so i got my first pair of iems back in may for my birthday and theyre ikko OH10’s (the old version not the OH10S) which were like $200 so still a lot for me but way cheaper than a lot of other iems
but these are still the best things ive ever heard in my life by far and i dont understand how any pair of headphones can sound even better than this, like it actually feels like the music is inside my soul, i was listening to justin timberlake yesterday and was literally crying and getting goosebumps cause of how beautiful it sounded, and i dont even like justin timberlake 😭😭
anyways the reason im wondering is cause i kinda wanna save up for some even better ones that are a bit smaller cause these ones are kinda big for me and they start to hurt my ears after a little bit, but im kinda scared of spending a ton of money on headphones just for me to barely notice a difference, like do $1,000+ iems sound way better than $200 ones or do they just sound only slightly better?? and what actually makes one pair better than another?? like compared to my basic earbuds these ones are way louder, clearer, and a lot fuller and richer, so would more expensive iems just be even louder and clearer than these ones?
From my personal experience its soundstage and imaging. My Salnotes zero sounds identical to my IE600 in treble extension and details but sounds very 2D.
My IE600 is able to give space between the instruments and I am able to pinpoint where each instruments are in the mix. Good height and width to the soundstage, very headphones like.
All my cheaper gear are unable to pull it off. Only the blessing 2 comes close but that’s still high end. Soundstage is a very important factor to my music enjoyment. Its why my HD660, IE600 and B2 are able to make me tap my foot to songs I would never do on cheaper iems I have.