On one side it's good to keep the industry progressing and make it more accessible to the mass, on the other hand, there's no end to chifi hype train lol, back then I just sorta gave up with them and decided to get something more proper instead.

I gave up on chi-fi. They introduce cheap iems every month. Neither me or my wallet can keep up.

I have no interest in chi-fi. Seems most of it is just a dick measuring contest between who can get the closest to the harman target. It's just boring

I wouldn't say so, there's plenty of decent options far from Harman, although it's definitely an endless rabbit hole.

I keep up with dudes who review chi fi stuff, but I’ve never bought any because the Z1r, e5000, and ie600 exist

Oh yes, I know there are plenty of non-harman tuned IEMs. I meant mainly that is what happens when chi-fi is discussed on this subreddit. I'm not an IEM person, but new stuff is always cool. More of the same stuff being posted is tiring after so long lmao

It's really good for countries with exorbitant mark up on headphones and iem prices or even speaker. like Sennheiser HD6XX cost $400! or Sennheiser HD800S costs $2000!

Yeah, HD600 cost around $400 in where I live (Indonesia), but you can still get the likes of S12 or Kato for normal price. Some sellers unfortunately intentionally mark up the price because something is very popular though, like how Hexa costs above $100 here.

This is definitely going to be the year of 2DD's - assuming everyone isn't burnt out by summer. I think we'll see some DD/Planar hybrids and tribrids in the mid to upper price ranges, should be interesting.

Chifi has a lot of great iems. Just not in the 20-50 bucks price cap. Start with >250 and you’ll find a lot of models.

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This weekend I came to the same conclusion after ordering my last pairs of ChiFi IEMS, call it buyers remorse. I ordered the QKZ x HBB and the Tin Hifi C2. Currently have the 7Hz Zero, CCA CRA and the Moondrop Quarks (OG, no DSP). I owned and sold KZ ZSN Pro, QKZ VK4 (non-OG) and the Moondrop Chu.

Funny thing is, that with all these ChiFi IEMs I mostly use my Final Audio E1000. Maybe I should just get the Final Audio E3000's, call it a day and forget about all of the rest :-D

That’s what I did. I now own Moondrop SSR and good old Blon bl03. They are my beater earphones. Won’t be buying them again. I use final E1k,E3k,E5k,A4k and will buy the tws and B2 soon. Final’s house sound kind of clicked with me the first time I listened to E3000

Having (and liking) the Final E1000, is the E3000 the best upgrade? How do both compare in your view?

Yes definitely. They are even more smaller, more bassy, have more detail retrieval and have a better soundstage due to the open grill. Which also means they don’t isolate well. I often times prefer E3000 to my E5000 since the E5000 can sometimes sound very dark. But when amped correctly they do shine.

E1000s sound kind of cheap when compared directly. You get what you pay for I guess. If you don’t want bassy iem then E2000 is your bet.

I mean 400 for 600 is fair, it is the MSRP. MSRP for 650 is 550. Inflation is making the prices go up, I got my 650 for 325€ a couple years ago. They are worth the market prices and the MSRP as well.

Why waste money on cheap stuff, it will never be as good as more expensive headphones. Get a proper desktop setup and over ear headphones instead of this hyped up cheap plastic that your pushing into your ear holes. Why trust any of these youtubers, they all spew a bunch of nonsense, stats don't matter, it's up to the ear how something sounds. Save up and buy a good setup that you can enjoy 10 years from now not just tomorrow.

No. They aren’t comparable. The e3000 is basically a e1000 with a massive sub and mid-bass boost.

It’s not an upgrade, it’s a definite side-grade.

What most people here don't realize is, cheap chifi is basically the only way people on some countries can enjoy the hobby.

Imagine if a single HD 600 would cost your over 2 times your monthly wage, because that's how much it costs here in Brazil if you receive minimum wage, which over half the population does for example. So even buying a $20 chifi iem is considered really expensive and a luxury for them.

