The IEM Ranking List: crinacle.com/rankings/iems/ Changelog and analysis: crinacle.com/2023/08/19/the-big-reset-iem-ranking-list/ Come to The Hangout! 29B Mosque Street, Level 3 Singapore 059507 goo.gl/maps/qRhMgtUBZ2FWu6gX9
yo crin the cheaper IEC 60318 was far way better to understand frequency response graphs and more aesthetically pleasing more expensive doesn't mean better in my opinion plus the average audiophile prefers aesthetic
Damn I would literally pay like 200$ to have access to the crazy headphone room before deciding to purchase something super expensive. There should be one in every state.
Either you have the liquidity and you bought a few and return what you don't want (look at return policy I know it is not same in every country and have no clue how common good return policy are in USA). Or plan a trip to Singapore ^^
Sweetwater Sound in Indiana has a wall of headphones. You can't use your own reference tracks to listen though... still nice if you own a pair they have on the wall and want to try an A/B comparison.
Unfortunately I have never met another person who cares about audiophile matters so I have no hope that we’ll get many, if any, audiophile shops in the future
You're consistent, which is what any critic or reviewer needs to be (and entertaining, too, I suppose). I may have different views than you on certain headphones but because of your consistent opinions I have an idea of what I will like that you don't like and vice versa.
The thing is, every headphone can't be above average, so really every so often you need to re-level everything so that most fits in average. It's not that a headphone gets under ranked but that previously tested headphones are potentially over or under ranked until you do a re-level like he did. To put it simply, the more he tests the more that some higher and lower rated headphones will gravitate towards C. Most things fit a bell curve and having the bulk around the centre of C is basically the right way of thinking about it. As he mentioned in the video, if everything purely gets a higher score you end up like IGN where 8 is average, 9-10 is good, and 7 is terrible which becomes a very meaningless score. A C doesn't mean the headphone is _bad_ , just that it's not enough to get into the B tier.
id imagine with the amount of entries, by now the list should normally adhere to *approximately* a bel curve- given that Crin can impose equal standards on all new iems
Can you elaborate on what you mean? The ranking list is about overall performance relative to all other IEMS. So, if the IEM is the last in B+ or first in B it doesn't change its spot on the list. Are you asking if he will give an IEM a C instead of an A simply because he doesn't have enough Cs? That isn't how bell curves typically work. If a new A or S tier IEM gets released, then a bell curve forces the lowest ranked A- IEM to get bumped down to B+ to fit the bell curve. It allows the list to continuously update without having to go back and analyze a 3 or 4 year old IEM again. Without a shifting bell curve the top end of the list ends up getting bloated. A headphone may have been S tier 4 years ago, but now is A tier at best compared to modern IEMs. The IEM list should properly reflect that without requiring thousands of hours of side by side comparisons every year.
I haven't bought any iem with a waifu Yet... But that's only because the non-replaceable cable on the Chus was a deal breaker for me, I'm no longer in the market for iems so the Chu 2 just got late and I'm happy with the salnotes zero. I may buy a pair of Chu 2 for my gf which would be hilarious if the only iem with waifu i end up buying are as a gift for my actual waifu
From a singaporean to another singaporean, love you bruh. Love your passion, your wit, your dedication and mostly imporantly a list to set it all straight for me. Your list has made it so, so easy for me. I think i represent the tens of thousands who are here and referring to your list from to time, thank you maestro.
Can’t believe I’ve had your ranking list hold my hand whilst entering the iem world and never thought to find out who you are. No idea how RUclips only now decided to show me one of your videos. Holy fuck, I am loving your attitude! excited to watch all the stuff you’ve put out so far.
Question: Why are there still IEMs missing from your list that you reviewed in previous videos? The one that sticks out to me is the S12 from your Planar video
@@blinkx1070Seriously? I've been told the SA6's cable has memory issues and it's why some aren't a fan. But at that point it can come down to opinion. I'd say the cable is better than the Mk 2 but it does have memory to it still which is annoying. Same issues ironically.
@@Shyvorix I personally haven't experienced any memory issues with my Sa6, they're almost always wrapped up or inside the case when I'm not using them. I also find it untangles itself very easily when I unwrap them. I find the Monarch 3's cable gets loopy and tangled way easier, it just doesn't wrap or unwrap as easily and I've only had it a week(on top of the memory issues).
Hi crin, would you please review the Moondrop Chu 2? The older one was so good and I bought them because of your video on it. and I absolutely love the sound. Really hope to hear your thoughts on the new version. Thanks so much for the effort you put in making the reviews and ranking.
I have both and while the sound quality is still very much there, the Chu 2 are far more comfortable for me Bonus for detachable cables...I've gotten to move the IEMs to an IEM Bluetooth wireless set up and they work great This is an old comment but if you haven't bought them already, I highly recommend it
I’m fascinated you found a CIEM you’d give an S- rating. Honestly your price-performance only works for audio quality, but a CIEM is going to fit so perfectly that it makes the Viento-B arguably the current IEM GOAT. So fascinated by that one.
Currently own one as I wanted to move to something else after the Moondrop S8, and it's goated. Keep in mind price doesn't take into account getting ear impressions and shipping them, shipping to actually receive them, fees from wiring money over to Hidition, and mental sanity from them taking days to respond to emails in readable English.
I will agree that as a Dunu SA6 owner, it's definitely outclassed in price-to-performance by most of my other earphones, so seeing it knocked down to B wasn't that big of a surprise. It's still nice to have a good, warm earphone to switch to, and the comfort is still excellent.
