I’m someone who tries a lot of stuff as I go along. IEMs for sure, but headphones too, and other source-level components if I’m curious. And regardless of what other reviewers may tell you, a huge chunk of them are… average.

To be fair, that’s the whole definition of “average” in the first place. You need the Average Joes to exist in order to contrast with the true blue Brilliant Bruces, else the term “better than most” just loses its lustre. After all, a weird troll doll once said: “when everyone’s super, no one will be“.

These are the entries that I feel no desire writing more about. They are average (or lower) in my own definition, and so makes them even harder to write for. I have the linguistic capacity to praise the greats and admonish the scum, but what about everything else in between? Those are the hardest things to write for, and I find myself in the worst kind of the writer’s block every time I’m obliged to write something about them.

So I say, skip it all. No point locking these Insignificants away in the Patreon vault forever, so I’ll just dump them all in the ranking list right here, right now.

Perhaps the word “Insignificant” is a little too heavy-handed to describe some of the following IEMs considering that they may be average-sounding, but priced so cheaply that they create their own value. But at the end of the day, they aren’t exactly great in their own right but rather great in terms of their price tags.

The following table is arranged according to the grade awarded.

Model Grade MSRP Signature Comments Driver setup Unique Melody Mason V3+ A- 3200 Bright neutral Decent resolution, nothing really special otherwise. 16BA Lime Ears Aether R B 1350 Variable A downgrade from the original with weirder midrange tonality. 6BA Kinera Nanna B- 850 Mild V-shape Surprisingly good implementation of the EST tweeters, but lacking details. 2EST 1BA 1DD qdc Fusion B- 920 Warm Dulled transients and lacks detailing. Tonality is merely okay. 4BA 1DD Tansio Mirai TSMR-5 B- 430 Variable Alright tonality, decent detailing but nothing that makes it stand out. 5BA CCA C10 C+ 40 V-shaped Surprisingly well-tuned hybrid from a KZ-style company. Definitely the best in its lineup. 4BA 1DD Future Sonics MG5HX C+ 875 V-shaped Typical V-shaped DD signature with minimal focus on technicalities. DD Shuoer Tape C+ 130 V-shaped Decent technicalities but it basically screams in your face. “Electrostatic” Tanchjim Cora C+ 50 V-shaped Well-controlled bass boost, though coupled with a slightly odd midrange tonality. DD Audiosense T800 C 300 V-shaped Generic tuning that’s nothing special in terms of tonal accuracy nor technicalities. 8BA BGVP ES12 C 1500 Variable Slightly honky midrange tonality with the usual EST tweeter roll-off. 4EST 8BA CCA C12 C 50 V-shaped Nothing much to say; typical KZ-style tuning with shouty midrange and subpar technicalities. 5BA 1DD iBasso IT03w C 260 Bright V-shape Its sibilant and sharp treble is a tough trait to endure. 2BA 1DD IMR R1 Zenith C Variable Not very detailed with a persistently odd tonal balance regardless of filters used. 1Piezo 1DD KZ ZSN Pro C 20 V-shaped Nothing much to say; typical KZ-style tuning with shouty midrange and subpar technicalities. 1BA 1DD Noble M3 C 600 V-shaped Strident and harsh midrange only saved by its somewhat competent bass presentation. 1MS 1DD Stax SR-001 Mk1 w/ CES-A1 C Neutral Sounds surprisingly dull and undetailed for a “true” electrostatic. Electrostatic Tiandirenhe TD1 C 25 V-shaped Generic V-shaped DD with alright midrange tonality and technicalities. DD Unknown Custom UCD-2 C 220 Warm V-shape A common 2-driver signature with passable resolution. 2BA Venture Electronics BIE C 20 V-shaped Generic V-shaped DD with alright midrange tonality and technicalities. DD Brainwavz B400 C- 150 Neutral Dulled transients and dynamics makes this a boring listen. 4BA Cayin YB04 C- 500 “Balanced” An odd take on neutrality that sounds weird and uneven. 4BA Fatfreq Eden C- 220 “Balanced” A strange sounding monitor with no clear direction in its tuning. 2BA Heir Audio Tzar 350 C- Bright Its detail would be appreciated if it didn’t come with ear-splitting treble. 2BA I-INTO i8 C- 25 “Balanced” Somewhat downsloping signature. It’s an IEM that exists. 3DD Kinera IDUN Deluxe C- 140 V-shaped Not a bad hybrid, considering Kinera’s track record. 2BA 1DD KZ ZS3 C- 10 V-shaped Simple DD tuning. It’s an IEM that exists. DD Meccaudio ME-04 C- Neutral A not-quite-neutral “neutral” monitor. 4BA Pai Audio DM2A C- 140 V-shaped Weird midrange. Oddly similar to the Kinera IDUN. 2BA 1DD Stax SR-001 Mk1 C- Warm Sounds like an old-school on-ear headphone from the 80s. Electrostatic Tin HiFi T1 C- 36 Warm Could use some more high frequency response. Seems like squandered potential. DD TRN BA5 C- 70 V-shaped Low resolution, passable tonality. 5BA Venture Electronics Duke C- Warm Oddly tuned dynamic, but at least it’s not the Monk IEs. DD fineEars TSH-HR1000K D+ 70 V-shaped Pretty decent tonality but is severely lacking details. DD KZ AS16 D+ 125 V-shaped Nothing much to say; typical KZ-style tuning with shouty midrange and subpar technicalities. 8BA Unknown Custom Quad 2.0 D+ 390 V-shaped Low-resolution, low-detail, passable tonality. 4BA Unknown Custom Juno D+ 640 Variable Something odd going on in the midrange. Same issues in resolution. 6BA AAW ACH/Kingfisher D 190 Warm Persasive warmth just puts a blanket on all the transients. Lacks definition. 1Piezo 1BA 1DD Audio Technica ATH-IEX1 D 1200 V-shaped Sounds weird, sounds wrong, needs a complete overhaul. 2BA 2DD Campfire Equinox D 1500 Bassy Extremely different from the Atlas. It’s a lot worse. DD CCA A10 D 60 Bright V-shape Typical KZ-style tuning with even shoutier midrange. 5BA Unknown Custom UCD-3 D 270 Warm Mushy, blunted transients with a warm yet strangely sibilant tuning. 3BA JH Audio Diana E 700 Dark Mushy transients and the detailing capability of free phone earbuds. 3BA

All entries have been updated on the IEM ranking list.