aaah yeah heaphone wires. The utterly stupid annoyance I dealt with the last time 5 years ago. If you want I can give some free wired heaphones, obviously with broken or lose contact wires. Also that reminds me to clean out the dust from my 3.5mm ports that I never used since buying the devices they belong to and properly seal this additional ingress port for dirt and liquids. Ah and I'm also reminded the chungus port steals almost 1cm^3 of space inside my phone that could've otherwise been used for additional battery capacity. Nevermind, I'll let you guys go back to playing with optical drives and PS/2 peripherals.
@@RandomUser2401 you are obviously very young or very old, most humans learn to tie laces and handle headphone cables quite competently when young and never have those issues ever again, you simply cannot beat the sound quality through a wire
I would say they are actually a dying breed. Many smartphones do not include headphone jack and those that do, do not have a powerful DAC. Normal consumers are not going to buy IEMs and an expensive audio player just to get audiophile level of sound quality. That's why IEMs are not marketed towards regular consumer market.
@@Savant_Ananya think about it this way, even after the best efforts of tech giant companies, headphone jack is still not dead on mid,cheap and high-end smartphones iems will outlive humans lol
@@Savant_AnanyaDongles are actually surprisingly good, and work great as an entry level dac amp. As someone in the audio community, there are now more people then ever asking for the best iems to get, thanks to youtubers like dankpods, crinacle and other audio channels.
@@Savant_Ananya IEMs don't require a 'powerful' (whatever that is supposed to mean) DAC - in fact, the Apple dongle is good enough even with many headphones. Additionally, there are many cheap IEMs that are wonderful, and do not require any amps, DACs, or DAPs - take a look at the Tin T2 and the Moondrop Aria as examples. Finally, IEMs are not used only with mobile devices; many people use them with desktops and laptops.
@@Savant_Ananya ignorance. people who arent getting iems now were never going to get iems in the first place, and vice versa. with the increasing number of brands and products with greater value, theres been an increasing audiophile community, more than ever before, even if they are beginners/entry level.
Nah man, we already got Zeos or literally 100 other TH-camrs for that that don't do anything else but review audio products... and they actually know what they're talking about. XD
@@precoixousold521 just the other day there was a TH-cam story about them buying 2 of those artificial heads (in which you can put microphones) for LTT labs for proper headphone testing.
really disagree. ltt lacks in-depth analysis(such as graphs) and stuff you’d get from an experienced tester, as well as the part i think is the worst: the sponsorship bias... LTT reviews their products basically on what money they get instead of actually making a decent enthusiast review(this only is true for everything except computer parts IMO): like take for example the nzxt keyboard; every single keeb you tuber actually hated it, while James says it’s a “””entry point””” into customs
It would be cool to have LTT labs go over the language used in audio reviews. That way we can be better informed in what you're hearing vs what comes out of youtube.
Yeah, this intro suggests that analog wired audio is in decline. As a percentage of market share that might be true, but the growth of chi-fi.... IEMs, high end dacs, headphones I have never been more popular and never been growing so rapidly.
I asked dbrand to draw a wizard on my order and when my order came... There was a freaking awesome sharpie drawing of a wizard on a post-it in the box.
Linus constantly impresses me with just how much he does not rest on his laurels. And the joyous thing is it feels like something he wants to do, not just something he does for the money.
@@Cypeq No it's not if it was he would have told you straight out of the gate like he always does. plus it's an FTC violation to mention or show a product that you were paid to feature in a YT video.
That's kinda what PC part review sites did back in the day... but then YT happened and all the ad money went from forums and review sites to YT... and nobody in YT land has been comprehensive enough. LTT labs cannot come soon enough.
Can't tell if Linus is dumbfounded by the sound quality or that Encanto track hit deep. Dude went straight monotone. Rare and impressive, gg Sennheiser.
I was thinking about wired buds yesterday, now that the hype around wireless buds is long gone, I started seeing more and more disavantages with it. The audio quality over BT, the degradable batteries that eventually goes to a landfill, the fact that you have to charge these things all the time, it's kinda more inconvenient than using wired ones, and oveall a worst experience. These things might seem obvious to some people, but till some time ago I still thought the pros of wireless far outweighted the cons
some pros of wireless headphones are they make the wired one discounted. I got the JBL endurance run on like 60% discount because the demand of wireless is much bigger than wired ones. although, true pros of wireless earbuds is convenience while in a gym. lifting, squat, and exercises with no restraint of cable and phone nearby.
Yea sure.. start using wired again, and when your phone drops when the wire get stuck to a doorknob or the wires get entangled so badly you just leave them because you have no 15mins to untangle them, then you'll switch back to wireless ;)
And audio quality over bluetooth isn't as bad as it used to be. You get some neobuds pro for 100$ and you get dual driver wireless buds with the best ANC/transparency mode and audio quality in its price range with support for LDAC, and LHDC. Both support up to 900kbps bitrate, which is more than plenty for any music streaming service.
This has been my reaction to wireless headphones since day 1. I've used wired headphones since the Walkman days and I've never had a problem with them. Pro-tip if you're always getting the wire stuck on things just run it under your shirt.
@@neroxyn7625 Sennheiser are still around. It's true that their consumer products weren't doing too well, but they were still selling. They just decided they didn't want to invest the money there. They still exist selling to (the much more profitable) business sector. The company that bought the Sennheiser Consumer Division and the right to use the Sennheiser name for consumer products, Sonova, are am audio health company. But they specialise in, well, hearing. And they've had a good shot at the audiophile world before when they were called Phonak. The Phonak Audéo PFEs were considered one of the best budget audiophile headphones.
There's really nothing going away about quality wired IEMs and headphones. The vast majority of "normies" won't get them, but that's not the same thing as saying no one will get them. Getting good music hardware for good music listening isn't going to go away. Hell, it doesn't even need to be "getting GOOD music hardware." For instance, people like the vibe around vinyl just because of the way it is. They like the nostalgia and imperfections unique to it. If you meant it's going away to mean "it's plunging in popularity," then not even then. Only in NA and maybe Europe is that happening, rampant consumerist sheep in audio product development are pushing wireless earphones to be made and marketing HARD to sniff the snail trail of Apple as it butt scooches across audio device evolution.
IE80 owner here. I'm keeping those for years to come. They're just too good, and the replaceable cable means they will last for a ridiculously long time without needing to replace them, barring the cable, of course.
Two things: (1) there are other, admittedly smaller, companies still making wired portable headphones. Audiophile companies still exist and haven't moved to Bluetooth for obvious reasons. You can get some good ones still around $100-$200 too. (2) As an audiophile, there is one very legitimate reason to get a third-party cable when your first-party cable is not broken: Ergonomics. Third-party cables can be longer, more flexible and less prone to making noise when they bounce against stuff. But yeah, the "my cables are made of gooooold!" stuff is utter nonsense. I've spent more than enough money to know for certain.
Also, as an audiophile? I 100% run my $2,000 CIEMs off a bluetooth adapter on my phone with Spotify. I care about the other stuff when I'm at my desk but if I'm using my phone I'm out in the world and I'm not focus listening.
@@asgdhgsfhrfgfd1170 let us know how the moon drop chu's are when you get them! their wire isn't detachable though right? (asking cos i have a bluetooth adapter which converts my iems to a tws)
That reminds me of the "coat hanger test", where audiophiles were not able to tell the difference between super expensive cables and coat hangers in a blind test. Though, long cables can act like antennas.¹ Therefore, appropriate shielding can help to keep the signal clean. When running very long analog connections (for instance in music studios, on film sets or with PA systems), balanced cables are often a good choice, as long as the hardware supports them.²³ But all this shielding and error correction stuff has nothing to do with the material of the actual cable. Using oxygen free wires, braded sleeves, pretty branding and gold plating won't provide any better audio quality than standard cables with properly soldered connectors. 1) This does not apply to optical cables. More about shielded cables: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shielded_cable 2) More about balanced audio: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_audio 3) I am skipping over digital connections, where error correction is often part of the protocols used.
Wireless just cannot compete with wired, when you want quality. Also, if the cable is fine and the small contacts inside the 3.5 mm jack - it just works! I've had more trouble with some bluetooth headphones than the wired ones. Still, I am loving my Soundcore Q30 - a nice combo between bluetooth and 3.5 mm jack headphones for a good price.
IEM's are faaaaar away from dying, Linus. It's the wireless stuff that's dying. Not because they're not popular, but because they need to rely on a battery, which will inevitably die. Cabled Headphones and IEM's just work whenever you want, most likely for your entire life.
