My Bose QC20’s were about to die thanks to wires worn down to frayed copper wires after a good 4+ years of use and I was looking for what my new headphones would be.
I ended up on YouTube discovering a new hobby/genre/category called ChiFi - Chinese HiFi.
Definition from article on The Verge
“Online, the phenomenon is known as “Chi-fi” — a mashup of “Chinese” and “high-fidelity.” It’s usually used to refer to portable audio gear — they’re almost always earbuds, which sit outside the ear canal like AirPods, or in-ear monitors (IEMs), which have squishy tips and actually go inside the ear canal — that come from essentially anonymous Chinese companies…”
Some of these IEMs are crazy cheap but not crap. They use the same technologies that western brands costing many many times more use and sometimes the ‘tuners’ of these cheap IEMs are usually associated with the tuning of ridiculously expensive headphones.
An example is the £35 Blon-03’s. Google them. They’ve got a perfect sound graph but the thing that lets them down are crap wire and tips both of which are replaceable. And if you ‘upgrade’ these you end up with a IEM sounding like it costs 4 to 5 times the price.
Started watching this guys youtube videos and got hooked on the ChiFi offerings.
Also watched many other similar channels covering ChiFi to help me shortlist which IEM’s id go for.
Anyway, ended up getting a set of Shuoer Tapes and could not be happier. The detail and clarity on these headphones is incredible, like nothing Ive ever heard before. I’m discovering details in music I’ve never noticed in the past.
Sorry if i’ve just stood you on the edge of a rabbit hole and given you a little nudge Go on, google ChiFi and jump in
Well thanks for giving me something else to spend too much money on. I have some Chinese earbuds at the moment (Taotronics) which are Bluetooth and sound good for the price, but these look super cool.
Now this is very interesting. I’ve been using a pair of M Audio AV32s as my monitors (I know, I’m sorry) but one of them stopped working and now I need to replace them. Chi-Fi it is!
Hi, just wanted to ask to what extent? I recently bought a pair of Sony wf1000xm. Enjoying them a lot but I don’t want to mess up my hearing, like at all
i use Tin Audio T2s IEMs, build quality is amazing. as for the sound, i’m not convinced they’re as good as everyone seems to believe. although, i do like it, as the sound is mid forward and fairly flat, but the high end is a bit too bright for my liking . they’re lauded by headphone critics though, so wondering how many of these youtubers have been bought out
Not in ears as I just cannot get on with them and I’ve heard too many, MANY times they are no good for your hearing.
My phone’s USB C only, no minijack output and the USB C is getting punished with headphone usage, so I decided to join the 21st Century and get some Bluetooth over ears. I went for Cowin E7 Pros and I have to say, for the £54 or whatever they were, they are staggeringly good. Really comfy, no ear fatigue thus far, really solidly built and most importantly, sound beautifully rich with maybe a slighty over cranked bass response, but I’m a sucker for really deep bass when out and about or listening to stuff in bed. It’s got noise-cancelling if that floats your boat, and a minijack in. 30hour battery life (and it has!) My only tiny gripe is around the actual cans, they’ve used a black patent plastic that is not to my taste, but that really is being very trivial and persnickety!
I wouldn’t trust them from accurate recording or mixing but as far as a 50quid pair of super-comfortable, great sounding cans go, you could a lot worse.
will check his reviews out, so did you buy the Shuoer Tape’s based on his review? looking at them now, they’re quite pricey. how would you describe the sound? still looking for the perfect IEM, but not prepared to pay high end prices.
My T2’s are good, but i prefered the sound of my Etymotic MK5s which were about the same price. the build quality wasn’t half as good though. i’m hoping there’s something in the ChiFi range where the sound is as good as the build quality.
I bought them based on that guys review but also other similar (chifi) IEM reviewers on YouTube and also based on comments on Amazon. I also really liked the look of them too.
The sound is stunningly detailed, I’m genuinely hearing details in music that i’ve never noticed before. Seems like a pretty decent balance of sound between the bass and treble. When you get a good fit with the earbuds then bass can be powerful. Some people report the treble being pretty harsh and shoutey, for the most part i’ve found it to be ok - it’s only harsh when listening loud and you are listening to high female vocals it can get a bit ‘arkk!’ and you’ll want to turn it down a notch - but this is when listening too loud anyway
i was going to opt for the Blon 03’s but by the time id bought new tips and cables it’d be up at about a £70-80 spend rather than £40. They are meant to be good but reviews definitely say that iems like tape and others of the same level have more clarity midrange.
Other IEMs around the price range of the Tapes are good i think its all about personal taste. Some are more detailed (like tapes) for analytical listening whereas some are a bit more reaxed, and warmer seemingly - what ive learned from watching too many review videos on youtube.
Now ive got these tapes im satisfied and have stopped watching
Just grabbed an Earstudio ES100 Bluetooth Amp today. Balanced 2.5mm output FTW!
I also have T2s. Got them after a pair of $40 Sennheiser IEMs I had for like 5+ years finally died on me. Great sound, I really enjoy them. Replaced the cord on them almost immediately though, didn’t care for it. Excellent for my commute and travel.
I am kind of in the market for a DAP of some kind, I was eyeing the Fiio M3K if anyone has experience with these?
ChiFi’n the FiiO M6. Not perfect, but in general what I was looking for.
As DAPs go, I had the Cowen Plenue D. Sounded fine, but couldn’t stand the UI. Then got an old modded iPod G4, but it sounded terrible. I mean measurable harmonic distortion problems. Solo piano pieces in particular sounded nasty (in the bad way unfortunately).
Yeah, i like them as well, although I find them slightly fatiguing in the high end and lacking bass. One thing I have to keep reminding myself is the price point, I forget when
compared to other IEMs outside of CHIFI, they leave them in the dust. I kinda wish I had gone with the Blon 03 though, as they seem to be the most consistenty hyped within the budget CHIFI range. What cable did you replace your T2s with and did you find it made any difference to sound quality?
Go on, google ChiFi and jump in 