If I was in the market for stupid expensive IEMs or Headphone Monitors I would absolutely fly to The Hangout! Alas, as a budget buyer the tier list will have to suffice. Thanks for the update vid! Definitely looking forward to the “best IEMs for those who hate to read” version 2 video. 😅
Not asking to add even more IEMs, but I personally would really wonder where the AFUL Performer 5 would be ranking wise, since I own a pair and really enjoy them. But the mere thought that all of this is free is amazing and I don't wanna be one of those asking for things like "measure xy".
Need one important piece of information: What is your preferred sould signature, warm/neutral/analytical/etc? Cannot find in the video or your ranking list.
Used both your IEM and Headphone lists (Variations and Focal Clear OG) and very happy with both choices. Nice to see Variations getting the 3 star recommendation, they are worth it.
I'm happy with my Truthear Zero (blue). I'm just here to watch and listen to Crinacle, guy's fun to listen to. Also, thank you for helping me find what was best for me; First was the Moondrop Aria and then the aforementioned IEMs I'm now using.
I'm planning to buy the truthear zeros as i listen to music often and I'm bit of a bass head. (Not the subwoofer rumble but that bass punch. Those base drops i just love them. Also i want to use them for gaming. Soo. Should i go ahead with the iem. Will the sound signature be of my liking ? Please help. Also i couldn't find the zeros in the iem ranking list even though it was partnered by crinacle himself. Any idea about it ?
they do have a headphone version released. and he generally believe with the same price, a headphone + mic will yield a better result than a gaming headset (in terms of quality).
Glad the Monarch Mk II is still up there. Dethroned from #1 but still my personal favorite (granted I have never had the opportunity to demo an Annihilator or Viento). Also really curious about that Monarch Mk III in the background. Variations as top value/3 star is expected though that does make me wonder if B2 Dusk would beat it if there wasn't a conflict of interest.
Thanks Crinacle! The new list is great but there appears to be some dark energy embedded between some of the entries which, statistically speaking, must be having a profound effect on the order in which the IEMs appear. Otherwise I love it. ⚖️
haven’t finished the vid yet but I appreciate ur breakdown of ur ranking system, and the fact that you take cost-performance into consideration when making this list.
I definitely have some mild criticisms about the ranking list and I'm somewhat confident a chunk of your viewers will agree. It's not necessarily about where you rank certain IEMs but the ranking itself as a whole. As much as I appreciate and admire the work Crin has been doing for however many years, as long as Crin is consistent with how inconsistent he is with new entries, I find the rankings to ultimately be mildly beneficial at best because let's be perfectly honest here; more often than not, people who comment on Crin's videos are interested in his impressions on the more recent releases, most likely to help with their purchase decision and not necessarily challenging him on his ranking list entries. This is the main reason why I love the "unboxing and first listen" videos where Crin gathers a bunch of the new stuff he receives and records his first impressions in a single video because chances are one or two of the IEMs he tried in those videos include IEMs that I'm either curious in trying out, IEMs I have tried and want to see if Crin's impressions are any different, or as I said in the previous paragraph, IEMs that I'm actively considering buying. Given that there's already 1,000+ entries, I personally cannot accept any excuses with regards to the amount of new IEM releases or is your own slogan that says "if it's not on the list, it doesn't exist" no longer valid? I don't expect a weekly ranking update (a monthly update IMO would probably be more ideal because I know Crin has other things to do); I just want it to be consistent. Hopefully that can be something worth considering for the future. And finally, is the Canjam SG video still going to be a thing? LOL have a good week, man. Cheers 🙏
I know you don't want to rank your collabs since there is an inherit bias on them but couldn't you make a seperate section below where you rank just the collab units in a ranking you think they should belong in and just leave a massive disclaimer that you're biased and will get money from it. That way we can still see what you think of them and people won't have to ask you where the blessing 3 is on the list for example
He probably won't since he wants to promote his collab iems as much as possible and by comparing them to the his other collab iems it could cause the companies to hesitate in doing another collab with Crin for fear their iem being ranked bellow other iems in his collab only ranking list. This could cause a loss in sales and it could damage his relationship with the company. That's why he relies on other youtubers to do the reviewing. Don't get me wrong I would love to see him rank them too, I just don't think it would be something he would be likely to do.
I mean, if he ever does that I would assume he'd put everything in S+ and say in disclaimer "I'm biased, go buy them", so that theorical ranking list would be meaningless anyway. What do you even expect, for him to be serious and rank his collabs to hurt their sales ? Because people would obviously buy the top rank and ignore the lower ones, hurting his income since he gets money from all of them, and the companies won't be happy
I mean that's a fair point but if you puts a 300$ iem in S tier and a 50$ in B+ tier that wont really kill the others sales as the price bracket is so different@@lhv2k
Nice setup for audio enthusiast to "hang out". Too bad I am too far away but maybe one day! Hopefully you got security guards because people could get crazy. I do like the rating factor in the price as well.
I don't have an issue with any of the ranks, it's all subjective! I mostly just want more detail on how you determine an IEM's signature for the list. You mentioned not using the known targets anymore, but some of the new picks seem off. The Blessing 2 for example, which you put as mild v-shape, has graphs that look nearly identical to IEM's that you put as being neutral, like the Hidition NT6. And most reviews I've ever seen put the B2 as being pretty neutral I thought. Doesn't matter much or anything but I'd just like to know your thought process!
in my opinion being too fixated on the bell curve create its own problem of being conflicted with the value ranking (which obviously not required to follow the bell curve), now the chart have some very funny occurence of aria and titan s share the same B rating as the chu and hola, while being 4 times the price, and all of these 4 iems have the 3 star value rating (which will be noticed by most people), either create new value tier, split major tier like B and C further or pushing the higher rating up a bit (S+ and S is completely unpopulated)
Hey crin, I've been hearing the newer 7hz Timeless (the ones that come with a plastic case of tips) are worse? Have you tested them vs your initial unit? If not I'd love to see a review of them.
