After endlessly testing and reviewing IEMs, I've finally found my go-to recommendation for under $50 – maybe even under $100. The OoopusX Op.22 is $35 over at Amazon, and I sincerely suggest you go buy it.
And the makers of the Op.22 in-ear monitors have made it easy for me. When you get the $35 earphones you get two sound profiles included. One is a balanced, neutral tuning, which is a perfect introduction to the audiophile world. It gives people who are used to the V-shape of standard commercial headphones a treat – you get to hear the mids!
But that's not all. Twist the rotary dial on each earpiece and you get an extra 6dB of sub-bass punch! That brings the OoopusX Op.22 into line with other 'basshead' IEMs. This is great for hip hop and EDM, and as the treble and mids remain unchanged, it's a genuinely fun, if not a little addictive, profile.
THE sub-$50 IEM to buy
Novelty or ground-breaker
Two sound profiles? A bass boost dial?! It all sounds like a novelty, I'll admit. But I've been listening to $5,000 headphones as well as the best budget options, and I can assure you this is a genuinely great value proposition for serious music fans.
At $35, the OoopusX Op.22 is a genuine value proposition, not a novelty. Its bass dial actually works, delivering deep sub-bass without ruining the mix – provided you achieve a tight ear tip seal. Don't expect incredibly textured bass! But for under $50 I think you should expect a very good bass-heavy tuning.
Rotary bass dials aren't new. The first was found in the legendary Sennheiser IE8 in 2008. But while the IE8, and a few clones (like KZ’s IE80) featured them, their dials often just added muddy mid-bass bloat. Very few execute adjustable bass as cleanly and effectively as the Op.22.
