i really hope you continue this series, as iems gain more and more traction in the gaming space, some one that does raw footstep audio test like you do is INCREDIBLY valuable, please keep it up and i hope to see more
For dealing with line hiss in IEM's a standard fix is an inline attenuator plug that knocks down the sensitivity so that the hiss gets lost in your noise floor. I made mine but UE makes the UE Buffer Jack which is affordable and I've heard works well.
There's also the IEMatch from Ifi (Don't buy the earbuddy, it breaks where the orange sleeve meets the black plug end), and the Garage1217 attenuator. By any chance was the one you made based off the DIYaudioheaven design?
Huh, that... that's actually something I could do with. How do they work? They just seem like a small extender?. Are DIY options easy for a first timer or stick to store bought?
@@ConfusedRaccoon It's just a resistor divider on each channel, the trick is you want to ground them on common with as little shared resistance between the channels to avoid excess crossover. IEM's tend to be very sensitive (100+dB) so you have to turn gain down to use them. Amplifier noise tends to be flat as you increase gain, so attenuating your final signal and turning up the gain pushes your SNR up without deafening you. Making one yourself is easy and cheap if you already have parts and a soldering iron but something like the UE Buffer is cheap enough if you don't. I used the shell of a 3.5-6.5mm adapter and based my design on the headphone attenuation adapter from diyaudioheaven. They have a good blog post on how the wiring shakes out and you have a lot of flexibility in what resistors you use.
I've been using IEMs exclusively for gaming recently, but in a completely different pricing category. I've been using the JH Audio Laylas which were custom molded to my ear after an audiologist visit. I love them, but they are more oriented towards music production than gaming. Despite that once my ears got used to wearing a custom molded IEM I didn't really want to use anything else. I can sometimes forget I'm wearing them. I'd really love to see a custom molded gaming oriented IEMs on the market.
I agree. He has some of the most - if not _the_ most aesthetically pleasing video when it comes to tech channels on youtube. Also a very good audio delivery. It's clear that he puts a lot of thought into stuff like lighting and composition and it's impressively good. The lighting can be a bit too colorful for my taste sometimes, but apparently that's what the kids want these days, so it's more of a 'me' problem. Although, not a biggie at all...
im so in love with my DT1770s, for both gaming and my job as a composer, but even having such nice over the ear cans, i cant pretend like wearing them for 4+ hour gaming sessions as a person who wears glasses is comfortable. My man. you've got me considering picking up some iems, over my oem's just for apex alone. thanks for making these videos.
Can we talk about how my guy literally recorded the sound spectrum for clips of footsteps just to see how much treble was in them?? Ali's commitment is unrivaled. GOAT pc tech youtuber
I totally agree. The effort he puts into making the most complete and reliable review doesn't get mentioned enough. Maybe we're just all used to him doing it that way by now...
I went through a phase of trying budget headphones and IEMs to try to get the most out of my gaming sessions and I think the T2/ZS10-Pro recommendation is spot on. I use the T2 for competitive FPS but switch to the ZS10-Pro for Cyberpunk and such. I don’t think enough reviews call out how heavy and uncomfortable the T2s are compared to other headphones though and the barrel really irritates my ears after a few hours of use. Great video once again!
Kinda the opposite for me when it comes to the T2's. I wear mine all day long with spinfit tips and have 0 issues. Most other IEM's start causing me paint after 3-4 hours. Thats why i always tell people ymmv.
You mileage may very as we all have different ears. Mine are small and the T2s are "neutral" when it comes to comfort for me. I've used more comfortable IEMS but they're not bad.
Cool that you're continuing to explore and discuss IEMs in the context of gaming and casual use. If you plan to dive deeper, I think it would be interesting if you'd explore more recent sub-$100 releases like the Truthear x Crinicle Zero, Moondrop Aria Snow Edition, and others that are receiving a lot of hype and might suit the preferences of most users. I also think discussing adapters such as the Abigail CX31993 would be good for people who buy these kinds of IEMs terminating in 3.5mm. May improve the volume levels and perhaps slightly the clarity in these units.
@@Tricendo Truthear Crin Zero is actually top notch for gaming, and ZS10Pro is garbage in comparison. Crin Zero is currently being compared to higher end open back IEMs for directional cue and staging, such as the Raptgo Hook X. It even beats out both Arias for gaming.
are you sure? that most helpful 3star review on amazon crushes them and this guy seems to know his stuff.. seems to only work nice with Denons.. Asking myself the same question though
ZS12’s and MoonDrop Chu’s are in my gaming IEM collection. They’re great for directional footstep sound isolation, treble & bass for me and a tiny bit of immersion 👍💪🥰. Great roundup Ali my man 😇👍. Dyson working its magic once again ☺
I've been commenting somewhere below but I'll summarise here if it helps anyone. I tried the moondrop Chu's first and was impressed, but within days the Salnotes Zero was released so I thought why not give it a try, and I'm glad I did because they were an improvement in gaming (pubg/cs). However, already sucked into the rabbit hole, I bought the Final Audio VR3000 as these were targeted for gaming, but tbh the Salnotes sounded better and 1/4 of the cost. Then, I went way deeper... bought the Raptgo hook-x and wow, they are great. Soundstage and accuracy is on point, I can tell where every speck of sound is coming from, and I can hear the different layers of audio. The salnotes are very good, not just for $20usd, but in general, but you can definitely hear the improvement with the Hook-x which could go a long way in comp fps. Whether it's worth 10x the price is up-to each person. Thanks Ali for leading me down this path, it was a fun ride. Ohh and also, I mucked around with a few different mic cables and gave up, none were super clear and most had static, so I bought a desktop microphone instead (hyper x quadcast). That's it now, I'm done!
I’ve watched your channel for years on god I’ve paid your rent a few times over w your links lmao. Anytime I think I’m good w my setup I am convinced otherwise w your vids
for a little bit more than the T2s - I really recommend the T3 Plus. I paid £58 here in the UK, and really rate them for game and even music production work, they offer a lot of the clarity of my DT880 Pros (a lot narrower soundstage however) when I need to work / mix in a louder environment. I do find them a little uncomfortable on my outer ear after a while, and they definitely fatigue my ears in a similar way to Sennheiser HD25s. Still, great for the money for gaming & audio!
T3 plus is good for music but I don't like it for games and movies. I'm back on Blon 01, with a cable change, a tips change, and a simple dac, I think they're great for games, music, and movies.
@@khandave143 a lot of Tarkov, DayZ etc. Never have any issues hearing directional audio (well except Tarkov's vertical audio, but thats a different story...)
What worked for me with my T2's is that I've switched the left and right cables (the original left driver will be worn on the right side with the connecting pin of the right channel)so that the huge connecting pin doesn't rest against my ears
Been testing some budget IEMs, but there are some in this list that i haven't heard of yet. And the interfaces test was a step beyond! Great job as always! 🤘
@@Mathew1337 Boa Matheus! pois é, tava querendo trazer um ou dois videos nessa pegada. Tentar limpar a agenda aqui pra fazer algo nesse sentido! tmj 🤘⚡
A great budget option are the Final Audio E500. They were designed for VR and have very good imaging for their price. Plus, you get very good quality eartips that you can use on any other IEM too. Thanks for covering this topic, wonderful video for those wanting to get into the world of IEMs and Chi-fi.
I know that design very well for having using it in games for a long time and I have to say the shell is quite unstable and require deep insertion but you run into condensation issues. The only way I could remedy this was to buy silicon mold for ear protection and replace the eartip with that (bu you have to make the mold WITH the iem inserted which is very tricky).. If the mold is successful you have a CIEM level of fit impossible to beat.
this was a nice surprise! I clicked on the thumbnail expecting the usual comparison video, but this was very informative compared to other video that I've watched. Usually they talks about the technicality when listening to music.
been using t2 for apex & valo for about 1 1/2 years. solid, clear and comfortable for my ears. I can hear everything I needed and audio cues like footsteps and legends' abilities were clear & concise. Recommended for budget gamers!
are normal t2s good enough compared to t2 plus? also how are they compared to hyperx cloud 2, i currently have that but want something less bulky for competitive valorant and was wondering if the t2s would be fine as well, just in terms of positioning and footstep noise direction etc
Personally Ive been using the Moondrop Chu’s for the last 2 weeks. For $20 imo nothing compares. Sounds way better than my airpods, also could use an EQ if you are PC gaming to boost that bottom. I sometimes find a lot of bass painfull so they work great for me, for music as well as gaming. Steal at $20.
@@nyan4x NGL I did see a video about that too, compeltley forgot. Heard it sounds a little better and comes with removable wires, so its great too. I really like the chu's as well because I find them with the spring tips to be super comfy and that's always been an issue for me, some KZ earphones/ big IEMs I had to return in the past because they were pretty painful, I enjoy the smaller design. But yea 7hz would suit most people better.
You introduced me to a new world of hearing sounds. I bought KZ ZSN Pro after watching your ZS10 Pro video (was really tight on budget). With a little bit of EQ and upgrading it with some aftermarket stuff, I'd say I'm very pleased with my audio experience. I'm feeling so lucky to be your subscriber, keep up the good work!!
One thing worth mentioning is how impressive the bass levels are on the kz zs10 pros. I've gotten a few other iems like the 7hz zeroes and they simply don't get to that level. You will likely have to use an equalizer but it's worth tuning to get to the right level. Helps tone down the treble as well, which was a bit sharp to me personally.
The reason you likely found the tin t2 the most uncomfortable was because you were wearing them incorrectly, they're supposed to sit in your ear like an L (for your left ear) as opposed to the opposite which you showed, that way the stem doesnt poke the top of your ear
Had the T2s for 3 years and I am in love with them. Now I've upgraded to the T3 Plus and I love them even more. I am considering to sell my over ear headphones WH1000xm4 due to the bassy nature of those and the clean sound of the Tins
I’d wanted to try IEM’s for gaming for quite a while, managed to get the IE300’s at 50% off during amazons prime day and I’ve got to say I really like them. My main headphones are a pair of HD800S and whilst I love them and I don’t think the IE300 could replace them, they are a very “fun” sounding earphone and I’ll definitely be keeping them.
Also for everyone who wants to get into audio/iems, equalizers are your friend. Don't let anyone tell you that eq'ing is a bad thing. If you do it right, it'll be fine. No reduction in audio quality. Audiophiles love to be very traditionalists (Me too sometimes). but most of it is snake oil anyways.
I've been using IEMs for a bit over 8 Months now, I really don't miss my old earphones. The switch was a bit hard in the beginning, you sorta had this weird thing in your ear all the time. But now I'm fully accustomed to them and don't want to go back at all. They also don't mess up my hair, love that.
For the blons footstep issue, try switching the sides where the wires are plugged in lol, i was rocking my KZ Zs10 pros with the cables switched for 6 months and didn't notice the stereo audio was flipped until i watched a valorant video. I thought it was a dumb mistake and there was no way switching sides of the cable would fix it but it did. As for a personal opinion, I preferred the Moondrop Chus over the Zs10 Pro for Valorant and most of the music I listen to. But if you listen to a lot of bass-heavy music, the Chus aren't for you.
