Audio Inventory & Ratings Table

Here are my ratings for the earphones I have reviewed

Please bear in mind, that ratings in this table might change after I start listening to more earphones, as I will have a better idea of other earphones on the market, which allows me to then benchmark each earphone against others at a relatively same price point.
In my ratings, both in reviews and the ratings table, I have taken price into perspective, (ie. really low accessory ratings for a high-end IEM, in comparison to something that offers the same accessories, but for an IEM that costs 1/5th of the price).
Regardless, I will try to make it as fair as possible & will try to update it as frequently as I can!

Earphone Ratings:

Headphone Ratings:

Headphone & Earphone Inventory

History of the earphones I’ve gone through From top to bottom ranked as the oldest (top, starting at “1.”) to the newest set I’ve got (bottom):

Clicking on the respective earphones will take you straight to my review of them!

1. Apple earphones – Not even worth explaining how bad they are….They came with my iPod Touch, several years ago…when I actually owned an Apple device.

2. Sony MDR-EX85 – One of my first ever “IEMs”! Decent sounding at the time, but very bloated with bass and thus drowning out the mids.

3. Sony MDR-EX500 – Excellent set of earphones that I owned for a prolonged amount of time, due to their all-round nature.

4. Sony MDR-XB700 – Excellent headphones for bass (possibly one of the best I’ve reviewed), but lack mids.

5. Sennheiser IE8 – Disliked these earphones, despite their high praise across the internet. The soundstage was very wide and it felt like I was listening to a concert that was 10 miles away. Bass was good, but not as I would have imagined.

6. UE Metro.Fi 220 – Good set of earphones, especially for their price at the time.

7. UE Super fi4 – A cold unimpressive display by UE for a single BA driver. These earphones weren’t my favourites.

8. Westone 2 – Good set of earphones, but lacked that bass punch due to having BA drivers. Their mids were nice and rich though.

9. Denon AH-C751 – Great set of earphones, but they lacked a lot of definition in the mids. The most disappointing aspect of the earphones was their design.

10. Sony MDR-EX700 – These earphones were nice all-rounders, but due to their high frequency spikes they sounded unpleasant for longer periods of listening.

11. Denon AH-C710 – A great set of earphones that I thoroughly enjoyed using, despite being a little sibilant.

12. Denon AH-C260 – Good set of basic earphones that do well enough for their price.

13. Sennheiser CX500 – A decent set of earphones, but lacked mids and thus any sort of precision.

14. Shure Se535 – The Shure’s felt as if they were designed for on-stage use and not personal use, despite having good mids and good highs, their bass was very poor.

15. Monster Turbine Pro Gold – Decent set of earphones, but due to their lack of build quality made them worrying to use.

16. Logitech Ultimate Ears 350vi – Excellent earphones for their price, especially as they come with an in-line microphone. Good punchy bass, however with a lack of mids.

17. TFTA-2100-2V1S (1V) – I really like these, as they  were pleasant, and a step-up to the C710’s – In the end I hardly used these earphones as I prefer their bassier brothers the 1XB’s.

18. TFTA-2100-2V2B (1XB) – Blow your mind with bass and probably slap you with a bit more, whilst it’s at it too! Amazing bass response, enough highs for my liking, with a lovely airy soundstage.

19. Sennheiser IE7 – Not to my taste, fit was an issue to get any sort of bass out of it (a little like the IE8’s) although build quality and comfort was very good

20. Phonak Audéo PFE 122/112’s – Great earphones, not exactly to my taste, but can see why people love these. Great BA phones.

21. Denon AH-D2000 Headphones – These were absolutely amazing out-the-box and thoroughly enjoyed them! These have since been modded with D5K cups, Lawton Audio Angle Pads & a custom D7K wire!

22. Monster Turbine – Bought these refurbished from the Monster US outlet store for £35 – they sounded OK for the price, I wouldn’t put them along the EX500’s in terms of price – definitely not worth the asking price brand new.

23. Sennheiser CX400-II – Was a present I bought for my friend – Reminded me of the CX500’s, not bad for their price, especially with all their accessories they came with!

24. Monoprice 8320 – Bought these very cheap – just to try them out, brilliant little earphones, especially at their price, of only £8! A real steal, I would value them at around £20-30 depending on how much you love/hate forward mids.

