So basically the best way to know if you will like the sound of an IEM or headphone is to actually try it and hear how it sounds to you?

This helped me understand why I sometimes feel like my left ear sounds different from my right. I initially thought it was hearing loss, but after checking frequency sweeps over a few days I ruled that out. I suspect it's due to having different ear canal volumes.

Can we get a confirmation that no elephants were hurt in the making of this video?

Great video! Good job putting this together. Was very informative.

The convenience of having high quality sound without having to commit to headphone hair for the day is invaluable to me. The good thing is plenty of stores offer 30 day return periods if you can’t get the sound you want from an iem.

Excellent video. Love the coverage of the pure physics and psycho-acoustics at play. Well done!!

Clicked to be angry, stayed to learn something 🫡

Bravo! So many variables makes for complex measurements and solutions. Love how you showed the difference between 711 and 5128 between DD's and BA's. You can't trust a graph to tell you how it's going to sound. It's only a guide!

In other words, IEMs bypass your built-in EQ. So if you hate EQ, you *must* use IEMs.

More technical content please :) Thanks for this great video!

This was an amazing video. Thank you!

I’ve always preferred IEMs for their detail retrieval and sub bass performance compared to their headphones counterpart. I need a Susvara to match the resolution of a 64Audio U12t.

The point about the brain expecting the sound to be channelled to the ear drum via a pinna and its acoustic effects is an interesting one. Like others I find iems slightly more resolving but over ears seem to provide a more realitsic impression of space and superior lateral imaging. Both are great in their own way. Wouldn't necessarily say one is better than the other, just different.

This is quite refreshing just coming from ASR reading a thread where someone was highly motivated to change to a $100-200 IEM that was maybe 1dB closer to Harman than his current IEM and that presumably sounds identical to Monarch Mk2 which measured the same😅

curious if pressure relieving tech like our Apex would solve that variance in LF measurements. Also something to consider with regards to the potential fit/resonance issues is custom IEMs which typically get right up to the second bend. It eliminates quite a bit of that variance, and thankfully so, because in live music consistency is very important when one monitor engineer is mixing for up to dozens of people on stage using the same model; he needs to trust that they're hearing roughly the same thing.

Do you have any advice for an audiophile soon to acquire hearing aids? I have two listening venues: one wearing Focal Utopia headphones connected to iTunes on my Mac, the other my open air rig with Klipsch La Scala's 10 ft away. Is it advised to remove hearing aids in either or both of these environments? Is there any consensus on which hearing aids produce the best fidelity? Thanks.

so what is the pinna effect on the frequency response typically? and is there a particular region of the iem graphs i can see this assumed pinna effect for a particular iem?

Thank you so much for the info!!! This really helped me understand why eartips change sound. ex. 7hz Timeless sounds way more balanced,at least for me with the shallowest tip.(galaxy buds+ Large Tip; bass seems to get tamed while it still seems to be sealed) Hexa needed way more treble extension eq when inserted deep with small tips (and A LOT of bass cut)

Man, this was a surprising video in a good way. I really appreciate educational videos like this because it spares me so much googling and misinformation. ty

great video. appreciate the knowledge. can face id measure the outer ear? if they get any better with volume level EQ id have to switch to iphone and let go of wavelet.

How much of this equation do CIEM’s solve by chance? Or would the variation end up just now being in the drivers since they’re molded to varying shapes?

Very important question: The IEM Harman Curve doesn't consider the lack of the pinna and therefore make some sort of compensation? Thanks

Great video. Very informative. I do use iems (u12t, ie900 and many others) but they never sound as good as a headphone to me. Hd650, stellia and Arya stealth in my case

Hi guys i was wondering what IEM's people who like the signature of chord dave + susvara + amp would like?

It would be really helpful to have a video on how to understand our own anatomy and how it affects our expertise of sound, e.g. guide to using the sweeps etc

Andrew, help me decide, Focal Bathys or MoonDrop Variations?

What about ear wax? How does it affect the Head-Related Transfer Function?

I feel a constant pressure un my right ear. It has been there since 2017. Only one time, the pressure was gone. And with my right ear, I could hear more. The earcanals are also connected to the nose cavity. People aren't symmetrical.

KZfaq guru's guided me to the Moondrop Variations, but they sound tinny and not natural to my old ears. So, they are relegated to the simple sounds and they are perfect for highly compressed music and movie sound tracks. What IEM ( < 1K$ ) would you recommend for well recorded accoustic music?

Can someone explain to me like I'm five because I'm not sure I understand. An IEM bypasses the pinna so corrections only need to be made about the canal, while a headphone needs to consider pinna and canal effects. Wouldn't this mean IEMs need to make fewer assumptions about the user and can be easier made to be more objectively correct (whatever that means)? Yes I know insertion depth is another factor but let's put that aside for now.

My left and right ears' canals are different shaped . I had to use 2 different types of ear tips then only I could fit the Symphonium Meteor , most people universally praised Dunu's IEMS being very comfortable fits . On the other hand, I had extreme difficulty getting comfortable fit with them ( SA6 and Talos )

You can test for your resonant ear canal frequency using a PINK noise generator. Mine are around 6000Hz, with the left ear canal slightly below the right (L-5900, R-6100).

Very entertaining and amusing video. But if someone hears an IEM and likes it, and you’ve heard it and also liked it (and perceived it similarly), can you thus conclude that you can generally go with that persons opinions on other IEMs?

The day I open an audiophile bar&cafe the first signature drink we'll have will be called "Andrew's 6K". A refreshing lemon and lime flavoured liqour with just a bit too much acidity on the first sip.

A friend who has many headphones said he haven’t had IEM because they sound small but my bassy Sony IER Z1R to me at least doesn’t sound small

Would the same pinna argument apply to on-ear headphones?

I think it would be beneficial to make a video on how to use cursor based sweeps to EQ. I.e, how to EQ by ear.

That was awesome. Is anyone working on taking 3D ear canal scans and mapping them to hrtf etc?

This video helps me understand why I have always had a huge preference for listening to music over loudspeakers...

It wouldn’t fix the impedance issue but if we all had the same reference IEM or one of a small set to serve as a reference, it would make the measured data more meaningful

I have always been a headphone guy. I recently got the kiwi ears orchestra lites and it changed my perspective rather drastically. For 250 dollars, the detail retrieval is ridiculous. I don’t think there is a 250 dollar equivalent in headphones . However, my 660s, nighthawks, and sr225 certainly are more natural and expansive, but the kiwi ears destroy them on detail. I doubt I would switch solely to iems, but if I had to suggest audio equipment solely on value I’m suggesting iems. You don’t need an external amp or dac for the vast majority of them and an Apple dongle measures exceptionally well

Wait! You can manually tune them!? Please make a tutorial one please! Thank you!

another great video, thank you andrew

I've had excellent success mixing with IEMs using Realphones speaker emulation on top of it. Using just the IEMs for mixing is a catastrophe, but the combination of IEMs blasting the sound straight into your brain together with room emulation creates a VERY believable illusion of a room. Much better than anything I experience with Shure HD650 or high end AKG headphones. My biggest problem with IEMs is that they are very sensitive to how they are inserted in the ear and that can cause an unbalance.

the biggest takeaway I got from this is that it’s pretty much mandatory to listen to a pair before buying, I haven’t been doing this but I think I definitely will be once I go up the pricing brackets…

I had to give up on iems because my ears require different fits, which usually led to one side not seating properly and channel imbalance. I also don't find any iems comfortable past 30 minutes. It's a shame because I love how portable they are and the cost to get a good one is comparatively lower than over ears.

I prefer to listen to my Kato because of the comfort of IEMs in that it doesn't feel heavy like headphones. But yes, it's not perfect. I use Spinfit CP100 size S for the left and size XS for the right. Also, it seems the shape of my left and right ear is different too. At some point, if I push in too deep, I have no sound in my right ear as if the ear canal has a blockage or something so it's never perfectly/fully sealed, just enough. But my left ear has no issues. I'm thinking of buying another pair of IEM though in the 500USD range next year (third world country so I don't have much money to spare, otherwise I'd go for endgame with the 1000 USD IEMs.) I know it has its weaknesses but I don't think I can go back to headphones. So, I'll be checking out next year's product. I think it's immersion for me. IEM is more immersive be it for music or movies as oppose to headphones. But then again, I have never bought expensive headphones so I wouldn't really know. The most expensive headphones I bought was 30 USD and a KZ IEM cheaper than that has better sound so I just take it as IEM> headphones. I love my Kato but I think I need more details, separation, and better technicality. The tuning is almost perfect for me. But yeah, I'm a bit weary because I think my right ear has a very different ear canal shape (I havetrouble with the right ear producing more ear wax than the left since I was a child too, it's weird). As for graphs, I honestly don't really care. I see "harman neutral" and I think it'll work just fine. I rely more on how people rate it I guess. In the end, it does feel like a gamble.

The Blessing 2 Dusk is widely regarded as a very warm, calm sounding IEM, but the resonance peak sounded extremely sharp and sibilant to my ear canals. The only way to attenuate it was to use Spring Tips, which are quite short and made the nozzle go deeper which probably shifted the resonance peak to an acceptable place to me. This also happened to dms, but it's not a common thing reported for this IEM.

I like items for the detail in the midst and treble.but I also like over ears because they have a wider soundstage and they sound more natural

So.. iems are not objectively worse.. it just may be harder to find the best match for you even with available measurements

the Sub bass on moondrop variation is so good and I love it, but the problem I have with that IEM is the vocals always feel too thine for me

Should also include flathead buds like TGXear and Riku..best of both worlds 👍

I just can't get over the amount of cable dragging sounds I get from IEM's. I haven't tried many cables but I rarely if ever have experience with headphones. That and it makes me so much more prone to get an ear infection.

_you guys are the chosen one_

This video might long and complicated but it is really necessary.

Can't see how any iem are worth many thousands of dollars.

I love my dt770 a lot. But i use my IEMs more (ea500 lm currently) as they produce an incredibly holographic detail in my head. Both are good, depending on the mood

What about binaural recordings? How would they affect IEM vs headphones? Would you get a double effect with headphones or is the pinna effect removed post recording?

What my ears tell me and the listening experience is the only thing that matters. In my experience there is no over-ear headphone made that can match the performance of the best IEMs; not even close. And it isn't as though I was buying cheap over-ear cans. I was auditioning or buying a lot of flagship headphones: Focal Utopia (auditioned), Focal Stellia (owned), Meze Elite (owned), Audeze LCD 5 (owned), Dan Clark Audio Expanse (auditioned). My Empire Ear Ravens and Noble Audio Kublai Khan make them all pathetically bad and I ended up selling all of the over-ear headphones and I have zero regrets. I still have a pair of Sony MDR7506 over-ear headphones that I use in the recording studio, but for listening enjoyment for me it is IEMs all the way.

I think the take away you mentioned is spot on. Graphs are one thing and ear sound is another

I hope to see you at CanJam next week Resolve!

My left ear has a much sharper curve in before going towards the ear drum than my right. Iems are a nightmare and other than timeless I haven't found any comfy ones. Love my aur neon pros tho even though i can only do 2 hours or so

by the same token, would speakers be even better than headphones? because headphones cups could press on the pinna and alter its effect… 🤔

i have no natural pinna gain (i have no idea how) so every iem that boosts 3k (almost all of them) sound incredibly shouty to me. makes it impossible looking for a good pair for me.

I like my iems, but tonality wise I've always prefered speakers and over ear headphones. But you can definitely improve IEMs with some tweaking on EQ Nice video as always

Higher end iems allow greater detail retrieval and make subtle details easier to hear. Plus with a proper seal iems have a greater sense of immersion imo

we need budget chi fi headphones, there's no sub 50$ market like iem do

Shouldnt wr replace "worse" with "harder to measure"? Seems like the only objectively worse aspect is higher distortion in some cases.

AGREED! lol for real tho, I never reach for my IEMs at home. Portability is primarily where IEMs excel over all else.

Earcanals left vs right are different, i've got a real problem fitting in ears, I went back to aurical earbuds, from jbl, good sound, bass and weight in the sound, cheap! I'm happy. 🤗

nah I'll still look for graphs. ı know that they are not perfect. but I know that I like a bass that starts from 250hz in 5128 measurments. my ear anatomy might be different but this is not an issue in here: if you can measure a 14 minutes 34 seconds in an unsynchronized clock would that make a difference ? no. this is the same with graphs. its a nice way to quantify our preferences. and we should use it.

Wouldn’t Iems have less variation than headphones because IEMs are much more directly closer to the ear canal. Vs headphones where headphone pad quality, hair, strength of the headband, head and ear shape all affect the seal and how the sound travels from the headphones to the ear canal. Also all things being equal, IEMs are easier to tune and have less variability in quality control because headphones have more components that are much larger than IEMs such as the huge speakers in headphones

I don't like the IEM cables or fit tbh. Not very comfy or nice to handle. If my old Sony MX650 earphones hadn't broken after a week I'd have kept them forever. Is it also normal to have horrible harsh treble with IEMs?

Great breakdown of all this! Simple enough that it’s easy to grasp, but still in depth enough that those who are already a bit in the weeds have something to take away

IEMs are ruled out for me simply because at my PC playing games and talking on a mic I hate having a head voice. ANC fixes that but wired IEMs with ANC aren't really a thing so I stick with open back headphones for stationary usage and airpods pros for on the go.

Why doesn’t open back iems angle their drivers like some headphones manufacturers so they hit the pinna just a thought 🤔

Even at 57, it's a delight to be educated on something new. Back in the early 80's school was boring because we were taught by teachers that didn't want to be there. My parents told me that real education starts when we enter the workplace, very true although something else also eventually came along..... KZfaq.

Living in a noisy country in the tropics, IEMs are absolutely essential for any listening outside of my home: the isolation and lack of any uncomfortably hot contraption on my head.... Love all this nerdy sh!t, btw; thanks so much!

Interesting. I became more of an iem guy in the past 3 years. As an electronic musician, I need headphones/iems that sound good and can be used to mix well on. The LCD X 2021s are a wonderful and luxurious over ear set of headphones that can be used to mix professionally. Expensive (but worth it imo) at over $1100. At half it’s price, though, the 4 BA Symphonium Meteors sound most like the LCDs out of all the iems I have heard. Dare I say that the the Meteors sound more pleasing. Similar full bass impact (idk how they did it with such a small shell but it’s genius) and beautifully and smoothly tuned with some treble extension hardly seen in any other iem that has smooth treble 5-10k. Also has better instrument separation and just sounds more engaging. Iems are more subjective however as you point out - because our ears are all different. These are just my observations and my love affair with the Meteors gets stronger as I hear more and more sets. Still love my LCD X 2021s. But I can’t see purchasing another over ear headphone for a long time. Meanwhile, I can’t stop buying iems though that may slow. We’ll see how the Ziigaat Doscincos are when they arrive soon and if I’ll keep them. Seem similarly tuned to the Meteors - Love that the they had a cameo in the vid! My name is moons and I’m an addicted basshead. Love your well thought out content.

I wonder if what Apple did with the AirPods Pro 2 has gotten us closer to solving the issue of IEMs having to make assumptions of your ear anatomy. I imagine an IEM with sensors or microphones that "measure" each individual ear and can adjust its sound accordingly to account for anatomical differences with active DSP is probably the future. I think I even remember you and Crin talking a little about this in a livestream a few years ago, though I think this was before the APP2 released.

Super fun video

Should do a video discussing the opposite, too. Love my Kiwi-Ears Melody Planers

Make a video about "cursor-based sweeps"?

Dear Andrew, I got the point. I'm glad someone informed me of such detail. I'm a regular music listener who just came to understand flac, dsd or mqa. Dac/amp, lossless, hi-res audio, etc. I use regular 30ohm open back headphones. I have not experienced IEMs before. But I can differentiate between average and good pieces of sound gear. Learning and studying for the last 3 months. I have come up with the following: Truthear zero red. Truthear Hexa. To be experienced with ibasso dc03 pro. In your expert opinion, which IEM is better. Or if you suggest something to me, application; only music listening. I can't stretch my pocket that much. Finally, e.g, $100 headphones vs. $100 IEM, which sounds better, detailed, and is true value for money. Again, before giving your verdict, keep in mind I'm a poor guy. Will wait for your reply. Appreciate!

With certain headphones I actually have a channel imbalance biologically. As mentioned at 10:20. Though mine isn’t natural but from a surgery that extended into my sinus cavity.

Fire content

your ears are simply not designed to have sound injected directly which is what iems do. Its not how we have evolved. The fact they work as well as they do is quite amazing really.

Whoa is this why I agree with others about their opinions on headphones but when it comes to Iems I always think they are too trebly and too sharp even when it's the same person saying I would like them that knows me well? Crazy

Yes, the only definitive solution is one where the IEM is top custom for each ear. I personally do notice a significant difference between my ears that becomes harder to notice the further away the sound source is (IEMs, evident; speakers or actual instrument, non noticeable at all)

I've never actually liked over ear headphones. I've tried a few pairs and it really never stuck. i just feel like in ear has way more celerity in my opinion.

This title is completely missleading. You are not talking about better or worse, but on the consensus of the product. Less consensus doesn't make the product worse, just harder to find a match. For the very reasons you listed on why iems are better, once you find a great iem for your HRTF, it's no brainer using the iem over a headphone.

Andrew's twitter post suddenly makes a lot more sense now

I refuse to use any IEM without some kind of EQ. IEMs tuned to Harman in ear (like Moondrop) or even the new B&K target still sound WAY too forward from 3 kHz - 6 kHz for me compared to the rest of the frequency range. Using sine sweeps confirms just how forward those frequencies are for my personal ears and HRTF. Even compared to the HD600 it's too forward for me.

What an interesting thumbnail to click on while my Variations are in my ears.

Headphone bass also acts as bone conduction in IEMs. It vibrates a lot of air that moves vibrates your bones from around th ear. That's why Iems have bass shelves and headphones don't. That's why speakers have 10x more bass that headphones when they measure the same. This is just my theory.

"objectively" is a missnomer but i accept it as it works as an introductory concept. However there's no "objectively" better or worse headphone/earphones, there is however, "consensually" better or worse ones, which means a majority have reached to an agreement and usually that works to help deciding into buying one. Obviously a majority didn't determine everyone individually.

Blue Headphones are all top notch even though they mostly do microphones. Blue has never sold a bad headphone :)

I love HarmonicDyne Zeus Elite over any IEMs ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

My personal opinion on this... There are 2 reasons for one to use IEM: 1) When one is an artist; 2) They are (way) cheaper.

Good thing I'm watching this after buying IEMs. Undisputed king of timing.