@@RohanSingh-ng6zc take the cable off the earbuds and plug it into the other of the 2 earbuds, although it should say on the cable which side is which, it looks like they are the correct side in the video
I don't think the wires are plugged the wrong way. There's shots of him playing with the cable visible and the cable mic is on the right side, which is correct. Flipping them would mean right channel goes to the left driver. Doesn't make sense. I think what's really happening with his experience is really the poor staging the BL03 has. Like you, I prefer the Chu (and the Moondrop Aria) over the BL03 and ZS10 Pro because it's very clean in the bass, and the midrange is more full. BL03's midrange is not that full in the areas where footsteps are a bit dominant (which is upper mids) and it doesn't really have treble extension. It only sounds bassy. For me, that much bass sounds congested, and very...intimate. Moondrop Chu is less congested then the Moondrop Aria has pretty much amazing soundstage (for an IEM in a fairly cheap price) Maybe when Optimum Tech does this video for the second time, he should try out the CCA CRA or CRA+ since he's a big fan of bassy signatures (IE300 has the same bass response as the BL03 according to measurements).
@@therollo9 ah my bad, I dont have the BL03s and didn't bother looking at the footage to confirm. But yes, the way you described the chus, i resonate with. It just sounds better for games and the weight of the chus are non-existent which makes it even better for long hours of gameplay.
@@GabrielKLKN Yea I'm honestly surprised on how light the Moondrop Chus are, despite its metal build. But yea when you have the urge to upgrade from the Chu, you may proceed to the Moondrop Aria or go straight to the Moondrop KATO. Personally I'd probably go straight to the KATO because it's a very big jump from the Chu. Not to say upgrading to the Aria is a bad idea, but I personally want to see if it's more worth to go straight to KATO than upgrading to Aria when coming from Chu
Great video man! Discovered your channel from the vid about using IEMs for gaming (the one with the ie300 and aria), your editing and film style are simply phenomenal!
Blon-03 is really bassy for me. After a few hours of playing fps games with that iem, it gets fatiguing for me. What you really need is a neutral sound signature iem that has more emphasis on clarity and sound staging. I currently main Tin Hifi T3 plus and it is really good with any games specially with fps games. You should try it someday and do a review of it.
@@LIL-MAN_theOG I did not said that is was designed to be bassy. I only said it is TOO bassy FOR ME. I prefer neutral sound sig on any iem as I am really sensitive to bass and treble and the blon-03 has too much bass for my taste in terms of gaming. For music, I have no issues with it.
I got ZS10s from your last IEM video, and they are excellent. My only recommendation is to grab foam plugs instead of silicone ones, since they stay in your ear easier. That results in hearing the bassier frequencies a lot more while still retaining the high-end clarity. I use them with UMC22 with an adapter with absolutely zero noise/distortion.
@@smokes420 maybe not the same as the comments above, but i use kz zsn pro x and yes the eartips really not that good. I changed it to Spinfit since it's a silicone and they are very comfortable in my ears while also improve the bass...
I've kept a set of Moondrop Chu on my gaming setup when I don't want headphones. Tuned with Equalizer APO to give extra bass and tone down the highs a smidge. Considering they come with some of my favorite ear tips (which cost almost as much as the earbuds themselves) it's a no-brainer for me.
Yay, very nice selection. I have quite a few of them, but really prefer earbuds nowadays to get a much bigger sound stage and comfort, isolation isn't really my thing. I can recommend the toneking line especially, moondrop also makes a decent extremely neutral cheap one.
I used Tin T2, T3 Plus, Moondrop Aria, Kz Zs10 Pro, QKZ Vk4 (og version before it's recent bad revision), Hzsound Heart Mirror and Blon BL03. I also heard (not owned) some other popular ones from Chi-Fi brands. Blon BL03 is still my daily iem because of it's tuning, natural sound and comfort, and i use it for listening, gaming, watching movie and for everything else basically. If you're comfortable with the iems about their fit in the ear, then you're set. You really don't need Sennheiser HD800 headphones to be good at competitive gaming, i can say that because i also used most high-end headphones like hd800s, hd600, hd660s, some planars from hifiman like he400se, arya, sundara or other dynamic ones from akg, beyer etc... I ended up getting rid of those high-end models because they simply don't worth their prices even for pure critical listening or just competitive gaming. It's become more subjective perspective at this point but yea, it's the fact, they simply doesn't worth for what you're paying. You'll get the best result with an iem or headphone that has tuning/tonality that suits and matches with your taste, you won't get better gaming performance out of a $500 headphone rather than a pair of Blon BL03 for example. In gaming, headphone is really doesn't matter for the most part. (Check the video from Crinacle's youtube channel, "The Best Gaming Headphones don't matter") There are topics like HRTF, ear canal resonances and manual equalization a headphone/iem to make it's frequency response/perceived response by your ears match exactly with your ear canal's response and resonances etc but i don't want to dive that deep and make things harder to understand for most people. *Or if you still want to dive deep into audio,* simply check these videos which i find very eye-opening, informative and simply few of the best videos about eq and frequency response topics from oluv's gadgets youtube channel, "What if all headphones sounded the same...?", "Why frequency response is the most important aspect of a headphone...", "Let's talk about "sound quality"...", "The truth about high-end headphones, IEMs, burn-in, sound quality and $$$" *Back to the topic,* Let's go simple, if you want neutral sound (non-colored, flat, meaning of the high-fidelity), get a pair of Hzsound Heart Mirror iems. They sound exactly like the Sennheiser HD600s out of the box, without needing any EQ. The most detailed, clear and natural (timbre-wise (how realistic it sounds, the vocals, instruments, texture etc)) sounding iem under $100 i used. Also i want to add that, neutral doesn't mean it's boring, say that after trying heart mirrors and see how properly made neutral gear should sound. They are more lively than HD600s for example and that was one of the reason why i got rid of all my headphones in the end. Or you can always get a pair of Blon BL03 if you want more warm and thick sounding iem with boosted and impactful bass area. It gives so much emotion and joy to the music, especially about vocals, or just when you want to listen an album from Nirvana for example. MTV unplugged live album for example, hzsound heart mirror for neutral and non colored sound or blon bl03 for more emotional, intimate, lively presentation with higher note-weight. these 2 iem are the best ones for reproduction of live albums out of all these iems and headphones i tried... They are just as good for gaming too. (It really doesn't matter for gaming, if the iem/headphone isn't really broken in it's tuning/tonality like most "gaming" headphones that on the market right now which most streamers trying to promote because they simply want to sell you that "gaming" ones to earn some money...) I saw so many people claiming HD800 series as best headphone for gaming or even music listening because of it's wide (but fake) sound-stage, imaging etc but they are simply thin and bright af sounding cans, bit over-priced too compared to chi-fi iem brands in today's market. You can get more or less same sound quality from an iem thats around $200 these days. I don't even want to clarify how better the kilobuck iem market is these days, you know. So don't take it that serious and try some cheap ones from chi-fi. You will most likely find your favorite iem and you can use it for everything including gaming, there is no particular disadvantage of this. About other iems i mentioned, they are all worse than my 2 favorite ones hz heart mirror and blon bl03. Tin T2 is just sooo bad in 2022, don't get it please. harsh, metallic uncontrolled and unrefined treble, bad midrange tonality with midbass bloat. comfort is worst out of all i tried, build is durable and that's the only good thing. T3 plus even though better than most $100 iems, it lacks that natural timbre blon 03 or heart mirrors has and the treble isn't sound that realistic. the decays are too fast, treble extension isn't there, there is no air in the sound. But overall, it's decent and has good transparency, you hear the game you're playing or you can hear everything in the movie you're watching clearly without any muffled, grainy thing in the sound. It has good Harman in ear target tuning and everything sounds balanced. It's almost too balanced and slightly boring too because of it's energy and extension lacking treble area. Moondrop aria just sounds off. It's another over-hyped iem from moondrop that managed to gain some popularity over time with their waifu packages and marketing lol... It's one of the most popular iem from chi-fi that every non-audio guy on youtube talks about because when it first came out on the market (after it's brother, the moondrop starfield), there were literally no iem that was that good and balanced sounding as it (harman tuned). So it gained popularity but after that, because everyone got a pair of aria at some point, it became overly-hyped iem that can't even compete with most sub $100 iem today. Metallic in midrange, shouty in vocals, unrefined and grainy in treble and very bad about quality control and often gets it's paint chipping after some time of use. But has good bass and technical performance (it's good about creating macro-details of the song for example, heart mirrors have better micro-details and nuances than aria though, if you're curious). Zs10 Pro is just another grainy sounding, badly tuned hybrid set. It still has good price/performance ratio because it's "decent" but not good at anything. Mediocre comfort and sound quality, especially if you not use it with EQ, it's bit harsh and unnatural. Makes no sense to go with any Kz iem rather than Blon BL03 for example... Qkz vk4 isn't clear and dynamic sounding one, you can get way better ones today. 7hz zero for example, it's waaay better iem than moondrop chu with detechable cable unlike the chu with it's sticky and garbage cable with worse fit in the ear. 7hz zero is the one to go in $20 area. Other than these, there are some alternatives but i don't see any reason to mention additionally. You may want to check planar iems like recent 7hz dioko which is a $99 planar iem but i don't see any reason to get a planar iem yet, they need to be better than that. Dynamic drivers are still king, better than badly tuned hybrid ones like from Kz which often use 16 driver per side but just can't sound as good and natural as blon bl03 with it's single driver lol. By the way, the heart mirror and blon bl03 uses the exact same dynamic driver that just tuned/plays differently in a different shell design. that particular dynamic driver is the most natural sounding one, treble air and decays, midrange texture and naturality, bass impact and rumble (on BL03) is exceptional. Blon BL05S (not the 05, the 05S) also uses that dynamic driver and sits right between the heart mirror and blon BL03. It doesn't have that warm and thick bass area the BL03s has but not neutral and flat as heart mirrors too. Treble is again, right between the hm and bl03. Bl03 is the most polite and inoffensive sounding compared to these 2. Heart mirrors has the most energy in vocals and treble, the details and sound-stage also the best on it though. *Here ya go, here is my years of experience in audio and chi-fi with lot's of money wasted and these 3 iem are my favorites and recommendation for anyone. Take my words how you wish, i wanted to share them anyway and hope someone will make their choice better.*
what do you recommend for ~200 that beats some pricy headphones in terms of timbre, tuning and decay? Or you don't perceive a significant difference between heart mirror and $200 ones ? Used to own a few popular cans ( DT770 80ohm, x2, hd600, ma900) and heard some higher end Beyer / AKG from friends, out of the bunch like 600 tuning and timbre the most ( tho from description, would prob prefer 650 / 6xx ) but can see how it's "veiled", which certainly benefits some older recordings ( smoothing ). Currently interested in Final Audio E3000.
