In Ear Monitors - $50 Level
I don’t have one pair of shoes - nor one set of headphones. I have shoes for many purposes and the same for headphones. Yes, this is “nerd math” as an excuse to buy another set of headphones. This time my first “ChiFi” (Chinese Hifi) set of In Ear Monitors.
My new Planar Magnetic over the ear, open back headphones are the pinnacle of sound and I’m enjoying them greatly. But I got to thinking - if headphones have progressed so much in the last five years, what about my 11 year old Shure 215? My research led me to believe I’d hear even better sound than those $200 headphones for $50 today. I gave in and ordered Linsoul KZ ZS10 PRO 2.
I have a couple use cases for IEMs. Long travel by plane and side sleeping “top ear”. There are no batteries so that’s why I use them on planes, and I don’t lose them when sleeping. But to be transparent, I don’t use them much at all and probably didn’t need this pair. I went to compare them to my Sure 215s only to find that I lost those. How long ago? I have no idea. This is not a common use case for me.
That said - these sound quite nice. If you can handle anything inside your ear that is. For me, these are more comfortable than I remember my Shure’s. They sound nothing close to me over the ear, open back planar magnetic headphones that cost 5 times more. They sound WAY better than any cheap headphone I’d ever bought before. I’m not settled yet on whether they sound better than my Airpods Pro Gen 2. Completely different kinds of headphones, so it’s not worth comparing them.
For walking around the neighborhood walking the dog, they have upgraded the music listening and downgraded my ability to talk to my neighbors. They are sound isolating as they fill your ear canal. This is a nicer experience than noise canceling, IMHO. Noise canceling is constantly bombarding your ears with sound, just “anti-sound” waves to cancel out the other waves. It fatigues you more quickly.
I did end up ordering better foam tips which means these are now $75 headphones. The new tips improved both the comfort and the sound. (Final Audio Black+Black/Red Silicone Type E Eartips which are well regarded).
What I don’t like are the plastic wires. I could buy new wires but then I’d REALLY bed changing the price point. Although I’m glad they spent the money making the IEMs as best as they could at this price point rather than tips and cables and cases (no case).
I got the version with the mic so I can make phone calls. This is KIND of why I bought them as my current Airpods Pro are getting flakey with the mic. From normally excellent to “what’s wrong with your phone?” complaints from the people I’m talking too. I want to hold off upgrading until the Gen 3 come out this year. I use them all day every day for two years - I’ve gotten my money’s worth. These cheap $50 headphones, wired with mic - no complaints from the people I’m talking to.
I like them enough that I’m going to see what the next level up offers. More on that later.
There is a LOT of competition at this price. I have no idea if these are better than any others. I know that I feel like I got a good deal. And it’s shocking to me that I have upgraded my IEM sound from my beloved $200 Shure IEM’s to $50 generic Chinese. The downsides are expected - wires and sticking them into my ear.