I can spoil that one for you - no. Maybe the best competition to the HD800S are the HD800 and HD820, most likely. HD820 probably being even better for games, but then you’re paying like $2K for phones that are pretty bad for music man.
@@sephondranzer ya that’s what I figured, I have just heard a few people recently saying they like the imaging quality of IEMs for positioning enemies in games even over headphones with a wide soundstage.
@@nhbjhbbhbhgvb Maybe? I agree on a lot of competitive games the soundstage of the HD800S isn’t that advantageous, but it is also one of the best at imaging. Imaging was also why I imagined the OG HD800 maybe beating it out, even though they sound like a dog shit on dogshit.
I was wondering if there would be preferential treatment over "original" iem's (driver and/or tuning-wise) vs the subsequent "copycats"? Especially considering over the last few years, when one outstanding iem comes out, many items following the " trend" appear. I guess the shorter version of this question is, do you value "trendsetters"?
Hey crin, I have a question for you in relation to the new ranking list. About the Olina SE, why does it have a lower grade when compared to perhaps the Aria or the UM 2HT? Based on many reviwer's opinions and even my personal listening, it seems to me that it generally sounds more defined and detailed than perhaps the Aria or Chu, and even almost rivaling the er2se in some cases (I dont think it's quite there, but it's also not too far from it from my personal listening). Also, I don't really see why the tuning grade of it would be B+, as it is basically an Aria with more refined lower treble and without the grainy uppper treble, or a cleaner and more refined UM 2HT, without the slight midrange scoop and boosted treble. What aspects did you find that it particularly lacks to get a higher rating? Thanks in advance for your response and hard work on the database, and congratulations on inaugurating the Hangout café!
Because the likes the tune better. You're right, the Olina SE craps on the Aria in terms of the driver and EA500 is even better. Aria is the new se215 lol, old and busted.
i would've liked to see a "trusted brand" or similar column, so if a model or brand is known to have unit variation or QA issues we can take it into account before buying
I know that the IEM panorama changes very quickly, but this is a very useful database for a noob like me to get an idea of what's currently on offer, and how much. Great work, kudos !!
Amazing IEM ranking list as always. Only thing I feel is your ranking missing a lot of new IEMs that is coming/came out over past year but with weekly videos starting again. I hope that gap closes up. Good luck with The Hangout.
I found kinda funny that the crin's website slogan is "If it's not on the list, it doesn't exist" which is kinda ironic since your collaboration work like zero red doesn't listed on the rank.
@@SlavJerry ahhh now that make sense, I think the slogan should be change a little bit. Because the current slogan I interpreted in the wrong way. It should be "if it's not on the data base, it doesn't exist"
Thank you!! Amazing work not only for the audiophile community but for everyone interested in buying a better value product (also thank you for the more statistical approach since I also get pretty annoyed with an 8 grade being given to something mediocre). And since this is the day I’m viewing this video, merry Christmas!!
Thank you for the great effort. I appreciate that you will do a video talking about all iems with at least 1 star. Since the ranking list doesn’t say anything about what you like and what you don’t. For example one doesn’t know what aspect of the technical performance of the talos you like. Looking forward to that video
@@ROCKSTAR3291 It's truly a stunning display of incompetence on Crinacle's part. He strikes me as a smart person, but dunning-kruger struck hard on this one.
Crin your wrong. When you literally getting paid thousands of dollars to collab with companies of course your gonna put the company that pays you the most on top
This cafe is God-Tier coffee shop hands down to think anybody who either knows about audiophile gear or not can check out what’s great in headphones is the ultimate. Coffee shops are boring and hardly anybody grabs those books they have. I do know really good coffee shops out here in Los Angeles they tend to sell really soft cozy shirts hoodies hats. Going back from a tangent, this is mindblowing coming from a savant like you this is spectacular for sure anybody who loves coffee everyday will absolutely get more drawn and ultimately spread the love
I can't believe there's no mention of the Pandamon - unless I've missed it. It's a real open back IEM and the only one under $100USD. Even more expensive ones are hard to come by. It has a very natural sound devoid of colouration, and I can hear someone knocking at my door! A true gem...sound-wise🐼
One of the many pages of my irl Bible that ranking list, actually buys my iems based on that. If and when I go to Singapore, you'll bet this place is one that I'll be going to.
Submitting my comment for ridicule: I love my IKKO OH10s and I think they sound absolutely incredible. They also happen to fit my ear shape really well (a rarity) and find them comfortable enough for hours and hours. They are the best sounding pair of headphones I own/have ever heard.
I appreciate your candid comments. You are so well-learned in this hobby some may see you as the authority. I don't feel that way because I have never felt you stated yourself in such a way. I am cool with agreeing with you or not. Thanks for your efforts.
Awesome to see this being updated. I wonder if it would be possible to have some form of this list which is an aggregate of a few different people's findings. I love the amount of effort and thought that Crin puts into this sort of thing but my only main criticism is that everything ultimately comes from him (as far as I'm aware). Crin, if you're reading this, keep up the great work. I'm not going to make any comments about where you are placing anything on your list - it's subjective ultimately. The thing I'd love to see in thy future would be some sort of collaboration between yourself and some of the other people out there who have the luxury of getting their ears on such a large range of audio stuff. It would be impossible to get everyone's opinions on every earphone for example but it would be really cool to be able to see aggregate scores along the lines of 'out of 10 reviewers, the Timeless is on average, a A' and out of 3 reviewers, the IE900 averages out at a B'. It would also be a cool way to capture subjective opinions as individuals could each leave a small comment. I imagine it would be a logistical nightmare and an incredible feat but I thought I'd put the idea out there...