@@ChiaDai I didn't try lots of model in $200 range in iem market but from what i experienced, you can get very competitive iems in terms of technical performance in comparison to known brands for the same price or for lower. Heart mirror for example, for $40 iem, you get same technical performance the HD600s has but you lose some of the headphone advantages tho (open back, big driver advantages. also iems don't benefit from different sources like tube amps like on the headphones) HD600 still more source dependent and shows how your source chain capable of but iems can't do this that well. But again, you get same technical performance and details from $40 iem which is great. So i'd suggest you to try some popular iems to find your favorite ones, i'd recommend single dynamic driver ones first because multi driver or planar sets aren't really my preference most of the time. Tanchjim Hana 2021 is easy recommendation for a single dd set if you want something around that price tag. (There were also Tanchjim Oxygen which is super liked and hyped iem when it came out, Hana 2021 is basically same iem with same driver in a different colored shell and box) Ikko OH10 is also very liked one but it has hybrid setup (1xDD + 1xBA) and it's more V shaped one about sound signature where Hana 2021 is balanced and neutral with slight bass emphasis. 7hz Timeless is one of the best planar iem ever came from Chi-Fi and you may want to check it if you want high resolution and detailed, fast sound. i didn't hear all of these pricier ones yet though, just for reminder. Treble area on Hana looks very similar to Blon BL03 which is still my favorite iem, with some adjustments in treble, it's completely neutral (if you don't mind it's bass boost which gives body and note-weight to music, also can be lowered with only one low shelf filter and capable of being neutral in bass area too) it's midrange naturality and tonality, vocals, airy and natural sounding timbre is exceptional for the price. So with this reference, Hana would be one of the best DD sets out there, some even claim it's the best single dd iem, you may check it's reviews, maybe from Bad Guy Good Audio Reviews, he seemed very enjoyed of the Hana, it got very high rank in his ranking list.
I have the new Crinacle Zero with quite a large stem. Can you help me select a good IEM tip? It would means a lot. Which spinfit could be for me. Main use is gaming and I do appreciate music. I like size S-M. 100 v2 100+ v2, 145, 145S or 360V2 it would help me a lot. Thank you. I never own any of these before. I also consider JVC Spiral Dot ++ please let me knows which one is best in your opinion. Everybody is very welcome to give opinions too.
i picked up my first pair of iems on the last video you did about them. its been over a year now and im still rocking these Linsoul KZ's and haven't been able to look at headphones since. thanks!
I find myself just watching his videos just because I know I’ll get the best information on whatever he talks about lol Dude could upload a video of rocks and I’ll watch. Very clean and precise Videos Optimum, thank you Always a pleasure!
Thanks for the video! This was my first pair of iems and these outclass my $300 bose quietcomfort 45s. Can't wait to get deeper into iems, because this is awesome! Anyhow. thanks for the quality of the content and can't wait for the next video.
Consider the new Truthear X Crinacle Zero over all of these as the best budget gaming iem, especially if you are looking for an immersive experience for competitive gaming.
Sucks I can't find any seller for that IEM here in SEA region, it's so weird most budget IEMs are available here because most budget IEMs are from CHina, but the Truthear X Crinacle Zero is nowhere to be found here.
I use Moondrop Aria for around 4 months until it shocked me yesterday. Never going to use it again. I browse the internet for answer and most of them said its normal for iem to shock you. Im gonna switch to headphone for now.
I purchased the ZS10 Pros based on Ali's review and I've been very impressed with them. But I have noticed a bit of green residue in the wire near where it connects into the earpiece.
thats just oxidation. it wont hurt you, and if you really dont like it you can easily buy a replacement cable that is much higher quality for $10-20. the nozzles on my $200 moondrop kato also do this. its just the way copper works unfortunately
I think the CCA CRA deserves to be in this conversation as well. Very similar to Blon BL-03, but only about $20. Incredible bass response and soundstage. I feel like I can pinpoint footsteps in games.
So, you convinced me to get the ZS10 Pros way back when you did the review on them and after these months of using them, I really couldn't be any happier. I have quite literally only used my HyperX Cloud 2's (which I have used for over 5 years) for the microphone, any other time I have the ZS10 Pros in. Everything just sounds better in every single aspect. Everything is also louder which is an interesting dynamic that maybe im only experiencing because you didn't mention it. Something to note of the static to anyone whos concerned, I will be honest it was quite jarring and noticeable at first. I thought mine came messed up or something, but literally after a day I don't even notice it at all anymore. A really important note is the wire needs to not touch anything electronic I found. If the wire is just resting on my phone for example, you get absolutely blasted with static and a slight high pitched ringing. Other than that, I absolutely adore the ZS10 Pros. Best money I have ever spent for something audio wise.
@@vsynccx4263 Well, sorta. Before I got an amp Ive been using the mini amp that comes with the Cloud2s as it allowed the wire to be closer to me so it wasnt stretched super far, and I think that was causing the constant static. With that being said, the amp that I have, I dont know if its just this amp or the IEMs but rarely do I get a decently loud static for a couple seconds and its gone. My "fix" is to just keep it away from anything metallic or magnetic in nature as that seemed to drastically reduce the amount of times I hear it. I am VERY intolerable of things like that as my ears are quite sensitive to high pitched sounds and even I am completely fine. + for < 50$ you really cant beat it for the level of quality you get.
Dude! I was just trying to find a gaming focused review on the Moondrop Quarks a few days ago but everybody seems to be looking at them purely from a music-centred view. Lo and behold I check out your channel today and it just so happens you covered just what I was looking for! Great video as always Ali, Keep it up!
Trust me on this. I started my quest on finding the best iem for competitive fps gaming (Pubg). Tried dunu titanS, Tin t2. Hes right with the tin t2s. But i recently bought Moondrop SSR to give a shot, and holy its better for hearing cues/footsteps. Also buying DAC is a night and day diff in quality of audio.
Thanks for the IEM content man. I ended up getting a set from Final Audio last year and I really like the neutral presentation for games, music and work.
Experienced the same for the Blon 03. Sound imaging for competitive gaming is awful but casual listening with the Blons are amazing! My go to for gaming is the QKZ VK4, I preferred this over the KZ ZSX.
Nice work Ali. In the past 2 weeks I've bought the Chu's and Final Audio VR3000. I can't tell which I like better so far, the Chu's are louder so I hear foot steps better, but I think the VR's are a bit better with directional sounds. The Chu's have a slightly better mic but the buttons are buggy on mine. I'm going to play around with some EQ settings to try boost the VR's. I've also got the Salnotes Zero on the way and by all reports these are fps beasts. Might try the tins T2 /T3 if the Zero's dont cut it. At this point I'm just throwing money away so yolo.
@@SenorOzo So out of the three, you're sticking with the Salnotes Zero? I am curious as to which game(s) you play. At the moment I am using Chu's but am "researching" to possibly find something better and a little more comfortable for me (for whatever reason no matter which tips I use these things wanna slide out of my ear canal lol.) I play mainly CSGO and the Chu's actually do pretty well when it comes to hearing footsteps, how would you compare it to the Zero or even the VR3000, which I was also looking at.
@@Nazoh To me the Salnotes were better than both Chu and Vr3000. The chu was my first so I thought my standards were low, hence the upgrade to vr3000, but it wasn't that great considering it's 4 times the cost. Footsteps and close shooting are clear on the Chu but soundstage was slightly better on the vr3000. Then when I got the Salnotes, it combined the best of both, so I have no complaints especially for $20! I even bought a couple to gift friends. HOWEVER.... I've now got the Raptgo Hook-x on order. It's $240 usd so a big leap compared to the zero, but I fell into the rabbit hole. I'll let you know if it's worth the upgrade or not in a couple weeks. Without getting too obsessive or crazy like me, the Salnotes are awesome and I consider it an upgrade on the chu. The chu is slightly more comfortable for me though. And finally, I play pubg 99% but the occasional csgo. I'm also using $10 foam tips on the Salnotes which somewhat helps with the sound leaking, therefore better soundstage. I haven't tested the same tips on the Chu's unfortunately.
Update 2... Raptgo Hook-X arrived today and initial tests are awesome. Watching the "best 8d song ever experience with headphones 2021"directional video on UA-cam and you realise the soundstage and accuracy is bigger than the Salnotes zero. You can tell exactly where the sound is as it rotates 360 around, almost like you can pluck it out of mid air (if that makes sense). The salnotes is decent but not as precise. Also listening to music, the hook X is clearer and the instruments/voices are more seperate. Not crapping on the Salnotes, they are still great and I wouldn't have known any difference if I didn't try the hook-x, but these differences will go a long way in pubg or fps shooters. Whether it's worth 10x the price is up to the individual. But my testing is now finished and happy with the Hook-x. Good luck with everyone's rabbit hunt :)
I found the Logitech G333 KDA earbuds surprisingly good. Was able to climb up the elo ladder in valorant calling for faster rotates and do some flanking because I can identify how many different pairs of footsteps are around me.
I hoped that you'd cover more IEMs! Here's some more roundup ideas. $80 & under: Aria, Aria Snow, Titan Dunu S, Tin T3+, Final Audio E3000, Truthear Zero $100~$150ish: Letshouer S12, Tripowin Olina, Etymotic ER2XR, Ikko OH10.
I use the ZS10-Pro personally and a 30$ USB DAC (or if you want more versatility something like a BTR3K which is both a usb DAC and an LDAC bluetooth receiver with balanced output for IEM) I also put some money in balanced cable and it further increase their sensitivity and clarity which was not a problem with the BTR3K which remains really good option to drive them.
I know this is more of a cheaper IEM comparison, but since you have the Aria and they are pretty close in price, how would you compare them to this category, are they worth paying the extra bucks in your opinion?
I been on the chase for budget IEMs for gaming for a while now. T2s are pretty spot on but I still occasionally get that lost feeling of "is the person in front of or behind me?" effect sometimes with them and they're terribly uncomfortable for me over long periods. I spent 3 months or so on the CCA CRAs and found them to be fairly competent for shooters, mostly playing Escape From Tarkov. I like the sound signature of them, they have enough bass to still feel the impact of weapons and make it pretty easy to pick out footsteps. I also found the KZ ZEX to be fairly competent for picking out footsteps as well and these can sometimes be had for as cheap as 15 bucks on sale. IEMs I've Tested so far: CCA CRA, Quarks, KZ ZS10 Pros, KZ ZS10, Tripowin Lea, Tin T2, Tin T3 Plus, Blon BL-03, KZ ZEX, KZ ZEX Pro and KZ DQ6S IEMs coming in to test: 7hz Zero, KZ ZES (won in a giveaway, supposed to be very good for gaming imaging) I recently moved to the Tin T3 Plus for my main gaming set and they're by far the best for directional audio queues out of all the IEMs I have but they also are kind of out of the price bracket of sub-50 dollars I set for myself (managed to pick them up on sale for $55, normally they're $80). I would be really interested to see if you can test some higher end IEMs at some point. There's a lot of wild stuff out there in the $200 to $300 price point that appear to be pretty good for gaming but don't always have a bunch of corroborating information regarding their imaging for gaming.
