Need someone more experienced in portable audio to recommend end-game IEMs for $200-$300 - neutral sound signature

[Goldilock]

Atm I have unexpected fortune, me and my calculator agree that $300 is max to spend on my hobby. So I would like this $300 to be my only end-game IEM as my library is not that big (<150 songs).

 

My library is 50% jpop (utada hkaru, ayumi hamasaki, aimer, etc.), 30% jrock (spyair, uverworld, etc), and 20% pop from Billboard 100/UK top 40.

 

Having I just purchased Blon-05s I immediately click with it's sound sig, but comfort is so-so. So to upgrade from Blon-05s what I am looking for are:

 

1. Comfortable preferably semi-custom shape

2. Neutral sound sig (fast bass decay, non-fatiguing treble, non-recessed mid)

3. Bit forward midrange / vocal (to counter jpop which usually master vocal bit behind) 

4. Good soundstage

5. Amping is non-issue

 

I have been drooling over Moondrop Blessing 2, but I am open to suggestion for other cheaper or similar recommendation.

 

Cheers.

[NinJake]

Have you looked into the kz zs10 pro IEMs? Looks very similar to the Moondrop Blessing 2s and at a fraction of the price, they are an excellent choice.

 

KZ ZS10 PRO

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Moondrop Blessing 2

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[rice guru]

1 hour ago, NinJake said:

Have you looked into the kz zs10 pro IEMs? Looks very similar to the Moondrop Blessing 2s and at a fraction of the price, they are an excellent choice.

 

KZ ZS10 PRO

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Moondrop Blessing 2

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From The charts alone they look pretty different zs10 pro look quite Abit more v shaped treble has more peaks and valleys and the bass seems to be boosted quite a bit more meanwhile blessing 2 seems to be following crinacle's ideal curve much closer. And what kz especially older models like the zs10 pro fails to do worse than moon drop tends to be timbre which moon drop tends to do pretty well. 

[OfficialTechSpace]

1 hour ago, NinJake said:

kz zs10 pro IEMs? Looks very similar to the Moondrop Blessing 2s and at a fraction of the price, they are an excellent choice.

Budget IEMs with balanced armatures tend to have issues. BAs in general lack the ability to sound as natural or dynamic as a traditional DD. This only becomes more prevalent the lower you go down in the price bracket. "Shouty midrange and subpar technicalities" to quote Crinacle specifically, and I can second this having also owned them for a short period.

 

+1 the above as well, very different tuning, and a largely different sound. The ZS10 Pro's were supposed to be a Tin Audio T2 competitor in the ~$50 range, there's no comparison when it comes to the Blessing 2s.

[Spuriae]

[Goldilock]

7 hours ago, NinJake said:

Have you looked into the kz zs10 pro IEMs? Looks very similar to the Moondrop Blessing 2s and at a fraction of the price, they are an excellent choice.

 

KZ ZS10 PRO

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Moondrop Blessing 2

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KZ ZS10 Pro seems like KZ house of v-shaped sound sig.

 

I currently own CCA C12 and I keep it strictly as soundcloud iem.

 

 

[Goldilock]

4 hours ago, Nimrodor said:

 

4 hours ago, Nimrodor said:

I never knew that Blon-05s has that much boosted bass and that peaky treble. My perception of "neutral" I admit skewed.

[Spuriae]

1 minute ago, Goldilock said:

I never knew that Blon-05s has that much boosted bass and that peaky treble. My perception of "neutral" I admit skewed.

I posted the graph mostly because I thought the ZS10 recommendations were a bit out of place. To be fair the boost on the BL-05 is fairly well-behaved since the resonance is down at ~30Hz, and using the Harman target curve it's "neutral" in the bass. Normalized to the Harman curve the 2kHz peak also looks like a wider one from 1 to 2.5kHz, or "forward-sounding".

 

I'm not an IEM person so I can't really recommend anything outside of measurements. If you're looking at Moondrop though the Aria might be worth considering; it's somewhere between the turning of the Blessing and BL-05 while being fairly cheap.

[8tg]

I picked up Kinera Freyas recently and I absolutely love them, they’re a little larger than most iems but they fit my ears really well. They come with a large variety of included tips for further fitment.

I don’t really know how to properly describe all the finer details, they have a slight sub bass extension which is really nice for what I listen to but otherwise seem fairly balanced.

oh and they look amazing