Timmy (gizaudio), who is crinacles editor has a iem list in his video descriptions that also has links to almost every other iem ranking list currently out there. You can use his, crinacles, and the rest to come to the best conclusion on any one iem if they have reviewed it.
Congrats on The Hangout! Looking forward to visit sometime in the near future once I fly over at SG again... no probs on your list whatsoever, it is YOUR list. Only one issue though - the tagline 'if it's not on the list, it doesn't exist' thing just doesn't cut it anymore 😉
Thank you very much for this. The list is amazing as well as the software! Thank you! I have a lil question please, I noticed that you don't have many Hidizs there, just the MS3, while they now have the planar MP145 and the ms5 etc. I do have the MS2 and for the price is quite good. Any chance you would check them out too and add them to the list. Btw, I'm looking now at the truthear red and I think I will get a pair of those. Thanks
is there going to be a joke rank list for this too like with headphones? (i still don’t quite understand what the joke is of the “real” headphones tier list)
I went full subjective with my own ranking list of TV series and movies, and rate everything on a scale of 2 = "I dislike it", 4 = "It was okay", 6 = "I like it", 8 = "It's great", 9 = "Masterpiece", 10 = "Literally flawless". Surprisingly the median score is around 5 and the mean just slightly higher after adding 400+ shows. The list was so subjective it looped around to becoming objective to my own preferences and bias.
Will you grade your own collab products against each other? In a separate category? Will it show the manufacturing capabilities and limitations for each brand that you are collabing with? Or do you tune your collab products on its price point?
The IEM Ranking List: crinacle.com/rankings/iems/
Changelog and analysis: crinacle.com/2023/08/19/the-big-reset-iem-ranking-list/
Come to The Hangout!
29B Mosque Street, Level 3
Singapore 059507
goo.gl/maps/qRhMgtUBZ2FWu6gX9
yo crin the cheaper IEC 60318 was far way better to understand frequency response graphs and more aesthetically pleasing more expensive doesn't mean better in my opinion plus the average audiophile prefers aesthetic
now add kz to the mix 😂
That Lounge looks so good 🙂
hi crin will you review thieaudio monarch 3 ?
Final Audio A5000
Now rank every single eartips in existence
TRI clarion would get three stars
That's actually a super interesting topic😅
@@arc-audio I would rate.... DDHiFi tips S rank.
And based on different average ear canal shape
What you will rank 7hz selenotes zero
Not all heroes wear capes, but one wears a lot of earphones.
I have never been told too f off... so nicely in my life... and I don't mind it.. 😅
At the same time?
W comment 🤣
Going by some of the comments here you’ve just boosted the Singapore tourism.
Congratulations on the Hangout.
This is going into my list of obscure tourist spots that only I (in my social circle) want to go to.
I'm going to Singapore next semester, can't wait to check it out
I can't thank you enough for your services to the audio community, your ranking list is amazing.
Thank my ass
@@injured_lionthanks. Directed at your beautiful, perky, juicy, booty.
Damn I would literally pay like 200$ to have access to the crazy headphone room before deciding to purchase something super expensive. There should be one in every state.
True, not even miami FL have any audiophile shop
In every state? hah he's not even in this country, we can dream on...
Either you have the liquidity and you bought a few and return what you don't want (look at return policy I know it is not same in every country and have no clue how common good return policy are in USA).
Or plan a trip to Singapore ^^
Sweetwater Sound in Indiana has a wall of headphones. You can't use your own reference tracks to listen though... still nice if you own a pair they have on the wall and want to try an A/B comparison.
Unfortunately I have never met another person who cares about audiophile matters so I have no hope that we’ll get many, if any, audiophile shops in the future
You're consistent, which is what any critic or reviewer needs to be (and entertaining, too, I suppose). I may have different views than you on certain headphones but because of your consistent opinions I have an idea of what I will like that you don't like and vice versa.
7:45 Genuine question: are you concerned you'll rank a few IEMs higher or lower purely to try and fit the bell curve?
Once the rating starts getting "heavier" on one side, just normalise the whole list once and everything will be fine
The thing is, every headphone can't be above average, so really every so often you need to re-level everything so that most fits in average.
It's not that a headphone gets under ranked but that previously tested headphones are potentially over or under ranked until you do a re-level like he did.
To put it simply, the more he tests the more that some higher and lower rated headphones will gravitate towards C.
Most things fit a bell curve and having the bulk around the centre of C is basically the right way of thinking about it.
As he mentioned in the video, if everything purely gets a higher score you end up like IGN where 8 is average, 9-10 is good, and 7 is terrible which becomes a very meaningless score.
A C doesn't mean the headphone is _bad_ , just that it's not enough to get into the B tier.
id imagine with the amount of entries, by now the list should normally adhere to *approximately* a bel curve- given that Crin can impose equal standards on all new iems
Can you elaborate on what you mean? The ranking list is about overall performance relative to all other IEMS. So, if the IEM is the last in B+ or first in B it doesn't change its spot on the list. Are you asking if he will give an IEM a C instead of an A simply because he doesn't have enough Cs? That isn't how bell curves typically work. If a new A or S tier IEM gets released, then a bell curve forces the lowest ranked A- IEM to get bumped down to B+ to fit the bell curve.