I've been using the Moondrop Chu and today just picked up the CCA CRA IEMs. Really love them for Valorant, Halo Infinite, Halo MCC and just general usage.
My Moondrop Chus were the best sounding IEMs I've heard until they just had sudden channel imbalance and a really big drop in volume Sent them back and am now waiting on a replacement unit but man do I miss them
@@lilcheaty Unfortunately that issue is apparent to moondrop iems. The cause is humidity in the filters iirc. My chu gets imbalanced when I play for more than 2 hrs :(
@@woolgloves no it's definitely not balanced but it's different from what your average V shaped headphone sound there's little bass and almost basically no sub bass but the mids and highs are extremely clear to the point where you will be able to hear the compression in the music you're listening to
@@peaupi makes sense why it resolved when i left them overnight I've sent them back and I hope I receive a new pair that hopefully doesn't have the issue
For the next IEM review keep an eye out for the 7hz salnotes, people are saying those are pretty good for gaming, but your review will be more trustworthy for me.
Using the cra atm. It definitely took me a very long time to get used it after my headphones broke and could not afford another pair, but yea the CRA is pretty nice. Although I do use an eq profile to normalise the response to the Harman curve, I don't like the bass too much (only in music and sometimes)
@@8lec_R CRA+ are tuned kinda differently, fixing some of the bass and the peak at 8k Right now pricing of CRA and EQ is maybe better buy compared to CRA+ though
Got the ZS10 Pro, had issues with white noise - switched cables to a $15 mic-free cable and that solved the issue for me. Driving them with an Epos GSX300 with audio processing disabled.
@@mrlnd4160 that's amazing. Better than the G333 sounds good. I know you're asian, only in asia we get chi fi iems at such good prices. Was wondering which country since import & shipping rates from china are expensive for me. But mentioning it was shipped from china is an important detail, thank you. Good selection of games btw, going to be trying the bf5 soon.
I fix the white noise of the KZ ZS10 with an apple type c to 3.5mm in my Lenovo legion and desktop 😃. It is a very underrated Dac that works perfectly with windows.
I have some input to share having own 2 of your tested IEMs (but nothing that compare to my final solution specific for gaming): _ the Tin T2 while being full sounding and well balanced are MUDDY when it comes imaging and positioning , the problematic fit resulted for me so sold them. _ KZ ZS10 Pro : despite being larger the fit is quite improved. Here the sounds render in a opposite fashion with details all other, strong impact in the bass but a lack of cohesion and controlled EQ (very V-shaped), so the bass being overwhelming and the mid + highs being too sharp things like footsteps are hard to distinguish. The L-R positioning is also quite poor on them surprisingly. I Notice that the brother of this model (KS ZX) suffer similar issues but the EQ has a more flat profile. (its my daily for music and content consumption, it crushed any other units I managed to buy up in the 180eu range) I've also tested one cheap but good planar, a shure2015, finalaudio F-4100, AudioTechnica M-50.. But I wont discuss them here. I've researched those models because initially my favorite gaming driver the -= Q-Jays =- broke and was not replaced after I send them to RMA. (they're out of production sadly) Its a dual driver (one of the tiniest in fact) with a neutral EQ very famous in EU audiophile forums. From today standards it might deliver a boring flat sound but all the spectrum of freq blends organically and the L-R positioning is fantastic. (I feel like playing with a sonar hack seriously) Comfy by default because of their size but I find it mandatory to create a custom silicon mold around them for preventing the humidity to clutter the tiny tube exit during use. Not to forget the comfort become unmatched with the mod. I mention this rarity in comment because last year I managed to find them on ebay for crazy cheap (like 25eu) while their retail value was more around 165eu. The person who sold them did not enjoyed their sound anymore.
Very good observations as always! Footsteps are usually almost no treble and mostly mid range, only a small portion of its waveform resides in the upper range. Also having good bass (good as in high quality, nice and tight, no necessarily alot of it) makes things sound bigger and wider, which helps alot with sound stage too
It is interesting cuz like everyone talks about music and footsteps... but like how would a movie sound like or a cinematic game i play those a lot like my single player games and i want them to sound good XD i mean obviously footsteps are still important it was just something funny i noticed is all.
7Hz Salnotes Zero >>> CHU In my books. Chu's QC seems not that on point with volume imbalance after the first days of usage (based on what I've seen as comments and reviews)
Test tanchjim tanyas, cca cra, final e500, and truthear x crin, those are where its at Sry man, missed the mark here, kz is a scandalous company and it has cruddy qc, chances are you were just lucky lol, mine damn near burned me
Currently I am using sennheiser IE 100 pro and they are absolutely phenomenal for gaming as well as music, they produce sound that is true to its source and how it’s meant to be heard and added bonus is you can use them wired as we as wirelessly, also has just the right amount of signature sennheiser thumping bass and treble that is not overpowering. Taking about comfort you wouldn’t even know they are sitting in your ears.
I think the emphasis on treble is that the lack of bass means that it doesn't muddy up other sound signatures, like a bomb or your gun going off doesn't drown out the sound of footsteps. Especially when talking about GAMING headphones that emphasis bass and it's bad quality. As with any general statement, it's a lot more complicated than what people boil things down to.
I bought the KZ ZS10s last week and that lead me to buy the Salnotes Zeros, and today I received the SeeAudio Rinko. I've been so impressed of how amazing EIMs sound.
Any of you Mfkers still confused which to buy ? Blindly just buy BLON-03 I was confused too, I replaced 2 IEMs and bought BLON... and Dimensions just changed for me. The sound is fro Bassheads as well as trebleheads , Its so wonderfully Tuned and Natural and Non-fatiguing
In terms of coverage, you're about 4-5 years late. But, given the time, your evaluation will cover broader spectrum. For example, I started using these chi-fi gaming focused budget IEMs around 2018, I used to play CSGO and R6 back then. Now we have games like Valorant, Apex with lot more going on in terms of sound. The bassier aspect of footsteps I found very prevalent in R6 where if someone sprinted a floor above you, one could tell it apart due to the thumpy low pass filter applied on the footsteps. I would also like to give a huge shoutout to Hi-Fi Dream, who used to test real world IEM imaging characteristics using a Twitch drone, in front of a beeping C4 in R6, to whom I have luckily stumbled upon. Just what I needed back then! :D And also Z reviews, who dabbles in mil-sims, and crispy high end for gaming. Mad respect to all of you who covers this subject.
Finally, someone recognizing the necessity of bass. Step 1: Realize your ear uses sound intensity to deteremine distance. Step 2: Realize you need BaSs to know the distance of a footstep, instead of just a shouty direction of where it is that's not intuitively placed. "Soundstage" = weird headphone tuning where your ear cant place things so it simply goes "well this is somewhere around me irl"
i really hope you continue this series, as iems gain more and more traction in the gaming space, some one that does raw footstep audio test like you do is INCREDIBLY valuable, please keep it up and i hope to see more
i dont concentrate on sound much when gaming, so i usually watch videos
For dealing with line hiss in IEM's a standard fix is an inline attenuator plug that knocks down the sensitivity so that the hiss gets lost in your noise floor. I made mine but UE makes the UE Buffer Jack which is affordable and I've heard works well.
There's also the IEMatch from Ifi (Don't buy the earbuddy, it breaks where the orange sleeve meets the black plug end), and the Garage1217 attenuator. By any chance was the one you made based off the DIYaudioheaven design?
Huh, that... that's actually something I could do with. How do they work? They just seem like a small extender?. Are DIY options easy for a first timer or stick to store bought?
@@PastafarianLemur Yep, diyaudioheaven is a good reference.
@@ConfusedRaccoon It's just a resistor divider on each channel, the trick is you want to ground them on common with as little shared resistance between the channels to avoid excess crossover. IEM's tend to be very sensitive (100+dB) so you have to turn gain down to use them. Amplifier noise tends to be flat as you increase gain, so attenuating your final signal and turning up the gain pushes your SNR up without deafening you.
Making one yourself is easy and cheap if you already have parts and a soldering iron but something like the UE Buffer is cheap enough if you don't. I used the shell of a 3.5-6.5mm adapter and based my design on the headphone attenuation adapter from diyaudioheaven. They have a good blog post on how the wiring shakes out and you have a lot of flexibility in what resistors you use.
Just buy an Apple or Samsung USB C to 3.5mm dongle. 10$ and its a clean dac& that works fine on desktop.
Best tech UA-cam of all time no 🧢
It's really nice having a content creator covering gaming gear who's actually good at games.
For real. No one comes close.
ong
Yeah and fresh reviews he needs more recognition
Hands down
I've been using IEMs exclusively for gaming recently, but in a completely different pricing category. I've been using the JH Audio Laylas which were custom molded to my ear after an audiologist visit. I love them, but they are more oriented towards music production than gaming. Despite that once my ears got used to wearing a custom molded IEM I didn't really want to use anything else. I can sometimes forget I'm wearing them. I'd really love to see a custom molded gaming oriented IEMs on the market.
Cool story bro.
Can I ask what kind of amp u use with the Layla for gaming? I have the universal laylas and am thinking about using them for gaming…
Ali's content has always had some of the cleanest videography, but this video just seems to have that in spades. Keep up the amazing work!!
on top of that hes good at the games he plays legend.
Everything so clean and relaxing; it's wonderful.
I agree. He has some of the most - if not _the_ most aesthetically pleasing video when it comes to tech channels on youtube. Also a very good audio delivery. It's clear that he puts a lot of thought into stuff like lighting and composition and it's impressively good. The lighting can be a bit too colorful for my taste sometimes, but apparently that's what the kids want these days, so it's more of a 'me' problem. Although, not a biggie at all...
just gets better at it as time passes, looking 👌
He's the Marques Brownlee of gaming/pc related tech
im so in love with my DT1770s, for both gaming and my job as a composer, but even having such nice over the ear cans, i cant pretend like wearing them for 4+ hour gaming sessions as a person who wears glasses is comfortable. My man. you've got me considering picking up some iems, over my oem's just for apex alone. thanks for making these videos.
did you pick any up and if you did which ones and are you enjoying them?
Can we talk about how my guy literally recorded the sound spectrum for clips of footsteps just to see how much treble was in them?? Ali's commitment is unrivaled. GOAT pc tech youtuber
I totally agree. The effort he puts into making the most complete and reliable review doesn't get mentioned enough. Maybe we're just all used to him doing it that way by now...
I went through a phase of trying budget headphones and IEMs to try to get the most out of my gaming sessions and I think the T2/ZS10-Pro recommendation is spot on. I use the T2 for competitive FPS but switch to the ZS10-Pro for Cyberpunk and such. I don’t think enough reviews call out how heavy and uncomfortable the T2s are compared to other headphones though and the barrel really irritates my ears after a few hours of use.
Great video once again!
I think that may reflect how many reviewers don’t actually spend much time using the product. Gotta get that money right?
