Disclaimer: This post aims to serve as a mini guide/review for other audiophiles looking to dive into kilo buck territory. This post is also meant to serve as a discussion for a kilo buck IEM meta discussion, and how certain IEMS stood the test of time .As always your preference may vary, I cannot stress this enough
Meta - In this sense, how hyped they are currently. Was measured on how many reviews you can get for it in headfi, reddit, and common consensus from audiophile groups. Not a good measurement on how technically good an iem is, but can be a rough estimate on how popular/hyped a certain iem is
Would really appreciate insights from others on 1kusd and up iems that you think stood the test of time and were they worthy of the hype they got/currently have
All gears were used with Wm1a / Paw S1 / Hugo V1
Shure Se846 (currently owned) - it had legendary status for a long time but has since been powercrept (sorry gamer term) and made obsolete by newer tech. Most definitely not worth the srp today given its technicalities but it really got the hype back in the day and for a very long time. IMO and preference, not worth the srp as the resolution is not 1kusd worth, but maybe Im being a bit unfair as at its time of release cuz im not yet into audio by then. Can be found real dirt cheap today tho. Currently just using mine for gaming
Noble K10 Alu (currently owned) - Probably one of the iems that made Noble relevant. Became hyped due to how “neutral” it is, tho i’d argue it is bright neutral. It is a pretty old iem that was succeeded by the encore and katana, and even got a massdrop collab release. Unlike the Se846 however I think its sound and technicalities is still relevant today and rightfully so. The main issue so to speak for it is that its SRP of 1650usd was pretty steep. They might be worth their srp if it was 1kusd, but it is the noble premium pricing that audiophiles talk about. They go off cheap as of the moment in the second hand market and is a decent pick up. The Hype for this one is well deserved, but imo not worth the extra premium price
Campfire Andromeda (currently owned) - I am a bit biased for andro because they are my personal fave. I owned an Anole VX, Z1r, Ier M9 and solaris at one point yet andro was still my fave out of the bunch. The tuning is warm enough for a comfortable listening session, but detailed and technical enough to make it stand out of a lot of iems. It is considered by a lot to be the “gatekeeper” for kilobuck iems, and IMO very well deserved the hyped it got and sound is still pretty much relevant today (which is why they are still being milked by Campfire LMAO). An all rounder iem for a lot (if not all) genres. Imo, well worth the SRP, and can never go wrong buying it second hand/b-stock for a cheaper price. I sold my andro to replace it with… an Andro 2020 :D
Fir Audio VxV (currently owned) - Part of the most recent pick up of iems I got. Tagged as an everyday carry or EDC and imo fits the bill. Tuning is kinda like a safer Andro. Bigger bass, a little bit recessed upper mids compared to andro and smoother treble. People argue the build quality, resolution and technicalities are not enough for a 1kusd iem. While I may agree with the build quality part cuz it’s mostly plastic, IMO its technicality is worthy of 1k considering brands like noble and obravo have released IEMs recently that’s waaay more expensive with comparable resolution. I think part of why people has this opinion on technicalities is due to the popularity of Moondrop iems and how their iems usually punch well above their price point, albeit not being known for a fun tuning. IMO the VxV deserves more hype, but still 50-50 if it is worth the 1kusd srp. If you can get it second hand for a good deal imo is an easy cop.
Anole VX (previously owned) - Got it cuz it was hyped by crin and other Audiophiles. While I can agree that it has one of the best detail retrieval and resolution for an iem, it made me realize that this kind of soundsig is not fun to listen to being a bit too analytical. Definitely not an all rounder but detail retrieval is definitely summit-fi level. IMO worth the hype it got, but not worth the SRP of 2.5kusd if im not mistaken. Got mine second hand for like 1.5k usd for reference. It maybe just me not liking analytical sounding iems
Sony Z1R (previously owned) - From what I can remember, really good bass but midrange timbre is kinda off on some genres like acoustic songs. From my memory the iem together with andro that sounds more like a headphone than other iems. Had to return due to fit issues, which is what I can read as the main issue for these. Still dont know why sony didnt quite try to make it the same shape as the ier m9. Can see this soundsig to be a benchmark for a lot of people for a long time.IMO Worth the hype for sound alone and unique experience it gives. However NOT worth the SRP considering the glaring fit issue. For people aiming to get this IEM I advice to have it tried on your local audiophile shop, borrow from other audiophiles, try in events like Canjam and not blind buy like me.
Empire Ears Legend X (previously owned) - From what I can remember are bass cannons. Bass bleeds into lower midrange, but to be fair it had really good resolution for a “Dark sounding” iem from what I can remember. IMO really not worth the SRP and has the premium pricing curse like Noble, but hype probably justifiable for bassheads
Andros are veeeery cheap in the used market. Considering that they’re really good at SRP before, the performance/price ratio is even bigger now that they’re so cheap.
As much as there are a lot of good stuff being released now, they are still little improvements and things that sound good before will not just suddenly become bad.
I’ve rotated through quite a few IEMs but I still hold onto my Andro 2020s after all these years.
The YouTube reviewers have ranked a bunch of others above it, and while this may be true in terms of pure technicalities, I haven’t found them to be more interesting from a tuning standpoint. It seems like Campfire Audio caught lightning in a bottle when they made this model.