I started a tier list 1 year ago but was too scared to share it. Here it is 300 entries later.

Submitted by OPGuyK t3_z5c5gr in headphones

TL;DR: Here's the list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yoB_VvQLiH5_sW9XaeOMsMpKvNlp0zUdGlALFt5sv4M/edit#gid=1095382511

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FOREWORD:
I made this list back in Nov 2021 after a Google Doc started to get out of hand. I guessed no one would take me seriously, so for the last 6 months I restructured the list, tidied everything up and made sure I added stuff onto the list regularly. A year later and here we are!

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INTRO:
You can call me OPGuyK, or my audio nickname Ronacle. Yes I would've chosen a better name, because I didn't. No, I don't compare myself a wannabe nor compete with Crinacle, this nickname started as a joke between my friends that stuck for too long. I'm just someone on the internet who listens to headphones and IEMS. Though my audio journey began a decade ago and got up to speed about 2 years ago, I don't know literally everything in the audio world yet. I still hope this list still serves as a reference point for someone looking to buy something to listen to stuff with.

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CONTEXT:
This list serves as a rank for everything I've listened and took notes on from the past 1.5 years. Loosely based on a combination of different ranking lists, I intend on creating a list that is extremely easy to read, easy to understand, highly expandable and simple yet informative, with the intention to standardise all of the headphones/iems I've properly written notes of back in the day. No fancy rankings for each frequency response, no biases towards what looks and sounds like heaven or trash, if it makes sound on both ears it goes on the list.

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DISCLAIMER:
Everyone says it, but I have to say it too. I'm literally some guy on the internet who listens to headphones. Everything I say is purely subjective, and I'd recommend cross checking with other lists, reading other people's reviews and listening to your chosen headphone/iem in person before buying. My audio tastes could be drastically different to yours and you may like something I don't. If you happen to see something VERY wrong, then let me know and I'll try to locate a different unit to retest.

Enough talk, if you wanna see more I have an FAQ section on the list where there should be more info. Suggestions, comments and criticism is appreciated in the comments, and I promise I'll keep updating this list regularly in the foreseeable future!

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Comments

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iZ3C0LD t1_ixv69y6 wrote

Totally did not contribute to "Ronacle". Also did not contributed to and vouching for some of the impressions.

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixv6chq wrote

Blame this guy for that goofy ahh nickname

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AcceptableSeaweed t1_ixwux6d wrote

Tbh I think you just love IEMs. You didn't give an S to a single Headphone and like 6 IEM and the only headphone to break a teir was the LCD x 2021?

Probably a great IEM teir list tho. You seem to vibe with the intimate and detailed nature

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixx1oz8 wrote

Perfectly true! I personally have glasses + thick long hair so headphones don't work well for me. Also headphone demos are less common here for some reason. Though I would've given S to the susvara, though even if it's obvious I didn't have enough testing time to give it a rank and didn't want to simply "assume" its rank. Thanks a lot though, I'll definitely try to test more headphones haha

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dongas420 t1_ixvea8m wrote

Clearly, more people need to continue this pattern of dropping a letter and changing a vowel. If someone's willing to be Anacle, we can finally have Uncle gushing about the cavernous depth he experienced of the Anole's soundstage.

You're careful with ear tip selection when writing your IEM impressions, yes? Higher-end IEMs in particular tend to incorporate the ear canal resonance into the tuning and so depend on being listened to at a specific insertion depth to maintain a coherent presentation, and I've seen some impressions posted by others who most likely weren't mindful enough of that. Headphones like the HD800S that try to model loudspeaker/ear acoustic interaction can also sound like blobby messes if you don't take care to find a sweet spot relative to your ears to position them at.

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixvhmda wrote

I usually use the default tips provided when I test the iems as I believe the included tips define the IEM's true sound signature as a whole. Though I personally swap them around on the IEMs I daily drive. Unfortunately that doesn't account for units that don't use/include the stock tips and sadly I'm usually unaware if they don't. Thanks a lot for the input though!

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_FinalPantasy_ t1_ixvjlzi wrote

I like how your ranking scale goes up to 7.

Unfortunate that 5 out of 7 isn't a perfect score, though.

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixvooso wrote

I didn't notice that for the first half of this sheet's life until I added the number scale to the side of every value in tone/tech haha

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TRX808 t1_ixvcg80 wrote

Looks good. I would make the default font bigger but it's easy enough to just use the zoom feature up top. Organizing the list via overall ranking is kind of broken because S goes to the bottom and it goes A, A-, A+ etc in order.