Kinda the opposite for me when it comes to the T2's. I wear mine all day long with spinfit tips and have 0 issues. Most other IEM's start causing me paint after 3-4 hours. Thats why i always tell people ymmv.
@@ambarsingh thanks for weighing in, I’ll have to check out the spinfits!
You mileage may very as we all have different ears. Mine are small and the T2s are "neutral" when it comes to comfort for me. I've used more comfortable IEMS but they're not bad.
I wear my T2s like normal bullet earphones so cable straight down, and find them very comfortable for all day use.
the way everything looks Is INSANE, like the scenes used are just so good It's just simply unbeatable. I really just can't explain It
Yeah his cinematography has really leveled up over the years, its a treat to watch
Cool that you're continuing to explore and discuss IEMs in the context of gaming and casual use. If you plan to dive deeper, I think it would be interesting if you'd explore more recent sub-$100 releases like the Truthear x Crinicle Zero, Moondrop Aria Snow Edition, and others that are receiving a lot of hype and might suit the preferences of most users. I also think discussing adapters such as the Abigail CX31993 would be good for people who buy these kinds of IEMs terminating in 3.5mm. May improve the volume levels and perhaps slightly the clarity in these units.
how does the kz zs10pro compare to the truthear crin zeros if you know? im debating which one to get
@@Tricendo I do not use either, so I can't comment on this.
@@Tricendo Truthear Crin Zero is actually top notch for gaming, and ZS10Pro is garbage in comparison. Crin Zero is currently being compared to higher end open back IEMs for directional cue and staging, such as the Raptgo Hook X. It even beats out both Arias for gaming.
are you sure? that most helpful 3star review on amazon crushes them and this guy seems to know his stuff.. seems to only work nice with Denons..
Asking myself the same question though
@@Ryu_Yin agreed, super V-shaped
ZS12’s and MoonDrop Chu’s are in my gaming IEM collection. They’re great for directional footstep sound isolation, treble & bass for me and a tiny bit of immersion 👍💪🥰. Great roundup Ali my man 😇👍. Dyson working its magic once again ☺
I've been commenting somewhere below but I'll summarise here if it helps anyone. I tried the moondrop Chu's first and was impressed, but within days the Salnotes Zero was released so I thought why not give it a try, and I'm glad I did because they were an improvement in gaming (pubg/cs). However, already sucked into the rabbit hole, I bought the Final Audio VR3000 as these were targeted for gaming, but tbh the Salnotes sounded better and 1/4 of the cost. Then, I went way deeper... bought the Raptgo hook-x and wow, they are great. Soundstage and accuracy is on point, I can tell where every speck of sound is coming from, and I can hear the different layers of audio. The salnotes are very good, not just for $20usd, but in general, but you can definitely hear the improvement with the Hook-x which could go a long way in comp fps. Whether it's worth 10x the price is up-to each person. Thanks Ali for leading me down this path, it was a fun ride.
Ohh and also, I mucked around with a few different mic cables and gave up, none were super clear and most had static, so I bought a desktop microphone instead (hyper x quadcast). That's it now, I'm done!
Hard agree, Raptgo Hook-X is amazing for gaming
would you recommend the moondrops or the salnotes as im looking to get into iems myself
@@pav4i I don't use IEM's anymore, instead using Audeze Maxwell for gaming. But the Salnotes were alot better than the Moondrop Chus
I’ve watched your channel for years on god I’ve paid your rent a few times over w your links lmao. Anytime I think I’m good w my setup I am convinced otherwise w your vids
did NOT expect to see you here
I have switched to IEM's while you have published your first video on them.
Thank you a lot, i have 0 regrets!
for a little bit more than the T2s - I really recommend the T3 Plus. I paid £58 here in the UK, and really rate them for game and even music production work, they offer a lot of the clarity of my DT880 Pros (a lot narrower soundstage however) when I need to work / mix in a louder environment. I do find them a little uncomfortable on my outer ear after a while, and they definitely fatigue my ears in a similar way to Sennheiser HD25s. Still, great for the money for gaming & audio!
T3 plus is good for music but I don't like it for games and movies. I'm back on Blon 01, with a cable change, a tips change, and a simple dac, I think they're great for games, music, and movies.
What type of games do you play? On competitive games directional audio is very important
@@khandave143 a lot of Tarkov, DayZ etc. Never have any issues hearing directional audio (well except Tarkov's vertical audio, but thats a different story...)
@@burakksalar7818 Hala 01 mi kullanıyorsunuz oyunlar için?
This man makes THE cleanest tech videos.
Change my mind
What worked for me with my T2's is that I've switched the left and right cables (the original left driver will be worn on the right side with the connecting pin of the right channel)so that the huge connecting pin doesn't rest against my ears
Been testing some budget IEMs, but there are some in this list that i haven't heard of yet. And the interfaces test was a step beyond! Great job as always! 🤘
E não é que achei uma lenda nos comentários? hahaha Ansioso pelo vídeo dos IEMs! 👊
@@Mathew1337 Boa Matheus! pois é, tava querendo trazer um ou dois videos nessa pegada. Tentar limpar a agenda aqui pra fazer algo nesse sentido! tmj 🤘⚡
A great budget option are the Final Audio E500. They were designed for VR and have very good imaging for their price. Plus, you get very good quality eartips that you can use on any other IEM too. Thanks for covering this topic, wonderful video for those wanting to get into the world of IEMs and Chi-fi.
I know that design very well for having using it in games for a long time and I have to say the shell is quite unstable and require deep insertion but you run into condensation issues.
The only way I could remedy this was to buy silicon mold for ear protection and replace the eartip with that (bu you have to make the mold WITH the iem inserted which is very tricky)..
If the mold is successful you have a CIEM level of fit impossible to beat.
this was a nice surprise! I clicked on the thumbnail expecting the usual comparison video, but this was very informative compared to other video that I've watched. Usually they talks about the technicality when listening to music.
been using t2 for apex & valo for about 1 1/2 years. solid, clear and comfortable for my ears. I can hear everything I needed and audio cues like footsteps and legends' abilities were clear & concise. Recommended for budget gamers!
are normal t2s good enough compared to t2 plus? also how are they compared to hyperx cloud 2, i currently have that but want something less bulky for competitive valorant and was wondering if the t2s would be fine as well, just in terms of positioning and footstep noise direction etc
can we get a new video on the best IEMs out right now? maybe like in different budgets :D
Personally Ive been using the Moondrop Chu’s for the last 2 weeks. For $20 imo nothing compares. Sounds way better than my airpods, also could use an EQ if you are PC gaming to boost that bottom. I sometimes find a lot of bass painfull so they work great for me, for music as well as gaming. Steal at $20.
Check out Oratory1990 EQ preset, really enjoying it so far with my Chu - better bass, not so got treble, reminds of Aria quite a bit
@@LavenderFela Bet, sounds like it fixes everything most reviewers don't like about fr.
7hz zero looks like a better chu now
@@LavenderFela do you use the harman target preset or the oratory1990 target preset?
@@nyan4x NGL I did see a video about that too, compeltley forgot. Heard it sounds a little better and comes with removable wires, so its great too. I really like the chu's as well because I find them with the spring tips to be super comfy and that's always been an issue for me, some KZ earphones/ big IEMs I had to return in the past because they were pretty painful, I enjoy the smaller design. But yea 7hz would suit most people better.
You introduced me to a new world of hearing sounds. I bought KZ ZSN Pro after watching your ZS10 Pro video (was really tight on budget). With a little bit of EQ and upgrading it with some aftermarket stuff, I'd say I'm very pleased with my audio experience. I'm feeling so lucky to be your subscriber, keep up the good work!!
What upgrade
@@kindacrazy123 gold cable, memory foam eartips, apple 3.5mm to usb-c dongle as hardware. dolby atmos + equalizer apo on windows as software.
Blons way better
One thing worth mentioning is how impressive the bass levels are on the kz zs10 pros. I've gotten a few other iems like the 7hz zeroes and they simply don't get to that level. You will likely have to use an equalizer but it's worth tuning to get to the right level. Helps tone down the treble as well, which was a bit sharp to me personally.
ya thats the prob with kz for me trble bleeds and peaks
The 7hz zeroes are more neutral tuned while kz zs10 pros are v shape hence the bass sounds more impressive.
Im on the market right now for my very first IEM and this video just came out. I needed this!
The reason you likely found the tin t2 the most uncomfortable was because you were wearing them incorrectly, they're supposed to sit in your ear like an L (for your left ear) as opposed to the opposite which you showed, that way the stem doesnt poke the top of your ear
Fantastic breakdown on the gaming side of things, keep up the good work!
Had the T2s for 3 years and I am in love with them. Now I've upgraded to the T3 Plus and I love them even more. I am considering to sell my over ear headphones WH1000xm4 due to the bassy nature of those and the clean sound of the Tins
t3 plus has been great for me as well :D
what color and condition are the xm4s? ive been looking to buy some
Love my T3 plus
@@nanuk01 are they good for fps games. I'm considering getting a pair
@@frenchpressed_.3744 I like them. Plus they are great for music which is why I bought them for originally. And they're well made.
I’d wanted to try IEM’s for gaming for quite a while, managed to get the IE300’s at 50% off during amazons prime day and I’ve got to say I really like them.
My main headphones are a pair of HD800S and whilst I love them and I don’t think the IE300 could replace them, they are a very “fun” sounding earphone and I’ll definitely be keeping them.
hello flex
Also for everyone who wants to get into audio/iems, equalizers are your friend. Don't let anyone tell you that eq'ing is a bad thing. If you do it right, it'll be fine. No reduction in audio quality. Audiophiles love to be very traditionalists (Me too sometimes). but most of it is snake oil anyways.
I've been using IEMs for a bit over 8 Months now, I really don't miss my old earphones.
The switch was a bit hard in the beginning, you sorta had this weird thing in your ear all the time. But now I'm fully accustomed to them and don't want to go back at all.
They also don't mess up my hair, love that.
word
Love the videos on budget options, keep them coming :)
For the blons footstep issue, try switching the sides where the wires are plugged in lol, i was rocking my KZ Zs10 pros with the cables switched for 6 months and didn't notice the stereo audio was flipped until i watched a valorant video. I thought it was a dumb mistake and there was no way switching sides of the cable would fix it but it did.
As for a personal opinion, I preferred the Moondrop Chus over the Zs10 Pro for Valorant and most of the music I listen to. But if you listen to a lot of bass-heavy music, the Chus aren't for you.
bro can u tell me about blon issue . what i have to flip?
@@RohanSingh-ng6zc take the cable off the earbuds and plug it into the other of the 2 earbuds, although it should say on the cable which side is which, it looks like they are the correct side in the video
I don't think the wires are plugged the wrong way. There's shots of him playing with the cable visible and the cable mic is on the right side, which is correct. Flipping them would mean right channel goes to the left driver. Doesn't make sense.