It allows the list to continuously update without having to go back and analyze a 3 or 4 year old IEM again. Without a shifting bell curve the top end of the list ends up getting bloated. A headphone may have been S tier 4 years ago, but now is A tier at best compared to modern IEMs. The IEM list should properly reflect that without requiring thousands of hours of side by side comparisons every year.
@@prebenolsen9950unless headphones get better and better
I think your ranking list should include a column that identifies if there is a waifu attached to the IEM.
I haven't bought any iem with a waifu
Yet...
But that's only because the non-replaceable cable on the Chus was a deal breaker for me, I'm no longer in the market for iems so the Chu 2 just got late and I'm happy with the salnotes zero.
I may buy a pair of Chu 2 for my gf which would be hilarious if the only iem with waifu i end up buying are as a gift for my actual waifu
Your rank list & measurement graph is treasure for the community, thank you Crin!
Breh imagine hanging out with uncle Crin in the lounge and when it’s time to close he tells you to F off. I need to experience that.
From a singaporean to another singaporean, love you bruh.
Love your passion, your wit, your dedication and mostly imporantly a list to set it all straight for me. Your list has made it so, so easy for me.
I think i represent the tens of thousands who are here and referring to your list from to time, thank you maestro.
10:16 I thought I could understand it by using the function to change the playback speed of youtube, but in reality it was still difficult.
Can’t believe I’ve had your ranking list hold my hand whilst entering the iem world and never thought to find out who you are. No idea how RUclips only now decided to show me one of your videos.
Holy fuck, I am loving your attitude! excited to watch all the stuff you’ve put out so far.
Question: Why are there still IEMs missing from your list that you reviewed in previous videos? The one that sticks out to me is the S12 from your Planar video
I know there's at least one brand that's been blacklisted by Crinacle, and thus doesn't show up in his ranking list. I forgot the name though.
@@soaringje9Why would a brand be blacklisted, lying about the hardware, sending regular clients worse stuff vs that the reviewers get?
@@spacejasontodd i think it's about ethical issue, some companies don't follow the labor guidelines
@@soaringje9 KZ& their offshoots, not Letshuoer though.
Might swing by the hangout on my short layover in singapore! Also looking forward to more new IEM reviews and ranking!
Time for you to add the Monarch Mkiii and see how it compares to the ii in the S cat
Yea the box is there, ranking where?
Prestige LTD as well, please 🙏
Cable is still kinda bad. Wild that my Dunu Sa6 at almost half the price has a way better cable
@@blinkx1070Seriously? I've been told the SA6's cable has memory issues and it's why some aren't a fan. But at that point it can come down to opinion. I'd say the cable is better than the Mk 2 but it does have memory to it still which is annoying. Same issues ironically.
@@Shyvorix I personally haven't experienced any memory issues with my Sa6, they're almost always wrapped up or inside the case when I'm not using them. I also find it untangles itself very easily when I unwrap them.
I find the Monarch 3's cable gets loopy and tangled way easier, it just doesn't wrap or unwrap as easily and I've only had it a week(on top of the memory issues).
Why is S12 not ranked? The most recommended iem recently by the community
there are only 3 reasons why it is not ranked:
1. KZ umbrella
2. His collab
3. New iem unit and/or not finished yet.
@@pepper5105 he reviewed S12 on RUclips, I am guessing he just missed out S12 to add on the list
@@pepper5105 Yet S12 doesn't hit any of these points
My go to list for headphones and iems, many thanks for your work. This is not an easy list to make.
Congrats on opening The Hangout Crin. I hope to visit someday. And I look forward to more recent IEM releases being added to your ranking list.
Hi crin,
would you please review the Moondrop Chu 2? The older one was so good and I bought them because of your video on it. and I absolutely love the sound. Really hope to hear your thoughts on the new version. Thanks so much for the effort you put in making the reviews and ranking.
And also the Jiu, although I'm not sure he's reviewing DSP IEMs
I have both and while the sound quality is still very much there, the Chu 2 are far more comfortable for me
Bonus for detachable cables...I've gotten to move the IEMs to an IEM Bluetooth wireless set up and they work great
This is an old comment but if you haven't bought them already, I highly recommend it
I’m fascinated you found a CIEM you’d give an S- rating. Honestly your price-performance only works for audio quality, but a CIEM is going to fit so perfectly that it makes the Viento-B arguably the current IEM GOAT. So fascinated by that one.
Currently own one as I wanted to move to something else after the Moondrop S8, and it's goated. Keep in mind price doesn't take into account getting ear impressions and shipping them, shipping to actually receive them, fees from wiring money over to Hidition, and mental sanity from them taking days to respond to emails in readable English.
How do you clean the public use IEMs?
We have alcohol swabs on hand!
I will agree that as a Dunu SA6 owner, it's definitely outclassed in price-to-performance by most of my other earphones, so seeing it knocked down to B wasn't that big of a surprise. It's still nice to have a good, warm earphone to switch to, and the comfort is still excellent.
If I was in the market for stupid expensive IEMs or Headphone Monitors I would absolutely fly to The Hangout! Alas, as a budget buyer the tier list will have to suffice. Thanks for the update vid! Definitely looking forward to the “best IEMs for those who hate to read” version 2 video. 😅
Went to the Hangout last week, cozy place, coffee is good and staff was really chill!
I need to explain how i need to book a flight to this hangout to see what headset/iem i need to spend money on
My exact same thought...
man I am fiending for those Chu 2, Space Travel, Orchestra Lite, Monarch MKIII reviews / FR graphs. Incredible content though, keep it up.
Not asking to add even more IEMs, but I personally would really wonder where the AFUL Performer 5 would be ranking wise, since I own a pair and really enjoy them. But the mere thought that all of this is free is amazing and I don't wanna be one of those asking for things like "measure xy".
