On a recent post, there were a lot of comments, which said that they were missing the headphones on newer mobile devices.
How many actually use the headphone jack?
I ask, because I have one on my phone, since I really wanted one, but I rarely use it. Like Tops 1/Month.
A pair of 40€ Denons is not really an “investment piece”, even though they have lasted me for 10 years.
I’m not super versed on monitors outside of stage performances, and I didn’t do acquisitions. Don’t most people who use IEM’s for standard audio use a nice driver or prefer a device with a good audio out and lossless format compatibility? I guess I kinda assumed if you cared enough to distinguish using monitors instead of earbuds you care about other factors too.
IEM is easier to type than “in-ear headphones” and has become the defacto generic term for them, just like “monitor” has become to mean any stand mount/bookshelf speaker.
Anyway, over the past few years the market has flooded with cheap and very good “IEM-s” by manufacturers like Moondrop, Truthear and others. 30€ can get you a pair that follows Harman curve quite closely and has low enough distortion to allow EQ. Generally they use 10mm dynamic drivers instead of balanced armatures, but they also have more expensive multi-way BA and DD/BA options.
In short, high quality IEM style headphones have become a commodity and you don’t need to be an audiophile or muso who’s willing to pay hundreds for Shure SE535-s.