Ear buds that easily get lost or have their non-replacable batteries die after some time is a dream come true for corporations, they can keep re-selling the same e-waste again and again. I'm still using my Sennheiser PX-100 (17 years old) on the go, and HD600 (11 years old) for home use without a problem, except for replacing the ear cushions once every few years. Wireless is surely very convenient, but comes with a lot of baggage.
Seriously, this. Unless battery technology moves forward faster this wireless fad is going to die real fast when people realize they're going to have to spend hundreds of dollars over time just replacing Bluetooth earbuds that have dead batteries.
I got Soundcore Q35's recently. Great battery life of up to 40 hours, LDAC, ANC, and an optional Aux cord. Wireless sadly isn't going anywhere, Whatever Apple does other manufacturers blindly follow weather it's a good idea or not, luckily Bluetooth tech is getting better but slowly.
@@TruFalco The point isn't really that battery life is bad, it's that the battery itself will die after a few years as in not work properly anymore. Meanwhile you can own IEMs for dozens of years and they'll still work fine after all of that time.
Loudness war is ending. Latest red hot chili peppers album was "audiophile" aka uncompressed and unlimited. Streaming services will loudness match songs, and mixing engineers and mastering engineers know this. Many have eased off on making everything pump.
I literally just took my IE600s out of my ears to watch this video. It is a stellar headphone that works well on 3.5 out of an iPhone dongle as well as how i use it with a dedicated dac/amp withe the 4.4mm balanced cable. Despite many comments here, wired IEMs are far from dying.
Are they relatively new, because I've only heard of the ie600's which are refreshed to be really good. You might even be missing out on better sound if your pair is really old.
@@Daniel-dj7fh The IE600 is a new IEM and was released about 1 Month ago. So there is no refresh but an entirely new headphone in the line of IE300/600/900. I think you might confuse them with the IE800.
@@Thezftw Depends on the source material and the dac/amp. I would say that going balanced would be the last step in the quest for great mobile audio. The balanced connection opens up the soundstage and you can hear just a tad more separation between the instruments . It makes the imaging clearer. I would say that unbalanced 3.5mm works great with this easy to drive headphone, but 4.4mm makes it a tad more 3 dimensional.
been rocking the etymotic er4xrs as a daily driver for a bit now. to hear you reference these as a better version of those is outstanding, because the etymotics are far and away the best ive heard in the sub-500 price point, which means this is a logical step for those wanting to get into the next "tier" of audio gear.
Zirconium is a very abundant and cheap metal (Column 4, Row 5 of the Periodic Table, right under Titanium) with a solid B in every category (cost, availability, material properties, workability), it's just a super overlooked metal, despite being very good at everything.
maybe look for a replacement cable with the usb c plug so you can plug them in to a newer phone Edit i've searched and unfortunately they only seem to make lightning mmcx cables, shure has a usb c one but its unavaliable
Man, every time LLinus puts in some quality headphones and listens to music, at the end he's just so in the zone. You can feel the stress and any forced excitement leave and it's just raw. I don't know if we'll get that with 'data driven' reviews of these. Yeah it'll be cool to know that info for some audiophiles, but simply seeing the change in demeanor after listening with these earphones would have me sold if I had that kind of money and use case.
These will be around for a long while yet. On stage musicians either use wedges (speakers) or IEMs like this. They'll be around for years and years, Bluetooth is the wrong tech for stage monitoring
@@antonhelsgaun chi-iems or chifi is an untouched subject. most reviews just came from untrusted c outlet. it's annoying that all the time they review it, it was always sponsored by those chifi iem company. so you didn't know if they sugarcoat something or nor
@@thankyouverymochi 1. There's lots of trustworthy reviewers who review chifi. 2. I said Ciems not chifi. It means custom iem. Also made by American and European companies
I'm one of the stubborn ones who keeps using the wire (Shure SE846). I tried dozens of bluetooth headphones, even premium ones. All of them sound like from inside of a well compared to my Shure's. I'll take headphone jack to my grave, marketing be damned.
The reason almost every wireless audio product sounds like crap isn't because they're wireless, it's because they're mass market junk. The best thing about wired headphones is that you can make them wireless. The SE846 uses an MMCX connector, which can be used with something like the Fiio UTWS5 to turn it into the best TWS headphone you've ever heard. I use the older UTWS3 with my Moondrop Dusks and they sound just as good wireless as they do wired.
@@GonePh1shing It varies WILDLY depending on the wireless type and implementation, too. Lots of 'wired' IEMs are used with wireless packs, but that's a full transmitter/receiver setup, not a tiny bt chipset pair with random protocols/compression
@@33gles It really doesn't vary that much, not audibly. Even the universal Bluetooth codec (SBC) can do 320kbps, which the vast majority of people cannot tell the difference between that and lossless. You also don't need a full Tx/Rx radio setup unless it's for stage use, and that's really only for range and reliability, not audio quality. There's nothing stopping any competent audio manufacturer from making any of their products wireless other than market demand.
Get a Fiio BTR5. I have a set of 846's I daily drive with a BTR5 for dac/amp and it's absolutely perfect. BTR5 has power to drive much bigger cans, so these 846's are effortless. But my BTR5 lives in my shirt pocket so it's effectively wireless for me - phone is completely separate. This of course means you can use phones/devices that don't have headphone Jack's in them, and opens up newer devices. But the BTR5 is just awesome- better sounding than my previous phones with jacks.
Oh man, I'm excited for their audio labs. I've worked with the Binaural heads for many years and it's such a cool sensation to play back binaural recordings through headphones. Shoutout to HEAD Acoustics for their HMS series.
I’m excited to hear there is an audio person coming to LMG! As an audio engineer I love diversity of reviews of products and keeping up with them, just to know who I’m mixing songs for!
Linus u were the reason i bought my ie80s years ago, still love them and they're still the best earbuds ever. They got me into sennheiser products and I've never looked back from their amazing quality. Thanks so much and I'm probably gonna buy these when the 80s eventually kick the bucket haha
@@OvertopAccel thats great. dankpods for the funny, crin for the objective measurement and objective sound quality, and Josh is for the absolute opposite of crin
Linus, when I test out new headphones either on-ear or in-ear, for me…my favorite music is 60s-90s hard rock/heavy metal, blues and jazz. In the Hard Rock songs: I’m 18 by Alice Cooper; 6:00 by Dream Theater; Working Man by Rush; Black Diamond by KISS, Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath & Perfect Strangers by Deep Purple; Blues: The Sky Is Crying by Gary Moore & Jazz: Al Di Meola & Dave Weckel. That for me helps feel the tonality of the headphones.
Not even, a last week launch by the name of Moondrop Chu got ultra-budget-fi creaming their collective pants and is a mobile geared IEM, mic included or not.
@@Derfderk My point is more so that there aren't many devices with 3.5mm jacks anymore, so it's kinda hard to consider anything mobile in the sense of like a phone since most people don't want dongles. I have a couple pairs of IEMs that I love but I never use them with my phone, only with my Fiio M9
We will see if sonova will make it better or worse, sonova is still a good company imo so my judgement still pending. Senn audiophile product is great (they are not mass produced if i'm not wrong) but their mass market one is not so good because well it mass produced (from china usually), i hope this transfer will make it better..
Yeah I have a pair of really old HD 449's that I adore, it's hard finding decent replacements as everything seems to want to shift to Bluetooth and that's not happening on my watch lol Wired all the way until I die
In my opinion, it's worth getting the foam ones and replacing every couple of months. I find the silicone tips don't fit properly in my right ear, even if silicone lasts longer, I value comfort.
@@mikewheeler9011 I always try them on the various earbuds I've owned but kept going back to the silicone cause they just never fit my ears properly. I think I need bigger ones that never come with headphones. They always fallout and don't isolate as well for me
IEMs are definitely not dying, it’s an insanely thriving market with crazy competition for small budgets to bank breaking budgets. You can get an amazing IEM for $20 and you could get something god tier for $1000+, but you can get something god tier for just $100+ because that competition has brought us great sounds for all types and innovations in audio.
I still have a pair of 10 year old Sennheiser over the ear, I repaired the wire many times but they still sound great! Sennheiser has trust as a customer.
