IEM Ranking - Flightless Bird

Flightless IEM Ranking

Brand:

Model:

Price:

Driver:

Rating:

Value:

Notes:

Brand	Model	Price	Driver	Rating	Value	Notes	Experience (Cable/Unboxing/…)	Graph	Sorting
Shuoer	EJ07M	669,00	1x DD + 2x BA + 4x EST	S	A-	There are not a lot of IEMs that match my preferences as closely as the EJ07M. Better, more enjoyable tuning than the Variations with slightly worse technicalities. Not as much better than Variations, SA6 or Oracle as the price might suggest.	Ok-ish cable and accessories. Important to find the right tips for great fit and comfort.		2
Moondrop	Variations	520,00	1x DD + 2x BA + 2x EST	S-	A	One of my benchmark IEMs. Tuned to my taste, great subbass and absolutely amazing technicalities.	Cable and accessories aren't good enough at that price point. Good if big fit, profit from different eartips.		3
Dunu	SA6	549,99	6x BA	A+	B+	One of my favourite IEMs. Great details, touching vocals. Shows the best side of BAs. Can compete with similarily priced hybrids and tribrids.	Great cable, beautifully built. Delivers what you expect at that price point.		4
Moondrop	Blessing 2:Dusk	329,99	1x DD + 4x BA	A	S	Great, amazing IEM. Focals are prominent, technicalites unbeaten at that price. Still the one to beat below 400$ (or even 500$)	Bad cable and little tip selection that's just not enough at that price point. IEM is well built. Good fit with Moondrop's new "Spring" eartips.		5
Mangird	Tea	299,00	1x DD + 6x BA	A-	A	Great focus on and performance of vocals, nice bass quantity and quality, technicalites are good but get clearly beaten by Dusk.	Amazing design, great fit with right eartips (Spinfit CP145)		6
ThieAudio	Excalibur	529,00	1x DD + 2x BA + 2x EST	B+	C	Rather bassy, solid tuning. One of the worse tribrids I've tried so far, especially compared to its brother Oracle. Still a good IEM though.	Solid cable, excellent fit with SpinFit CP100.		7
7Hz	Timeless	219,99	1x Planar	B	A-	The best Planar IEM I've heard so far (which isn't that hard). Great, if sometimes overpowering, bass and quite detailed and well resolving. Treble can be too sharp, especially with female vocals. Decent tuning, a bit less midbass could help better vocals presence.	Well rounded package with a big and useful tips offering and one of the best cables at that price. Design is unique and a bit too conspicuous with surprisingly good fit.		8
Yanyin	Aladdin	245,00	1x DD + 3x BA	B-	B	Great rather dark-ish tuning, putting female and male vocals front and center. Tuning comparable to the Mangrid Tea with slightly worse technicalities.	Decent cable, accessories could be better for the price, fit can be tricky.		9
Tripowin x HBB	Mele	49,99	1x DD	B-	B	Good bass-focussed tuning, vocals can be a bit muddy, subpar resolution and details, even at 50 dollars.	Great build quality and fit. Accessories fitting for price.		9
Unique Meldoy	3DT	349,99	3x DD	B-	C-	The 3DT is a decent IEM with good bass performance. It's biggest weakness is the sometimes peaky and unpleasant treble-peak at around 5kHz. Vocals are nicely "in focus". Compared to the best at this price point, the 3DT lacks a bit in details and resolution.	One of the worst stock cable, great design, huge shell with fit that's mediocre at best		9
KZ	ZEX Pro	36,99	1x DD + 1x BA + 1x MST	C+	B	The KZ ZEX Pro, also known as CRN, is one of the best-tuned KZ IEMs so far. Despite it‘s flawed 8kHz treble-peak and subpar technicalities, it‘s a solid contender and entry to the world of well-tuned IEMs.	Nothing but the necessities, the cable is sticky, the tips good enough.		10
Tin HiFi	T3 Plus	69,00	1x DD	C+	B-	Great consumer-focused tuning, lacking in detail and resolution, solid bass but weak-ish treble	Solid cable, great design and fit	T3 Plus Graph	10
Fiio	FD5	319,99	1x DD	C+	D+	Impressive soundstage, quite accurate imaging, rather uncomfortable, treble can be fatiguing	Great modular cable, extensive tip selection. Great metal build, fit is not that good.		10
KZ	DQ6	27,00	3x DD	C	B	Good tuning with great bass-performance and suprisingly clear and intimate vocals. Solid tech (very good for KZ, like the vocals). Competes with ZEX Pro for best KZ yet, I slightly prefer the ZEX Pro's tuning and the DQ6's technicalities.	Good fit and nice design. Accessories and cable – as usual with KZ – aren't that great.		11
Sennheiser	IE 300	299,99	1x DD	C	D+	Solid bass-tuned IEM, could be a bit more resolving. Still good "mainstream" tuning with focus on great bass performance. Still, there are quite some IEMs I'd prefer at that price.	Bad cable with proprietary MMCX adaption. Just use normal MMCX for f*** sake.		11
Fiio	FH5s	310,00	2x DD + 2x BA	C	D	A IEM that's average at best. Some songs work great, others hurt because of piercing treble or have ovverpowering bass. Technicalities, especially resolution, could and should be better for 300 USD. A downgrade to it's predecessor FH5 and brother FD5 for more money.	As always with Fiio, great presentation and accessories with an amazing modular cable with a plethora of eartips. Beautiful design that can fit decent with the right tips (Moondrop Spring work the best for me).		11
Fiio	FD3	109,00	1x DD	C-	C-	Mostly a cheaper FD5. Great bass, punchy vocals. Slightly worse soundstage but more comfortable than it's bigger brother.			12
GS Audio	GD5	135,00	1x DD + 4x BA	C-	C-	Vocals, especially female vocals, often too recessed, overshadowed by instruments. Not resolving and detailed enough for its price. Could use a bit more excitement.	Beautifully designed IEM with customizable face plate (can be customized for an additional 20$ on order). Fit is a bit too sharp and stabbing.		12
CCA	NRA	22,00	1x DD + 1x MST	D	C-	Relaxed, pleasant tuning; lacks detail and resoultion; pleasant non-offensive treble, unnatural timbre; lacking subbass	Barebones, bad cable		14
Blon	A8 Prometheus	84,99	1x DD	D	D+	Somewhat uncontrolled bass, low resolution, avarage imaging, mids too recessed, slightly tinny treble	Innovative design, so-so fit, best Blon cable		14
KZ	EDX Pro	13,00	1x DD	D-	C	Tuning is a bit too focussed on (mid) bass, negatively impacting especially the midrange and vocals. Details and resolution are bad, like really bad, even at that low price. Treble tends to be harsh, especially noticeable with female vocals.	Just about what you can expect at that price. Average fit, bad cable and rather poor build quality.		15
Campfire Audio	Orion	350,00	1x BA	D-	E	Neutral-mid-forward, stage too distant, lacking bass, replaced by cheaper Satsuma, no more competing at that price point	Great metal made, good accessoires, bad cable		15
Zero Audio	Carbo Tenore	39,00	1x DD	E+	D-	Bass monster, pronounced U-shape, good detail for price, beaten by others in that price range in recent years	Barebones, fixed cable, cheap-feeling		16
Shure	SE215	90,00	1x DD	E+	E	Used to be great, isn't anymore. Bloated bass, almost no details, low resolution. One of the chifi victims.	Sturdy build and cable, great fit, good accessories	SE215 Graph	16
Tripowin	Lea	25,00	1x DD	E	D	I just don't like it. Solid tuning, similar to Moondrop Kato, but abysmal technicalities. Low resolution and almost no details.	The product reflects its price. Cheap cable, little accessories		17
Shuoer	Tape Pro	114,00	1x Composite EST-DD	F	F	Just an awful IEM. The cable is the only redeeming quality, the sound would be awful even for a $10 IEM.	Great cable. The only good thing.		20
Brand	Model	Price	Driver	Rating	Value	Notes