Also is there a way to filter IEM vs over ear?

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixvis76 wrote

Unfortunately there's no way inside google sheets afaik to organise the list by s > a > etc, but you can try organise by column T (it's the rank converted to a number) then scroll back to the left. I'll definitely try to make this more clear in the future though.

Same for iem/over ear sorting, just sort by column A for now, I can't figure out a way to separate it just yet/hide certain types without making separate sheets which will be a pain to update imo. Hope some google sheets god in the comments can help out!

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iZ3C0LD t1_ixvj5jc wrote

On "The List" sheet:

Data > Filter views > Create new temporary view > Range A1:W305

If you click on the "three horizontal line" button you can filter/sort according to cell contents

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TRX808 t1_ixvks6n wrote

Thanks that works for the IEM vs OB or CB. Gizaudio has his list with proper ordering from S down but he may do it all manually. It's not a big deal just a minor nitpick, it's still well organized.

EDIT - That filter for IEM, OB, CB should be easy enough to add as a built-in filter to the list but my Sheets skills aren't great.

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixvo2gi wrote

Dunno if it's a google sheets bug or something, but I have that built in filter set up, I just can't use it if I open my sheet in incognito. The temporary view thing works perfectly though, I've added instructions for that in "Info/Test Tracks". Thanks a lot /u/iZ3C0LD !

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TheGamingOnion t1_ixwe0ct wrote

It's funny, I have my own personal tier list with 40 entries, I didn't think other people kept their own tier list.

Edit, Here's the LINK.

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixx1704 wrote

We probably all do haha

Anyways, checking it out :D

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indonesian_ass_eater t1_ixvn08q wrote

Interesting how you gave Moondrop Alice a near perfect score. I have been saving up for Bose QC TWS, but I might give that another thought while waiting for Alice to come out.

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixvnqy8 wrote

I really really like how they sound, honestly more than the katos tbh. I strongly strongly recommend you try them in person first before you buy them though, as I had a tough time getting it to fit in my left ear.

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indonesian_ass_eater t1_ixvpexf wrote

>more than the katos tbh

That's a strong statement, might really consider this over Bose. Thanks for the advice.

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixw5584 wrote

Don't fully take my word for it! But if you enjoy them, you're welcome!

In terms of sound quality they should be slightly better than Bose's offerings/a better deal imo.

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herzonia t1_ixwwfew wrote

Be warned there's plenty of software issues judging by the responses and thread on the Shenzhen discord.. Might be worth giving it a couple months first.

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixx142d wrote

This. My launch day nekocakes never got a fw update though....

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Tjerino t1_ixwh6g1 wrote

As a person who generally likes to have a lot of information, especially when it comes to things like making a decision with a lot of qualitative options, just wanted to say I appreciate your efforts here and sharing it with the community.

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TheFrator t1_ixxbl84 wrote

Thank you! How long do you normally spend with a headphone before writing down your impression of it? And do you use the same source equipment with every review?

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixxqjhq wrote

Can range anywhere from 1 minute to half an hour, anything below a D tier is immediately obvious after the first song :) I usually spend more time if I'm not sure where to put it, I have more time with the unit and/or I feel like it shines in certain situations and I gotta go through different songs/genres to justify where to put it.

As for equipment I almost always use my LG V60 with HibyMusic playing flacs. Personally I've found that it supplies more power than the Apple Dongle and some units sound marginally more "energetic", but personally I guess only 15% of ~B tier units benefit from this, definitely more as you go up the chain. Sometimes I don't have full direct access to headphones (especially the expensive ones) and I can't jack in 3.5mm. For those, I go through all the tracks I recognise well enough on the store supplied DAP and make my judgement there. Though I definitely skipped on a few just because I don't want to mislead anyone just because I couldn't test them properly enough.
More info down in "Info/Test Tracks" by the way!

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goldfish_memories t1_ixyxvq6 wrote

Ah a fellow Hong Konger!! Congrats on your list :)

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OPGuyK OP t1_ixyzv25 wrote

Ayyy hker gang! Lmk if you know where to test the stuff I missed haha

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therealbrookthecook t1_iyb9m15 wrote

How are you driving the headphones, from what I got out of the info is an Apple Dongle, is that right?

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