AFUL Explorer - Setting a Benchmark for 119usd 

Believe me, its hard to go wrong. I'd start with a few similar sounding ultra budget sets and decide what aspect you want to upgrade. Price is not indicative of quality or lack there of.

@@someoneusa I hear you. I'm not an absolute audiophile for anything. I enjoy the zero reds and kz s10 pro. I enjoy experiencing different sounding IEMs, but I mostly use them while I'm out and about and rather not have something that needs a portable amp to push them.

@@VinterEvigha, I hear ya but you're here so you're probably an audiophile, lol. Just not the snobby type! I rarely use my portable amp, just pull it out when I really want to go loud. I bought a $2 cable extension that hooks up 5 IEMS for when I want to nerd out. I found out by accident that it amplifies and warms the sound. Now I have an extra cheap, Uber portable "warm source". My old phone has a built in dac so it works well as my music player. I got into the hobby 2 years ago, I've eq'd my entire life and now mod IEMS, but just discovered today the dac has settings! Can't believe I'm admitting this lol. It's quite amazing the improvement it made on already great sounding sets. IF price is important avoid FOMo and wait for sales. Let the sales, not the hype, guide your purchase. If you know what you like, there are so many good super cheap sets that aren't reviewed. I love my ZS10 Pro X which was only $13 a few months ago. FUDU got down to $50 last week so I finally jumped on it. If you listen carefully to the more detailed reviewers like Tony, you can compare their prefences to yours. Also as long as you start with good drivers and similar tuning, you can pretty much make a budget set sound like it's more expensive cousin. I watch rhwaen @VinterEvig I rarely use my amp, just pull it out when I really want to go loud. My old phone has a built in dac so it works well as my music player. I got into the hobby 2 years ago, I've eq'd my entire life and now mod IEMS, but just discovered today the dac has settings! Can't believe I'm admitting this lol. It's quite amazing the improvement it made on already great sounding sets. go loud. I avoided HYPE/FOMO and learned how to mod by using reviews as education and finding budget gems. Only want to spend over $100 if it's unique/novel driver config or tuning. Saw a DD/planar hybrid for $22 which I'll get next sales cycle unless it goes cheaper.

I can tell you this with certainty, you will not find another reviewer who takes the time to position a set the way Tony does. After watching one of Tony's reviews, I feel like I know exactly what a set is capable of. Our music preferences aren't even close, I own 50+ sets, and I still look for Tony's review before I purchase a set. He has saved me no less than $2k and pointed me in the direction of some really nice sets that weren't even on my radar. Spend some time watching more of his reviews. If you know what you're looking for sonically, you're in the right place.

@@Sforzabull yep! People need to get to know their own preferences VS reviewer's and really LISTEN. Tony does an excellent job in educating!

Same, the sm4 and the explorer were among the recent release that are appealing to me value-wise

Had my eye on Fudu since it came iit, got mine for $50 otw. Can't wait!!

Yeah, this is a total winner for metal!

So do metal and EDM respond to the same tuning? Makes sense since some EDM can get sound like a noisy mess on the wrong tuning which I imagine can happen with most metal. EDM mids/highs will attempt to make your brain bleed or give you a migraine if the lows get too thumpy with a bad sub to Midbass ratio. Or if the drivers can't handle the amount of bass needed to bring you the magic, it becomes a sad pile of mushy shite. I love my Bassfinch and some other warm bassy sets for EDM. Especially trance, as much as I like them, gotta be careful with the brighter bass sets when listening to Tiesto and Armin. Chainsmokers at Tomorrowland 2023 is such a badass, extremely energetic set which sounds horrible on the wrong IEM. I love my current sets so I've been able to wait patiently for the right set to upgrade my basshead game. Finally pounced at a $50 Fudu. Can't wait!

@@someoneusa remember that driver quality for high volumes . Explorer is a good choice for metal

@@paulosilva8200 100%

I'd say it trades blows but somewhat similar tonality.

Actually got Fudu and Delci and now returning both. Edx lite and Orca have same sound and just as good or better. Painted ORCA, it's beautiful now and one of my current favorites for sound, Soundstage is way better than Delci. $3 EDX PRO X are nearly identical sounding to T10.

I was just thinking that this is Hexa's more fun brother. I like it more than the Hexa and p5.

Completely different sound. The explorer is a darker smoother set, the falcon ultra has more energy in the treble and mids. Both are great, but I can see more people being impressed with the falcon. Explorer is great for louder listening sessions and fantastic for metal.

thieaudio hype 4, juzear 61t, dunu davinci, dusK

It sure sounds like it, at least midbass.

Hey, I don’t know if it will help you, but most of the time I agree with that what Tony is saying (about the stuff I could listen to) and I personally prefer the TP50. The Yuki has a nice analogue-like tone, but is a little bit grainy and lacking in technicalities compared to the EPZ. The latter one sounds a lot more clean, has better dynamics, resolution, black background and soundstage/imaging. It leans towards the Mojo2 to my ears and the Yuki more warm and „R2R‘ish“ towards Hiby FC6. Besides that the EPZ is way cheaper…

I found the stage a bit congested, lacking some depth, but the imaging is really good.

Explorer.....Neo3 is very good but the price difference is hard to justify

SM4 because it's more unique in its set-up

Probably Kbear07

I would guess the KBear 07, or the Acoustune AET07

Thanks guys! I really thought I replied to krache. I had it written out and everything. Maybe it was my connection. Anyways thanks for taking the time answering my question

Kb07 are Tony's go to. Though lately he's been mixing it up more. I think it's a testament to an improving tip game.

Apologies.....not sure why that happens .....I always seen ti have some issue with the video recording. My apologies

Better is subjective, what do you listen to? I do think though the planar used in the t10 is great and far better than the DD in the LM. If you are fine with a potentially more metallic timbre ( I only personally notice this on planars if my source is bad or playing from an iphone, androids with a decent usb c dac is fine.

@@sparklingion i have the truthear hexa and i want an iem to complement it since its a neutral iem, i want a fun and engaging iem under 100 usd.

@@haydersdk5088 You have hexa already, I would sell it and get a genuine 120-150 iem range upgrade or more and be done. Although the t10 tbh is defo an upgrade in most departments, the LM maybe not as much but slightly better overall than hexa (not much tho). Cklvx d41 is a great suggestion for an upgrade too. SR5 is older but the sound to me is still great.

Depends of the volumes. High volumes the simgot I had to add tuning filters because of the highs in high volumes. Medium volume. The simgot is a good choice.

@@haydersdk5088I personally love the Fudu. It sounds analogue and is a lot of fun.

Funny you say that I actually ordered some AZLA .....will report back with the results!

NOPE! Unless all your IEMs have the same tuning and you hate bass. My Azla (Crystals or xlastics) are collecting dust. Probably since I bought them for my Galaxy Buds Pro, also collecting dust. I have them on over 20 sets and they kill the bass, especially the subbabas on all. As someone who nearly always Eqs 1-2db into everything, losing even 1db is a hard no. Not to mention Azla now offers 4-5 different styles and we all have different needs for at the very least comfort. NOT collecting dust are all my budget offerings. That being said I think I'll try modding the $200 Buds Pro to see if I can get it to trade blows with my $5-50 sets. ALL sound better!