difference between single driver and multi driver IEMs?

[Stan2292]

i'm planning on making the switch from headphone to IEMs for listening to music but also casual gaming. and i've shortlisted 2 that are in my price range and appeal to me (none of my local audio shops carry either IEM so i'm just relying on video and article reviews). one has a single dynamic driver and the other is a 1dd + 4ba setup. i'm just wondering what's the difference in terms of sound experience between single and multi driver setups? can i always expect better staging and instrument separation from multi driver IEMs? or what makes a single driver IEM as expensive as a 5 driver IEM?

 

my picks:

etymotic er4xr

moondrop blessing 2

[Stan2292]

or if you have any other suggestions in the same price range i'm all ears too

[person123456789]

On 11/24/2022 at 10:23 AM, Stan2292 said:

i'm planning on making the switch from headphone to IEMs for listening to music but also casual gaming. and i've shortlisted 2 that are in my price range and appeal to me (none of my local audio shops carry either IEM so i'm just relying on video and article reviews). one has a single dynamic driver and the other is a 1dd + 4ba setup. i'm just wondering what's the difference in terms of sound experience between single and multi driver setups? can i always expect better staging and instrument separation from multi driver IEMs? or what makes a single driver IEM as expensive as a 5 driver IEM?

 

my picks:

etymotic er4xr

moondrop blessing 2

The amount of drivers doesn't mean anything.

Moondrop Blessing 2 is better than the ER4XR but there are many very good single driver IEMs like Sennheiser IE600

[Stan2292]

On 11/27/2022 at 6:04 AM, person123456789 said:

The amount of drivers doesn't mean anything.

Moondrop Blessing 2 is better than the ER4XR but there are many very good single driver IEMs like Sennheiser IE600

so what makes single and multi driver IEMs different? what specific properties of single and multi drivers make different manufacturers choose one or the other? also ie600 is like twice the price of blessing 2/er4xr. would appreciate if you have any recommendation within $50 of blessing 2.

[spartaman64]

I thought er4xr is single BA. But anyways as person said how many drivers isnt always indicative of performance. its a design/tuning choice made by the companies having multiple drivers can make it easier by having each driver cover a specific range or having a driver augment sound from another one. but in the end it comes down to execution. 
I think blessing 2 is probably the best its price for most people. Maybe the blessing 2 dusk if you want more bass. I've also always been a bit scared about ety's triple flange eartips after hearing about someone having part of it break off in his ear. But the b2 has chonky nozzles which might be an issue if you have small ear canals. 

Another option is the 7hz timeless but ive heard there was a revision at some point. Some people say its worse some say its the same I have no idea lol. 

[Stan2292]

3 hours ago, spartaman64 said:

I thought er4xr is single BA. But anyways as person said how many drivers isnt always indicative of performance. its a design/tuning choice made by the companies having multiple drivers can make it easier by having each driver cover a specific range or having a driver augment sound from another one. but in the end it comes down to execution. 
I think blessing 2 is probably the best its price for most people. Maybe the blessing 2 dusk if you want more bass. I've also always been a bit scared about ety's triple flange eartips after hearing about someone having part of it break off in his ear. But the b2 has chonky nozzles which might be an issue if you have small ear canals. 

Another option is the 7hz timeless but ive heard there was a revision at some point. Some people say its worse some say its the same I have no idea lol. 

er4 is single BA. i got it mixed up with er2. my bad. i don't have access to test listening 7hz timeless. i've seen good reviews about them. but then again i've also seen good reviews about hifiman headphones and after listening to a couple of them in my local audio store, i'm convinced that my ears just don't agree with planar magnetic drivers. to me, all the hifimans sounded like high impedence dd headphone being improperly driven despite the store having them running off of some $2k+ dac/amp combo. they all sounded super treble heavy with metalic after taste. so pretty sure i won't take the risk with a planar IEM. thanks for the explanation and suggestion though.

[person123456789]

13 hours ago, Stan2292 said:

so what makes single and multi driver IEMs different? what specific properties of single and multi drivers make different manufacturers choose one or the other? also ie600 is like twice the price of blessing 2/er4xr. would appreciate if you have any recommendation within $50 of blessing 2.

Multi driver IEMs have more drivers. Different drivers have different properties which might suit the goal of the product better or worse. Blessing 2 is insane value and there is nothing better in that price bracket

[sub68]

19 hours ago, Stan2292 said:

ie600 is like twice the price of blessing 2/er4xr. would appreciate if you have any recommendation within $50 of blessing 2.

Thay person is just giving a example. 

 

Like how I am going to give you a comparison to ultimate ears lineup.

They have a line up from

 550 to well over 1000 dollar doesn't matter how much since it's basically a solution based(costum modeled though most of there costumers are musicians who use them for live concerts) mostly its amounts of drivers. 

But most of it comes down to turning.

Most people think more drivers better sound but some single drivers can out preform multiple driver iems.

Heck it's a argument for over a decade. *lurks at head fi fourms*

 

 Back to suggestions if that is your first iem I would suggest moondrop I have owned too many products over the last 2 years and been surprised how good they are. 

 

Basically a rant from a audio engineer.