Sometimes I Like Other Things. Kiwi Ears Cadenza 2 Review

Over the last few years I’ve found myself drifting around different hobbies. Some, like messing with PC components, have become extremely expensive, with the AI industry sucking whatever fun there was to be had out of them. The rising cost of PC components and diminishing returns of actually upgrading PCs with new hardware drove me back towards an old friend. Audio. There’s a lot to audio, but for some reason I was drawn towards the hyper specific realm of inner ear monitors (IEMs).

True me, I know this is a departure from what I’d usually post on here. I get it. You’re here for books and whatever. Or are you here for me? Because here’s what I’m doing.

The older, more mature brother to earbuds and cousin to the old flatheads, IEMs were largely used for professionals in broadcasting, recording and live performances. Then, the drivers got better, the tech got cheaper, and Chinese manufacturers did the most logical thing ever: they professionally tuned inexpensive audio gear to higher quality reference targets and blew the doors off to the industry.

Of course, the most important part is music, and music has played a pivotal role in my life since I was old enough to care about it. That’s remained, but I didn’t realize how much of a bottleneck the headphones and earbuds I was using for years were for my enjoyment of music. Thus, this shift in interests.

The full post is on my personal website because it’s a chonker.

Listening to music is just great, and having good, cheap gear, is probably the best part of this current moment.