Oh my god the number of times I wanted to use wired buds because of bluetooth issues, very relatable. Bluetooth buds/headphones have their advantage of wire management but the sound quality is still not par as compared to high res certified wired earphones/headphones which are of comparable prices. For true audiophiles who don't mind wires, wired is still the way to go or you spend 400-500$ for those sony high res certified wireless
Yeah although they just got caught using fake drivers. Crinacle distance himself from his products with them. It is true that the blossoming chi-fi market is exciting but KZ's reputation has taken a dive this last few months. Ccz, moondrop, blon, however ...
@@michaelcorcoran8768 There are no fake drivers in the CRN-KZ. All of them are connected and work but only the dynamic driver can really be heard. The other two drivers are playing at such a low volume compared to the dynamic driver that they don't play a significant role in the sound. Crinacle has an article about the situation on his website.
Couple rants here as a cheap IEM guy: 1) The lack of microphone is because they are designed for listening not talking 2) MMCX is objectively inferior to 2 pin so any companies that give their high end iems should be ashamed 3) they're iems, stick them into anything and they'll run unless they're tin p series
How is MMCX inferior? I prefer it to 2 pin as the ability to spin and adjust is nice. Also nice IEMs while not needing an amp most of the time sound better even with something like a Schiit Magni Heresy or another basic amp.
I wish more IEM'S had mics to be honest. Although, IEM Cables with Mic Exist which can be interchanged with them. Still though. It should be an option for the user.
i swap my 2 pins from cable to bluetooth depending on if i'm gaming or on the go and i think in a case like mine the simpler and less fickle modularity of mmcx is a better fit for some uses
Oh man it's kinda sad that Linus doesn't know about the IEM tech explosion in East and South-East Asia. Manufacturers like Moondrop have been blowing Sennheiser and Sony out of the water at literally 10 times less price. I bet if he tried a Blessing 2 Dusk for a couple of weeks he wouldn't go back to wireless, and if he tried the Chu he wouldn't guess they're $20. Or maybe even an AKG N400 in case he hates wires, still miles above the AirPods.
@@heat.death_999 personally I'd put them like just behind starfields, I did order the chu to try the spring tips tho so will definitely be giving those a try. But yeah e500 is around that price too and is really impressive as well (assuming no qc issues). Definitely don't need to pay a lot to get something quality.
You can find good sounding stuff for cheap. You just need to know what to look for. Dankpods have some videos on audiophile equipment, both cheap and expensive and old. He also has lots of videos on old cheap mp3 players, also known as 'nuggets'.
@@mcmadness110 Yup! I got a pair of ZSN Pro's after he recommended them. Those 30$ earphones sound better to me than AKG K702's, which were four times the price. On one hand, they're amazing for that price, but also make me wonder if it's worth spending money on more expensive equipment.
Yeah, i don't really have the money to get the headphones of my dreams but holy ahit. My 20€ KZ IEMs sound better than some 200€ Bluetooth Headphones i got to experience
Bluetooth has come a long way and modern Bluetooth connection, depending on the codec, can handle near 300 kbps bitrate, and with some codes well over that, too. Top of the line wired IEMs and cans will sound better than top of the line BT headphones, but most people are not willing to spend €400 or more on any kind of headphones, especially if they are also expected to purchase a DAC and an Amp. As for losing the BT earphones... how? They should either be in your ear or in your case, anything else is your carelessness. If they are falling out of your ear, you need to get a different fit or different earphones. If you are losing them in the case, then that is no different than losing IEMs in their case.
@@sujimayne stupid codecs shit doesnt really matter. what matters is the driver, most mainstream bluetooth makers are mass produce shit and doesnt actually care about sound quality and no it doesnt take 400 bucks + amp and dac to get better sound quality than bluetooth. get a moondrop chu for 20 bucks plug it to a crappy samsung phone with headphone jack from 5 years ago and it already sounds and tuned better than 100 to 200 bucks bluetooth earphones/headphones
Chi-fi iems market share are growing bigger and bigger due to the large Asian audience and the growing western audience. I have been the the audio hobby for almost ten years and brands like Moondrop, qdc, and thieaudio are creating iems that are amazing for thier price points
Every time I consider going jackless, there's always something that ends up bringing me back to earth. My Moondrop SSPs are still going strong, so chances are I end up getting a DAP before I get a phone now.
6:44 With $600 dollar earphone they are probably being brought by musicians using them on audio interfaces or dedicated iem mixers so you should test with a dac at some point
Kinda off-topic but at 9:02, isnt it true that even old music has been affected by loudness wars and the only way to listen to them originally is to listen to cds/vinyls made before 1991?
I use kz in ears with Bluetooth addons, they still sound great. Any time you can rehook them with the wire. Overall this sennheiser is a type of in ear monitors not your usual in ear headphones. Price and sound quality equals at that price range.
Whilst I prefer over ears to in ears, this is a testament to real audio lovers dedication to keeping this genre alive and doing well. I keep a chi-fi setup attached to my computer (Suca Audio's Tube-T2 with custom tube rolling done to it) for some extra oomph whilst listening to my low end but excellent Brainwavz HM5's and other assorted over ears because I actually LIKE music. Bluetooth is for convenience, nothing more. If you like music, get real headphones and see what you've been missing out on with watered down Bluetooth headphones. Thanks for still reviewing this Linus! I look forward to the upgraded rig you spoke about!
More headphone/audio videos! And yeah, Sennheiser are pretty great at giving their headphones a neutral and balanced sound, that has been my experience too.
6:34 that exact razer dongle with the metal THX tip casings and braided cable is the best usb c to 3.5 dongle i have ever used and have used mine i got from when i got the first razer phone to this day, can never say another dongle is better since using it
The body is probably made with powder bed 3d printing. Essentially its a vacuum sealed fish tank flooded with Argon gas. You smooth out the bed of metal powder and have a laser come in and selectively melt the areas you want metal to be printed. The level of the powder bed is raised and smoothed and the laser comes in again. This is done until the part is complete. You can get some insane material properties out of this processing technique.
I'd love to switch back to wired headphones. But one of the secondary benefits of wireless is the battery allows for beam forming microphones and background noise removal (wind), something I've grown dependent on.
Sennheiser in general are just an incredible headphone company. I used a pair of 100 series headphones and they were great at the time. Sadly, they discontinued that brand and all "The Source" here in Canada was willing to offer me was a crappy pair of Xtra Bass 40 dollar headphones. As apparently the 129 dollars I paid on my original headphones wasn't equal to anything more than that... thanks a lot Source... But I chose to buy a pair of 598SRs in 2018 and they are still sounding amazing here in 2022. My only gripe is that the ear pads get a bit gross after a few months of wearing, but that's an easy fix as the ear pads are removable and with a little laundry detergent and warm water I can have them close to new again. With the 3 year additional warranty, replaceable cables, they are well worth the 250-300 I paid for them.
ive had sennheiser hphones since the mid 80s. they last forever & sound great. also being able to buy spares has been able to keep ageing products alive much more than the throw away stuff others make.
It may be just weird combination of light/filter/whatever, but Linus looks like he just came back from a party and insted of falling into slumber he realized there is a video to make.
been contemplating jumping in and buying some good iem but as a noob I've watched so many videos and get confused. i appreciate this upload though ! I also appreciate the communities & companies that keep pushing to keep this type of audio experience alive !!
@@tyeo yeah I found his chanel somewhere in this rabbit hole and love his content. 👋 also ty ! Such a nice community . Ty for the suggestion I also was looking at that brand as alot of ppl say the aria is an easy entry to know if your interested before spending to much if that makes sense ?! Lol. Anyways thanks again for the reply/ suggestion.
Moondrop Aria, T3+, Dunu Titan S are roughly the top 3 IEMs under 100, each offering something slightly different. But if you ask me, if you really are not sure if the money you are going to spend is worthwhile because you're new, then I suggest getting something a little cheaper to test the waters. I think the primary thing most people new to audiophile would notice between IEMs and regular earphones is the tuning or tonality, not really the technicalities like soundstage, detail and imaging. So find a well-tuned IEM and see if you like it. It seems Monndrop released the Chu recently which is quite highly-praised for offering good tuning at 20. While the technicalities may not be on par with more expensive IEMs, it should be a great starting point. And of course the Chu's tuning is more neutral and balanced, so it might sounds really different than any other earphones you tried. Run with it for a couple months at least to see if you like it, because tuning can be quite subjective. You might like more V-shape sound signature too. And in that case, you probably know enough to get yourself another set of IEMs which suit your preference.
