I'm not a huge fan of IEMs, thus I really don't spend the sort of money on them that I spend on headphones. From time to time I'll purchase a set that piques my interest just to see if I ever come across something that changes my view of them. The main issue is that I just don't like things that stick in my ears, so I guess you could say it's pretty much a lost cause to begin with.
Recently someone on head-fi suggested I try the Dunu Titans, so I gave it a go. They are modestly price right around $100-135 (I've heard that sometimes they go on sale) and I had a hard time finding many negative comments about them. Well, I've been playing around with them for the last 24 hrs and I have to say I'm really impressed. They are quite a bit better than the most recent additions to my IEM collection, and overall they tick a lot of boxes. They are detailed, with a very nice low end and a surprising soundstage. The mids are slightly recessed relative to the overall presentation, but not enough where I'd call it a negative. Even more, they are quite comfortable. They fit securely in my ears without causing any discomfort, and that's with just the stock tips that they come with (I almost always buy Comply tips for whatever IEMs I get).
If anyone is in the market for an IEM at this price point, I highly recommend giving these a listen.
On a related note, another company that hit my radar in the last couple days is Flare Audio. They have come up with some interesting ideas for speakers, and now they are branching out into headphones and IEMs. They have a kickstarter campaign that I think just ended, but these IEMs have some pretty impressive support from the recording industry and some glowing reviews of their new IEMs. The R2A and the R2Pro have some folks raving about the sound and referring to them as giant slayers, even at their full (non-kickstarter) msrp. I couldn't resist, so I decided to go ahead and back the project by ordering a pair of the R2a...they're slated to ship later this month, so if anyone is interested I'll follow up this post with some feedback on their performance. As I indicated above, it's very hard for any IEM to impress me, so I'm interested to see what the fuss is all about.
Here's the link in case anyone wants more info:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/584645150/flare-audio-a-revolution-in-pure-sound/description