Need one important piece of information: What is your preferred sould signature, warm/neutral/analytical/etc? Cannot find in the video or your ranking list.
Hi Crinacle, so curious about your reviews and thoughts on the new Thieaudio Monarch Mk III.😆
Used both your IEM and Headphone lists (Variations and Focal Clear OG) and very happy with both choices. Nice to see Variations getting the 3 star recommendation, they are worth it.
You're contributing your life's long work for a country with no borders. Thank you CRINACLE
Thanks for the hard word and transparency. Congratulation in the new hideout.
I'm happy with my Truthear Zero (blue). I'm just here to watch and listen to Crinacle, guy's fun to listen to. Also, thank you for helping me find what was best for me; First was the Moondrop Aria and then the aforementioned IEMs I'm now using.
I'm also using the Truthear Zero. For $50 I'm MORE than satisfied with the build and sound quality.
Same
I'm planning to buy the truthear zeros as i listen to music often and I'm bit of a bass head. (Not the subwoofer rumble but that bass punch. Those base drops i just love them. Also i want to use them for gaming. Soo. Should i go ahead with the iem. Will the sound signature be of my liking ? Please help. Also i couldn't find the zeros in the iem ranking list even though it was partnered by crinacle himself. Any idea about it ?
@@sohailimran4854he doesn't rank his collabs due to conflict of interest, get the TE Zeroes, it's a safe buy
I have missed you Crin!
Good luck for the hangout!
This needs a headphone version, a gaming version, and a best overall/mixed use case version. Amazing content!
they do have a headphone version released. and he generally believe with the same price, a headphone + mic will yield a better result than a gaming headset (in terms of quality).
Your shop has been my dream to give people a chance to learn about quality audio.
Glad the Monarch Mk II is still up there. Dethroned from #1 but still my personal favorite (granted I have never had the opportunity to demo an Annihilator or Viento). Also really curious about that Monarch Mk III in the background. Variations as top value/3 star is expected though that does make me wonder if B2 Dusk would beat it if there wasn't a conflict of interest.
I'll be in Singapore for a few days next month with no idea what to do yet... Until now 😎
Thanks Crinacle! The new list is great but there appears to be some dark energy embedded between some of the entries which, statistically speaking, must be having a profound effect on the order in which the IEMs appear. Otherwise I love it. ⚖️
haven’t finished the vid yet but I appreciate ur breakdown of ur ranking system, and the fact that you take cost-performance into consideration when making this list.
I definitely have some mild criticisms about the ranking list and I'm somewhat confident a chunk of your viewers will agree. It's not necessarily about where you rank certain IEMs but the ranking itself as a whole.
As much as I appreciate and admire the work Crin has been doing for however many years, as long as Crin is consistent with how inconsistent he is with new entries, I find the rankings to ultimately be mildly beneficial at best because let's be perfectly honest here; more often than not, people who comment on Crin's videos are interested in his impressions on the more recent releases, most likely to help with their purchase decision and not necessarily challenging him on his ranking list entries.
This is the main reason why I love the "unboxing and first listen" videos where Crin gathers a bunch of the new stuff he receives and records his first impressions in a single video because chances are one or two of the IEMs he tried in those videos include IEMs that I'm either curious in trying out, IEMs I have tried and want to see if Crin's impressions are any different, or as I said in the previous paragraph, IEMs that I'm actively considering buying.
Given that there's already 1,000+ entries, I personally cannot accept any excuses with regards to the amount of new IEM releases or is your own slogan that says "if it's not on the list, it doesn't exist" no longer valid?
I don't expect a weekly ranking update (a monthly update IMO would probably be more ideal because I know Crin has other things to do); I just want it to be consistent. Hopefully that can be something worth considering for the future.
And finally, is the Canjam SG video still going to be a thing? LOL have a good week, man. Cheers 🙏
Crin I can’t believe that you didn’t put the delta complimentary headphones in S+ 😔
I am genuinely interested in the algorythm, make a video with that section alone for us, the nerds.
The reason I sort by letters because, back in the day, the ones with stars are normally not available in my country
I know you don't want to rank your collabs since there is an inherit bias on them but couldn't you make a seperate section below where you rank just the collab units in a ranking you think they should belong in and just leave a massive disclaimer that you're biased and will get money from it. That way we can still see what you think of them and people won't have to ask you where the blessing 3 is on the list for example
I would love to see that. Not giving impressions or rankings for collabs is wrong and you're punishing those who value your opinion.
He probably won't since he wants to promote his collab iems as much as possible and by comparing them to the his other collab iems it could cause the companies to hesitate in doing another collab with Crin for fear their iem being ranked bellow other iems in his collab only ranking list. This could cause a loss in sales and it could damage his relationship with the company. That's why he relies on other youtubers to do the reviewing. Don't get me wrong I would love to see him rank them too, I just don't think it would be something he would be likely to do.
I mean, if he ever does that I would assume he'd put everything in S+ and say in disclaimer "I'm biased, go buy them", so that theorical ranking list would be meaningless anyway. What do you even expect, for him to be serious and rank his collabs to hurt their sales ? Because people would obviously buy the top rank and ignore the lower ones, hurting his income since he gets money from all of them, and the companies won't be happy
I mean that's a fair point but if you puts a 300$ iem in S tier and a 50$ in B+ tier that wont really kill the others sales as the price bracket is so different@@lhv2k
Honestly, people just won't read the disclaimer and proceed to give him more trouble than it's worth.
Nice setup for audio enthusiast to "hang out". Too bad I am too far away but maybe one day! Hopefully you got security guards because people could get crazy.