@@_unkn0wnus3r_85 ty ty also 👋👋. yeah I saw the chu and considered this also but I deff don't mind paying a little extra if it is a better experience. Just so many good starting options haha 😄. I guess this is a good thing bc everyone likes diff stuff.. also funny enough I wake up to a video of top iem under 100 from crin . Yall know your stuff bc its the same suggestions haha. Ty again for your time and efforts.
I have galaxy buds and also normal headphones. I also have a pair of FA9, and every time I use those for music I'm just astounded at how much better it is than my other options. Bluetooth is amazingly fine until you actually compare it to something else.
Of all the devices I've owned over the last 40 years, I've never gotten tired of a good set of earbuds and an iPod. The only thing better was a pair of Over-ear headphones (I forget which brand) and a Sony turntable. I still have my first CD player (from '87) and while it's awesome, it's just not as portable as I'd like.
@@Florianski yeah… that’s pretty much what the harman tuning curve is. i was just saying that he was said two iems were comparable when they are tuned to two different tuning curves. both are still excellent iems.
'no obvious way to disassemble' and I manage to pull out the driver straight away the moment I got mine, and glue it back on, so yeah...love the sound, qc sure need some work
Alien Ears (for musicians and performers, not general public) are about the same price but contain six drivers in a much larger shell. Super comfortable in your ear, super annoying to carry around in your pocket. Add the cost of an audiologist visit for ear impressions and the 6-8 week lead time and they're obviously not a good consumer product. (The shells also crack if stepped on and it costs like $400 US to re-shell them. Ask me how I know.) But for the lols I'd love to see Linus compare with them. If nothing else the isolation is amazing so the noise floor is lower, SNR is much higher. You'll hear things in tracks you shouldn't have been able to hear.
These aren’t the last of a dying breed, professional in ear monitors are used for musicians constantly, I use them to keep tempo while playing the drums at concerts and they’re great to use in a mechanic shop too since the foam tips act as pretty good ear plugs for noise isolation
"Perhaps one of the last of a dying breed..." That gave a chuckle. Sure, a lot more people are going for TWEs, but people like me don't like the fact that you'd have to throw the whole set away when it's fried, or when one side got screwed for whatever reason. That's where the IEM-BT DAC combo comes into the scene - best of both worlds with a slight annoyance to some due to usually long wires. I just wear the IEM as a necklace to cope with that.
Fun fact: our engineers tuned the IE 600 to the Encanto soundtrack.
Really?
Cheaper he-1 when????
Better late than never
Lol
waw how quirky
Easily their best IEM yet. And that includes the $1,300 IE900.
dang the god is here
Now we wait for that collab...
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Omg it's Crin. 7th!
I just love how strongly the community here agrees that wired headphones aren’t dying
Never have been
It's almost like removing the jack was a mistake in the first place XD. Thanks Apple... and everyone else who followed them.
aaah yeah heaphone wires. The utterly stupid annoyance I dealt with the last time 5 years ago. If you want I can give some free wired heaphones, obviously with broken or lose contact wires.
Also that reminds me to clean out the dust from my 3.5mm ports that I never used since buying the devices they belong to and properly seal this additional ingress port for dirt and liquids.
Ah and I'm also reminded the chungus port steals almost 1cm^3 of space inside my phone that could've otherwise been used for additional battery capacity.
Nevermind, I'll let you guys go back to playing with optical drives and PS/2 peripherals.
@@RandomUser2401 you are obviously very young or very old, most humans learn to tie laces and handle headphone cables quite competently when young and never have those issues ever again, you simply cannot beat the sound quality through a wire
@@psycronizer not to mention you don't have to worry about any battery power besides your phone
IEMS are far from being a “dying breed” - in fact, they’re arguably more popular than ever right now.
I would say they are actually a dying breed. Many smartphones do not include headphone jack and those that do, do not have a powerful DAC. Normal consumers are not going to buy IEMs and an expensive audio player just to get audiophile level of sound quality. That's why IEMs are not marketed towards regular consumer market.
@@Savant_Ananya think about it this way, even after the best efforts of tech giant companies, headphone jack is still not dead on mid,cheap and high-end smartphones
iems will outlive humans lol
@@Savant_AnanyaDongles are actually surprisingly good, and work great as an entry level dac amp. As someone in the audio community, there are now more people then ever asking for the best iems to get, thanks to youtubers like dankpods, crinacle and other audio channels.
@@Savant_Ananya IEMs don't require a 'powerful' (whatever that is supposed to mean) DAC - in fact, the Apple dongle is good enough even with many headphones. Additionally, there are many cheap IEMs that are wonderful, and do not require any amps, DACs, or DAPs - take a look at the Tin T2 and the Moondrop Aria as examples. Finally, IEMs are not used only with mobile devices; many people use them with desktops and laptops.
@@Savant_Ananya ignorance. people who arent getting iems now were never going to get iems in the first place, and vice versa. with the increasing number of brands and products with greater value, theres been an increasing audiophile community, more than ever before, even if they are beginners/entry level.
"I forgot how this felt..." And "It was over 2 years ago" are right on the money for me Linus.
And the part about having a 3.5mm Jack :(
well, if it's been that long I can give you a hand....(lol)
I really hope LTT gets back to reviewing headphones and IEMs.
Nah man, we already got Zeos or literally 100 other TH-camrs for that that don't do anything else but review audio products... and they actually know what they're talking about. XD
Literally said LTT Labs is gonna do straight up Frequency Response Curves in the video
@@precoixousold521 just the other day there was a TH-cam story about them buying 2 of those artificial heads (in which you can put microphones) for LTT labs for proper headphone testing.
really disagree. ltt lacks in-depth analysis(such as graphs) and stuff you’d get from an experienced tester, as well as the part i think is the worst: the sponsorship bias... LTT reviews their products basically on what money they get instead of actually making a decent enthusiast review(this only is true for everything except computer parts IMO): like take for example the nzxt keyboard; every single keeb you tuber actually hated it, while James says it’s a “””entry point””” into customs
but if they get better I really think that getting enthusiast grade gear to mainstream is a really important concept!!
It would be cool to have LTT labs go over the language used in audio reviews. That way we can be better informed in what you're hearing vs what comes out of youtube.
Yeah, this intro suggests that analog wired audio is in decline. As a percentage of market share that might be true, but the growth of chi-fi.... IEMs, high end dacs, headphones I have never been more popular and never been growing so rapidly.
@@michaelcorcoran8768 and i think it's mainly thanks to those waifu box arts that it reaches far beyond what it used to. lol
Hire DMS back
@@ersyadiaz is that "waifu box" was moondrop?
Bump
I gotta say. I usually skip through the sponsor messages and stuff. But when Durand does some stupid stuff like this I watch the whole thing. Love it.
Agreed
I asked dbrand to draw a wizard on my order and when my order came... There was a freaking awesome sharpie drawing of a wizard on a post-it in the box.
Thanks we Durands like to do stupid stuff.
I love Durand
Hahaha me too!
I'm actually very excited to start seeing headphone reviews with the freakish ears on a stand. Frank would be pleased.
Fellow Dankpods watcher I see
Indeed
Likely the measurement system they'll be using is a lot more accurate than the H.E.A.R.S
DANK PODSSSS
Will there be a dingus though?
Loving how Linus is basically just building a QA testing company for the people
Linus constantly impresses me with just how much he does not rest on his laurels. And the joyous thing is it feels like something he wants to do, not just something he does for the money.
GamersNexus too
@@Cypeq No it's not if it was he would have told you straight out of the gate like he always does. plus it's an FTC violation to mention or show a product that you were paid to feature in a YT video.
That's kinda what PC part review sites did back in the day... but then YT happened and all the ad money went from forums and review sites to YT... and nobody in YT land has been comprehensive enough. LTT labs cannot come soon enough.
seize the means of testing
as soon a i heard "600", my brain got all into HUH-DUH SIXHUNDUH
Im surprised they didn't give a shoutout since Dankpods is going on floatplane
By Ol' mate Sen
Dankpods follower i see
I was literally searching for it, as it popped in comment random part!!!❤
Can't tell if Linus is dumbfounded by the sound quality or that Encanto track hit deep. Dude went straight monotone.
Rare and impressive, gg Sennheiser.
Glad someone else noticed it! Getting Linus to chill for a few minutes speaks way more about this product than most others. Like he was in awe
Yeah!
Dbrand just gets me every time, legendary marketing team.
