Longevity of Budget IEMs (less than or up to 100$ US)

Submitted by TaimurJamil t3_ycd4yl in headphones

Hi!

I'm conducting this simple poll for how has everyone experienced the longevity of budget IEMs under or up to 100$ US. I would highly encourage everyone to also share their experiences with the IEM/s (please mention their names!) that land in any of these categories. It doesn't matter whether they are Chi-fi or not.

Reason for this poll is that in my humble opinion, since always, we've come across reviewers as well as people in general posting: reviews, first impressions and whatnot on the internet at all times, all the while very few people tend to update on their experiences with the same budget IEM/s overtime. (Been seeing Moon-drop QC stuff recently so that's an improvement). What this does is that it leaves newcomers and even long-time hobbyists misguided into buying the praised product without a proper update on it's issues that (might have/ might not have) occurred overtime.

This poll definitely doesn't aim to solve that problem, cause as mentioned, it's just a discussion of everyone's experiences over time. But, It could be a start of something. I would really appreciate if you guys would take the time to discuss this matter.

Thank you!!

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Comments

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MiyamotoKnows t1_itljz5d wrote

Just a reminder to add a "see results" option to polls or people will pollute the results as they want to see the outcome.

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ryukin631 t1_itln0jj wrote

I had a set of Arias that died about a year of limited use. It's too bad, because they sounded amazing.

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Educational_College6 t1_itli4sa wrote

My primary IEMs that I use most often are my SSP. I got it around 2020, and it's still doing good today. The cable is pretty yellowed, and the paint on the shell is all scuffed up, but they're still working as well as they did when I first got them!

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TaimurJamil OP t1_itlizkj wrote

I'll go (oh wait someone commented first!) second. Got BLON BL-03 in late 2020s, my first ever IEMs. Loved them to death. However, halfway there, the Left guy split into two shells. Glued and soldered them till they gave out. Lasted approx. a whole year.

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rhalf t1_itlj7ak wrote

They're doing OK, although with IEMs in general it's worth it to at least be able to repair your cable. It is so thin... The prevalence of connectors in the earpieces is a very good thing although many budget IEMs don't have these parts secured properly. With IEMs it's particularly important to take care of hygene and clean them regularly and store them in the pouch. If you can manage the above, you should be able to own a pair for a few years. At least to me personally a driver failure never happened. Maybe they just haven't managed to figure out how to screw it up.

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TaimurJamil OP t1_itlky79 wrote

I see. Which IEMs are you talking about in particular?

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rhalf t1_itltok0 wrote

I won't go back all the way to 2009 when I bought my first pair of IEMS, but the most recent problems that I remember was Surise earphone enclosure opening because there was simply not enough glue. This is dangerous because you can rip the circuit board from the driver without it.Then TRN IEM had it's connector pushed inside the enclosure. Again, nothing that can't be fixed with glue. The rest were Sure IEM cables that people want fixed because they can't find replacement. Any cable with a microphone will have these issues, because these cables are so delicate and third party replacements often don't have the functions that people want like three button control or quality of the mic.
The hygene part I don't think I need to explain apart from things that use tuning filters at the tip, which of course will get dirty, you'll try to clean it and you'll lose one in the process.

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thms0 t1_itllm5k wrote

Budget != Chi-fi.
I'm sure my ER2XR will last forever.

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TaimurJamil OP t1_itllwld wrote

ER2XRs. Heard great things about them!. How long has it been since you have had them?

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Capid1 t1_itme6bw wrote

I’m not the guy you asked but I’ve had my ER2XRs for about 18 months. I use them 3-4 times per week for 6hrs in my wood shop. They have given me zero issues even with the abuse.

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thms0 t1_itmho36 wrote

I've had them for more than a year, don't know exactly.
The fact you can replace the tips and also the filters and also the cable makes me think that unless they fall on a wet floor they will always work.

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RoyHehe t1_itlp5jq wrote

I don't know how long cheap Chi-fi stuff will last, cause they are still too new, but I've seen people with 10+ year old Shure and Etymotic IEM's.

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Hyurakun t1_itlqbrb wrote

Next month I'll have 1 year with my ES4 (my first IEM) on December my EDX Pro will also join and on January my TA1 and SSP will too, after that the rest are not that old.

The ES4 still going but I don't use them since my TA1, SSP and SSR are just too good daily drivers for my needs so I just stopped using them since May, on January I passed the EDX to my sister (because I gifted her some BLON-03 on Christmas but she lost them) and still going strong, the TA1 is also working.

As for Moondrop, all my 4 (soon to be 5) Moondrops all still work just fine, SSP and SSR doesn't have the inner paint anymore, my Nekocake Achy Acht still working (although the silicone case started loosing some small letters) and I'm babysitting my Starfield, I would love to daily drive them but I fear someone would try to steal them on the public transport so I'm being extra careful with them, I'm waiting my blue Kato to arrive.

I clean them with facial degreaser (micellar water) and wipe them with cotton, if you use alcohol you're risking yourself to mess with the glue on the filters and in the long term they will fall off and also damage the paint, after that I store them on their cases with a small silica bag and let them rest over night, never had unbalanced issues even though sometimes I use my SSP while exercising and they are still working, planning to get some Chu to see if they work as well as the SSP, got my suspicions that some people don't take care of their personal stuff.

Edit: planning to get some car PPF for the Starfield although I doubt it would be any help because the Starfield paint issue it's because of small impacts (like hot wheels), thinking to also add the PPF to the Chu test alongside with an acrylic paint coat and MMCX reliability.

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p01ntdexter t1_itlvva5 wrote

I bought the Chus from Amazon a month ago, mainly because of the recommendations here. Within less than a month of light use the right earbud went to maybe 20% volume max. Luckily I could return them.

I don't mind spending more £s and I'm still looking for something that will last, will keep an eye on this topic.

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ni_lus t1_itmxmjv wrote

I've had Bluetooth Haylou and Ugreen that die maybe after 2 years. Either the battery or charging case dies, or the earbud just opens by itself.

For wired, kz decals fades over time. Still works thou.

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Chok3U t1_itn8i9o wrote

This thread makes me want the SSR\SSP

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AntOk463 t1_ityn3aj wrote

When I was in middle school, my $5 earbuds lasted about a year before disintegrating.

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