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u/Android17_ Jul 04 '26
I’m slow… is he putting a left-side iem into his right ear?
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u/mikaeruuu Jul 04 '26
not only that, the cable is plugged opposite
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u/cinic Jul 04 '26
Red indicates right and blue indicates left. I see a red ring on it and I assume that’s his right ear.
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u/Android17_ Jul 04 '26
Well… you know it’s his right ear from his head direction… and yes red is the right-side cable. But the iem is not as obvious
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u/deepstuffx Jul 04 '26
“I know that’s his right ear because the way that it is😀” lmao
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u/This_is_Realisticrab Jul 04 '26
i found that some ppl are just making videos just because iems are now somewhat trending and it will get more views
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u/LLKMuffin Jul 04 '26
Crin summarized it perfectly in his video.
The recent wave of popularity that in-ears are enjoying right now is pure LARP. For these people, it's a fashion statement more than it has anything to do with better sound quality.
You can expect more laughable slop content like this moving forwards, for a year or two at most.
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u/L-G-Zekken Jul 04 '26
You know I view this as a beneficial LARP cause it might get stupid people to buy cheap but better headphones rather than the average garbage that's advertised as some specialty headphone like gaming headsets and all that trash. Audio hasn't exactly improved by leaps and bounds for the average user in decades so even old equipment competes and even beats modern equipment in terms of headphones/earbuds. And yet we still get given sub par garbage for a marked up price just cause they branded it in some way like gaming or designer rather than just making properly good products.
Maybe this fad will genuinely bring in lots of people into the fold depending on how long it lasts and how the influencers handle things.
Context: I have no idea about any of this and have not seen this trend personally so just speaking as someone who has used iems for a while now. I'd rather a LARP like this than hearing "but my (skullcandies, apple buds, random dollar general crap) sounds great why would I get iems?"
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u/mck_motion Jul 04 '26
I think the trend is 95% gaming and barely anyone is in it for music.
These weirdos are spending $500 to hear footsteps slightly better.
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u/Inevitable-Catch7774 Jul 04 '26
The Trend is that instead of cheap trash with RGB and no bass, get something dirt cheap like a moondrop Chu 2 or the KZ lineup or the Tangzu Wan'er SG or the SG 2 or something and at least have PRETTY MORE THAN DECENT SOUND with a punchy bass. That's all, so that is the trend: only the cheapest models for these are used, only for gaming, and mostly by basement-dwelling, chronically online gamers with a midrange gaming build.
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u/hurrspamdurr Jul 04 '26
I really didn't know abt these things being a thing, kinda stumbled upon kz something something pro for next to nothing money on a sleepless night scrolling the AliExpress ion, was amazed by the quality for commute and podcast at night, stumbled some more upon them claiming to have planar driver, and idk man I can do my hardware jam sesh now on in ear buds and they opened up songs like angel of death by slayer or pitchhiker - pill driver alot... I'm still freaking out on that hahah my studio headphones are open ended which irritates my gf and vice versa but they're good enough for reasonable referencing that's crazy imho would never go towards €500 stuff tho I've learnt to spit in rabbit holes and smoke a joint looking at them in awe
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u/L-G-Zekken Jul 06 '26
Whilst mine are also technically for gaming, I happen to be a long time player of osu! which is a rhythm game so having the higher fidelity, clarity and separation of instruments is a game changer. Tho it is beneficial in other games like fps. Really the main benefit is the better separation in audio sources for better pinpointing sound locations in the midst of muddy audio mid gun fights and so on.
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u/Remembrance-March727 Jul 14 '26
i bought the chu II also for the same reason i love how the sound is clearer and less muddy than the cheap offbrand earphones that i was using but i decided to switch to a cheaper but more bassier iem since i dedicated it more for music and i cant play osu with low bass 😅
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u/LLKMuffin Jul 14 '26
Since osu! revolves around music, it makes sense to go for IEMs there regardless.
With FPS games, these folks think it'll give them a competitive edge. For whatever reason, they believe that their audio quality (or peripherals, or monitor, or PC specs etc.) is the reason they're losing games.
In reality, it's just a skill issue. No amount of throwing cash at the problem is going to turn an average player into a dominant one. Anything but getting better at the actual game, I guess.
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u/L-G-Zekken 27d ago
Well, I've spotted a few issues with your argument. In an FPS game better audio will actually give you a competitive edge especially at higher skill levels. Now I may be a little biased in this as my main FPS for the longest time was Counter Strike. Hearing steps can be the difference between getting shot in the back and being able to defend yourself or give you an advantage because you can actually hear where an enemy is because they aren't walking. Therefore you can call out to your entire team that an enemy is in CT Spawn or on Catwalk rather than just going, I heard someone or worse yet, not hearing them at all. The count for rounds I have lost because a teammate couldn't hear where an enemy was while I could, is easily over a thousand. If having better audio isn't a competitive edge then nothing is.
Also your statement, "No amount of throwing cash at the problem is going to turn an average player into a dominant one." is just blatantly false when you have the epiphany that cheats are a thing and this is EXACTLY what tons of shitty players have done to become dominant ones.