Seriously. They’re as good as the Wendy’s twitter account was like ~10 years ago
i checked the promo, it actually already expired now
did they really just run a 15 minutes promo? lol
@@wiyandriluwisto3973 100%
And not the first time they've done it haha
It's becoming off-putting to me. Sometimes they need to turn off the act and just give normal, professional responses.
@@ImAlsoMerobiba You say they need to, because you *think* they need to. They don't - they can do whatever they want.
They're robots after all.
I was thinking about wired buds yesterday, now that the hype around wireless buds is long gone, I started seeing more and more disavantages with it. The audio quality over BT, the degradable batteries that eventually goes to a landfill, the fact that you have to charge these things all the time, it's kinda more inconvenient than using wired ones, and oveall a worst experience. These things might seem obvious to some people, but till some time ago I still thought the pros of wireless far outweighted the cons
some pros of wireless headphones are they make the wired one discounted. I got the JBL endurance run on like 60% discount because the demand of wireless is much bigger than wired ones.
although, true pros of wireless earbuds is convenience while in a gym. lifting, squat, and exercises with no restraint of cable and phone nearby.
Yea sure.. start using wired again, and when your phone drops when the wire get stuck to a doorknob or the wires get entangled so badly you just leave them because you have no 15mins to untangle them, then you'll switch back to wireless ;)
And audio quality over bluetooth isn't as bad as it used to be. You get some neobuds pro for 100$ and you get dual driver wireless buds with the best ANC/transparency mode and audio quality in its price range with support for LDAC, and LHDC. Both support up to 900kbps bitrate, which is more than plenty for any music streaming service.
This has been my reaction to wireless headphones since day 1. I've used wired headphones since the Walkman days and I've never had a problem with them.
Pro-tip if you're always getting the wire stuck on things just run it under your shirt.
@@Weaver_Games the wire getting stuck was never a big deal, it in fact saved my phone from falling once, lmao
“The last of a dying breed”
Audiophiles know around dozen IEMs are still launched like every month
Yeah it's a massive growth area.
when he said that it hurt. linus should try the u12ts
chifi ftw
Wired iems are in the best place they've been ever lol. They're getting more development wireless headphones these days lol.
More like ear assistant devices because they have been acquired by ear assistant company for not bankruptcy i heard.
@@neroxyn7625 sennheiser have yes, there are many many more companies than sennheiser
@@neroxyn7625 yeah as if parent companies branching out is always bad oh wait..
@@neroxyn7625 Sennheiser are still around. It's true that their consumer products weren't doing too well, but they were still selling. They just decided they didn't want to invest the money there. They still exist selling to (the much more profitable) business sector.
The company that bought the Sennheiser Consumer Division and the right to use the Sennheiser name for consumer products, Sonova, are am audio health company. But they specialise in, well, hearing. And they've had a good shot at the audiophile world before when they were called Phonak. The Phonak Audéo PFEs were considered one of the best budget audiophile headphones.
There's really nothing going away about quality wired IEMs and headphones.
The vast majority of "normies" won't get them, but that's not the same thing as saying no one will get them. Getting good music hardware for good music listening isn't going to go away.
Hell, it doesn't even need to be "getting GOOD music hardware." For instance, people like the vibe around vinyl just because of the way it is. They like the nostalgia and imperfections unique to it.
If you meant it's going away to mean "it's plunging in popularity," then not even then. Only in NA and maybe Europe is that happening, rampant consumerist sheep in audio product development are pushing wireless earphones to be made and marketing HARD to sniff the snail trail of Apple as it butt scooches across audio device evolution.
That's like saying manual cars aren't going away
Accept it or not they will not be made anymore
@@lIlIllIlIllIlllIllIIIIIIIIIlII you clearly have no idea what you are talking about.
facts, bluetooth buds are a waste, they lack wires but that's the only upside
@@kai_444 deepshit, might be true only for low budget tws
@@lIlIllIlIllIlllIllIIIIIIIIIlII Nah mate, IEMs actually do have a purpose outside of regular consumers using them.
IE80 owner here. I'm keeping those for years to come. They're just too good, and the replaceable cable means they will last for a ridiculously long time without needing to replace them, barring the cable, of course.
Senn's mid-range and high end wired lineup is solid. Absolutely loving my HD560S I got a week ago.
Have my HD600 for years now. Still such a good product to get
Dbrand is by far my favorite sponsor simply because of the interactions between LMG and Dbrand.
Sick headphones too, but we're really here for dbrand.
We haven’t missed the promotion either :D
No we aren’t. Dbrand is one of the worst companies there is and only people who like that nonsense are kids.
@@Frank72364 Do you have any sources on the "one of the worst companies there is" type things they've done??
@@KCGatchi They sell overpriced crap to edgy kids and stupid people.
😁❤🎶Esta otra canción también va ser un Hit! 🎶🎧th-cam.com/video/Cg0pXavHk6o/w-d-xo.html
Two things: (1) there are other, admittedly smaller, companies still making wired portable headphones. Audiophile companies still exist and haven't moved to Bluetooth for obvious reasons. You can get some good ones still around $100-$200 too. (2) As an audiophile, there is one very legitimate reason to get a third-party cable when your first-party cable is not broken: Ergonomics. Third-party cables can be longer, more flexible and less prone to making noise when they bounce against stuff. But yeah, the "my cables are made of gooooold!" stuff is utter nonsense. I've spent more than enough money to know for certain.
Etymotic, nothing can even compare simply because pf ear canal resonance (except Oluv's EFP2)...
Now the question is, are there any "audiophile" products that are not thoroughly laced with BS speech and magical thinking.
Also, as an audiophile? I 100% run my $2,000 CIEMs off a bluetooth adapter on my phone with Spotify. I care about the other stuff when I'm at my desk but if I'm using my phone I'm out in the world and I'm not focus listening.
@@asgdhgsfhrfgfd1170 let us know how the moon drop chu's are when you get them! their wire isn't detachable though right? (asking cos i have a bluetooth adapter which converts my iems to a tws)
That reminds me of the "coat hanger test", where audiophiles were not able to tell the difference between super expensive cables and coat hangers in a blind test. Though, long cables can act like antennas.¹ Therefore, appropriate shielding can help to keep the signal clean. When running very long analog connections (for instance in music studios, on film sets or with PA systems), balanced cables are often a good choice, as long as the hardware supports them.²³ But all this shielding and error correction stuff has nothing to do with the material of the actual cable. Using oxygen free wires, braded sleeves, pretty branding and gold plating won't provide any better audio quality than standard cables with properly soldered connectors.
1) This does not apply to optical cables. More about shielded cables: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shielded_cable
2) More about balanced audio: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_audio
3) I am skipping over digital connections, where error correction is often part of the protocols used.
Wireless just cannot compete with wired, when you want quality. Also, if the cable is fine and the small contacts inside the 3.5 mm jack - it just works! I've had more trouble with some bluetooth headphones than the wired ones. Still, I am loving my Soundcore Q30 - a nice combo between bluetooth and 3.5 mm jack headphones for a good price.
Wireless can compete if you use some wireless adapters like the utws5 on wired iems transforming them into wireless ones ;)
@@Florianski no
@@adibafiq6945 what do you mean no?
@@Florianski he obviously disagrees xD
if you have a >320kbit/s streaming service, yeah then maybe there will be a limitation on wireless. Ah yes those pesky normies.
It's always a sign when Linus goes to experience a product and gets absorbed into it.
My test album for new speakers or headphones is Pink Floyd’s wish you were here, it sounds incredible with a good set of cans.
IEM's are faaaaar away from dying, Linus. It's the wireless stuff that's dying. Not because they're not popular, but because they need to rely on a battery, which will inevitably die. Cabled Headphones and IEM's just work whenever you want, most likely for your entire life.
Ear buds that easily get lost or have their non-replacable batteries die after some time is a dream come true for corporations, they can keep re-selling the same e-waste again and again. I'm still using my Sennheiser PX-100 (17 years old) on the go, and HD600 (11 years old) for home use without a problem, except for replacing the ear cushions once every few years. Wireless is surely very convenient, but comes with a lot of baggage.
Seriously, this. Unless battery technology moves forward faster this wireless fad is going to die real fast when people realize they're going to have to spend hundreds of dollars over time just replacing Bluetooth earbuds that have dead batteries.
I got Soundcore Q35's recently. Great battery life of up to 40 hours, LDAC, ANC, and an optional Aux cord. Wireless sadly isn't going anywhere, Whatever Apple does other manufacturers blindly follow weather it's a good idea or not, luckily Bluetooth tech is getting better but slowly.