25. Future Sonic M5, MG7 driver – Their closed soundstage takes a while getting used to! Great earphones otherwise with clear mids and highs! One of the best earphones for Trance/EDM.

26. Aurisonic ASG-1 – They hurt my ear (comfort/fit wise) and thus couldn’t wear them any more. Good earphones, but not recommended for personal listening.

27. Monster Miles Davis Tribute – The decay was a little odd for my liking – Bought these from Monster US whilst they were at a reduced price! Great earphones overall – quite a lot of mid-bass and needs a bump in the highs and mids to make them sound better.

28. Sony MDR-EX510 – My co-worker got these and I got to listen and review them over a week. They are great earphones – well worth their price for £40, however don’t have that thumping mid-bass as the EX500’s did. Still a go-to earphone for the under £50 category!

29. Grado GR8 – The performance for the price paid doesn’t match – the earphones are decent but no where near my actual expectations of Grado.

30. RedGiant A03 Ossicle – A special & unique sounding earphone, with a dual dynamic driver in each earphone.

31. RedGiant A04 Incus – Good sounding earphone for the price, reminded me greatly of the MDT’s.

32. HiSoundAudio Crystal – Great small and discrete sounding earphone! Was surprised on how a small set of earphones could produce such a good sound!

33. Audio-Technica ATH-CKS77 – Great bass pounding earphone, with no loss of quality to the mids & highs.

34. DUNU I 3C-S – Lacked bass, as expected from a BA driver, overall a little disappointing for the price.

35. Phonak Audéo PFE 232 – Sound absolutely fabulous, doubt I’ll hear any better than these. One of the best (if not the best) earphones I’ve ever came across.

36. TDK BA200 – Excellent set of all-rounders – Brilliant price, for a warm sounding earphone, but they did lack bass.

37. Audiofly AF45 – A very elegant earphone with a very prominent mid-bass response.

38. Ultimate Ears TF10 – A great sounding earphone, but needs a cable upgrade and the right fit to make it sound better!

39. TDK BA100 – A good set of earphones, although I would pay that extra bit to get their much more capable TDK BA200’s.

40. Fischer Audio FA-002W Master Series – A very picky set of headphones, with accentuated mids and highs, with a beautiful finish and look.

41. Fischer Audio DBA-02 MkII – Amazing earphones for the price. If you’re into mids, these should be on the top of your list!

42. Fischer Audio Wicked Queen – Good overall headphones for the price, however the build quality and look, might not be for everyone.

43. TDK ST800 Headphones – A beautiful looking headphone, but its impedance and bass response let it down.

44. 1964-SLV Universal IEM Custom Sleeves for Phonak Audéo PFE 232 – A great investment for anyone that’s fully satisfied with their earphones.

45. Denon AH-NCW500 Wireless Bluetooth Headphones – A nice set of wireless headphones, however they have an overwhelming emphasis on bass.

46. Denon AH-C400 – A great set of neutral sounding earphones offered by Denon.

47. Fischer Audio FA-912 – A decent earphone, but not one that I would recommend over the other FA earphones that can be bought for near the same price.

48. Fischer Audio Consonance – An outstanding set of earphones that are one of the best sub £50 earphones that I’ve ever come across.

49. Fischer Audio Red Stripe – A cheap yet extremely capable earphone, which makes it possibly one of the best sub £20 earphones around.

50. Fischer Audio Silver Bullet – Spacious sounding earphones with a great mid-bass kick to them!

51. Fischer Audio Epsilon – Disappointing earphones that performed sub-par to their price tag and just didn’t have a great sound quality.

52. Fischer Audio Eterna – A bass heavy earphone that does incredibly well for its price range. A must have for bassheads on a tight budget!

53. Fischer Audio Golden Wasp – A mid-bass heavy earphone that has a decent soundstage. However its extremely tangle prone wires make these earphones troublesome for portable use.

54. Fischer Audio Draco Headphones – A decent set of headphones for £15, but for the £50 price tag, these are asking for a lot of criticism. They are also extremely fragile headphones that makes you wonder about their true portability.

55. Klipsch S3M – A decent “Android compatible” earphone that offers a similar sound that is found in the popular Klipsch S4’s.

