this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2023
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Headphones

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Why do people buy expensive IEMs? (alien.top)
submitted 11 months ago by resurgences@alien.top to c/headphones@hi-fi.community
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I get that IEMs are a great option under a 150 bucks and also convenient for traveling, I own two pairs myself and they are decent. But I've tried two open back headphones now and they both eclipse the IEMs in a way that can definitely not be replicated by IEMs. The sound is really "outside your head" and airy, whereas IEMs sound exactly like you'd expect them to sound. Often they can't even get omnidirectional imaging right and have blobs, and soundstage is very constrained.

So, why are there people spending tons of money on (C)hifi IEMs when they only listen to them at home anyways?

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[โ€“] EvilSynths@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Maybe because I can't fucking stand the open sound?

[โ€“] resurgences@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

That's fair, but on headfi all IEM reviews rate the soundstage. So there is that.