Comments on Profile Post by Josh83

Right now, I just have Tin T2, which was my cheap intro to see if I’d like/tolerate IEMs. I don’t plan on moving to an external DAC/amp, since for me the point of IEMs (rather than full headphones) in bed is convenience. But I really don’t know if the iPad’s jack is too crappy to justify better IEMs. (And would I need an iEMatch?) Any advice is appreciated.

@YMO would probably know better than me here. I'd say something like Moondrop Kato and save the $

I'm definitely open to cheaper options if the difference will be lost when powered by the iPad and/or iPad plus iEMatch. But I also didn't want to putz around in middle-ground options if I'm better off just jumping to the Ara (or whatever).

I use Ara without an iematch straight out of a lot of sources

No IEM straight out of an iPad will do it justice. Use an dongle or Bluetooth IEMs like AirPods IMO.

Andro 2020 is darker than OG Andro. Ara does have problematic upper mids and lower highs depending on how deep you push them in your ears. Andro 2020 is more crowd pleaser tuning. But I been using Moondrop Kato nonstop for weeks and it is the sex. @shotgunshane can back me up.

@YMO so would you say the difference between, say, the Ara and Kato aren’t worth the steep price difference, at least for my use case? Is there an unobtrusive dongle you’d recommend?

if they fit your ears, Timeless 7hz easily for the audio quality + $ savings.

Or if the Timless 7hz doesn’t fit, the Shouer S12 with micropore tape covering 60-70% of the front of the nozzle. Cheaper and better than the 7hz IMO.

Either of these iems is all you need.

@Josh83 I don't think the steep price increase is worth it from Kato to Are. Honestly Kato might be the only IEM you need. I didn't recommend the Timeless since I didn't really like its timbre, but do your research on it. For Dongles, the SBAF man children like me been humping our Cayin RU6 dongles.

Thanks for the recommendations everyone. Really enjoying the Kato. I also picked up a Hi-MDAC dongle for $75, but might try to upgrade to a L&P W2 or something with selectable filters.

Kato club is cool club. L&P is if you are already losing your hearing. :p

Haha. I take it you’re not a fan of the L&P. As far as I can tell, it and the RU6 are the only dongles with selectable filters…