What would an upgrade be then for an E1000?

many people like IEMs because they are super portable and driveable by a non-desktop/high-powered amp (basically plug them into anything).

Different uses.

Uh... You know, just that new product keeps getting pushed out doesn't mean you have to buy it all.

Very true. The influx of new and price conscious players in the IEM arena has likely had the biggest impact in areas where access to good sounding IEM’s has been limited due to the economic situation. What a great time to be a music lover.

Thank you! I really didn’t know that

Chi fi market is amazing. Very happy with my Moondrop Kato

It could be that their DD quality or housing design just isn't there yet. If either DD can't handle exclusive bass-sub or mid-high range, they'd have to choose a different cutoff. Just speculation.

I'm not really impressed with Chifi other than Hifiman performance (not QC). As others have said, the IEMs seem way more hypetrain & waifu/otaku obsessions than high performance + high quality audio gear.

as minimum wage worker, take this L.

Yea, another poor soul saved from chi-fi financial ruination. It's all in a day's work!

No amount of cheaping out will get you better sound than paying more. If you can pay for a 30 bucks iem then you can also save up and a couple months are years buy a proper setup. Sorry I am not part of your crinicle and amir cult… I don’t take the L proudly but I’ll take it :_(

FOMO is strong in the Chi-Fi IEM world

Yeah, i also live in Brazil and is really like that.

I bought my Salnotes Zero and i'll probably buy another cheap iem like this at the end of the year, idk!

Well, that depends on budget. But having said that, I’d absolutely recommend the Salnotes Zero. Next in like would likely be the Truthear Hexa.

I’d also highly recommend the Truthear Zero.

I have all of the E series Finals’ and my favourite is the E4000 by far. But I’d still recommend the Salnotes first. I know it’s cheap, but it’ll show you just how unrelated price and sound quality are.

Sir, you have no need to keep up. You have a need to enjoy your music and whatever working hardware you have.

I beg to disagree. I definitely hear more details on the E3k than E1k. It’s definitely not a side grade but rather a step up but not exponentially.

PREACH TO THIS RICH ASS PEOPLE 🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

cringe

Sorry but what are you basing this claim on? Is all you’ve ever heard a 650 and an Zen dac? You seem to have a very limited view of what this hobby can be and what is seen as “good.”

Then, as a headphones-person, you must be extraordinarily bored of discussion about headphones. With the HD600 being....the go to recommendation for ~30 years and running.

I mean yea your right, but I guess that’s why it’s called chifi not hifi.

Yep, there's not really a way to know what's happening, but it's still funny seeing companies try to market 2DD IEMs while missing the point they're popular in the first place.

>I'm not really impressed with Chifi other than Hifiman performance (not QC).

It's definitely a lot of hype train, but there's definitely improvements going on, and while they have maybe lost their "impressive" factor, i think most models are still pretty good sounding, around the best you can get in the price range, and making diminishing returns hit earlier.

What does that even have to do with the meme? Lol

I honestly was thinking they're already kinda dying, or at least soon to die because unless manufacturers make a proper use of the bass DD, they don't get much hype, aren't a compelling buy and probably don't make a lot of sales.

Although, now that I think about it, they maybe are relevant whenever crin's "project red" drops, and i guess moondrop, kz and other brands still haven't gotten their hands In a 2DD setup, so who knows.

Yeah I mean that would be because their intention is after all to sell their products and adherence to the Harman target is, for a variety of reasons, a good way to achieve that.

You can usually find a better $50 chi-fi pair of earphones than getting a $50 pair from a western brand.

This, cheap chifi is the entrance of rabbit hole. The competition on cheap iem is very interesting.

Do people actually think Crinacle's arbitrary "neutral" target and the Harman target are the same thing?

Uh I sweat a lot on headphone. Uh I don't spend a lot of time on desktop just to listen music. Seems like you're out of touch, sounds like a flexing gatekeeper

In brazil the hd600 costs 600 usd ... and the minimum wage is 250 usd

I feel like a lot of Americans don’t realize the power of the US dollar. I’m a relatively broke college student but I still have a “good” set up.

