Posting something in real time is not something I had planned on, but, I feel this information is something everyone should know. I am addicted to headphones. My nicest pair cost me $200, but given that Sennheiser also has a pair that cost $59,999, I’d say my investment, to my new hobby, is rather low. I’d like to consider myself an audiophile, however, I have a lot to learn and I just know that I love listening to music. The higher the sound quality, the more I enjoy it.

My point is, after spending too much on various types of headphones, I recently learned about In-Ear Monitors or IEMs. They were developed for preformers, as an alternative to stage monitors. Which are basically a loud speaker, on the stage infront of them, sitting at an angle, so the they can hear themselves and the rest of the musicians in the band.

I’ve learned that IEMs have replaced stage monitors and were quickly adopted by the audiophile community because of their outstanding sound quality and other attributes. So, I set forth on a quest to learn more about them. Keeping in mind that, hi fidelity or HiFi headphones, is what I’m after. I’m not rich, and HiFi gear is usually obtained from U.S., German, or Japanese manufacturer’s, and it’s expensive.

What I have learned cannot be explained without writing a short novel. So I’ll get straight to the point. I’ve found out about ChiFi. Chinese made HiFi. And the prices are just right for my budget. So, on a whim, I ordered a pair of wired ChiFi IEMs, off Amazon. They were $21. I didn’t know what to expect but my hopes were high. They arrived just a few days later and I was blown away, to say the least. I’ve owned and still have several pairs of headphones totaling over $500. My beloved $200 pair of opened back, over-the-ear, Sennheiser HD 560s, that require an amplifier just to drive them, were my favorite pair. They truly sound amazing. But for just $21, my new KZ ZSN Pro IEMs, blow them away. And from what I have read, the $45 IEMs are more than twice as good.

So to anyone in the market for a pair of headphones or earbuds, I highly recommend, before dropping a pretty penny on some big name brand, please, do a little research about In-Ear Monitors and understand that if you go ChiFi, rather than HiFi, you won’t be disappointed and you’ll have spent a fraction of the price to join the ranks as a budget audiophile.