I think what's really happening with his experience is really the poor staging the BL03 has. Like you, I prefer the Chu (and the Moondrop Aria) over the BL03 and ZS10 Pro because it's very clean in the bass, and the midrange is more full. BL03's midrange is not that full in the areas where footsteps are a bit dominant (which is upper mids) and it doesn't really have treble extension. It only sounds bassy. For me, that much bass sounds congested, and very...intimate. Moondrop Chu is less congested then the Moondrop Aria has pretty much amazing soundstage (for an IEM in a fairly cheap price)
Maybe when Optimum Tech does this video for the second time, he should try out the CCA CRA or CRA+ since he's a big fan of bassy signatures (IE300 has the same bass response as the BL03 according to measurements).
@@therollo9 ah my bad, I dont have the BL03s and didn't bother looking at the footage to confirm. But yes, the way you described the chus, i resonate with. It just sounds better for games and the weight of the chus are non-existent which makes it even better for long hours of gameplay.
@@GabrielKLKN Yea I'm honestly surprised on how light the Moondrop Chus are, despite its metal build.
But yea when you have the urge to upgrade from the Chu, you may proceed to the Moondrop Aria or go straight to the Moondrop KATO. Personally I'd probably go straight to the KATO because it's a very big jump from the Chu. Not to say upgrading to the Aria is a bad idea, but I personally want to see if it's more worth to go straight to KATO than upgrading to Aria when coming from Chu
Great video man! Discovered your channel from the vid about using IEMs for gaming (the one with the ie300 and aria), your editing and film style are simply phenomenal!
You convinced me to switch to IEMs. Currently writing a whole video on the subject. They're too good not to switch to, IMO.
cool i will check it out
This might be a bit random but whatever youve done to your hair since the last year looks damn nice looking good
Blon-03 is really bassy for me. After a few hours of playing fps games with that iem, it gets fatiguing for me. What you really need is a neutral sound signature iem that has more emphasis on clarity and sound staging. I currently main Tin Hifi T3 plus and it is really good with any games specially with fps games. You should try it someday and do a review of it.
it may be your settings, because Blons should never be bassy. They're not even tuned to be bossy, especially on the Harman curve theyre tuned to.
@@LIL-MAN_theOG I did not said that is was designed to be bassy. I only said it is TOO bassy FOR ME. I prefer neutral sound sig on any iem as I am really sensitive to bass and treble and the blon-03 has too much bass for my taste in terms of gaming. For music, I have no issues with it.
@@LIL-MAN_theOG some ppl find harman to be bassy
@@LIL-MAN_theOG audio is subjective
was considering to get an IEM then you made this video. Thank you so much. Already checked out on Amazon.
I got ZS10s from your last IEM video, and they are excellent. My only recommendation is to grab foam plugs instead of silicone ones, since they stay in your ear easier.
That results in hearing the bassier frequencies a lot more while still retaining the high-end clarity. I use them with UMC22 with an adapter with absolutely zero noise/distortion.
@@smokes420 maybe not the same as the comments above, but i use kz zsn pro x and yes the eartips really not that good. I changed it to Spinfit since it's a silicone and they are very comfortable in my ears while also improve the bass...
I've kept a set of Moondrop Chu on my gaming setup when I don't want headphones. Tuned with Equalizer APO to give extra bass and tone down the highs a smidge.
Considering they come with some of my favorite ear tips (which cost almost as much as the earbuds themselves) it's a no-brainer for me.
Yay, very nice selection. I have quite a few of them, but really prefer earbuds nowadays to get a much bigger sound stage and comfort, isolation isn't really my thing. I can recommend the toneking line especially, moondrop also makes a decent extremely neutral cheap one.
This is the exact video I needed, thanks so much man!
I used Tin T2, T3 Plus, Moondrop Aria, Kz Zs10 Pro, QKZ Vk4 (og version before it's recent bad revision), Hzsound Heart Mirror and Blon BL03. I also heard (not owned) some other popular ones from Chi-Fi brands. Blon BL03 is still my daily iem because of it's tuning, natural sound and comfort, and i use it for listening, gaming, watching movie and for everything else basically. If you're comfortable with the iems about their fit in the ear, then you're set. You really don't need Sennheiser HD800 headphones to be good at competitive gaming, i can say that because i also used most high-end headphones like hd800s, hd600, hd660s, some planars from hifiman like he400se, arya, sundara or other dynamic ones from akg, beyer etc... I ended up getting rid of those high-end models because they simply don't worth their prices even for pure critical listening or just competitive gaming. It's become more subjective perspective at this point but yea, it's the fact, they simply doesn't worth for what you're paying. You'll get the best result with an iem or headphone that has tuning/tonality that suits and matches with your taste, you won't get better gaming performance out of a $500 headphone rather than a pair of Blon BL03 for example. In gaming, headphone is really doesn't matter for the most part. (Check the video from Crinacle's youtube channel, "The Best Gaming Headphones don't matter")
There are topics like HRTF, ear canal resonances and manual equalization a headphone/iem to make it's frequency response/perceived response by your ears match exactly with your ear canal's response and resonances etc but i don't want to dive that deep and make things harder to understand for most people.
*Or if you still want to dive deep into audio,* simply check these videos which i find very eye-opening, informative and simply few of the best videos about eq and frequency response topics from oluv's gadgets youtube channel, "What if all headphones sounded the same...?", "Why frequency response is the most important aspect of a headphone...", "Let's talk about "sound quality"...", "The truth about high-end headphones, IEMs, burn-in, sound quality and $$$"
*Back to the topic,* Let's go simple, if you want neutral sound (non-colored, flat, meaning of the high-fidelity), get a pair of Hzsound Heart Mirror iems. They sound exactly like the Sennheiser HD600s out of the box, without needing any EQ. The most detailed, clear and natural (timbre-wise (how realistic it sounds, the vocals, instruments, texture etc)) sounding iem under $100 i used. Also i want to add that, neutral doesn't mean it's boring, say that after trying heart mirrors and see how properly made neutral gear should sound. They are more lively than HD600s for example and that was one of the reason why i got rid of all my headphones in the end. Or you can always get a pair of Blon BL03 if you want more warm and thick sounding iem with boosted and impactful bass area. It gives so much emotion and joy to the music, especially about vocals, or just when you want to listen an album from Nirvana for example. MTV unplugged live album for example, hzsound heart mirror for neutral and non colored sound or blon bl03 for more emotional, intimate, lively presentation with higher note-weight. these 2 iem are the best ones for reproduction of live albums out of all these iems and headphones i tried... They are just as good for gaming too. (It really doesn't matter for gaming, if the iem/headphone isn't really broken in it's tuning/tonality like most "gaming" headphones that on the market right now which most streamers trying to promote because they simply want to sell you that "gaming" ones to earn some money...) I saw so many people claiming HD800 series as best headphone for gaming or even music listening because of it's wide (but fake) sound-stage, imaging etc but they are simply thin and bright af sounding cans, bit over-priced too compared to chi-fi iem brands in today's market. You can get more or less same sound quality from an iem thats around $200 these days. I don't even want to clarify how better the kilobuck iem market is these days, you know. So don't take it that serious and try some cheap ones from chi-fi. You will most likely find your favorite iem and you can use it for everything including gaming, there is no particular disadvantage of this.
About other iems i mentioned, they are all worse than my 2 favorite ones hz heart mirror and blon bl03. Tin T2 is just sooo bad in 2022, don't get it please. harsh, metallic uncontrolled and unrefined treble, bad midrange tonality with midbass bloat. comfort is worst out of all i tried, build is durable and that's the only good thing. T3 plus even though better than most $100 iems, it lacks that natural timbre blon 03 or heart mirrors has and the treble isn't sound that realistic. the decays are too fast, treble extension isn't there, there is no air in the sound. But overall, it's decent and has good transparency, you hear the game you're playing or you can hear everything in the movie you're watching clearly without any muffled, grainy thing in the sound. It has good Harman in ear target tuning and everything sounds balanced. It's almost too balanced and slightly boring too because of it's energy and extension lacking treble area. Moondrop aria just sounds off. It's another over-hyped iem from moondrop that managed to gain some popularity over time with their waifu packages and marketing lol... It's one of the most popular iem from chi-fi that every non-audio guy on youtube talks about because when it first came out on the market (after it's brother, the moondrop starfield), there were literally no iem that was that good and balanced sounding as it (harman tuned). So it gained popularity but after that, because everyone got a pair of aria at some point, it became overly-hyped iem that can't even compete with most sub $100 iem today. Metallic in midrange, shouty in vocals, unrefined and grainy in treble and very bad about quality control and often gets it's paint chipping after some time of use. But has good bass and technical performance (it's good about creating macro-details of the song for example, heart mirrors have better micro-details and nuances than aria though, if you're curious). Zs10 Pro is just another grainy sounding, badly tuned hybrid set. It still has good price/performance ratio because it's "decent" but not good at anything. Mediocre comfort and sound quality, especially if you not use it with EQ, it's bit harsh and unnatural. Makes no sense to go with any Kz iem rather than Blon BL03 for example... Qkz vk4 isn't clear and dynamic sounding one, you can get way better ones today. 7hz zero for example, it's waaay better iem than moondrop chu with detechable cable unlike the chu with it's sticky and garbage cable with worse fit in the ear. 7hz zero is the one to go in $20 area. Other than these, there are some alternatives but i don't see any reason to mention additionally. You may want to check planar iems like recent 7hz dioko which is a $99 planar iem but i don't see any reason to get a planar iem yet, they need to be better than that. Dynamic drivers are still king, better than badly tuned hybrid ones like from Kz which often use 16 driver per side but just can't sound as good and natural as blon bl03 with it's single driver lol. By the way, the heart mirror and blon bl03 uses the exact same dynamic driver that just tuned/plays differently in a different shell design. that particular dynamic driver is the most natural sounding one, treble air and decays, midrange texture and naturality, bass impact and rumble (on BL03) is exceptional. Blon BL05S (not the 05, the 05S) also uses that dynamic driver and sits right between the heart mirror and blon BL03. It doesn't have that warm and thick bass area the BL03s has but not neutral and flat as heart mirrors too. Treble is again, right between the hm and bl03. Bl03 is the most polite and inoffensive sounding compared to these 2. Heart mirrors has the most energy in vocals and treble, the details and sound-stage also the best on it though.
*Here ya go, here is my years of experience in audio and chi-fi with lot's of money wasted and these 3 iem are my favorites and recommendation for anyone. Take my words how you wish, i wanted to share them anyway and hope someone will make their choice better.*
dude thank you for this.
@@gxdx697 my pleasure friend
what do you recommend for ~200 that beats some pricy headphones in terms of timbre, tuning and decay? Or you don't perceive a significant difference between heart mirror and $200 ones ? Used to own a few popular cans ( DT770 80ohm, x2, hd600, ma900) and heard some higher end Beyer / AKG from friends, out of the bunch like 600 tuning and timbre the most ( tho from description, would prob prefer 650 / 6xx ) but can see how it's "veiled", which certainly benefits some older recordings ( smoothing ). Currently interested in Final Audio E3000.