@@ltcuddles685 you see people would just move on to a newer pair of earbuds and the cycle continues.
@@TruFalco The point isn't really that battery life is bad, it's that the battery itself will die after a few years as in not work properly anymore. Meanwhile you can own IEMs for dozens of years and they'll still work fine after all of that time.
Loudness war is ending. Latest red hot chili peppers album was "audiophile" aka uncompressed and unlimited. Streaming services will loudness match songs, and mixing engineers and mastering engineers know this. Many have eased off on making everything pump.
The loudness war was also largely based on broadcast standards, too, trying to get the most volume out of radio/tv, which is becoming less relevant.
I literally just took my IE600s out of my ears to watch this video. It is a stellar headphone that works well on 3.5 out of an iPhone dongle as well as how i use it with a dedicated dac/amp withe the 4.4mm balanced cable. Despite many comments here, wired IEMs are far from dying.
Are they relatively new, because I've only heard of the ie600's which are refreshed to be really good. You might even be missing out on better sound if your pair is really old.
Are there any real benefits of doing balanced?
@@Daniel-dj7fh The IE600 is a new IEM and was released about 1 Month ago. So there is no refresh but an entirely new headphone in the line of IE300/600/900. I think you might confuse them with the IE800.
@@Thezftw Depends on the source material and the dac/amp. I would say that going balanced would be the last step in the quest for great mobile audio. The balanced connection opens up the soundstage and you can hear just a tad more separation between the instruments . It makes the imaging clearer. I would say that unbalanced 3.5mm works great with this easy to drive headphone, but 4.4mm makes it a tad more 3 dimensional.
@@Capyrkeys probably yes, thanks haha
been rocking the etymotic er4xrs as a daily driver for a bit now. to hear you reference these as a better version of those is outstanding, because the etymotics are far and away the best ive heard in the sub-500 price point, which means this is a logical step for those wanting to get into the next "tier" of audio gear.
Zirconium is a very abundant and cheap metal (Column 4, Row 5 of the Periodic Table, right under Titanium) with a solid B in every category (cost, availability, material properties, workability), it's just a super overlooked metal, despite being very good at everything.
Some of the Fiio DAPs you have owned in the past, have 4.4 balanced port
This is one of the reasons why I refuse to give up my note 9 as when I plug in my shure es 215 it sounds amazing compared to my galaxy buds pro.
This, recently swapped the battery of my note 9 just to keep my 3,5mm jack
maybe look for a replacement cable with the usb c plug so you can plug them in to a newer phone
Edit i've searched and unfortunately they only seem to make lightning mmcx cables, shure has a usb c one but its unavaliable
i have a midrange redmi note 7 with 3.5 mm jack. when this one dies i will buy a new redmi which still has a headphone jack.
Sony xperia 1 iii, modern phone with 4k oled screen, snapdragon 888 and headphone jack
Xperia is nice now that LG is gone
Linus, if you want different IEMs, check out Crinacle or other audio equipment reviewers.
Linus is aware of who Crinacle is. He used his fr graph for the AirPods Max video.
@@hamzasaeed918 Didn't know that. Thanks for informing me.
@@hamzasaeed918 honestly I think it is impossible to know what a fr graph is and not know who Crinacle is. Dude put in the work.
@@prgnify Definitely. I may not 100% agree with him, but he’s the audiophile TH-camr I trust the most.
@@hamzasaeed918 that’s what it’s all about 👍
Man, every time LLinus puts in some quality headphones and listens to music, at the end he's just so in the zone. You can feel the stress and any forced excitement leave and it's just raw.
I don't know if we'll get that with 'data driven' reviews of these. Yeah it'll be cool to know that info for some audiophiles, but simply seeing the change in demeanor after listening with these earphones would have me sold if I had that kind of money and use case.
Holy crap was I subbed to a lot of separate LTT channels....
all the separate reminders made me realize how many channels there were.
ciao forever!
These will be around for a long while yet. On stage musicians either use wedges (speakers) or IEMs like this. They'll be around for years and years, Bluetooth is the wrong tech for stage monitoring
Or ciems, if they're willing to pay for that
@@antonhelsgaun chi-iems or chifi is an untouched subject. most reviews just came from untrusted c outlet. it's annoying that all the time they review it, it was always sponsored by those chifi iem company. so you didn't know if they sugarcoat something or nor
@@thankyouverymochi 1. There's lots of trustworthy reviewers who review chifi.
2. I said Ciems not chifi. It means custom iem. Also made by American and European companies
I'm one of the stubborn ones who keeps using the wire (Shure SE846). I tried dozens of bluetooth headphones, even premium ones. All of them sound like from inside of a well compared to my Shure's. I'll take headphone jack to my grave, marketing be damned.
so true ......
The reason almost every wireless audio product sounds like crap isn't because they're wireless, it's because they're mass market junk. The best thing about wired headphones is that you can make them wireless. The SE846 uses an MMCX connector, which can be used with something like the Fiio UTWS5 to turn it into the best TWS headphone you've ever heard. I use the older UTWS3 with my Moondrop Dusks and they sound just as good wireless as they do wired.
@@GonePh1shing It varies WILDLY depending on the wireless type and implementation, too. Lots of 'wired' IEMs are used with wireless packs, but that's a full transmitter/receiver setup, not a tiny bt chipset pair with random protocols/compression
@@33gles It really doesn't vary that much, not audibly. Even the universal Bluetooth codec (SBC) can do 320kbps, which the vast majority of people cannot tell the difference between that and lossless.
You also don't need a full Tx/Rx radio setup unless it's for stage use, and that's really only for range and reliability, not audio quality. There's nothing stopping any competent audio manufacturer from making any of their products wireless other than market demand.
Get a Fiio BTR5. I have a set of 846's I daily drive with a BTR5 for dac/amp and it's absolutely perfect. BTR5 has power to drive much bigger cans, so these 846's are effortless. But my BTR5 lives in my shirt pocket so it's effectively wireless for me - phone is completely separate. This of course means you can use phones/devices that don't have headphone Jack's in them, and opens up newer devices. But the BTR5 is just awesome- better sounding than my previous phones with jacks.
I've been using the IE900s for months now. My favorite IEMs to date.
holy cow... just saw the MSRP on those... I guess they better be your favorites.
@@fordcougar99 the quality is so high I won't need to buy another pair for years to come unless I do something stupid to them.
Finally got it and it’s amazing!! Never thought a tiny 7mm driver could produce such accurate and tight sound
Oh man, I'm excited for their audio labs. I've worked with the Binaural heads for many years and it's such a cool sensation to play back binaural recordings through headphones. Shoutout to HEAD Acoustics for their HMS series.
Just gonna say that high end IEM's arn't a dying breed, :P
Error in the timestamp at 4:46. Should clearly read "sponsor - dbrand - oeuf".
I’m excited to hear there is an audio person coming to LMG! As an audio engineer I love diversity of reviews of products and keeping up with them, just to know who I’m mixing songs for!
yeeah I can't wait
It isn't going to be some Australian dingus, is it?
I love the audiophile videos and that was a great sponsor spot
Linus u were the reason i bought my ie80s years ago, still love them and they're still the best earbuds ever. They got me into sennheiser products and I've never looked back from their amazing quality. Thanks so much and I'm probably gonna buy these when the 80s eventually kick the bucket haha
I'm running these on the 4.4 balanced cable out of the FiiO BTR7. They sound so good. Vastly more comfortable than any other in ear I've ever tried.
Sennheiser ie 8 сильно уступают?
It's been so long since LTT did this sort of product video that I've found alternative sources, I kept expecting an "AH, my PKCELL!"
POWER ON
BLUETOOTH MODE
AUXILIARY MODE
If he wasn't in Australia, I'd say hire dankpods, or at least partner with him for the labs.
We shall bribe dank with pkcells and get him to move to Canada
I would love to at least see a video featuring him. Maybe even a special guest star appearance from Frank!
@@AlLiberali Gotta get him some Craigs too.
Dankpods, Crinacle, Josh Valour, etc. There's an endless sea of reliable yet differing reviewers
@@OvertopAccel thats great. dankpods for the funny, crin for the objective measurement and objective sound quality, and Josh is for the absolute opposite of crin
I love how sassy dbrand is. Always makes me giggle
Linus, when I test out new headphones either on-ear or in-ear, for me…my favorite music is 60s-90s hard rock/heavy metal, blues and jazz. In the Hard Rock songs: I’m 18 by Alice Cooper; 6:00 by Dream Theater; Working Man by Rush; Black Diamond by KISS, Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath & Perfect Strangers by Deep Purple; Blues: The Sky Is Crying by Gary Moore & Jazz: Al Di Meola & Dave Weckel. That for me helps feel the tonality of the headphones.
