- XM-1

I’ve finally found a way to organize my growing IEM collection and set up a dedicated "me-time" station for those late-night Reddit and reading sessions. I started this hobby about three years ago, but it feels like I've finally hit my stride with the gear that keeps me sane. ​The Storage Solution ​I decided to repurpose a watch box to house the collection, and it works surprisingly well! ​Top Row: Currently home to my Kiwi Ears Cadenza (top left) and the Fosi IM4. ​The Main Setup: Resting on the box is my newest addition, the AFUL Explorer, paired with the Hidizs AP80 Pro-Max. ​The Drawer: This holds three replacement cables, various dongles, and my growing stash of ear tips. ​Recent Wins & The Great Purge ​I’ve been hunting for deals lately and managed to snag the AFUL Explorer for just 80€. Even better, I just won an eBay auction for the Punch Audio Portazo for 130€ (brand new/sealed!), which I’m incredibly hyped to try. I’m also eyeing the Kiwi Ears Aether next, though I’ll wait for a sale. ​To make room (and budget), I’ve been selling quite a bit on eBay recently. I moved the FiiO KA13 and the iBasso DC04 Ultra because using my phone as a DAP just wasn't the right solution for me. I also let go of the Simgot EA500LM and the Truthear Hexa—they just weren't quite my taste. Currently, I have the Kiwi Ears Melody up for sale as well. ​I’ll likely be parting ways with the Fosi IM4 soon too. Maybe it’s the metal shell, but I find they aren't comfortable for long sessions. It seems 3D-printed resin shells are much better suited for my ears. ​The "Toddler-Proof" Couch Station ​If you have kids, you know the struggle. My daughter is almost 3 and has already managed to "crash-test" my setup twice. To save my gear, I installed a small custom shelf on the windowsill right next to the couch. It keeps the cables and the Douk Audio (Nobsound) P10 Pro safely out of reach—or at least makes it harder for her to send it flying off the couch while I’m relaxing! ​The Signal Chain & Modding Lab ​My current evening chain is: Hidizs AP80 Pro-Max - > Douk Audio P10 Pro - > AFUL Explorer. ​I have big plans for the P10 Pro and have already ordered parts for some mods: ​Swapping the stock op-amp for a Muses02. ​Upgrading the internal battery from 600mAh to 900mAh for better stamina. ​Adding O-rings to the tubes to help with dampening and microphonics. ​The Tip-Rolling Rabbit Hole ​A huge mail day today! My SpinFit W1 and Tangzu Tang Sancai (both Normal and Noble versions) finally arrived. I already had the Widebores, but I’m currently finding a great seal with a mix-and-match combo: Kiwi Ear Flex and Dunu S&S (all in size M). ​Getting Back to "My Roots" ​Returning to this hobby after so many years (I’ll be 35 this year) feels great. I remember having seven different MP3 players as a kid and so many cheap cabled earbuds that would die after three months. Back then, I was always sad when I lost them or they broke. I’m happy to have this hobby back and to finally be growing a proper FLAC collection. 😉 PS i hope putting my phone wallpaper at the end ia ok.

$100: Truthear Hexa - I haven’t tried much in this range, admittedly, but i really like the tuning. $500: Symphonium Audio Meteor (can get for around $350 used) - warm, bassy set with great upper treble extension $1000: Campfire Audio Andromeda 2020 (discontinued and hard to find in good condition now) - warm-neutral set with great treble and open, holographic staging/imaging $2000: Letshuoer Cadenza 12 - balanced set leaning neutral. A lot of people call this set neutral, but it has quite a bit of mid bass and sub bass extension. Bass texture is fantastic, treble is well extended and never sibilant. The best all-rounder I’ve heard so far at any price across my library. $3000: Final A10000 - excellent midrange clarity and timbre. The most precise imaging I’ve heard on any set, though the stage isn’t massive. Bass is super visceral despite lower quantities. Dynamics are stellar as well. A mild v-shaped tuning with a lot of mid treble, but that can be tamed mostly by tips and deep insertion. HM: * 7th Acoustics Supernova for under $1000, but they are too similar to my Cadenza 12 which are an improvement over them in most ways. * Canpur cp622b and Empire Ears Raven which are around $3-4k. Only other sets around the $3-4k price range I’d be willing to get from the ones I’ve tried. The fit just didn’t work for me over long sessions.

Denon Perl Pro are amazing for real. Is next level. Noble Fokus is like a "wireless iem". It's perfect. But DPP has his own tier. It has an app to analize your ears (real, not marketing) I don't know any earbuds necessarily better than DPP. Noble Fokus 350€ more and just a 0.5 more honestly, didn't try anything better than Noble Fokus tho. It's like Sennheiser 6** vs hifiman edition xs they have their own category. Sennheiser is perfect, but hifiman is sick. I'm talking about 150€-500€

The Momentum 4 doesn’t really sound better than the AirPods Pro 2, in my opinion. The AirPods Pro 3 is a mess and I would skip those. That said, there are better sounding options than both, whether you want TWS or over-ears. For over-ears, though, anything that sounds noticeably better than the Momentum 4 usually comes with tradeoffs and won’t really be cheaper. For example, the Edifier Stax Spirit S3 sounds better to me, but it has basically no ANC. Some stuff has bad ANC you can't turn off, some stuff is just few times more expensive than M4. For TWS, there are cheaper options than the AirPods Pro that sound better, like the Moondrop Robin. The catch is that the AirPods Pro still has the best ANC around by a pretty big margin. If you’re willing to spend more, around $320, the Noble Audio FoKus Amadeus absolutely destroys the AirPods Pro 2 in sound quality while still having usable ANC and transparency. The ANC isn’t Apple/Bose/Sony tier, but it’s definitely better than Samsung’s. A lot of that comes from the high-end chipset, it has enough processing power to brute-force ANC at the hardware level instead of relying mostly on software. As for your actual choice: if portability and convenience matter most, stick with TWS. If your priority is sound quality, then it really comes down to budget. Higher-end over-ears can sound better since they have room for bigger batteries and more powerful DAC/amp setups, something like the T+A Solitaire T is definitely a step up technically, but it also costs about $1280 more than the Noble Audio FoKus Amadeus.