IEM’s:
Sony XM4: Great sound (for TWS) and noise cancelling, but a tad uncomfortable and not great for working-out (in my ears anyway). Creates a loud thumping noise while running
Senn Momentum 3: My favourite all-round TWS. Comfortable, solid sound quality, stays in my ears well, noise cancelling is good (a small step behind Sony tho)
Jabra 85t: Okay and comfortable, but I wouldn’t pick them in 2023
Pixel Buds Pro: Great comfort, great case, poor sound quality. These are a substantial step behind Sony/Senn in sound quality imo which makes it hard to recommend.
Moondrop Starfields: Sound quality is solid but, not very good comfortable in my ears. Very pretty though :)
Blessing 2 Dusk: A solid upgrade from Starfields, better comfort by a lot and sound feels more detailed. Starfields have a slight graininess to them in comparison.
Moondrop Chu: Best sounding IEM’s I’ve tried in this price range. Also super comfortable. Only worry is durability and QC.
Blon BL03: Okay but, don’t fit in my ears well and don’t sound as balanced as the Chu’s
Truthear Hola: Great choice. Is my go to recommendation in this price range. I prefer Chu’s sound but Hola have the detachable cable and likely more consistent QC which makes them a safer choice.
KZ CRN: Was surprised how poor these sounded. Almost suspect I received a defective unit as the Chu and Hola both sound much better.
SA6: I hate the cable it ships with, it’s thick and heavy. But after replacing it, these are my single fav IEM’s i’ve tried. Excellent comfort, sound quality, and noise isolation. They’re my daily drivers
Headphones:
Focal Bathys: The best sounding closed-back headphones I’ve tried and it’s not even really close. The Senn and Sony options are far behind primarily in soundstage and imaging.
Sony XM5: I have a small head and found these actually always felt a bit too large. Noise cancelling was good but, not as impressive as I was anticipating. I prefer the Momentum 4 overall
Senn Momentum 4: Main complaint is the 2.5mm jack, not sure why they couldn’t have gone with the much more standard 3.5. They also feel surprisingly cheap for the price. Despite this, they feel like good all-rounders if you can find em on a good sale.
k371: Hot take - I don’t like them. Perhaps it’s just the way they fit on my head but, the sound isolation is very bad for me. It’s to the point where I’d scarcely use them instead of just using my open-backs. Sound quality is fine but I’m not convinced it’s a subsantial upgrade from a M40x which is much cheaper here in Canada.
M50xBT: Hope you like no-mids. Seriously for some this will actually be a totally viable headphone but, the recession in the mids is a deal-breaker for me.
Aeon Closed X: Comfortable and feel well built but, generally not that impressed. I’d prefer saving up and getting the better-sounding and feature rich Bathys. Personally I also prefer headphones with standard 3.5mm jacks as well.
Senn 560S: My first love and intro to audiophile headphones. Sound excellent and feel highly durable. Even take to well with bit of EQ bass boosting. Compared to some higher-end open-backs they sound slightly grainy and less detailed but, these are great value. I wish they didn’t use an annoying locking-mechanism for the cable tho.
Hifiman Sundara: My daily drivers. Lots of QC issues so buyers beware, but they sound excellent. They respond very well to my 6db bass boost and don’t need a ton of power to drive (no I don’t think an amp is a requirement, sound great off apple dongle).
Focal Elex: My second daily drivers, I love them equally to Sundara. Sound a lil more punchy but not a hugely different to my ears. I’m willing to bet many buyers will prefer Elex or Sundara largely based around comfort (both excellent on my head).
Harmonicdyne Zeus: Most comfortable pair of headphones I’ve ever tried. Sound quality is fine and really quite great with some EQ, but without EQ they’re just too warm to me. I’d take Elex or Sundara instead unless comfort and soundstage are the only priorities.
X2HR: Punch sound and pretty pleasant but, treble was kinda spikey. I do quite like these overall but sold them after I got my Elex which made them kinda unnecessary.
Audeze LCD-X: Only demo’d them a bit in store but, they sound wonderful. Even without EQ I loved their signature and they’re super comfortable.
Airpods Max: Too warm, too expensive, and no analog-in. They’re not bad and noise-cancelling is ahead of Bathys, I’d never purchase such expensive headphones that charge with a proprietary port, don’t have proper analog input, and only sound decent.
Equipment:
FiiO E10k: Unnecessary for sound quality, just buy apple dongle. Only helpful for having volume knob which is a nice pleasantry
Ifi Hipdac: The balanced jack here sounds great. Not night/day from apple dongle but, good. The 3.5mm jack has an audible noise-floor with some IEM’s though which is disappointing so, hard to recommend. At least it doesn’t drain battery like e10k.
Schiit Heresy: Sounds good, impressive noise-floor, and more power than you’ll need for 99% of headphones. Mine did break and, while Schiit did repair it with no issues, makes me nervous that it could happen to others outside the 1-year warranty.
Tempotec Sonata HD Pro: Just a small upgrade from Apple Dongle with some extra volume control which I find useful.
Apple Dongle USBC: Easy recommendation. Cheap, sounds great.
DX3+: Sound quality difference was inaudible coming from Heresy/Sonata HD combo. Not bad but, not impressive to me
Qudelix 5k: Love it, and the features and functionality have improved a ton since launch via updates. Only wish is that it had an easily user-replaceable battery.
BTR5: Qudelix makes this obsolete to me. The app is very bad in comparison (although I sold it more than 1yr ago so perhaps it’s improved) and simply has fewer features.
Feel free to ask any questions :)
