I feel like you’re reading to deep into this, it’s just an earphone
It’s not that catastrophic, is a 7hz IEM nice? perhaps. Doesn’t mean your cheap run of the mill kz/CCA/whatever product is suddenly e-waste. There’s also different tastes in curve too, idk why you’re being elitist on cheap IEMs of all thing. At least with phones there’s feature/security differences that you can’t get on cheaper models
No, if you use them for calls, then you will be using your phone’s built-in microphone. Depending on the phone that you’re using, the built-in microphone might be better.
You should try to make two voice recordings, one without your earphones, using the phone’s built-in microphone, and another using the microphone that comes with your earphones. Then listen to them to check which one has better quality.
The good thing about these IEMs is that the cable is fully and easily replaceable, so if your phone’s microphone doesn’t satisfy you, then you can get a cable with a microphone.
If I come to a car enthusiast and tell them, “It’s just a car, why are you spending so much money and effort on it? My old ass Lada drives just fine.” They wouldn’t be happy. The same goes for any hobby.
Yes, people have different preferences when it comes to tuning of their audio devices. There are two things when it comes to earphones:
While people do have different preferences when it comes to tuning, the tuning itself still has to be good. If you love neutral tuning with a bass boost, then that tuning still has to be good. Tuning is hard and expensive, so the $1 price tag tells everything.
I will not even go into it, it’s $1 earphones.
Except for the fact that you are not talking to an enthusiast, just a normal consumer. It’s like saying “If it’s not a hydromodded porsche running quadruple engine (or whatever the car jargon is) it’s a waste”. No, not everyone is or wants to be an enthusiast, and even enthusiasts also buys the cheap stuff, whether it’s KZ or CCA or other brands. Cheap IEMs are not an “avoid at all costs” items even in the enthusiast space, you’re just being unnecessarily elitist. What next? If it’s under moondrop Aria II it’s e-waste?
It’s fine for me, those who wants more can also go to cheap KZ/CCA/older 7hz/etc. You’re just using 7hz x crinacle 2 as an arbitrary baseline
I will just agree to disagree on all of this, except for the accusation that I’m an elitist.
I live in a real world. In a world where:
You need a Google Pixel or an iPhone to have a secure device.
You need to pay around $20 to get a decent pair of earphones.
Etc.
Will I blame you or make fun of you if you can’t afford these things? No. Will I ever recommend cheap crap and phones that aren’t secure? No.
How am I elitist because of this?
I will always try my best to tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Of course everyone would prefer to hear that their EOL $50 device is secure, etc., but that’s simply not true.
The one I got have a decibel cap. Thanks California. I would suggest a Samsung one (or any other 3.5 to USB dongle). Now whether those have a decently secure USB implementation is another thing.
I have faced this type of issue with a lot of things. Like different skates for my mouse, different ear pads for my headphones, etc. It’s always: what the f I’m supposed to do with those things that I’m replacing?
What? Isn’t it only for the EU? You shouldn’t blame them, they’re trying to protect your hearing.
It seems to me that California is the only state that gives a fuck about its people, lol. Having better privacy laws, protecting the hearing, etc.
There is just a DAC and an AMP inside them. There isn’t any attack surface like there is with wireless stuff.
I am not denying this part, pixels objectively have features a cheapo phone doesn’t
I am definitely in full disagreement on this. Unlike the first part, this one is definitely just a subjective judgement call and isn’t even correct. For example, 7hz Salnotes Zero is sub-20 and seems to be well beloved 7HZ SALNOTES ZERO Universal IEM | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
Because you’re calling anything under 20 junk for no good or objective reasoning
That’s why I said “around.”
I will not repeat myself on the reasoning.
It’s 15, I can likely find well liked model at 10 and lower. My point is that your $20/7hz Crinacle limit is arbitrary with no good justification
My bad, I picked the wrong term. The more accurate one should be gatekeeping what is considered good/junk. No, someone buying a 10$ IEM is not necessarily buying junk
Edit: Quick Example is KZ EDX Ultra, this thing costs ~$6 on AliExpress
I can also find a discounted, discontinued, used, or just a product that is on clearance for less. I think that it was obvious that I was talking about the original MSRP price.
Just the fact that the reviewer is talking about “burn-in” shows that he doesn’t know what he is talking about…
For those who are interested in whether burn-in is real, skip to 1:21 on this video:
It’s also ~$6 brand new where I live so…
I don’t think it’s discontinued either. And for chinese brands AliExpress price is usually the original price
Yes the burn in stuff is nonsense, but you do realise that it has more than one review right? and if you remove the unscientific nonsense it’s still a product people likes
I wasn’t talking about the product that you linked. I was replying to everything above that link.
As for these $6 IEMs, you get whay you pay for. They might be the best IEMs for $6, but they’re still $6 IEMs.
When you compare a $1000 IEM to a $6 IEM, you take the price into account. The same goes for every other product, however if you remove the price tag and then write a review, the results will be quite different.
Well I used to agree with you then I realized, upon reaching a noise floor I still cant hear my music. I bought those Etymotic IEM (ER2XR) that violate my ear physically to hear my podcast/music over the noise floor again and I thought that was good until I borrowed a friend’s USB-C to 3.5mm then the full volume hit me. The noise floor wasnt the problem, the Apple dongle audio amplification was too weak for my GrapheneOS.
I see certain Alibaba USB-C dongles that arent “compatible” with Pixels, iPhones and Samsungs and I find that a bit curious when it is compatible with Huaweis, Xiaomis and the like.
But maybe you are right. Im just feeling a bit paranoid but then if the phone is already questionable, I dont think surveillance will be extended to the USB dongle as well?
It all depends on impedence and sensitivity. If your earphones have low impedence and high sensitivity, then even the “nerfed” Apple adapter will be more than enough.
Take a look at this: https://shop.hak5.org/products/omg-cable
I wouldn’t buy an adapter from a company that isn’t reputable. The adapter should only have a DAC and an AMP, but you never know.
you do know that in the audiophile world, price is not a good indicator of value or quality, right? and just because you pay more doesn’t necessarily mean you get more. Is your $20 IEM 3x better than the $6 IEM?
Now if someone says that if you’re buying an IEM under $1000, you’re buying e-waste, what are you going to answer with? Again, my point is that your good/e-waste floor is arbitrary. I can just change your quote like this and use it to justify any price point
As for these $20 IEMs, you get whay you pay for. They might be the best IEMs for $20, but they’re still $20 IEMs.
As for these $50 IEMs, you get whay you pay for. They might be the best IEMs for $50, but they’re still $50 IEMs.
Edit: also, one of the reviewer here evaluated the device as a $16 IEM (perhaps because of import cost) and still gave it a good review KZ EDX Ultra - Reviews | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org . So the “it’s only good because it’s only $6” is already wrong
Good tuning and technical performance cost money. There are obviously diminishing returns, but you need to spend a lot of money to get to that point.
What kind of point is this?
You don’t need to spend a $1000 for an IEM with good tuning and technical performance. Just like you don’t need to spend $1200 on the best iPhone to have a good phone. But if you buy a smartphone for $50, then it’s crap, same goes for $1 earphones.
Tell that to the $6 IEM I gave as an example, it’s tuned good enough to be well reviewed
This phone was very well reviewed. Why? Because of the price. Any reviewer will take the price into account. The same goes for those people who reviewed $6 earphones.
They had $6 expectations, that’s why the reviews are good.