Noise isolating In-Ear Monitors (IEMs) earbuds headphones like iLuv iEP322's

I'm looking for In-Ear Monitors (IEMs) for less than $10/pair.

They have to be noise isolating; not noise cancelling.

The difference:

Noise isolating headphones physically block ambient noise with their seal against your ear.

Noise cancelling may do that too, but also electronically cancel the actual soundwaves.

They have to have a lot of volume and a lot of bass.

They also have to block ambient noise very well.

What I am using now is iLuv iEP322's.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PEIH5M

They're amazing, and they used to be about $7/pair, but now they're $17.40/pair for pink on eBay.

I don't care for pink, and I really don't want to spend that much.

Do you know of any earbuds that fit the bill, maybe direct from China?

My recommendations are a tad higher than your $10 but you can consider

KZ ATE
Got great reviews in Head-Fi and it comes in various eartips to fit every possible sized ears.
As good as it is I personally don’t like its rolled off bass and treble fat sound. YMMV

VJJB V1S
Pretty good for a person who loved a colored fun bass tone. A tad bit overbudget for your needs
Provided with multiple eartips that ensures you good fit. Whether it isolates that good I’m not sure. They don’t fit my ears too well so they are a bit leaking

YINJW S1
A chinese copy of the VJJB mentioned above. Cheaper, but not sure if it will sound cheaper or not

Custom Dual Driver Monitors
I personally own a pair of this and bought 6 more for my buddies
They are a bit of a gamble in terms of sound but they are very solidly held in your ear and blocks most sound,
A bit on the cold side with warm mids and bass but rolled off trebles.
Comes with detachable cable in case you broke em you can buy new cables.
The eartips are a little stingy as they gave 2 pair of “same sized S M L” silicone eartips.
Swapped with a foamtip and the isolation is close to dangerously deaf when walking in the streets.

KZ ZST
I like its tone of this. Lovely bright highs and deep low mids.
I don’t know how good the isolation is because I don’t own one.

Go for the first one I recommend, the KZ ATE if I were to conclude

RC, if you are really tight on budget and are not too much of an audiophile, you really can’t get better around $10 than the KZ ATE. They offer good bass and good isolation, their biggest weak point IMO is some people find them uncomfortable. I use Tennmak Pro’s, which are a great upgrade, but are a little over $20 usually.

I also have the KZ ZST and am not a fan of those.

I am looking into KZ ATE's on head-fi.org right now.

EDIT: Thanks for the recommendations, power911 & pilotdog68!

So far, I'm leaning toward the KZ ATE-S because they are more comfortable than the standard KZ ATE, but my research is not over by far.

Yea the i can also recommend the KZ ATZ they are a good mix of highs mids and lows and i also have the KZ ED12 they are okay more for bass. The ED12 use a much bigger single driver. I prefer the fit of the ATZ they feel better sitting but the ED12 look better.

Like lights there is no one headphone for the job lol.

If you want bass and can spend a tad more check out the Pioneer SE-CL532 They offer good bass and are built solid and feel comfortable.

I am on Head-Fi its a great place the people are friendly.

I ended up ordering this KZ ATE-S:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Original-KZ-ATE-S-In-Ear-Earphones-HIFI-KZ-ATE-S-Stereo-Sport-Earphone-Super/32542167266.html

Now it's time to play the waiting game.

Well…
I have the KZ ATE (the half-clear ones) and I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone :stuck_out_tongue:
I don’t know if I got fakes (if there are any), but they sound very unclear. Hard to explain for a non-native speaker :smiley:

I would recommend any of the XIaomi In Ears. Piston 3 (not available anymore), Hybrid or the imo best, the Hybrid Pro


Yes, they are a lot more expensive, but they are well worth it!

Do you have your sales link?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2015-New-Arrival-Original-KZ-ATE-3-5mm-in-ear-Earphones-HIFI-Metal-Stereo-Earphones-Super/32350895239.html
and
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/KZ-ED2-Music-Headset-Phone-Headset-HIFI-Headphones-Bass-Headset-Metal-Earphone/32350919058.html

Since they are directly from the KZ-Ali Store, I don’t think that they are fakes :smiley:
Both loose very very badly againt any of the Xiaomi IEMs!
I bought two of each (because of the recommendations online) and I just tested and never touched them since.

I don't think they're fake, either.

Thanks for your recommendations, everydaysurvivalgear & L4M4!

The Hybrid Pros are available for 18.99$

In my opinion, there is just no reason to spend less money. 19$ isn’t that much and if you use them often, you want them to sound good. I use mine 4-8h per day at work and I am very happy about my purchase :wink:

“Like lights there is no one headphone for the job lol”

Preach, brother! I have 43 pairs and 90% are over $50

Connecticut is not between China and California!

I ordered a Xiaomi earbuds and was not impressed. A 7 dollar pair of skull candy was way better somehow. I got it from marshall’s. There are always less than $10 earbuds and the skullcandy ones are good! I have seen iluv ones there too.

I wish I liked earbuds, but they’re just way too unconfortable for me.

Before I found iLuv, I was totally into Skullcandy.

They're really good, but they don't block ambient noise very well.

Actually, my iLuv iEP322's are better than all my Skullcandy IEMs.

And I'm really looking forward to my KZ ATE-S IEMs.

If I like them, I think next time I'll order them from FastTech.

Is free shipping from FastTech faster than free shipping from GearBest?

Thanks for the recommendation. I will let you know what I think when they get here

What did you order?

Well my KZ ATE-S IEMs arrived yesterday, and I tried them out today.

Compared to my iLuv iEP322's, the KZ ATE-S IEMs have little volume, almost no bass, and they do not block ambient noise very well.

In other words, they suck.

I'm glad I paid only $8.14 for them.

So disappointing.