I’m abusing the headphone jack on my laptop PC by playing two different pairs of In-Ear-Monitors, or IEMs, at the same time. I’m abusing my ears by going back and forth between them.
Positive reviews on AudioScienceReview for inexpensive “Chi-Fi” IEMs made me curious, resulting in this post from a month ago.
A guy in Singapore who goes by the handle Crinacle is a leading reviewer of these products. His influence extends to him collaborating with manufacturers to evaluate and fine-tune the sound of their IEMs.
After listening to the BLUE set with his name on it, I was curious about the RED set. The models are identical in design and construction except for the sound, with the RED tuned to Crinacle’s preference. As expected from the reviews, it’s more balanced sounding than the BLUE.
That would typically be my preference, but I feel that something of the baby was thrown out with the bath water, and I actually prefer the brighter BLUE with its excellent deep bass. The extension piece on one of the cables is a bass boost for the RED that I think muddies the sound like the loudness buttons that used to be standard on amps and receivers.
Unlike some other hobbies and pastimes, where the next generation of fans failed to show up (stamps, coins, bowling, et. al.), many young guys are actively involved in appreciating audio and music. Being young, there are some snarky reviews of IEMs on YouTube, but the overall tone is positive and fun. As is seen here, where the youngsters are questioning an elder audio expert, while remaining respectful.
Follow-up: Both of these IEM’s are keepers. The extra $5 for the RED edition seems to be for the booster adapter. Curiously, on the Lenovo laptop it makes the sound a little muddy, but with my phone it seems to have no effect. Maybe it’s an impedance thing.