Updates

26th July 2022

Added Yanyin Aladdin
Changed Fiio FD5: B- → C+ // C → D+

12th April 2022

Added Shuoer EJ07M, 7Hz Timeless, GS Audio
Changed BLON A8 (C- → D / D → D+)
Changed CCA NRA (D+ → D / C-)
Changed Moondrop Variations (S- / A- → A)
Changed Sennheiser IE 300 (C / C- → D+)
Changed Carbo Tenore (D- → E+ / D → D-)

17th February 2022

Added ThieAudio Excalibur
Added Tripowin x HBB Mele
Added KZ DQ6
Changed Tin T3 Plus, Shure SE215, Tripowin Lea and KZ ZEX Pro to reflect the new additions and their ranking in relation
Added Dunu SA6
Added Sennheiser IE300
Changed Moondrop Blessing 2:Dusk (due to SA6)
Changed Tripowin Lea (it’s worse than I initially thought)

15th January 2022

Ranking now includes + and – ratings (A+, D-, …)
Added Moondrop Variations
Changed Moondrop Blessing 2:Dusk, Zero Audio Carbon Tenore
Updated distribution graph
Tin T3 Plus
KZ ZEX Pro / CRN

Distribution

My goal – inspired by Crinacle – is to more or less achieve a normal distribution with my ratings. Only the best of the best should receive the best rating, most IEMs tend to be mediocre.

I’ll regularly try to check this for myself and redistribute the rating accordingly to achieve as close to a normal distribution as possible. You can see the most recent distribution here: