I prefer my music to sound close to me as opposed to making it feels like a concert that you get on headphone or speakers, so I chose IEM any day. When comparing items at the same price, I very much prefer Andromeda compared to DCA Aeon 2 or Audeze LCD-2, they just sounded more pleasing and more practical to me. Of course, the soundstage is much bigger in headphones but I can feel note textures and details better in IEM.

Edit: I already got to the point where the only headphone I keep is LCD-2 for 7 sake, but I rarely use them, maybe only a few days a month. I suggest OP try both himself and find what you like better.

As long as you can get long warranty on your purchase, they are one of if not the most natural sounding IEM in that price range and possibly one of the few "affordable" endgames out there. It seems that driver failures happen early anyway.

oBravo ERIB 2C. I expected a complete disaster after reading reviews about their other models and how much oBravo were made fun of in crinacle's discord (or any other audio discord for that matter). I was completely blown away by their speaker like presentation. They weren't the most detailed or refined sound I have heard in that price, but it was a completely new experience to find speaker-like sound on an IEM.

They are easy to find in Indonesia. I bought them for $8.

Actually you WILL notice the metal build. It will give you lots of confidence in wearing it, whether it be using them for commuting or laying on the side with them. A little extra durability and premium feel are always appreciated. Besides, if it address the peakiness on Chu then shouldn't that be big enough of a difference? You really shouldn't be expecting massive difference in anything below $80.

Radius deep mount clear edition. The most comfortable and clearest sounding eartips I have ever used. Didn't realize how uncomfortable Azla earfitMax was until I swapped them. It feels like a veil has been lifted after I used them.

Maybe try foam or smaller size tips? I find Wan'er stock eartips are fine, but you can get something more comfortable like Radius deep mount or revised version of Final type E.

Impossible! You mean I wasted hundreds of hours playing pink noise with headphones I don't actually like?

Of course, from my experience the material themselves rarely matters. The stock copper cables that come with my empire ears have more pronounced mid treble compared to an aftermarket silver one, even though people say copper were supposed to sound warm.

Yeah, especially when it adds a ton of midbass to Andromeda which is the opposite of their graph. The build and feel is amazing though, can't believe they're only $20.

It's because people lack experience or simply too foolhardy to admit that cable can change sound. Like they said, "ignorance is bliss."

Try something sensitive like CA Andromeda or EE Zeus XIV and compare their stock cables with something like Tacables Obsidian / Rubine. I was a non believer until I tried cable swapping these IEMs.

Eh I wouldn't call it spicy, but something like that is easily solved by changing tips.

Why is this disliked? People can't accept their $20 iem can't sound like a $1000 one?

I second the IE600, one of the most natural sounding IEM and possibly one of the few affordable endgames. It's good for pretty much any genre so you don't need to carry complementary IEM.

I have been using my current gears for quite a while now and probably won't be getting another one since upgrading will cost thousands of dollars. I'm thinking of getting a speaker now, probably starting with entry level Sonus Faber lumina or Whaferdale evos.

How's the bass when you use spring tips on a rather brighter IEM like B2? They kill the bass too much when I use them with my current IEMs, even on the bassier one like Andro. They are indeed comfortable though, kinda like Sedna.

It changes the sound a lot on some very sensitive IEM. I used them with Zen Dac and EE Zeus XIV (a lot more sensitive than Andromeda), the sound became very bassy and the upper mid that Zeus specializes in becomes way overshadowed by the bass. Kinda funny because normally Zeus XIV barely have any bass lol.

What if I simply don't like how headphone sound though? I very much prefer sound presentation of IEM.

Peak KZ moment

It's a typo of item I believe.

Yeah, HD600 cost around $400 in where I live (Indonesia), but you can still get the likes of S12 or Kato for normal price. Some sellers unfortunately intentionally mark up the price because something is very popular though, like how Hexa costs above $100 here.

On one side it's good to keep the industry progressing and make it more accessible to the mass, on the other hand, there's no end to chifi hype train lol, back then I just sorta gave up with them and decided to get something more proper instead.

Consider wearing Audeze a neck exercise lol, it gets much better with time and you won't have to worry about any headphones weights in the future.

They are good conversation starter, if anything.