Technics Premium in- Ear Monitors IEM, High-Fidelity Wired in-Ear Earbuds Earphones with Innovative 10mm Driver for Ultra-Low Distortion - EAH-TZ700, Black/Gold

These are expensive but I think they are outstanding performers. By way of comparison, I own and have used the Klipsch x20i ($549 in 2016) for about 8 years now. I love them. They are very warm sounding but have detail I hadn't before heard from small form factor earbuds. They are romantic sounding, if you will.At some point I bought the AKG K3003i ($1000 in 2015) but had to return them. They were so bright that I found them unlistenable. I couldn't give up the comfortable yet detailed Klipsch sound so I returned the AKG earbuds. Fast forward to 2024 and Amazon has these Technics earbuds for a good deal so I decide to try them. They really are an upgrade from the Klipsch I love. The Technics are far less colored, but still natural to my ears without excessive brightness. This is especially noticeable on cymbals, high hats, and snare drum sounds. They are far more accurate in tone through the Technics. The Technics earbuds peel numerous layers of warmth that the Klipsch impose and details appear more out of thin air and instruments and vocals have more space between them whereas the Klipsch presents the music in a thicker more combined manner. I tested the Technics with an iPhone and an aftermarket usb-c dac purchased on Amazon (Linsoul DD TC35B) that is itself revealing. Fortunately, the Technics earbuds sounded great in this setup. My preference is when music is reproduced with natural warmth and body and isn't unnaturally bright. The Technics earbuds manage to be revealing, refined, and natural sounding headphone.UPDATE: 6+ months later I love these headphones even more. I imagine they broke in a bit and thus sound a bit smoother. My previous Klipsch earbuds now sound much less enjoyable to me. I have no regrets with the Technics purchase.

Spending this amount for great sound is not a problem for me. Taking out f…g EARWAX from a supposedly new premium IEM is a huge problem for me. WTF. This vendor must think we are morons. I am buying direct from the company next time. I am thinking about sterilizing it and keeping it since it sounds great!

I love audio equipment, but I don't consider myself an audiophile. Frankly, noodling over frequency analysis reports makes my eyes glaze over. However, there is a lot too getting what you pay for, and headphones are (mostly) one of those areas where this holds true. My headphone station consists of a decent little Toping DAC. A tube pre-amp, and a DROP THX AAA 789 headphone amp. I also have a Schiit Asgard 3 headphone amp, but I like the Drop amp a lot more overall. I also listened to these on a newerish Macbook M1 Pro, which has a very nice amp/dac headphone setup. Along those lines I tried them with a no name USB-C dac to headphone jack.Technics has a unique sound. I really like their AZ60 wireless earbuds. They have a nice balanced sound that drifts gray. I'm a huge fan of Sennheiser's HD650s, not so much the 800's. Those are a little too sterile for my tastes. My main headphones are a set of Audeze LCD-X. They take a tiny bit of EQ to achieve the V sound I prefer, but frankly, they sound amazing out of the box.All that said. I find the EAH-TZ700s to be pretty amazing. Certainly the best in-ears I have owned. I have the Shure 846 which were my main go to's even over a custom set of 1964 Ears.These Technics headphones pack in some pretty impressive tech. First, they are wired, but they are so light it's like wearing foam noise cancelling plugs. They run a dizzying frequency response from 3 Hz to 100 KHz. The little 10mm driver is surrounded by magnetic fluid in an air control chamber. The chamber itself is magnesium and titanium. All this is to say you are getting a lot of headphone out of a tiny package, but it comes at a high retail MSRP. The law of diminishing returns kicks in with any audio equipment and the Technics are no different in this regard. Paying more for headphones will probably give you better sound, but it's not a massive amount of difference. My custom 1964 Ears sound amazing. They have a sound that I love. The Technics sound great, but do they sound almost twice as much (dollar wise) as my 1964s? Not really.The Technics can sound very neutral out of the box. I like the warmth that tubes add to music so I a grayer sound than most will. Listening to these on my phone revealed how much music is compressed. Going lossless on my PC was the best way to listen to these.I apply bit of a V sound via EQ but they don't need a lot. The sound is huge, expansive; it fills your head. Cymbal crashes come in at different heights than the bass drum. These have a nice wide sound stage that is truly impressive for such small headphones. Being this light, I forget I'm wearing them at times. I would call these more fun than analytical to listen to. The sound is never bloated, but bass can hit with authority. I find the mids to be silky smooth and treble is nice and sparkly.The included cords are short. They use MMCX connections, and they come with regular and balanced cables.They come with a large amount of rubber ear tips. I have oddly shaped ears and the elongated XLs were a perfect fit for me. As far as extras there's a not a lot here. The case offers good protection but it's cheap. The packaging is minimal as well. Nothing much of an unboxing experience and I'm fine with that. When it comes to headphones my number one priority is sound, not how the packaging made me feel. Still, they could have at least included a leather case for these bad boys.My Audeze LCD-X's are sitting on their hanger all alone. When I reach for my headphones, these Technics are more often than not the ones I turn too.