I do like the rating factor in the price as well.
I don't have an issue with any of the ranks, it's all subjective! I mostly just want more detail on how you determine an IEM's signature for the list. You mentioned not using the known targets anymore, but some of the new picks seem off. The Blessing 2 for example, which you put as mild v-shape, has graphs that look nearly identical to IEM's that you put as being neutral, like the Hidition NT6. And most reviews I've ever seen put the B2 as being pretty neutral I thought. Doesn't matter much or anything but I'd just like to know your thought process!
in my opinion being too fixated on the bell curve create its own problem of being conflicted with the value ranking (which obviously not required to follow the bell curve), now the chart have some very funny occurence of aria and titan s share the same B rating as the chu and hola, while being 4 times the price, and all of these 4 iems have the 3 star value rating (which will be noticed by most people), either create new value tier, split major tier like B and C further or pushing the higher rating up a bit (S+ and S is completely unpopulated)
Hey crin, I've been hearing the newer 7hz Timeless (the ones that come with a plastic case of tips) are worse? Have you tested them vs your initial unit? If not I'd love to see a review of them.
Glad to see Moondrop Variations at the top of the Value Rating list! Definitely thought it deserved to be there when I got them a year ago
I’m excited to hear if the HD 800 still holds your endgame spot for the competitive edge in gaming or if an IEM has taken that throne
I can spoil that one for you - no. Maybe the best competition to the HD800S are the HD800 and HD820, most likely. HD820 probably being even better for games, but then you’re paying like $2K for phones that are pretty bad for music man.
@@sephondranzer ya that’s what I figured, I have just heard a few people recently saying they like the imaging quality of IEMs for positioning enemies in games even over headphones with a wide soundstage.
@@sephondranzerbruh have you seen 820's graph? It's like a warcrime
@@mehmetgurdal
I wholly agree, it would just be good for gaming. Like I said it would suck for music, for that exact reason
@@nhbjhbbhbhgvb
Maybe? I agree on a lot of competitive games the soundstage of the HD800S isn’t that advantageous, but it is also one of the best at imaging. Imaging was also why I imagined the OG HD800 maybe beating it out, even though they sound like a dog shit on dogshit.
I was wondering if there would be preferential treatment over "original" iem's (driver and/or tuning-wise) vs the subsequent "copycats"? Especially considering over the last few years, when one outstanding iem comes out, many items following the " trend" appear.
I guess the shorter version of this question is, do you value "trendsetters"?
Crin can I measure headphones with 5128 at the hangout?
I do wait for these videos to read things :D Thanks for making these videos for people like me! :D
Hey crin, I have a question for you in relation to the new ranking list. About the Olina SE, why does it have a lower grade when compared to perhaps the Aria or the UM 2HT? Based on many reviwer's opinions and even my personal listening, it seems to me that it generally sounds more defined and detailed than perhaps the Aria or Chu, and even almost rivaling the er2se in some cases (I dont think it's quite there, but it's also not too far from it from my personal listening). Also, I don't really see why the tuning grade of it would be B+, as it is basically an Aria with more refined lower treble and without the grainy uppper treble, or a cleaner and more refined UM 2HT, without the slight midrange scoop and boosted treble. What aspects did you find that it particularly lacks to get a higher rating? Thanks in advance for your response and hard work on the database, and congratulations on inaugurating the Hangout café!
Because the likes the tune better. You're right, the Olina SE craps on the Aria in terms of the driver and EA500 is even better. Aria is the new se215 lol, old and busted.
I can't believe Baldurs Gate 3, Armored Core 6 and Starfield all released within a few weeks of one another
i would've liked to see a "trusted brand" or similar column, so if a model or brand is known to have unit variation or QA issues we can take it into account before buying
I know that the IEM panorama changes very quickly, but this is a very useful database for a noob like me to get an idea of what's currently on offer, and how much. Great work, kudos !!
This just re-emphasises to me that I need to buy Hexa
Yeah I just looked at the list and...at that price?! WHOA?! 😲
Cant wait for the next vid. Your opinion is very valid and personal. Greatly appreciated.
You become a very famous icon in the IEM community. Personally I trust you Sir.
Amazing IEM ranking list as always.
Only thing I feel is your ranking missing a lot of new IEMs that is coming/came out over past year but with weekly videos starting again. I hope that gap closes up.
Good luck with The Hangout.
I found kinda funny that the crin's website slogan is "If it's not on the list, it doesn't exist" which is kinda ironic since your collaboration work like zero red doesn't listed on the rank.
pretty sure the "list" is the database of all earphones and headphones that are measured, including all that are and are not ranked
Crin has said many times that he specifically does not rank his own collabs due to conflict of interest
@@SlavJerry ahhh now that make sense, I think the slogan should be change a little bit. Because the current slogan I interpreted in the wrong way. It should be "if it's not on the data base, it doesn't exist"
aahahah i really love your videos! i just order Monarch mk3 and still waiting for a review/test from you. Thank you for your work!
There is no way the ier m9 and m7 are in a- tier the m7 is sound like a less detailed m9
Thank you!! Amazing work not only for the audiophile community but for everyone interested in buying a better value product (also thank you for the more statistical approach since I also get pretty annoyed with an 8 grade being given to something mediocre). And since this is the day I’m viewing this video, merry Christmas!!
You are missing lots lots of recent iems
ones that he has graphs for already or are we also talking about the d-tier chi-fi iem slop that's being released every day
Thank you for the great effort. I appreciate that you will do a video talking about all iems with at least 1 star. Since the ranking list doesn’t say anything about what you like and what you don’t. For example one doesn’t know what aspect of the technical performance of the talos you like. Looking forward to that video
Don't try force your rankings into a normal distribution, you're hardcore biasing the data doing that lmao
yeah, I mean, if I had all the IEMs he recommended, and made a list like that, most of them would be average and bad ?