@@ChiaDai I didn't try lots of model in $200 range in iem market but from what i experienced, you can get very competitive iems in terms of technical performance in comparison to known brands for the same price or for lower. Heart mirror for example, for $40 iem, you get same technical performance the HD600s has but you lose some of the headphone advantages tho (open back, big driver advantages. also iems don't benefit from different sources like tube amps like on the headphones) HD600 still more source dependent and shows how your source chain capable of but iems can't do this that well. But again, you get same technical performance and details from $40 iem which is great. So i'd suggest you to try some popular iems to find your favorite ones, i'd recommend single dynamic driver ones first because multi driver or planar sets aren't really my preference most of the time. Tanchjim Hana 2021 is easy recommendation for a single dd set if you want something around that price tag. (There were also Tanchjim Oxygen which is super liked and hyped iem when it came out, Hana 2021 is basically same iem with same driver in a different colored shell and box) Ikko OH10 is also very liked one but it has hybrid setup (1xDD + 1xBA) and it's more V shaped one about sound signature where Hana 2021 is balanced and neutral with slight bass emphasis. 7hz Timeless is one of the best planar iem ever came from Chi-Fi and you may want to check it if you want high resolution and detailed, fast sound. i didn't hear all of these pricier ones yet though, just for reminder. Treble area on Hana looks very similar to Blon BL03 which is still my favorite iem, with some adjustments in treble, it's completely neutral (if you don't mind it's bass boost which gives body and note-weight to music, also can be lowered with only one low shelf filter and capable of being neutral in bass area too) it's midrange naturality and tonality, vocals, airy and natural sounding timbre is exceptional for the price. So with this reference, Hana would be one of the best DD sets out there, some even claim it's the best single dd iem, you may check it's reviews, maybe from Bad Guy Good Audio Reviews, he seemed very enjoyed of the Hana, it got very high rank in his ranking list.
I have the new Crinacle Zero with quite a large stem. Can you help me select a good IEM tip? It would means a lot. Which spinfit could be for me. Main use is gaming and I do appreciate music. I like size S-M. 100 v2 100+ v2, 145, 145S or 360V2 it would help me a lot. Thank you. I never own any of these before. I also consider JVC Spiral Dot ++ please let me knows which one is best in your opinion. Everybody is very welcome to give opinions too.
Just got the KZ ZS10 Pro yesterday. Highly recommend these.
Implying apex has audio :|
Audio? What’s that?
xD
Did respawn already found the technology of audio?
Surprising 😱
i picked up my first pair of iems on the last video you did about them. its been over a year now and im still rocking these Linsoul KZ's and haven't been able to look at headphones since. thanks!
I find myself just watching his videos just because I know I’ll get the best information on whatever he talks about lol
Dude could upload a video of rocks and I’ll watch. Very clean and precise Videos Optimum, thank you
Always a pleasure!
Thanks for the video! This was my first pair of iems and these outclass my $300 bose quietcomfort 45s. Can't wait to get deeper into iems, because this is awesome! Anyhow. thanks for the quality of the content and can't wait for the next video.
Consider the new Truthear X Crinacle Zero over all of these as the best budget gaming iem, especially if you are looking for an immersive experience for competitive gaming.
Sucks I can't find any seller for that IEM here in SEA region, it's so weird most budget IEMs are available here because most budget IEMs are from CHina, but the Truthear X Crinacle Zero is nowhere to be found here.
@@jokur7 Doesn't ShenzenAudio provide worldwide shipping?
I use Moondrop Aria for around 4 months until it shocked me yesterday. Never going to use it again. I browse the internet for answer and most of them said its normal for iem to shock you. Im gonna switch to headphone for now.
I purchased the ZS10 Pros based on Ali's review and I've been very impressed with them. But I have noticed a bit of green residue in the wire near where it connects into the earpiece.
thats just oxidation. it wont hurt you, and if you really dont like it you can easily buy a replacement cable that is much higher quality for $10-20.
the nozzles on my $200 moondrop kato also do this. its just the way copper works unfortunately
@@IIlicit Awesome, thank you for the information.
@@IIlicit which replacement cable would you recommend
@@FasCi_N8 yinyoo and NiceHCK
Perfect timing on this video! I just recived my order of KZ ZS10 Pros after watching your video on them.
I think the CCA CRA deserves to be in this conversation as well. Very similar to Blon BL-03, but only about $20. Incredible bass response and soundstage. I feel like I can pinpoint footsteps in games.
Is this the cca cra + or the first model?
@@lettinggoandmore I use the first model, they toned down the sub bass a bit on the "+" model. You could get both for the price of a single Blon pair!
@@codexnecrogeddon thanks for that!
@@codexnecrogeddon How comfortable CCA CRA's are?
@@Xerathful Super comfy I can wear this for long gaming session or even video essays.
So, you convinced me to get the ZS10 Pros way back when you did the review on them and after these months of using them, I really couldn't be any happier. I have quite literally only used my HyperX Cloud 2's (which I have used for over 5 years) for the microphone, any other time I have the ZS10 Pros in. Everything just sounds better in every single aspect. Everything is also louder which is an interesting dynamic that maybe im only experiencing because you didn't mention it. Something to note of the static to anyone whos concerned, I will be honest it was quite jarring and noticeable at first. I thought mine came messed up or something, but literally after a day I don't even notice it at all anymore. A really important note is the wire needs to not touch anything electronic I found. If the wire is just resting on my phone for example, you get absolutely blasted with static and a slight high pitched ringing. Other than that, I absolutely adore the ZS10 Pros. Best money I have ever spent for something audio wise.
Im really considering buying but even having that static sounds like a pain in the ass and very annoying. Have you found a fix for that?
@@vsynccx4263 Well, sorta. Before I got an amp Ive been using the mini amp that comes with the Cloud2s as it allowed the wire to be closer to me so it wasnt stretched super far, and I think that was causing the constant static. With that being said, the amp that I have, I dont know if its just this amp or the IEMs but rarely do I get a decently loud static for a couple seconds and its gone. My "fix" is to just keep it away from anything metallic or magnetic in nature as that seemed to drastically reduce the amount of times I hear it. I am VERY intolerable of things like that as my ears are quite sensitive to high pitched sounds and even I am completely fine. + for < 50$ you really cant beat it for the level of quality you get.
Dude! I was just trying to find a gaming focused review on the Moondrop Quarks a few days ago but everybody seems to be looking at them purely from a music-centred view. Lo and behold I check out your channel today and it just so happens you covered just what I was looking for! Great video as always Ali, Keep it up!
This video came at the most perfect time. Good vid and thanks for the recommendation!
Trust me on this. I started my quest on finding the best iem for competitive fps gaming (Pubg). Tried dunu titanS, Tin t2. Hes right with the tin t2s. But i recently bought Moondrop SSR to give a shot, and holy its better for hearing cues/footsteps. Also buying DAC is a night and day diff in quality of audio.
What dac are you using?
f
Fosi audio dac-q4 🥳
Sell your iems and get the moondrop variations to not cope with bad Iems
@@devaxionrl8189 Sharur is that you?
Thanks for the IEM content man. I ended up getting a set from Final Audio last year and I really like the neutral presentation for games, music and work.
Experienced the same for the Blon 03. Sound imaging for competitive gaming is awful but casual listening with the Blons are amazing! My go to for gaming is the QKZ VK4, I preferred this over the KZ ZSX.
dont get an qkz vk4 now, qkz has made a "revision" of them and changed the speakers and now the qkz vk4 sounds rlly bad
@@marlon.8051 I got a pair of those. Did not like them at all for gaming.
I have the old one (non bassy), they're phenomenal.
Biggest upgrade is the not having a dent in your head all the time
Nice work Ali. In the past 2 weeks I've bought the Chu's and Final Audio VR3000. I can't tell which I like better so far, the Chu's are louder so I hear foot steps better, but I think the VR's are a bit better with directional sounds. The Chu's have a slightly better mic but the buttons are buggy on mine. I'm going to play around with some EQ settings to try boost the VR's.
I've also got the Salnotes Zero on the way and by all reports these are fps beasts.
Might try the tins T2 /T3 if the Zero's dont cut it. At this point I'm just throwing money away so yolo.
Update... Salnotes Zero ftw!
@@SenorOzo So out of the three, you're sticking with the Salnotes Zero? I am curious as to which game(s) you play. At the moment I am using Chu's but am "researching" to possibly find something better and a little more comfortable for me (for whatever reason no matter which tips I use these things wanna slide out of my ear canal lol.) I play mainly CSGO and the Chu's actually do pretty well when it comes to hearing footsteps, how would you compare it to the Zero or even the VR3000, which I was also looking at.
@@Nazoh To me the Salnotes were better than both Chu and Vr3000. The chu was my first so I thought my standards were low, hence the upgrade to vr3000, but it wasn't that great considering it's 4 times the cost. Footsteps and close shooting are clear on the Chu but soundstage was slightly better on the vr3000.
Then when I got the Salnotes, it combined the best of both, so I have no complaints especially for $20! I even bought a couple to gift friends.
HOWEVER.... I've now got the Raptgo Hook-x on order. It's $240 usd so a big leap compared to the zero, but I fell into the rabbit hole. I'll let you know if it's worth the upgrade or not in a couple weeks.
Without getting too obsessive or crazy like me, the Salnotes are awesome and I consider it an upgrade on the chu. The chu is slightly more comfortable for me though.
And finally, I play pubg 99% but the occasional csgo. I'm also using $10 foam tips on the Salnotes which somewhat helps with the sound leaking, therefore better soundstage. I haven't tested the same tips on the Chu's unfortunately.
Update 2... Raptgo Hook-X arrived today and initial tests are awesome. Watching the "best 8d song ever experience with headphones 2021"directional video on UA-cam and you realise the soundstage and accuracy is bigger than the Salnotes zero. You can tell exactly where the sound is as it rotates 360 around, almost like you can pluck it out of mid air (if that makes sense). The salnotes is decent but not as precise.
Also listening to music, the hook X is clearer and the instruments/voices are more seperate.
Not crapping on the Salnotes, they are still great and I wouldn't have known any difference if I didn't try the hook-x, but these differences will go a long way in pubg or fps shooters. Whether it's worth 10x the price is up to the individual. But my testing is now finished and happy with the Hook-x. Good luck with everyone's rabbit hunt :)
Mate, your hair looks great!
I found the Logitech G333 KDA earbuds surprisingly good. Was able to climb up the elo ladder in valorant calling for faster rotates and do some flanking because I can identify how many different pairs of footsteps are around me.
I'm thinking of getting those, in your opinion, are they worth it? I'm between g333 and the chu's
Had my Tin T2's for 4 years now and they still work flawlessly
I hoped that you'd cover more IEMs! Here's some more roundup ideas.
$80 & under: Aria, Aria Snow, Titan Dunu S, Tin T3+, Final Audio E3000, Truthear Zero
$100~$150ish: Letshouer S12, Tripowin Olina, Etymotic ER2XR, Ikko OH10.
