Not a dumb question... I phrased it badly. I was referring to over the ears as something like Koss Porta Pros or similar.

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onli 5 hours ago | parent [-]

Then I think I disagree with the specifics of that statement, or am I reading this wrong? The porta pros have to sound better than the average IEM, or think of the KSC 75 for another quite nice option in that space. Especially for the price. And I'm not even sure that speakers sound better than headphones most of the time.

+1 though for the thought that the medium makes the biggest part of the sound quality.

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crims0n 4 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Interesting, even with Yaxi pads I could not get the Porta Pros to my liking. Compared to the average IEM I thought the IEMs sounded much cleaner and more technically accurate. Stepping up to something like Letshuoer S12s absolutely blew them out of the water (more expensive, I know). Maybe I just falsely attributed that to an inherent advantage of sealing off the ear canals. Will give the Porta Pros another try.

	▲	onli 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Porta pros specifically seem to be a subjective thing, many describe them as a bit muddy, while some like that as an easy listing mode. The KSC 75 though really impressed me, for me they replaced the ath-m50x. Less base (partly because of no clamping pressure, I read, so changeable with a headband). I do have a cheap chinese hifi IEM I do like and would understand if someone preferred that one to the kSC 75, to further complicate things, but I stuck to them. Also read positive things about the moondrop old fashioned, to mention an alternative to the porta pro in a very close form factor, not the strange ear clips that are the KSC 75. I'd argue that the additional space should give the form factor an advantage, though sure, being closer to the ear might also be one. And no doubt, given the huge popularity of IEMs the technology must have seen a lot of progress, so I might be wrong.

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tuesdaynight 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

What is an average IEM for you? I had a Porta Pro in the past, but IEM got so much better in the last 10 years that your statement made me curious

	▲	onli 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Fair point. It's a huge field and I have no defensible option there. I was thinking of the wireless Anker IEM and the various older ones that accompanied my phones, even though as mentioned in the other comment I'm aware of higher class (and sometimes even cheap) IEMs that do exist. But still, I wouldn't generalize it like that, I really do like the KSC 75 a lot and think those kind of headphones are too often overlooked despite their quality, which collides with classifying them so low.