@@ROCKSTAR3291 It's truly a stunning display of incompetence on Crinacle's part. He strikes me as a smart person, but dunning-kruger struck hard on this one.
I'm curious where the Truthear Crinacle Zero Blue would be ranked? I'm very happy with this model, but I didn't have much iem either 🙂
Crin your wrong. When you literally getting paid thousands of dollars to collab with companies of course your gonna put the company that pays you the most on top
Litereally none of his top picks are companies he's collaborated with.
Or i guess I should of seen this is a joke with the "your".
This cafe is God-Tier coffee shop hands down to think anybody who either knows about audiophile gear or not can check out what’s great in headphones is the ultimate. Coffee shops are boring and hardly anybody grabs those books they have. I do know really good coffee shops out here in Los Angeles they tend to sell really soft cozy shirts hoodies hats. Going back from a tangent, this is mindblowing coming from a savant like you this is spectacular for sure anybody who loves coffee everyday will absolutely get more drawn and ultimately spread the love
Yeah...at least you give us honest review about technical and sound quality... That's why I subscribe to your channel... Kipidap bro ...😊😊😊😊😊
I can't believe there's no mention of the Pandamon - unless I've missed it. It's a real open back IEM and the only one under $100USD. Even more expensive ones are hard to come by. It has a very natural sound devoid of colouration, and I can hear someone knocking at my door! A true gem...sound-wise🐼
You, sir, are a bright light and an example! Thank you for the amazing job!
Can you make a video about Bluetooth receiver for iem?
One of the many pages of my irl Bible that ranking list, actually buys my iems based on that. If and when I go to Singapore, you'll bet this place is one that I'll be going to.
Submitting my comment for ridicule:
I love my IKKO OH10s and I think they sound absolutely incredible. They also happen to fit my ear shape really well (a rarity) and find them comfortable enough for hours and hours. They are the best sounding pair of headphones I own/have ever heard.
great video! i wish you didnt skip the algorithm stuff though, i was interested in the process behind the ranking
I appreciate your candid comments. You are so well-learned in this hobby some may see you as the authority. I don't feel that way because I have never felt you stated yourself in such a way. I am cool with agreeing with you or not. Thanks for your efforts.
The Hangout looks sick, jealous.
I think this is fantastic, there are a lot of new entries into the iem market, looking forward seeing where they are going to be placed
What would be the best iems for Competetive gaming Sub 200 Dollars ?
for FPS games up to 600 ujsd what should i look at?
Finally you upload new videos, i just watched your old video, and than found notification you upload new video
Awesome to see this being updated. I wonder if it would be possible to have some form of this list which is an aggregate of a few different people's findings. I love the amount of effort and thought that Crin puts into this sort of thing but my only main criticism is that everything ultimately comes from him (as far as I'm aware).
Crin, if you're reading this, keep up the great work. I'm not going to make any comments about where you are placing anything on your list - it's subjective ultimately. The thing I'd love to see in thy future would be some sort of collaboration between yourself and some of the other people out there who have the luxury of getting their ears on such a large range of audio stuff. It would be impossible to get everyone's opinions on every earphone for example but it would be really cool to be able to see aggregate scores along the lines of 'out of 10 reviewers, the Timeless is on average, a A' and out of 3 reviewers, the IE900 averages out at a B'. It would also be a cool way to capture subjective opinions as individuals could each leave a small comment. I imagine it would be a logistical nightmare and an incredible feat but I thought I'd put the idea out there...
Timmy (gizaudio), who is crinacles editor has a iem list in his video descriptions that also has links to almost every other iem ranking list currently out there. You can use his, crinacles, and the rest to come to the best conclusion on any one iem if they have reviewed it.
It’s good to see a YT video from you Crinacle
The Hangout looks like such a dope place, congrats on that project!
What's remarkable about that Rank vs MSRP chart is how many IEMs >$1000 that are ranked below average.
Congrats on The Hangout! Looking forward to visit sometime in the near future once I fly over at SG again... no probs on your list whatsoever, it is YOUR list. Only one issue though - the tagline 'if it's not on the list, it doesn't exist' thing just doesn't cut it anymore 😉
Thank you very much for this. The list is amazing as well as the software! Thank you! I have a lil question please, I noticed that you don't have many Hidizs there, just the MS3, while they now have the planar MP145 and the ms5 etc. I do have the MS2 and for the price is quite good. Any chance you would check them out too and add them to the list. Btw, I'm looking now at the truthear red and I think I will get a pair of those. Thanks
I think the tierlist update is great, keep up the good work!
is there going to be a joke rank list for this too like with headphones? (i still don’t quite understand what the joke is of the “real” headphones tier list)
When are you reviewing the XM5s?
I went full subjective with my own ranking list of TV series and movies, and rate everything on a scale of 2 = "I dislike it", 4 = "It was okay", 6 = "I like it", 8 = "It's great", 9 = "Masterpiece", 10 = "Literally flawless".
Surprisingly the median score is around 5 and the mean just slightly higher after adding 400+ shows. The list was so subjective it looped around to becoming objective to my own preferences and bias.
I'm still happy with my Blessing 2s I bought because of this channel YEARs ago. So I don't need new IEMs, but thumbs up still!
Love you man, thank you for your hard work and passion! ❤️
Will you grade your own collab products against each other? In a separate category? Will it show the manufacturing capabilities and limitations for each brand that you are collabing with? Or do you tune your collab products on its price point?