2024 Reader voted Best Gear polls – Update 1!

In this article we give you a first update on the status of the 2024 Reader voted best gear polls. 

It’s been about a month since we launched the 2024 Reader Voted Best Gear polls. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, check out the page below where we announce and explain the Reader Awards. Anyway, it’s time for a first update. Let’s find out what you so far in 2024 find to be the Best / Your favourite Gear on the market!

There are more categories this year and they are the following:

1. Headphones
2. Universal IEMs
3. Custom IEMs
4. TWS IEMs
5. Portable Players/DAPs
6. DAC/AMP Combos – Including Dongles
7.  Amplifiers (only) – Tube or Solid State
8. DAC (only)
9. Streamers
10. Cables & Accessories

The Status on January 18 is the following:

Headphones

1. Sennheiser HD800 S – 20%
2. Abyss Diana MR -16%
3. Meze Audio Empyrean 2 – 16%

The Sennheiser HD800 S in the lead with 20% of the votes. The TOTL Sennheiser headphone is always present in the top 3  and it last year ended second. The second place is for the new Abyss Diana MR, which I gave our Product of the Year Award to. Third place is for the brand new Meze Empyrean 2. So far there are no Audeze and Hifiman headphones in the top 3, but the year is still long. The fourth place is for the ZMF Caldera with 12% of the votes

Universal IEMs

1. Sennheiser IE900 – 23,40%
2. Unique Melody MEST MKII – 14,89%
3. Vision Ears VE10 – 8,51%

2023 ended with a different top 3, but the number 1 position still is for the Sennheiser IE 900. Last year it easily won and it seems the units has gained even more followers this year. In 2024, the MEST MKII and Vision Ears VE10 are in 2nd and 3rd position, with the FiiO FX15 and Empire Ears Odin following closely just 0,01% less votes. All of the IEMs mentioned in this section have won multiple awards, so I am sure this top 3 will change many times over the year.

Custom IEMs

1. Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor– 33,33%
2. 64 Audio A12t – 33,32%
3. 64 Audio A18T – 16,67%

The market is mostly focusing on universal IEMs now and even the CIEM companies are now offering a whole series of universal IEMs. I personally will stake a custom over a universal any day, simply because of the comfort and sound quality. That said, the CIEM market is getting very niche and that shows in the number of votes and models in the list. The first and second position are for the Mentor and the 64 Audio A12t with the exact same number of votes. Third position is also for 64 Audio with their excellent A18t CIEM but it is followed closely by the MEST MKII which always performs strongly in our polls (see above).

TWS IEM

1. Sony WF-1000XM4 – 30%
2. Apple Airpods Pro 2 – 20%
3. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 – 15%

The top 3 is the same as when we started last year, just in a different order. The top place is for the Sony WF-1000XM4 with 30% of the votes, very impressive.  The Apple Airpods Pro 2 for now are in second position but the Sony’s have a 10% lead already. The 3rd position is for the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3, with 15% of the votes. Last year the Apple Pro 2 won this category. Will it beat the competition again?

Portable Players/DAPs

1. Astell&Kern SP3000 – 36,67%
2. HiBy Music RS8 – 10%
3. Cayin Audio N8ii – 10%

The Astell&Kern SP3000 always is one of the best scoring DAPs if you have larger budget. At this stage it has the most of the votes with 36,67%. The second and third place are shared between the HiBy RS8 and the Cayin N8ii, both TOTL DAPs and multiple award winning units. It’s clear that the top 3 players are the more expensive ones, but the top 3 is followed closely by the FiiO M15S and the HiBy R6Pro.

DAC/AMP – Dongles included

1. Chord Electronics Mojo 2  – 27,66%
2. Chord Electronics Hugo TT2 – 14,89%
3. Cayin Audio RU7 – 12,77%

The Chord Mojo 2 and the Hugo TT2 are still doing very well here with the top 2 positions. The TT2 won this category last year, but it’s still a bit of a surprise to see it here. The third position now is for the Cayin RU7, which is one of my personal favorite DAC/AMP dongles. It however is closely being followed by the Topping G5. 

Amplifiers only

1. Niimbus Audio US4+  – 25%
2. Ferrum OOR – 20%
3. Feliks Audio Euforia EVO – 10%

It’s quite a surprise to see the US4+ so high up this list. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great amplifier but it’s not immediately one of the most popular brands. The second spot is for the popular OOR amp, which is especially impressive with the dedicated power supply. The third position at this stage is for the Feliks EVO, which won my Best Tube Amp of the Year award last month. It however is closely being followed by the good old Woo Audio WA22. 

DAC only

1. Chord DAVE – 26,67%
2. Holo Audio May DAC – 26,66%
3. Chord TT2 – 13,33%

The Chord DAVE is a TOTL unit and I really enjoyed my time with it. It’s a bit surprising to see it in the lead, but that’s purely because of it’s selling price. The second spot is for the super popular and excellent Holo May DAC and it’s really close to the DAVE. Chord is also taking up the third spot with their TT2, which is coring well in our DAC/AMP poll as well.

Streamers

1. Eversolo DMP-A6 – 25%
2. Eversolo DMP-A8 – 25%
3. FiiO R9 – 16,67%

This is a new category but Eversolo is strongly performing as you can see. Both their A6 and A8 have the same number of votes and they are just ahead of the Fiio R9 all-in-one unit. The DMP-A6 won our streamer of the year award last year, so I have a feeling it will stay in this top 3. Fourth place is for the T+A MP200, though I don’t have any experience with it myself.

Cables & Accessories

1. Eletech Sonnet of Adam – 28,57%
2. Linum SuperBaX – 28,57%
3. Effect Audio Signature series – 14,29%

Cables, you like them or you don’t but we are running a poll about them anyway. The first two spots are for the award winning, yet expense Eletech Sonner of Adam cable and the very affordable SuperBaX, both with with 28,75% of the votes. The third spot is for another award winner of ours, the EA Signature series.

Don’t forget that you can still vote and participate in all of these polls. If you don’t agree with the intermediate results or you want to see your favourite piece of gear in the results, you know what to do. One vote a day is allowed, so start voting!

Full links:

1. Headphones
2. Universal IEMs
3. Custom IEMs
4. TWS IEMs
5. Portable Players/DAPs
6. DAC/AMP Combos – Including Dongles
7.  Amplifiers (only) – Tube or Solid State
8. DAC (only)
9. Streamers
10. Cables & Accessories