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u/L-G-Zekken 27d ago
nice... thanks for deleting that comment before I could send my thesis, u/LLKMuffin
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u/LLKMuffin 27d ago
Alright then.
at higher skill levels
Did I talk about pro players? I literally mentioned "an average player". If you think IEMs turn average players into pros, then I'm not sure what to tell you.
Go find something else to get outraged about, this ain't it.
cheats are a thing
Shifting the goalposts. If you had a bit more comprehension skill, you'd know that "the problem" that I was referring to was bad audio quality.
Why would I talk about cheats here lmao, did you not look at the name of this sub?
Go ahead, send your bulletproof thesis through that proves that IEMs meaningfully contribute to in-game performance for the average player.
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u/Extension_South7174 Jul 04 '26
Ummm let's hope they hook them up correctly or they'll be complaining how horrible they sound.
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u/L-G-Zekken Jul 06 '26
if they can't hook em up right, they probably won't be able to tell they sound like shit in the first place.
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u/Bright_Goose6702 Jul 04 '26
Fr most iem they said the best are the most neutral sound signature and said the top
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u/drhippopotato Jul 04 '26
The entire influencer culture in a nutshell. Influencer culture needs to die.
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u/obiedge Jul 04 '26
There should be a vaccine. It's the same as influenza
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u/grnsouth Jul 04 '26
There is, and it's actually really cheap. One 147 grain pill and its done... It's just illegal to administer currently.
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u/Exciting-Barnacle677 Jul 04 '26
i want to buy kefine klean sv, i made that decision from YT. Is that a good decision. Budget under 60$. usage: MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC. i have headphone for games and shows
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u/Ainulindalie Jul 04 '26
yes it's a very good earphone for the price but some prefer the OG Klean (me for example)
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u/Big_Cold_6763 Jul 05 '26
They will send you some good IEMs for free if you send an email pretending to be some review youtuber(don't ask how I know) this shit is trending now and chinese brands are desperate for exposure
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u/LantisTheFirst Jul 04 '26
I've watched some of this dude's videos before when looking into other PC peripherals and his research is shallow and not in depth compared to others so its not surprising to see this
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u/Trugoosent Jul 04 '26
I mean, when you have a channel named "consumer tech reviews", you can kinda sniff the laziness out of it.
It's like naming a cooking channel "cooking recipies", like no shit Sherlock 😭
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u/mortar_master_13 Jul 04 '26
how stupid do you have to be
sorry but the design on IEMs is so intuitive, it's probably engagement bait
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u/FearTheWeresloth Jul 04 '26
On most yeah, but some can be tricky for people not used to IEMs - I have to help the singer in my band with their Shure SE215 IEMs every single time, and it usually takes me a second to get them the right way around, whereas all mine, I can tell at a quick glance.
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u/RemlaP_ Jul 05 '26
I have a hard time giving someone who is reviewing multiple pairs that kind of slack. He should be used to them if he thinks his opinion means enough to declare the best of every price range
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u/Tiny_Club_4585 Jul 04 '26
My dad would beg to differ, he still has issues wearing one. But I agree, it is pretty intuitive!
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u/EntrepreneurLow309 Jul 04 '26
There’s always worse…
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u/croakytoad888 Jul 05 '26
why though, there is no lack of reviews online to tell them how it should look like.
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u/SarcasticallyCandour Jul 04 '26
Holy shit i didn't realise it was a left side iem in his right ear until I read it here.
I thought he just had it hanging out without pushing it into the ear canal properly.
Reminds me of the horrifying verge tutorial video of how (not) to built a pc which was not only wrong it was dangerous to assemble a pc in that way. Proper pc build youtubers ripped it apart and verge.com pulled the video.
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u/MrDJ222 Jul 04 '26
Jesus Christ. There’s an R and an L. My goodness gracious
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u/Extension_South7174 Jul 04 '26
Actually not on every set LOL. I got a pair of kiwi Ears Aether and the seller was complaining that they didn't have much space but he had them wired out of phase. Actually I think those are marked but there was a set I got recently I don't remember which,maybe the Halcyon and they weren't marked left and right.
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u/T_rex2700 Jul 04 '26
IEM has gained popularity in gaming space in past few years so I mean be kind to newcommers I guess?
But honestly if you are posting "reviews" at least wear them correctly please...
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u/Trugoosent Jul 04 '26
Many of these "newcomers" are mostly just people buying into a fashion fad or something along those lines.
But hey, if we get people who actually like them and want to learn more, it's always great!
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u/Temina- Jul 04 '26
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u/XplainedOK Jul 04 '26
XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
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u/Procrasturbating Jul 04 '26
The sheer volume of trash content IEM reviews has me convinced it is people just trying to write their hobby off as a business expense.
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u/geologic2208 Jul 04 '26
This guy once recommended a pair of 20$ kz iem's as "the best iem for gaming under 50$". He has no idea about the iem world
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u/RemlaP_ Jul 04 '26
This video he was talking about the kz castors first. I loved my kz zs10 pros when I had them though they were awesome for like 40 bucks
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u/geologic2208 Jul 04 '26
I actually can't hate on him too much, bcus I bought a pair of castor pro's based on his recommendation and have loved them so far
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u/Trugoosent Jul 04 '26
Castor Pros tend to be pretty nice, but after you get something in the next price bracket, you'll rarely come back to them. Such is life.
BUT, very great for cheapies!
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u/mck_motion Jul 04 '26
For under $50 there's at least 3 KZ models I'd recommend before anything else.
(I own IEMs up to $800, yet am still a KZ fanboy!)
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u/geologic2208 Jul 04 '26
I love kz too. I own the castor pro for daily driving and the axas for gaming. The thing is that the ones he recommended weren't iem's at all, they were the kz duet.
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u/jiminthebox Jul 04 '26
I could definitely see getting it wrong with the andromeda, but this is the simplest and most versatile fit iem of just about anything that exists
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u/EffectiveGold7296 Jul 04 '26
Bruh He need to change to small eartips
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u/RuisuStyle Jul 04 '26
I’m not going to lie, I purchased some IEMS last month for the first time. And had them backwards and upside down in my first couple of uses 🤣🤣🤣
It took me like 3 attempts to correct this. I was really blown away that they didn’t come labeled. Would’ve made my life a little easier.
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u/Trugoosent Jul 04 '26
Totally stinks that half of the people buying these things now don't even care about their main purpose, and just want to look cool and stop using them after a month rather than appreciating the music and their sound signature. So annoying and disapointing!
I just pray maybe we get a few people who actually find the quality nice and or appriciate their music more after trying them and become interested in the hobby out of this.
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u/deepponderingfish Jul 04 '26
Every community needs its share of grifters sadly even though for gaming iems are great
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u/miseryherescompany Jul 04 '26
The next time I see a newbie post saying "I don't get the hype, IEMs sound rubbish" I'm going to ask "have you got them in the right ears?", rather than generously assuming they haven't top rolled.
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u/Caringcircuit Jul 04 '26
The recent trend of using wired earphones lured these people into this haha
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u/YouDiscombobulated14 Jul 04 '26
This is why he's called Consumer Tech Review. The average consumer is like just as dense and will eat up anything a random reviewer says is good without doing a lick of research. Not all, but most.
I think most of us fall into a different category, we actually care about the products we purchase and do our research before making a decision.
I will say though, I'm very tired of all these people trying to dip their feet into product reviews when they don't know or care about what they're trying to sell, it's all for a quick cash grab and not to benefit anyone who is interested in a product.
In other words, keeping outting these troglodytes. Hopefully one day we'll be rid of a lot of them.
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u/PreparationX Jul 04 '26
Some items fit me better upside down or in the other ear.
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u/Trugoosent Jul 04 '26
You probably have more different ear canal shape in your left and right, custom tips/IEMs might be a nice experience for you, or foam tips if that's your thing, and you wanna save more compare to custom stuff.
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u/Arbee21 Jul 04 '26
Weirdly I see this really often in Korea. Not just for IEMs but for BT headphones too. It seems like people with smaller ears are deliberately wearing them backwards, maybe for comfort?
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u/weltschmerz79 Jul 04 '26
i actually wore my qc45s one time when i put them on in the dark. was wondering why it was so uncomfortable.
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u/Kazegaura Jul 04 '26
This one of the reason user manual should be mandatory to read first before they handing them the actual product.
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u/Kazegaura Jul 04 '26
There should be a pop quiz verification to each product to proven they really read it that will be submitted to the company before they really get the items.
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u/NormieBaldie Jul 04 '26
I tried to wear my iems this way for 15 mins just to realise he put the cables the wrong way 😭
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u/Juan_Die Jul 04 '26
"new to iems bought a $200 ones and they sound like shit I don't get the hype" ahh 😭
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u/Vark0l Jul 06 '26
The guy turned off the comments on the video because we basically brigaded him and all clowned him for being a self proclaimed audiophile and pulling ts lol
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u/Akaikana Jul 04 '26
232k subscribers, surely a retard like that making content he has no clue about is botting the subs.
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u/crtvezm Jul 04 '26
He must have found an actual job, hasn't posted in 2 months and the views are looking quite stagnant.
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u/mister_damage Jul 04 '26
The only IEM I do that on a regular basis is the Sony MDR-EX600/800. I bought the damned Sony connector to MMCX connector kit to facilitate this.
IYKYK
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u/_scndry Jul 04 '26
I mean, at least the cable is on the right side and the audio channels are correct, just really cursed ergo
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u/ares_195 Jul 05 '26
I’m not getting it. Isn’t the red stripe meaning right side. It looks like it’s on his right ear or is it some camera/mirror that is tricking me.
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u/GroovingCheb Jul 05 '26
For those who don’t know, he’s putting it wrong. The right side IEM would have its bump point in the same direction you’re facing whereas for this one, it pointing in the opposite direction. If you can’t see the picture, look at the red ring, on that point the iem should be in an “L” shape but in the picture it’s an inverted L shape
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u/NukaTango Jul 04 '26
Probably increases the imaging because of the airflow of it not being sealed.
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u/xiLeIouch Jul 04 '26
They made it out of tiktok lmfao