56. Anker Bluetooth 4.0 Earphones – A good set of wireless earphones, however due to their enormous size and quite short battery life, they don’t truly feel portable.

57. Fischer Audio FA-004 Headphones – A decent set of headphones, but the isolation, comfort and its lack of bass extension makes it a hard headphone to recommend.

58. VSonic GR07 MK2 Pro – One of the best sub £200 earphones I’ve ever come across: An excellent set of neutral sounding earphones, however don’t expect to be on your feet dancing with these somewhat dull sounding earphones.

59. Fischer Audio TBA-04 Triple Balanced Armature Earphones – An excellent sounding earphone that has had a natural progression from its younger brother the DBA-02 mk II.

60. EOps Noisezero O2+ with Comply Headphone Pads – A very comfortable set of on-ear headphones coupled with mediocre sound quality.

61. AKG K551 – An outstanding set of headphones with brilliant mids and soundstage. They do roll off in the high frequencies and lack bass. Their included cable was also worringly thin.

62. AKG K545 – Absolutely amazing set of headphones that have had a natural progression over the K551’s in almost all aspects, especially in build quality (due to their detachable wire) and sound quality (due to a better low frequency response).

63. SteelSeries Siberia V2 Heat Orange Gaming Headset – A good open-back sounding headphone that really impressed me for its musicality

63. SteelSeries 9H Gaming Headset – An excellent all round headset that provide a great experience for gamers and music listeners

65. Klipsch Image X7i – A rather disappointing earphone that left me unimpressed by its overall presentation

66. Denon AH-D600 – An excellent sounding headphone, but doesn’t quite live up to my expectations from the AH-D2000s

67. SteelSeries H Wireless Gaming Headset – Quite honestly the best all-round headset Iv’e ever come across – despite being quite expensive for a headset it does a superb job

68. Fischer Audio Consonance V2 – Quite a lot of improvements over its older brother, but its sound quality was not quite as exciting when A/Bed with its brother the V1.

69. Fischer Audio Bullet 6mm – A cute and powerful earphone that really does look great in-ear

70. Kennerton (Fischer Audio) Magister – One of the best, if not the best closed-back headphone I’ve ever heard (beating the likes of Denon, Audeze & Fostex headphones)

71. Steelseries Siberia Elite Gaming Headset – A decent sounding headset

72. AKG Y50 headphones – A disappointing on-ear headphone by AKG’s standards

73. Steelseries Flux In-Ear Pro – An outstanding earphone for audiophiles and gamers – An amazing earphone all-round, that should be on everyone’s shopping list!

74. Steelseries Siberia V3 Gaming Headset – A headset that underwhelmed me, especially when compared to the previous generation of Steelseries headsets

75. Razer Tiamat 7.1 Elite Gaming Headset – Hands down the worst headphone (for the price) and headset I’ve ever come across – Avoid at all costs!

76. Creative SB Inferno Gaming Headset – An unbelievably well priced headset

77. Soundpeats QY7 Bluetooth Earphones – A cute little Bluetooth earphone that is extremely well-priced!

78. UBSOUND Fighter – Looks over sound, an earphone that has a V-shaped sound signature

79. Creative Sound Blaster Jam – An extremely lightweight & multi-functional Bluetooth headphone

80. Sennheiser IE800 Earphones – A good sound ruined by poor design

81. Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR Sound Card – One of the most expensive yet best sounding sound cards on the market

82. Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 – A nice overall package by Sennheiser, but let down by a poor design choice in the headband assembly