Well the iem rabbit hole goes pretty deep. There are almost infinite choices
@@pawanyadav9854 It sure does. I'm almost tempted to just stick to my apple earpods after spending so much 😅
@@pawanyadav9854 set your budget and stick with it. but we all know hows its gonna end.
Nah all these are mid except truthear zero and T3+. er3se is good with 100ohms
I use the ZS10-Pro personally and a 30$ USB DAC (or if you want more versatility something like a BTR3K which is both a usb DAC and an LDAC bluetooth receiver with balanced output for IEM)
I also put some money in balanced cable and it further increase their sensitivity and clarity which was not a problem with the BTR3K which remains really good option to drive them.
I know this is more of a cheaper IEM comparison, but since you have the Aria and they are pretty close in price, how would you compare them to this category, are they worth paying the extra bucks in your opinion?
Just buy the aria if it's like $60
I been on the chase for budget IEMs for gaming for a while now. T2s are pretty spot on but I still occasionally get that lost feeling of "is the person in front of or behind me?" effect sometimes with them and they're terribly uncomfortable for me over long periods.
I spent 3 months or so on the CCA CRAs and found them to be fairly competent for shooters, mostly playing Escape From Tarkov. I like the sound signature of them, they have enough bass to still feel the impact of weapons and make it pretty easy to pick out footsteps. I also found the KZ ZEX to be fairly competent for picking out footsteps as well and these can sometimes be had for as cheap as 15 bucks on sale.
IEMs I've Tested so far: CCA CRA, Quarks, KZ ZS10 Pros, KZ ZS10, Tripowin Lea, Tin T2, Tin T3 Plus, Blon BL-03, KZ ZEX, KZ ZEX Pro and KZ DQ6S
IEMs coming in to test: 7hz Zero, KZ ZES (won in a giveaway, supposed to be very good for gaming imaging)
I recently moved to the Tin T3 Plus for my main gaming set and they're by far the best for directional audio queues out of all the IEMs I have but they also are kind of out of the price bracket of sub-50 dollars I set for myself (managed to pick them up on sale for $55, normally they're $80).
I would be really interested to see if you can test some higher end IEMs at some point. There's a lot of wild stuff out there in the $200 to $300 price point that appear to be pretty good for gaming but don't always have a bunch of corroborating information regarding their imaging for gaming.
I only found the CCA CRA and kz 10 pro for triple the price, I play pubg and csgo, which ones should I get?
I've been using the Moondrop Chu and today just picked up the CCA CRA IEMs. Really love them for Valorant, Halo Infinite, Halo MCC and just general usage.
Honestly for those who wanna get into IEMs, Moondrop is the brand you wanna look into.
Moondrop Aria was my first ever IEM.
My Moondrop Chus were the best sounding IEMs I've heard until they just had sudden channel imbalance and a really big drop in volume
Sent them back and am now waiting on a replacement unit but man do I miss them
@@lilcheaty does it have a balanced sound?
@@lilcheaty Unfortunately that issue is apparent to moondrop iems. The cause is humidity in the filters iirc. My chu gets imbalanced when I play for more than 2 hrs :(
@@woolgloves no it's definitely not balanced but it's different from what your average V shaped headphone sound
there's little bass and almost basically no sub bass but the mids and highs are extremely clear to the point where you will be able to hear the compression in the music you're listening to
@@peaupi makes sense why it resolved when i left them overnight
I've sent them back and I hope I receive a new pair that hopefully doesn't have the issue
For the next IEM review keep an eye out for the 7hz salnotes, people are saying those are pretty good for gaming, but your review will be more trustworthy for me.
GG, didn't think you'd be here lol.
You really should try CCA CRA over the Blon. Great video as always. A pleasure to watch after work :)
Ye I had them were very enjoyable
Using the cra atm. It definitely took me a very long time to get used it after my headphones broke and could not afford another pair, but yea the CRA is pretty nice.
Although I do use an eq profile to normalise the response to the Harman curve, I don't like the bass too much (only in music and sometimes)
Phenomenal for music too!
@@8lec_R CRA+ are tuned kinda differently, fixing some of the bass and the peak at 8k
Right now pricing of CRA and EQ is maybe better buy compared to CRA+ though
now that the moondrop Chu and the 7hz Zero exist, there is no place for the CCA CRA anymore, really
Got the ZS10 Pro, had issues with white noise - switched cables to a $15 mic-free cable and that solved the issue for me.
Driving them with an Epos GSX300 with audio processing disabled.
BLON BL05 is $35 in my region. It's the best budget IEM for me
Hi what region is that?, it sounds like a great deal
How good is the directional sound for FPS competitive gaming?
I'm in Asia. Item was shipped from China. I play PUBG, BF5 and BF1. I would say that the BL05 is better than my Logitech G333
@@mrlnd4160 that's amazing. Better than the G333 sounds good.
I know you're asian, only in asia we get chi fi iems at such good prices. Was wondering which country since import & shipping rates from china are expensive for me. But mentioning it was shipped from china is an important detail, thank you.
Good selection of games btw, going to be trying the bf5 soon.
Solid review. I've switched to iem lately so will check these out. Cheers
I fix the white noise of the KZ ZS10 with an apple type c to 3.5mm in my Lenovo legion and desktop 😃. It is a very underrated Dac that works perfectly with windows.
Those in this industry constantly say that the apple dongle is very good.
I have some input to share having own 2 of your tested IEMs (but nothing that compare to my final solution specific for gaming):
_ the Tin T2 while being full sounding and well balanced are MUDDY when it comes imaging and positioning , the problematic fit resulted for me so sold them.
_ KZ ZS10 Pro : despite being larger the fit is quite improved. Here the sounds render in a opposite fashion with details all other, strong impact in the bass but a lack of cohesion and controlled EQ (very V-shaped), so the bass being overwhelming and the mid + highs being too sharp things like footsteps are hard to distinguish. The L-R positioning is also quite poor on them surprisingly.
I Notice that the brother of this model (KS ZX) suffer similar issues but the EQ has a more flat profile. (its my daily for music and content consumption, it crushed any other units I managed to buy up in the 180eu range)
I've also tested one cheap but good planar, a shure2015, finalaudio F-4100, AudioTechnica M-50.. But I wont discuss them here.
I've researched those models because initially my favorite gaming driver the -= Q-Jays =- broke and was not replaced after I send them to RMA. (they're out of production sadly)
Its a dual driver (one of the tiniest in fact) with a neutral EQ very famous in EU audiophile forums.
From today standards it might deliver a boring flat sound but all the spectrum of freq blends organically and the L-R positioning is fantastic. (I feel like playing with a sonar hack seriously)
Comfy by default because of their size but I find it mandatory to create a custom silicon mold around them for preventing the humidity to clutter the tiny tube exit during use.
Not to forget the comfort become unmatched with the mod.
I mention this rarity in comment because last year I managed to find them on ebay for crazy cheap (like 25eu) while their retail value was more around 165eu.
The person who sold them did not enjoyed their sound anymore.
Do check out the salnotes zero and crinacle truthear zero I heard they are extremely gud for their price as gaming audio
Very good observations as always! Footsteps are usually almost no treble and mostly mid range, only a small portion of its waveform resides in the upper range. Also having good bass (good as in high quality, nice and tight, no necessarily alot of it) makes things sound bigger and wider, which helps alot with sound stage too
I appreciate your content :)
It is interesting cuz like everyone talks about music and footsteps... but like how would a movie sound like or a cinematic game i play those a lot like my single player games and i want them to sound good XD i mean obviously footsteps are still important it was just something funny i noticed is all.
Been using Blon bl03's for last few months, mainly for valorant....
and I love them ❤️
Same I think the blons are fine for Val as well.
@@dayyanhashmi6466 using these I pushed to immortal (last act)
@@taichi_val Congrats 👍
Shows that your IEM of choice won't hold you back from getting high elo.
bro this video's visual is unreal
7Hz Salnotes Zero >>> CHU
In my books. Chu's QC seems not that on point with volume imbalance after the first days of usage (based on what I've seen as comments and reviews)
WHAT TF THANK YOU SO MUCH HAHAHAH, I WAS THINKING OF GETTING AN IEM WATCHING YOUR OLD VIDS NOT KNOWING YOU POSTED A NEW ONE LMFAO
1:32 Ali Girlfriend Reveal?????
Just what I needed! Thank you so much
Test tanchjim tanyas, cca cra, final e500, and truthear x crin, those are where its at
Sry man, missed the mark here, kz is a scandalous company and it has cruddy qc, chances are you were just lucky lol, mine damn near burned me
Currently I am using sennheiser IE 100 pro and they are absolutely phenomenal for gaming as well as music, they produce sound that is true to its source and how it’s meant to be heard and added bonus is you can use them wired as we as wirelessly, also has just the right amount of signature sennheiser thumping bass and treble that is not overpowering. Taking about comfort you wouldn’t even know they are sitting in your ears.
0:01 You worded that wrongly, the snakeoil audio industry is getting a nice reality check after decades.
This thumbnail is art 😍
I think the emphasis on treble is that the lack of bass means that it doesn't muddy up other sound signatures, like a bomb or your gun going off doesn't drown out the sound of footsteps. Especially when talking about GAMING headphones that emphasis bass and it's bad quality. As with any general statement, it's a lot more complicated than what people boil things down to.
I bought the KZ ZS10s last week and that lead me to buy the Salnotes Zeros, and today I received the SeeAudio Rinko. I've been so impressed of how amazing EIMs sound.
Thanks alot Ali ❤️ great video as always, keep it up
Any of you Mfkers still confused which to buy ?
Blindly just buy BLON-03
I was confused too, I replaced 2 IEMs and bought BLON...
and Dimensions just changed for me.
The sound is fro Bassheads as well as trebleheads , Its so wonderfully Tuned and Natural and Non-fatiguing
In terms of coverage, you're about 4-5 years late. But, given the time, your evaluation will cover broader spectrum.
For example, I started using these chi-fi gaming focused budget IEMs around 2018, I used to play CSGO and R6 back then. Now we have games like Valorant, Apex with lot more going on in terms of sound.
The bassier aspect of footsteps I found very prevalent in R6 where if someone sprinted a floor above you, one could tell it apart due to the thumpy low pass filter applied on the footsteps.
I would also like to give a huge shoutout to Hi-Fi Dream, who used to test real world IEM imaging characteristics using a Twitch drone, in front of a beeping C4 in R6, to whom I have luckily stumbled upon. Just what I needed back then! :D
And also Z reviews, who dabbles in mil-sims, and crispy high end for gaming.
Mad respect to all of you who covers this subject.
i bought zs10 pro based on your video and i just cant believe what was happening to me i really love them now
Finally, someone recognizing the necessity of bass.
Step 1: Realize your ear uses sound intensity to deteremine distance.
Step 2: Realize you need BaSs to know the distance of a footstep, instead of just a shouty direction of where it is that's not intuitively placed.
"Soundstage" = weird headphone tuning where your ear cant place things so it simply goes "well this is somewhere around me irl"
Moondrop Chu & CCA CRA are amazing