer. Every chi-fi (and non-chi-fi) IEM I've ever tried had piercing treble peaks, excepting the KZ ZS10.
Obviously some of this stuff is subjective and varies from person to person and ear to ear, but the crucial thing is that earbuds don't affect my enjoyment of my full sized over ear headphone rig with ear wax buildup.
bedp
85
May 30, 2018
jdeoxysMy biggest problem with earbuds is that they never stay in while I'm walking around and I constantly have to adjust them. Also they're useless on airplanes because the level of volume needed to drown out ambient noise means the people next to me can hear them also.
jdeoxys
235
May 30, 2018
bedpI had this problem with earbuds and IEMs. Wearing them over the ear and using a shirt clip helps a lot.
Ashw99
31
May 31, 2018
jdeoxysDo these leak sound due to the lack of seal? Just wondering for study at uni in a library environment.. a quiet space and I don't think anyone will appreciate hearing Nine Inch Nails on repeat...
Eli35
653
May 31, 2018
Ashw99Most earbuds do, so I guess these do leak too. How much? Can't tell.
Eli35
653
May 31, 2018
jdeoxys1. ear wax is not a problem for me. 2. there's IEMs that are perfectly fine for laying on your side, specially when using foam tips (I used SoundMagic PL50 for a long time as my bed buds, currently trying several models including KZ ATE and UiiSii HM7) 3. the isolation might or might not be desirable, and some IEMs only offer mild isolation, but no earbud offers nearly any isolation (in both ways, leaking can be a problem too). 4. soundstage might be the weak spot on most IEMs (specially budget single drivers), but if you spend some cash you can get great soundstage (most good $200 IEMs will be multi-BA, and if you look for soundstage you'll find models with even better soundstage than a lot of good earbuds in the price range). 5. bass is a big win for IEMs, hands down. That doesn't mean you can't get bass from earbuds, but both quality & quantity will usually be worse than the bass you can get on similarly priced IEMs. 6. there's a huge variety of IEMs to choose from, if you're treble sensitive you can look for models with less treble (ZS10 have some extra bright in the upped mids-low highs, so they can get fatiguing after a while, but way less than the treble cannons ZS5, specially the v2). The trend these days on most audiophile IEMs is enhanced treble response, for better detail and brightness, but there's some well-known models with tamed highs around. A few budget IEMs that come to my mind when I think about "non-fatiguing highs": KZ ATE (dark, warm, kinda lo-fi but in a good way), Tin Audio T515 (great balanced sound, really stunning for the price, comfort might be a hit-or-miss), UiiSii HM7, Einsear T2, Remax RM-610D... If you're interested, I suggest you to check out https://audiobudget.com/ and http://www.aproear.co.uk/review-list/, first one also has earbud reviewed! 7. in the end, sound is subjective, so listen to whatever you like the most and enjoy :)
bhoma
5
Sep 8, 2018
bedpthe foams and the particular earbud housing determine the fit. earbuds are mostly designed to be worn with some sort of foam covering, not naked. this earbud looks like a smaller bud, known as the PK shell. The Monks use a shell called MX500, and there is also afew in the middle.
Luke.Cage
46
Jan 1, 2019
jdeoxysGreat info. I don't know why so many people object to equalization. Everyone's hearing ability is different and some like a lot of bass and others not so much.
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