83. SoundMAGIC P21S – One of the best all-round on-ear headphones I’ve ever come across

84. SoundMAGIC P30S – A solid on-ear performer

85. HiFiMAN RE-400 – An earphone completely let down by its soundstage

86. HiFiMAN RE-600 – An average sounding earphone that’s ridiculously overpriced in the UK

87. SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism – A flawed headset that had great potential

88. Sennheiser M2IEG / M2IEi Momentum Earphones – An all-round performer

89. DUNU DN-2000 – An earphone that delivers so much for its cost!

90. Audiofly AF120 Earphones – Disappointing sound for the price

91. SoundMAGIC E10 Earphones – A fantastic budget earphone!

92. Sennheiser Urbanite On-Ear Headphones – Good looks, but an average sound let it down

93. SoundMAGIC E80 Earphones – An incremental upgrade over the E10

94. Final Adagio III Earphone Review – Disappointing bass heavy earphones

95. Future Sonics Spectrum Series G10 Earphone Review – A basshead’s dream

96. Review of the SoundMAGIC ES19S Earphones – A fantastic budget earphone!

97. Review of the Yamaha EPH-M200 – An overly bassy earphone with a lack of quality

98. UBSOUND Dreamer Headphones – A disappointingly made and sounding headphone

99. harschacoustic (P.EAR.S) SH-2 CIEM – A truly fantastic earphone and my new daily drivers!

100. FIDUE A65 Earphones – A unique sounding earphone with an elegant design

101. Pump Audio V2 Earphones – A colourful earphone that sound surprisingly good!

102. DUNU Titan 5 earphones – A well built earphone that improves on the DUNU Titan 1

103. Echobox Finder X1 earphones – Well designed earphones, but with a fatiguing sound

104. Creative Sound BlasterX H5 Headset – Fantastic sound, but with poor recording quality

105. Rock Jaw Alfa Genus V2 Review – Fantastic all-round earphones!

106. 1More Triple Driver earphone review – A great mid-range earphone!

107. Trinity Phantom Sabre review – The most complete earphone package, let down by its highs and soundstage

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DEMO’ed/Tried Earphones:

There are many I haven’t listed here!

1. Klipsch Image X10 – very tinny and ear piercingly annoying

2. Klipsch S4 – great sounding earphones, especially for their price

3. Westone 1 – Didn’t sound good at all – lacked bass to say the least

4. Westone UM2 – Preferred the W2’s as they weren’t as comfortable as the W2’s to wear

5. Westone 3 – Very much liked them at the time, but were way too expensive for what they offered

6. Westone UM3X – Were expensive at the time and not as good as the W3’s for personal listening

7. Marshall Major Headphones – Nice overall presentation, but with recessed mids, rolled off bass and highs

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Amp Inventory

1. FiiO E5 – A nice cheap portable amp with a nice bass switch

2. FiiO E11 – Powerful & “clean sound” amp, although it was too big for portability
3. oundmagic A10 – A very warm sounding amp, but had some design flaws

4. DigiZoid ZO2v3 – Excellent Bass boosting “headphone amp”! Can’t live without it – an amazing piece of tech – truly portable too.

5. Just Audio µHA-120 – An excellent all round amp, that really focuses on clarity and transparent reproduction.

6. Epiphany Acoustics EHP-O2D Desktop Amp – An outstanding Amp and DAC at the given price, its small factor but huge sound factor make this a must buy.

7. Firestone Audio FireyeHD Amplifier – A great amp if it can be found under £100 (such as when bought in the USA).

8. Review of the Creative Sound Blaster E3 – A Versatile Portable Amp that has a few neat features

9. Sound BlasterX G5 – A decent sound card with problematic hardware and software problems

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Source & Cable Inventory

1. iPod Touch 3rd Gen – Replaced with the 4th Gen by Apple, due to battery faults and then later sold on eBay

2. Samsung Galaxy S i9000 (SGS1 / SGS I)

3. Samsung Galaxy S i9300 (SGS3 / SGS III)

4. Custom Art – Silverline Interconnect

5. AntLion Audio ModMic 4.0 – The best way to transform your audiophile headphones into audiophile headsets

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Sound Systems & Speakers

1. Logitech X-540 – A great set of budget speakers that served me a good amount of time

2. Logitech Z-5500 – Excellent set of speakers, although one can do better with used bookshelf speakers for the same price. The Z-5500 is still my go-to recommendation for PC speakers.

3. FREE-D Ditto – Bluetooth Vibration Mini Sounder Speaker – A cool technology to have, but not the most useful.

4. TDK 3 Speaker Boombox – An outstandingly beautiful set of speakers, with outstanding sound quality at a premium price tag.

5. XMI X-Mini MAX Duo Stereo Capsule Speaker – An outstanding set of portable speakers at an affordable price.

6. Yamaha LSX-170 Bluetooth Hi-Fi Speaker Review – A beautifully designed speaker

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