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u/FarwwellSlavianka

▲ 21 r/iems

Why are ultra flagship IEMs so expensive these days?

It seems like there's an arms race going on over who could charge the most for a high-end IEM.

There are way too many new IEMs costing over $8k, which is more than most summit-fi tier headphones like the Solitare-P, Susvara Unveiled, Imanis, etc.

What part of an IEM's manufacturing, material, components development, or procurement, tuning, or R&D warrants such prices?

PS: The cutoff point for an IEM is about 15-20k rmb (I live in China). The most expensive i considered purchasing was the BGVP Wukong (monkey king), which can be had for around 22k rmb in China (open box but brand new).

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u/FarwwellSlavianka — 1 day ago
▲ 15 r/headphones

Tangzu Li Zhi single DD diamond diapgram IEM

Gift for the wife, as many tri-quad-brid IEMs don't fit her ears

u/FarwwellSlavianka — 12 days ago
▲ 56 r/inearfidelity

Tangzu Li Zhi single diamond DD IEM

Unboxing experience is pretty epic considering it's a 3800 rmb IEM

Build quality is very premium. All metal construction consisting of a stainless steel chassis with a high degree of machining quality, and a finely crafted zinc alloy faceplate. It feels very substantial in the hand.

I'm not very good at describing sound quality. But from the little I've heard of it so far, I'd describe them as slightly warm-sounding, inoffensive treble, lush, smooth mids, and a thumping bass when the track calls for it. It's not muddy or boomy bass by any means. It's supremely well controlled, snappy, with a good degree of texture and detail. I think it's its USP

Compared to my Fiio FX17s, I'd say the FX17 sounds more detailed, slightly bigger soundstage, better instrument separation and layering, peakier but more articulate treble (though I never found them sibilant at all). But I think these slightly exceed its bass quantity and quality.

I bought this for my wife as larger tri-brid, quad-bid IEMs don't fit her ears properly. These fit small ears fairly well.

I think 4000 rmb is the max I'd spend on a single DD IEM. Anything above that becomes a bit pointless IMO, and pales in comparison to multi-driver tri-brid or quad-brid setups, which can give you more detail, instrument separation, and layering. But at 3800rmb, I think they're superb value with a unique set of charms (esp the bass).

u/FarwwellSlavianka — 12 days ago