Yeah, most don't realize it. My most expensive set of headphones was an HyperX Alpha which i had to save for a few months and wait for a sale so i could buy it lol

I can only dream of the day i'll be able to buy an HD 600 or similar, but that's still a few years away.

!remindme 6 months

I will be messaging you in 6 months on 2023-07-30 16:00:12 UTC to remind you of this link

CLICK THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

^(Parent commenter can ) ^(delete this message to hide from others.)

1. sometimes people need more mobile setups.

2. not everyone is rolling dough

And people forget, poor people have even less money for hobbies. So not only is it 2 months of wage, the money for your freetime is even smaller than what you would expect since its not linear or a 1:1 ratio

I was hoping Crinacle would collaborate on a set that is about $100 - $250 that is better than the Zero kind of like a Aria or even a Kato sounding 2 dd setup. Or the would retune the hexa to try to make a cheaper B2 dusk at like $100.

I already have the Zeros 😁

Well there is a reason I don’t generally go onto r/headphoneadvice ever lol

Just wondering about the Hexa. Would they outperform my Galaxy Buds2 (not the Pro’s)

Ah yes il just save up that 30 euro every month for 5 years and just not listen to music until i can buy something without cheaping out. Actually more than 5 years. Anything but an HE-1 would be cheaping out i guess.

I mean one year and you can get an HD650/600.

And after a while there doesn't seem to be much difference between new products, either. The latest and greatest $25 IEMs eventually sound a lot like the latest and greatest $25 IEMs from the last round...

But still you won’t get end game pair for 50 bucks.

But still you won’t get end game pair for 50 bucks.

Tell me about it. I live in Cuba. I'm happy with my KZ ZSN

It would be foolish to expect to.

What if I simply don't like how headphone sound though? I very much prefer sound presentation of IEM.

I would agree, 50 to 100 USD seems to be the sweet spot for CHiFi IEMs. There's a lot of great stuff in that range. If you can't afford that, the 7Hz Zero and Wan'er are decent, especially with EQ, and are around 20 USD.

Almost a year since I got my 7hz Timeless. Still the best thing I stuck in my ears.

They also don't realize a lot of the parts in the headphones they buy are made by the very same factories. Also how much marketing costs, etc.

Nothing gets past you eh?

you get endgame pair for 320 dolla with chifi. with western brand you need to cough up 2000 dolla.

Then what is chi fi at 2000 dollars price cap?

The issue with the Truthear Hexa is it's exclusive to Shenzhen Audio, so there isn't any dealer price.

So anyone reselling it in Indonesia has to buy it from Shenzhen Audio at $80, add any import duties and VAT likely bringing it to around $90 cost and then $10 profit.

Other stuff, that is actually sold by multiple places, they can buy it at a MUCH lower dealer price (could easily be well under half the Western MSRP, as some stuff even sells to end users for under half Western MSRP) and that gives them more room to sell cheaper.

Here in Thailand, Chi-Fi is typically actually cheaper than Western countries, because it's sold cheaper to a developing market. But the Hexa isn't, because it's not distributed like this, it's Shenzhen Audio only.

You should still be able to buy directly from Shenzhen Audio yourself (either their own store or on AliExpress) for the same $80 price as everyone else. I got it from Ali on release for $65 with discounts.

For that matter this local seller on Shopee has it for 1.28m, which is $85, with discount coupons that could even possibly be below $80:

https://shopee.co.id/product/159299554/17991886433

That's a 30 day pre-order because what that seller is going to do when you order it, is go order it from Shenzhen Audio himself.

> I have no interest in chi-fi

Says the R7DX/Sundara enjoyer

His Truthear Zero collab was explicitly meant to be tuned to Harman, rather than IEF neutral.

Yeah*

 

^^^^*Some ^^^^restrictions ^^^^may ^^^^apply, ^^^^results ^^^^may ^^^^vary.