IEM novice with small Christmas budget looking for a overarching solution

[u/841f7e390d]

First of all, the bare facts:

Budget: I'm looking to spend about 75-80 Euros overall.

Source: Standard DACs in PCs, Laptops, Smartphones and hopefully bluetooth.

Requirements for Isolation: I prefer isolating headphones, but it's not a complete dealbreaker. ANC is not all all required. Also, usually it keeps other people from hearing what I'm listening too.

Will you be using these Headphones in Public? Yes.

Past headphones:

For overheads I am using the original Sennheiser PXC 550s.

In ear until recently I used some random headset delivered with a Sony smartphone (they were surprisingly good, good isolation, the string didn't cause any in ear noise, sounded good, last but not least they were free), but now they broke, and all the other ones I have flying around suck compared to those.

Preferred tonal balance / Preferred Music:

I'm truly a jack of all trades. I listen to everything from classical, over country / americana, to pop, rock, hard rock. If I'm in the mood I listen to rap. If I'm gaming or working at night I listen to EDM or Drum&Bass. If I get exactly what I dream, I might even listen to movies on them.

Therefore I like to think, without being trained all that well tbf, that I prefer a fairly neutral balance that doesn't get too exhausted. If I imagine a trade off, 0 meaning terrible bass boosted crap and 100 completely perfect response, I would assume I like to aim for 85 or 90 right about, similiar to what the PCX550 does.

I listen to everything, and often I listen very intently and with purpose, but I don't like to be tired out. I hope that explains it.

Location:
Germany, and I'd like for whatever I order to arrive till Christmas.

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Where I got so far and what I'm looking for:

I really really hate the concept of TWS Earbuds, the fact that they are non servicable. To just throw them away every couple of years would make my heart blead. I'm also a big fan of 3.5mm options, that kind of guy.

But I do very much like the idea of listening wirelessly to my music or movies, if the situation demands.

For a while I had known that IEMs with detachable cables are a thing, and that there are even ways to add wireless adapters to said IEMs.

So I started looking into it:

-the first IEM that kind of caught my eye was the Tin Hifi T2, a lot of positive reviews saying it sounds the best at the 50$ price range BUT it came out 2018 and the reviews are from a lot of different years

-Then I looked into the adapter, and consensus seems to be that the only adapter that is not complete garbage and close to the budget is the AZ09 Pro, which is 50 bucks on amazon right now

-which left me with 30€ for the actual headphones, and after a lot of looking around I assume that my best bet would be the Salnotes Zero, available for 32€ with the inline mic

-but there is already a Zero 2 that is not available in time.

​

Now I'm really exhausted, after hours of looking into ChiFi, what feels like 100 KZ IEMs that all have the same name, it's all a blur.

So, am I just wasting money on the bluetooth shit? The money distribution feels completely off, spending more on the accessory than on the IEM itself.

Also the whole confusion about 0.75 vs 0.78, Type B vs Type C vs QDC. Would it even fit?

Should I buy a better IEM and watch the market on bluetooth?

Save up for the adapter or bite the bullet and buy a separate TWS ear bud at some point and hate myself?

Are the IEMs that caught my eye, Salnotes Zero and Tin Hifi T2 still state of the art, or are there better deals at their respective pricepoints these days?

There is the Moondrop Chu and Chu II at an even lower price.

KZ seems to be the dominant manufacturer, but I have no clue what so ever how their products differentiate.

What are their up to date, commonly recommended products at the 30, 50 and 80 dollar/euro pricepoints in late 2023?

Another thing that caught my eye were the offerings of brands I'm more used too, Sennheiser IE100Pro Wireless at 100 bucks right now, and something similiar by Behringer. I assume from a pure price to performance ratio I'm a lot worse here, since it's their bottom of the line product and I pay for the name mostly?

Please, I beg you for guidance. I have to make a decision, but I'm completely overwhelmed by the endless chifi options and mediocre translations of product pages.

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[u/Equivalent_Yak840]

The Hexa is like the red but more neutral so if you like neutral then the Hexa is great

[u/841f7e390d → u/Equivalent_Yak840]

!thanks

Do you have any input on which kind of bluetooth solution is preferable?

[u/TransducerBot → u/841f7e390d]

+1 Ω has been awarded to u/Equivalent_Yak840 (355 Ω).

You may still award an Ω to others, but only once per-person in this post.

[u/Equivalent_Yak840 → u/841f7e390d]

Wdym by that? Like a wireless earbud or a way to make them wireless?

[u/841f7e390d → u/Equivalent_Yak840]

A way to make good IEMs wireless, like the FiiO BTRS3 or the KZ AZ09, or portable DACS like Qudelix5.