I'm incredibly hyped for you bringing measurements even further into the public evaluation of headphones. (And incredibly hyped for these).
i honestly thought they would enable 4k on one of those last night, seems not, would be nicer screenshot lol
Linus: "...dying bread of truly high end in ear headphone" Me: "Yeah my ass"
Linus: "for mobile use" Me: "oh nvm"
Not even, a last week launch by the name of Moondrop Chu got ultra-budget-fi creaming their collective pants and is a mobile geared IEM, mic included or not.
@@Derfderk My point is more so that there aren't many devices with 3.5mm jacks anymore, so it's kinda hard to consider anything mobile in the sense of like a phone since most people don't want dongles. I have a couple pairs of IEMs that I love but I never use them with my phone, only with my Fiio M9
I am a big fan of Sennheiser, so seeing this puts a smile on my face.
We will see if sonova will make it better or worse, sonova is still a good company imo so my judgement still pending.
Senn audiophile product is great (they are not mass produced if i'm not wrong) but their mass market one is not so good because well it mass produced (from china usually), i hope this transfer will make it better..
Yeah I have a pair of really old HD 449's that I adore, it's hard finding decent replacements as everything seems to want to shift to Bluetooth and that's not happening on my watch lol
Wired all the way until I die
@Great Value Bleach Yikes
It’s been years since I last used styrofoam tips, they isolate great, but they break easily.
I just switched to them, seem to hold up great, but my earwax built up insane, clogging my ears badly.
In my opinion, it's worth getting the foam ones and replacing every couple of months. I find the silicone tips don't fit properly in my right ear, even if silicone lasts longer, I value comfort.
@@mikewheeler9011 indeed, and isolation it makes my commute on the bus much better, buy I always care some spare for replacement if needed
@@mikewheeler9011 I always try them on the various earbuds I've owned but kept going back to the silicone cause they just never fit my ears properly. I think I need bigger ones that never come with headphones. They always fallout and don't isolate as well for me
IEMs are definitely not dying, it’s an insanely thriving market with crazy competition for small budgets to bank breaking budgets. You can get an amazing IEM for $20 and you could get something god tier for $1000+, but you can get something god tier for just $100+ because that competition has brought us great sounds for all types and innovations in audio.
I still have a pair of 10 year old Sennheiser over the ear, I repaired the wire many times but they still sound great! Sennheiser has trust as a customer.
I'd love to see more IEM stuff from LTT. If they did more, I'd love to see them do a collab with Crinacle, it would be absolutley amazing!
Oh my god the number of times I wanted to use wired buds because of bluetooth issues, very relatable.
Bluetooth buds/headphones have their advantage of wire management but the sound quality is still not par as compared to high res certified wired earphones/headphones which are of comparable prices. For true audiophiles who don't mind wires, wired is still the way to go or you spend 400-500$ for those sony high res certified wireless
fiio utws3 /5
these aren't exactly cheap either though....
@@zwenkwiel816 These one's aren't cheap for sure but there are quite good cheap wired options out there like m50x or m70x etc
You should check out KZ IEMs. They're great, more of a budget sound, but for almost gas station headphones price level.
hehe dankpods fan?
Yeah although they just got caught using fake drivers. Crinacle distance himself from his products with them. It is true that the blossoming chi-fi market is exciting but KZ's reputation has taken a dive this last few months. Ccz, moondrop, blon, however ...
can confirm
@@michaelcorcoran8768 There are no fake drivers in the CRN-KZ. All of them are connected and work but only the dynamic driver can really be heard. The other two drivers are playing at such a low volume compared to the dynamic driver that they don't play a significant role in the sound. Crinacle has an article about the situation on his website.
KZ reputation got fricked tho, maybe something else. hey i heard that moondrop chu is like friggin good for 20 bucks
All the audiophiles are here
Great colab with Sennheiser Linus
Way to go
🤟🎧
I feel like a good balance for amps is the fiio btr5, is a great Bluetooth/cabled amp and is quite popular.
also strong enough to power 300ohm headphones on the go even if there spec sheet doesn't agree with that
And here I am now really getting into IEM's after years of cheap earphones lol.
Couple rants here as a cheap IEM guy:
1) The lack of microphone is because they are designed for listening not talking
2) MMCX is objectively inferior to 2 pin so any companies that give their high end iems should be ashamed
3) they're iems, stick them into anything and they'll run unless they're tin p series
How is MMCX inferior? I prefer it to 2 pin as the ability to spin and adjust is nice. Also nice IEMs while not needing an amp most of the time sound better even with something like a Schiit Magni Heresy or another basic amp.
I wish more IEM'S had mics to be honest. Although, IEM Cables with Mic Exist which can be interchanged with them.
Still though. It should be an option for the user.
@@Luke357 I've had too many cables break on me and tin t2 (includes my ex t4) variants ruined because of bad connectors
i swap my 2 pins from cable to bluetooth depending on if i'm gaming or on the go and i think in a case like mine the simpler and less fickle modularity of mmcx is a better fit for some uses
A tangle free cable is worth upgrading for.
8:25 I'm SO judging you right now.
Oh man it's kinda sad that Linus doesn't know about the IEM tech explosion in East and South-East Asia. Manufacturers like Moondrop have been blowing Sennheiser and Sony out of the water at literally 10 times less price. I bet if he tried a Blessing 2 Dusk for a couple of weeks he wouldn't go back to wireless, and if he tried the Chu he wouldn't guess they're $20. Or maybe even an AKG N400 in case he hates wires, still miles above the AirPods.
a Moondrop Quarks would be nice
Wdym, airpods pros are great
@@heat.death_999 personally I'd put them like just behind starfields, I did order the chu to try the spring tips tho so will definitely be giving those a try. But yeah e500 is around that price too and is really impressive as well (assuming no qc issues). Definitely don't need to pay a lot to get something quality.
Oh, those look nice. I might be convinced to spend a little extra to ge-
They're 600$.
You know what, I think my earphones are still good.
You can find good sounding stuff for cheap. You just need to know what to look for. Dankpods have some videos on audiophile equipment, both cheap and expensive and old. He also has lots of videos on old cheap mp3 players, also known as 'nuggets'.
@@mcmadness110 i agree 25 usd goes a long long way with budget iems
@@mcmadness110 Yup! I got a pair of ZSN Pro's after he recommended them. Those 30$ earphones sound better to me than AKG K702's, which were four times the price.
On one hand, they're amazing for that price, but also make me wonder if it's worth spending money on more expensive equipment.
Yeah, I know right? I too was like " I could buy these" and saw the price tag. The funny thing is the "IE 900" cost like 1300$. What the fuck?
moondrop just released the Chu which cost 20 bucks and are comparable to IEMs in the 100$ range
I just switched back to my akgs because I kept losing my Bluetooth earbuds and I forgot how much better wired can sound vs Bluetooth
Yeah, i don't really have the money to get the headphones of my dreams but holy ahit. My 20€ KZ IEMs sound better than some 200€ Bluetooth Headphones i got to experience
Bluetooth has come a long way and modern Bluetooth connection, depending on the codec, can handle near 300 kbps bitrate, and with some codes well over that, too.
Top of the line wired IEMs and cans will sound better than top of the line BT headphones, but most people are not willing to spend €400 or more on any kind of headphones, especially if they are also expected to purchase a DAC and an Amp.
As for losing the BT earphones... how? They should either be in your ear or in your case, anything else is your carelessness. If they are falling out of your ear, you need to get a different fit or different earphones. If you are losing them in the case, then that is no different than losing IEMs in their case.
@@sujimayne stupid codecs shit doesnt really matter. what matters is the driver, most mainstream bluetooth makers are mass produce shit and doesnt actually care about sound quality
and no it doesnt take 400 bucks + amp and dac to get better sound quality than bluetooth. get a moondrop chu for 20 bucks plug it to a crappy samsung phone with headphone jack from 5 years ago and it already sounds and tuned better than 100 to 200 bucks bluetooth earphones/headphones
Chi-fi iems market share are growing bigger and bigger due to the large Asian audience and the growing western audience. I have been the the audio hobby for almost ten years and brands like Moondrop, qdc, and thieaudio are creating iems that are amazing for thier price points
To have DBrand be so close to comfortable to roast Linus, then have Linus flip them off is magical to watch that relationship happen
Linus hair be lookin like he boutta upload a cover video of fall for you by secondhand serenade smh
Every time I consider going jackless, there's always something that ends up bringing me back to earth. My Moondrop SSPs are still going strong, so chances are I end up getting a DAP before I get a phone now.
