Let's Talk DD IEMs

Submitted by FastGecko5 t3_y8pm66 in headphones

I've never been impressed by a hybrid IEM. I've tried quite a few and they've never sounded quite right. Plus I find hybrids tend to be kinda big and ill fitting. I've landed on a small collection of single DD IEMs as a result.

Having said that, what's everyone's favorite single DD IEM? Bonus points if isn't one of the IEMs that gets mentioned constantly in this sub (cough Chu/Zero/BL-03/Aria cough).

But this whole thing also got me to thinking. Summit-Fi priced single DDs exist. Why? How? Is a DD in a plastic/metal shell that costs $1600 really $1500 better than a $100 DD in a similar shell (sorta ignoring diminishing returns)?

Idk man. Food for thought. Single DD IEMs are just kind of a crazy concept to me. There's so many models that are so competent and they manage to do it with a single driver. I know headphones and speakers also accomplish great fidelity with a single driver but I feel like there's a lot more control over tuning with those things.

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No-Context5479 t1_it1hhtj wrote

Softears Turii, Sennheiser IE900 & IE800S, JVC HA-FW10000, Final Audio A8000, Dita Audio's whole lineup, Dunu Luna, Rhapsodio Galaxy come to mind when mentioning kilobuck and over single DD IEMs. Really good IEMs can be made with single DD driver technology. For the pricing front I've got the honour to demo the Softears Turii and the IE900 and they're much more resolving and detail revealing along with more apparent low end snap than something like the IE300 or the Moondrop Kato. All the listed IEMs above are made from single DDs but their implementations are very important in how some sound amazing, some sound good and some sound like dogwater

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FastGecko5 OP t1_it2gfmp wrote

The Dunu Luna is actually the one I was thinking of when I made the post. It's just a basic cylindrical enclosure with a DD in it. It's what got me thinking about "why is this $1600"

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sic_erat_scriptum t1_it37gzr wrote

Dunu Luna uses a bespoke driver platform developed in-house with a pure beryllium dome, which is both extremely rare in the industry and quite expensive to manufacture consistently to tolerances. It’s also got a shell machined out of titanium. Do they cost anywhere near $1600 in materials to produce? Of course not, but Luna and the Eclipse driver platform they designed for it haven’t been a real commercial success for Dunu. Even the Zen Pro which uses the same Eclipse platform with a cheaper Mg-Al dome didn’t rake in the margins it would need to be considered a real success. For their cheapest Eclipse platform IEM Falcon Pro, Dunu went out and found an existing OEM driver which had some of the same features of their Eclipse design, allowing them to sell the Falcon Pro near Kato prices.

Sennheiser’s IE900 shares a driver design platform with the IE600 and IE300, however the drivers in the IE300 use different voice coils and are manufactured to looser tolerances in China, whereas the IE600 and IE900 drivers are made with higher grade components to tighter tolerances. In addition, the IE900 has a fully machined housing with machined Helmholtz resonators internally for tuning, which is expensive; even the Chinese IE900 knockoffs with shittier machining quality run $270.

The actual drivers in the vast majority of IEMs are either off the shelf OEM components or custom variants of OEM designs, and the drivers in most single-DD IEMs cost less than a dollar a piece when purchased in bulk.

There’s a huge step up in costs from using a drop-in driver and tuning with damping filters to using custom designed drivers ordered from an OEM combined with acoustic shaping in the IEM body/nozzle, and another huge step up in costs from there if you want to actually design and build the whole thing, or nearly the whole thing, in-house.

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FastGecko5 OP t1_it3hbcv wrote

Interesting insight, thanks.

Just to be clear, I wasn't implying expensive single DD IEMs are BS or a rip-off. It's just interesting to me that there is actually RnD and improvements to be made to 1DD IEMs, to the point that 1DD Halo products exist at all.

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-chrysanthemum t1_it1kn5s wrote

Moondrop Kato, between all 1DD (and the majority of other IEMs with different driver configurations) that I've auditioned.

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Billy__k t1_it1tpzw wrote

The IE600 are the best I have tried. Etymotic ER2SE are 2nd. Although single DD are deemed to be less resolving than BA/Hybrids, I find cohesion and timbre are far more important to me than pure detail retrieval.

I cycle between the CA Andro 2020, IE600 and a small collection of flat head earbuds. These pretty much have all my bases covered for all the genres of music I listen to.

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FastGecko5 OP t1_it2h08v wrote

> I find cohesion and timbre are far more important to me than pure detail retrieval.

