With dual DACs that can perform bit-to-bit playback of hi-res audio files up to 32bit/384kHz, it has both balanced and unbalanced outputs (more on that later), and more than enough amplification to power each of these IEMs.Įven more importantly for my purposes, the SR25 can stream hi-res, lossless FLAC files from Amazon Music and master-quality MQA files from Tidal, the two streaming services I used for testing. While not the most expensive or tricked-out player you can find, it has great specs. To keep things simple and consistent from one set of IEMs to the next, I used the $699 Astell&Kern SR25 portable media player as the source. Moreover, they’re incredibly affordable and widely regarded as an excellent value for their price and sound quality. That last feature is probably enough to make purists scoff, but I’ve included them because in every other respect, they absolutely meet the definition of an IEM: They fit inside your ear canal with the help of a series of different eartips, and they don’t add any extra processing or amplification to the sound the way wireless earbuds do. Their wires don’t detach from the earbuds, the wires aren’t meant to loop around your ears like the other models on the list, and they - shocker! - include an inline microphone and remote button module on the right-side cable. Those of you who know the IEM space will be quick to point out that the 1More Triple Drivers are a bit of an odd inclusion. The competitorsįor the purposes of this comparison, we’ll be looking at the: For those in search of the very best sound, it’s still a wired world. And with the rise of hi-res, lossless digital audio among streaming music services, these wired products remain (for now) the only way to hear every ounce of detail that these tracks can offer. As good as wireless audio devices have become, they’re still considered by many to be poor substitutes for well-designed and well-built wired products, whether we’re talking headphones or IEMs. The answer, very simply, is sound quality. And most IEMs can’t be used for phone calls or voice assistants. With the entire personal audio industry seemingly focused on wireless headphones and wireless earbuds because of their undeniable convenience, you might be wondering why anyone would go back to using wired earbuds? Smartphones are dropping headphone jacks faster than ever and improvements in Bluetooth technology are making wireless buds more reliable, better-sounding, and able to last longer on a single charge. At the end, I’ll wrap up with my thoughts on whether you should actually consider making such a substantial investment.īut first, let’s set the table. Below, you’ll find my impressions of each set of IEMs - not only how they sound, but how they feel in my ears, how they look, how they’re designed, and what they come with in terms of travel cases and accessories like eartips, where relevant. That meant comparing them not only against each other, but also against IEMs that cost less - in some cases, significantly less. Instead of reviewing each of these products individually, I decided to put them in context. Both are handmade, in small batches, which kind of makes them sound like artisanal beers. Both use planar magnetic drivers, an ultra-low-distortion technology that has traditionally been used in high-end, open-back headphones, but is now making its way into more varied (and sometimes more affordable) products. Both are wired earbuds aimed at the most demanding music listeners. The two products in question are the $1,500 Campfire Audio Supermoon and the $1,299 Audeze Euclid. ![]() ![]() But do you want a set of $1,500 earbuds? That’s the real question, and it’s something I decided to try to answer after two companies reached out to me to see if I’d like to review their latest planar magnetic in-ear monitors (IEMs). Do you need a set of $1,500 earbuds? Probably (OK, almost certainly) not, unless you’re a professional musician.
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