Honestly, I just keep a USB c DAC on the end of my IEMs. It's not as big a deal as people think
Listening to Linus talk about bass heads as he sweeps the hair from his face like it's 2008, just so funny.
6:44 With $600 dollar earphone they are probably being brought by musicians using them on audio interfaces or dedicated iem mixers so you should test with a dac at some point
Linus: No inline mic?!?
Also Linus: buying a new cable is throwing away money
Kinda off-topic but at 9:02, isnt it true that even old music has been affected by loudness wars and the only way to listen to them originally is to listen to cds/vinyls made before 1991?
I use kz in ears with Bluetooth addons, they still sound great. Any time you can rehook them with the wire. Overall this sennheiser is a type of in ear monitors not your usual in ear headphones. Price and sound quality equals at that price range.
Whilst I prefer over ears to in ears, this is a testament to real audio lovers dedication to keeping this genre alive and doing well. I keep a chi-fi setup attached to my computer (Suca Audio's Tube-T2 with custom tube rolling done to it) for some extra oomph whilst listening to my low end but excellent Brainwavz HM5's and other assorted over ears because I actually LIKE music. Bluetooth is for convenience, nothing more. If you like music, get real headphones and see what you've been missing out on with watered down Bluetooth headphones. Thanks for still reviewing this Linus! I look forward to the upgraded rig you spoke about!
More headphone/audio videos!
And yeah, Sennheiser are pretty great at giving their headphones a neutral and balanced sound, that has been my experience too.
6:34 that exact razer dongle with the metal THX tip casings and braided cable is the best usb c to 3.5 dongle i have ever used and have used mine i got from when i got the first razer phone to this day, can never say another dongle is better since using it
Phones are great for playing music. But that “dongle” isn’t a dongle. It’s a really tiny DAC in the shape of a dongle.
After a long trip to nowhere, I hate apple even more now for forcing all other phone companies to remove the 3.5 plug.
The body is probably made with powder bed 3d printing. Essentially its a vacuum sealed fish tank flooded with Argon gas. You smooth out the bed of metal powder and have a laser come in and selectively melt the areas you want metal to be printed. The level of the powder bed is raised and smoothed and the laser comes in again. This is done until the part is complete. You can get some insane material properties out of this processing technique.
That notification sound - I have that same one. This concludes Linus is a human being
I am truly hyped about the btr5 from fiio. Turns these and any other items with detachable cables into true wireless.
I'd love to switch back to wired headphones. But one of the secondary benefits of wireless is the battery allows for beam forming microphones and background noise removal (wind), something I've grown dependent on.
Sennheiser in general are just an incredible headphone company. I used a pair of 100 series headphones and they were great at the time. Sadly, they discontinued that brand and all "The Source" here in Canada was willing to offer me was a crappy pair of Xtra Bass 40 dollar headphones. As apparently the 129 dollars I paid on my original headphones wasn't equal to anything more than that... thanks a lot Source... But I chose to buy a pair of 598SRs in 2018 and they are still sounding amazing here in 2022. My only gripe is that the ear pads get a bit gross after a few months of wearing, but that's an easy fix as the ear pads are removable and with a little laundry detergent and warm water I can have them close to new again. With the 3 year additional warranty, replaceable cables, they are well worth the 250-300 I paid for them.
ive had sennheiser hphones since the mid 80s. they last forever & sound great. also being able to buy spares has been able to keep ageing products alive much more than the throw away stuff others make.
Surface Pressure is amazing, I'm with you. Deep meaning in that song.
It may be just weird combination of light/filter/whatever, but Linus looks like he just came back from a party and insted of falling into slumber he realized there is a video to make.
“Encanto soundtrack” - total dad moment there, Linus. I can relate. Lol.
been contemplating jumping in and buying some good iem but as a noob I've watched so many videos and get confused. i appreciate this upload though ! I also appreciate the communities & companies that keep pushing to keep this type of audio experience alive !!
Crinacle is the goat for an extensive and in depth list for iems and headphones. I personally recommend moondrop earphones
@@tyeo yeah I found his chanel somewhere in this rabbit hole and love his content. 👋 also ty ! Such a nice community . Ty for the suggestion I also was looking at that brand as alot of ppl say the aria is an easy entry to know if your interested before spending to much if that makes sense ?! Lol. Anyways thanks again for the reply/ suggestion.
Moondrop Aria, T3+, Dunu Titan S are roughly the top 3 IEMs under 100, each offering something slightly different. But if you ask me, if you really are not sure if the money you are going to spend is worthwhile because you're new, then I suggest getting something a little cheaper to test the waters.
I think the primary thing most people new to audiophile would notice between IEMs and regular earphones is the tuning or tonality, not really the technicalities like soundstage, detail and imaging. So find a well-tuned IEM and see if you like it.
It seems Monndrop released the Chu recently which is quite highly-praised for offering good tuning at 20. While the technicalities may not be on par with more expensive IEMs, it should be a great starting point.
And of course the Chu's tuning is more neutral and balanced, so it might sounds really different than any other earphones you tried. Run with it for a couple months at least to see if you like it, because tuning can be quite subjective. You might like more V-shape sound signature too. And in that case, you probably know enough to get yourself another set of IEMs which suit your preference.
@@_unkn0wnus3r_85 ty ty also 👋👋. yeah I saw the chu and considered this also but I deff don't mind paying a little extra if it is a better experience. Just so many good starting options haha 😄. I guess this is a good thing bc everyone likes diff stuff.. also funny enough I wake up to a video of top iem under 100 from crin . Yall know your stuff bc its the same suggestions haha. Ty again for your time and efforts.
I have galaxy buds and also normal headphones.
I also have a pair of FA9, and every time I use those for music I'm just astounded at how much better it is than my other options.
Bluetooth is amazingly fine until you actually compare it to something else.
Of all the devices I've owned over the last 40 years, I've never gotten tired of a good set of earbuds and an iPod. The only thing better was a pair of Over-ear headphones (I forget which brand) and a Sony turntable. I still have my first CD player (from '87) and while it's awesome, it's just not as portable as I'd like.
the ie600 and the er4sr have two completely different tuning curves. the ie600 has more of a harman tuning and the er4sr has more of a natural tuning
They are actually very similar if you look at crinacles measurements. The ie600 just has way more bass.
ETYMOTIC sounds nearly perfect, nothing can even compare simply because pf ear canal resonance (except Oluv's EFP2)...
@@Florianski yeah… that’s pretty much what the harman tuning curve is.
i was just saying that he was said two iems were comparable when they are tuned to two different tuning curves.
both are still excellent iems.
'no obvious way to disassemble'
and I manage to pull out the driver straight away the moment I got mine, and glue it back on, so yeah...love the sound, qc sure need some work
"A dying breed, wired in-ear headphones"
Stares in audiophile
Alien Ears (for musicians and performers, not general public) are about the same price but contain six drivers in a much larger shell. Super comfortable in your ear, super annoying to carry around in your pocket. Add the cost of an audiologist visit for ear impressions and the 6-8 week lead time and they're obviously not a good consumer product. (The shells also crack if stepped on and it costs like $400 US to re-shell them. Ask me how I know.) But for the lols I'd love to see Linus compare with them. If nothing else the isolation is amazing so the noise floor is lower, SNR is much higher. You'll hear things in tracks you shouldn't have been able to hear.
These aren’t the last of a dying breed, professional in ear monitors are used for musicians constantly, I use them to keep tempo while playing the drums at concerts and they’re great to use in a mechanic shop too since the foam tips act as pretty good ear plugs for noise isolation
Man what a chill video. Good job Linus! Be more like this 😅
"Perhaps one of the last of a dying breed..." That gave a chuckle. Sure, a lot more people are going for TWEs, but people like me don't like the fact that you'd have to throw the whole set away when it's fried, or when one side got screwed for whatever reason. That's where the IEM-BT DAC combo comes into the scene - best of both worlds with a slight annoyance to some due to usually long wires. I just wear the IEM as a necklace to cope with that.