Same here. DD IEMs sound much more natural IMO. Although I have been impressed by single BA à la Etymotic.

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ballzofsteel24 t1_it1jtj0 wrote

JVC FDX1 is my favorite. I’ll never get rid of it

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kill3rb00ts t1_it292g7 wrote

I really like my IE300. I imagine the IE600 are even better, but I cannot justify spending that much on IEMs.

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Hyurakun t1_it2cqd1 wrote

I just had my Starfield for a couple of days but I'm really falling in love with them, ordered a Kato just a days ago and I'm really looking forward on how they are going to sound.

My birthday was a couple of days before so I gifted myself the Starfield but my family gifted me the Kato, it supposed to be a surprise but because they thought it was some sort of mail error they spilled the beans about them, not going to lie it was the best birthday non wanted gift I will get.

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ngswe679 t1_it2r2hn wrote

Dunu Falcons or the limited edition Vernus are pretty good DDs. They leak sound like crazy though.

Unpopular opinion but the Penon Vortex is a very good DD IEM.

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Cal_Lando t1_it37an7 wrote

+1 to the Vortex. Very underrated IEM however I do prefer the IE600 to it

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dimesian t1_it3mn6a wrote

Some of my favorite IEMs are single DD models, the Final A4000, Final E5000, JVC HA-FX1100. The pair I use the most is the Sony XBA-N3 which is a hybrid, it has a single DD and a balanced armature. I have some other hybrids that have a lot more drivers that I rarely use. I'm currently very interested in all balanced armature IEMs after trying one recently.

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n00kie1 t1_it480pm wrote

Try the Penon Serial which is unique having 3 DDs. Might be one of the best tuned IEMs beside of Tanchjim Oxygen if you don't want to spend more than 300 bucks.

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soup_lag t1_itaz4ey wrote

Fuck you guys, Im having fun with my Truthear Zero's

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atwl77 t1_it1dcg2 wrote

I've only got one single dd iem currently - Fiio FDX (which is essentially an over-blinged FD7 😅😅). Unless you also count earbuds, then add the FF3 to the list.

There - not any one of your usual suspects 😁

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frazum t1_it1h6cw wrote

4 1DD iems: Fiio FD3, Accoustune RS-One, Project Refine P1AL, JVC HA-FW1800 and many earbuds. Of the former P1AL is my fave and as for earbuds.... Toneking TO400.

As for pricing... who knows? Any insider information?

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wijnandsj t1_it1jq9w wrote

I once bought the soundmagic e80. Respectable amount of detail and good musicality for the 60 euros I spend.

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high-low-fi t1_it1lpf3 wrote

Love DD IEM's, not a collector, I give away the ones I am not using. Currently using Final audio E5000 and my current favorite is the Cardas EM5813. I find the EM5813 complement my 99's(moded to get rid of bass bloat) quiet well. Once broken in the EM5813 they are sweet and musical.

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FastGecko5 OP t1_it2hali wrote

Cardas EM5813? Now that's one I bet practically no one has heard of. I certainly haven't.

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high-low-fi t1_it4b3j4 wrote

They sound great to my old ears, running though Ifi dac with bass boost on.

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Prestigious_Bit_1275 t1_it1z5ja wrote

I'm a big fan of my HBB x QKZs. To me, they seem like a slightly better tuned CRA.

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rhalf t1_it2bjdj wrote

Meelectronics CX21, Sony MDR-EX500 in that order were my fav DD. The former is a comfy, practical, closed IEM with impressive sound, the latter is an open earphone with very neutral sound sig. Slightly too much highs, but clean and pleasant.

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My_Little_Pony123 t1_it2d7ik wrote

Miles Davis Trumpets by Monster -- vented and airy, with the bass that can eq'd down. It was my gateway to the hobby. One of the rare occassions where I felt the EQ mod was worth it because it responded well.

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MiddleEmphasis6759 t1_it9wmbf wrote

I only own two IEMs both being 1DDs in the ER2SE and the BL-03. Love em both, and they both see daily use from me, Blon for casual listening and bassy genres, and ER2 for critical listening and vocal-centric music. I sometimes think about buying the IE 600 or one of the big hitter all BA or tribrid sets, but then I remember I got the ER2SE for like $50, and I can't imagine anything out there sounding THAT much better than it for me to be shelling out over 10x what I paid for it.

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andione1983 t1_itaxumm wrote

Pop the song Wandering star - by scooter.... My gosh on Moonlight Kato the depth

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