Intro

Hi guys, this is Raghav here from Headphone Zone. So, in the comment section, if you read the questions that people keep asking us on social media, one of the things that I see as a recurring question that I keep getting every now and then is people asking about earphones with a Type-C connector or a Type-C USB connector that they can plug into their Android phones. A lot of the Android phones these days do not have a 3.5 mm output, and people really want to know if they want to use a wired IEM, can they get one along with a Type-C USB port that they can simply plug and play. Now, I truly believe that if you are someone who wants to get a wired In-Ear Monitor or an earphone to use along with your Android phone, the best way of doing it is to get an IEM that doesn’t come very expensive but sounds good for about 2,000 rupees or so and use it along with a very simple portable USB dongle DAC. This dongle DAC is going to bring out the best in the music and is going to make a big difference to the way that you're going to be listening to music on your IEMs. But I do understand that the dongle DAC plus the IEMs put together can sometimes become a fairly expensive proposition for some of y'all.

You'll find that the cheapest DAC that I'd probably recommend from our lineup is the Venture Electronics Abigail, which is for about 1,000 rupees, and then the Shanling UA1s, which is for about 3,500 rupees. Now, along with the 2,000-rupee IEM, you're coming into the three to four thousand rupee price bucket at a minimum and can sometimes even cross 5,000 rupees if you're going for a better DAC.
A lot of people are looking for wired earphones at cheaper price points that they can use along with a Type-C Android output, and for that purpose, we're recommending three different IEMs today that sound very, very good. You can start your audiophile journey without needing to get a separate USB dongle DAC to use.

Moondrop Quarks DSP

The very first IEM with a Type-C connector that I'm going to be recommending is from Moondrop. This is the Moondrop Quarks DSP, featuring a Type-C connector for a price of 1,149 rupees. It's absolutely incredible for the price, and I don't think for about 1,100 rupees you're going to find anything out there in the market that sounds as nice as the Moondrop Quarks DSP. But you'll also find that this is Moondrop's attempt at using a DSP, or a Digital Signal Processor, in their earphones itself, which is inbuilt right behind this Type-C connector.
It plugs into your mobile phone, and the chip inside this connector does the Digital Signal Processing—that's really the DAC. In terms of sound signature, the Moondrop Quarks DSP is a very, very neutral-sounding IEM. It's got a single dynamic driver, an inline microphone that you can use, and a volume controller that you can also use. So, you'll find that it's a complete package—there's really nothing that you can go wrong with in this price segment. It's got everything you need.

If anything, I'd probably call the sound signature a little boring. I would much rather pick the slightly more expensive Moondrop CHU, but I do believe that if by the time you're gonna add a USB-C dongle DAC or an adapter, then the budget becomes a lot more expensive than these, so these are still great value for money.

7Hz Timeless Zero

The next IEM that I'm recommending is, in fact, one of my favorite IEMs from the 2,000-rupee price segment. This is the 7Hz Salnotes Zero. It's easily this year's most exciting IEM—everyone loves it for the price of 2,000 rupees. People truly believe that this is one of the best-sounding IEMs that's out there.
7Hz is a relatively new brand from China, but they've been making all the right waves ever since they've started up. The Salnotes Zero is a collaboration between 7Hz and the reviewer Crinacle. If you've watched his videos on YouTube, you'll know that he's got a phenomenal understanding of how to tune different IEMs, and he has tuned the sound of the 7Hz Salnotes Zero to make it sound very, very nice and balanced, and at the same time, fun and detailed to listen to.

So, it's got everything that you'd probably need just to start your audiophile journey and be able to hear things in your music you've never heard before. For a price of 1,999 rupees, you also get the 7Hz Salnotes Zero with a Type-C variant just for convenience. You'll find that this doesn't have its own inbuilt DAC, so you'll have to plug this in via the Type-C output and use the phone's inbuilt DAC. So, you'll find that you may not hear a difference in quality as compared to simply using the 3.5mm output, but I do think that the convenience of having a Type-C input is really, really nice for people out there. And for that, I highly recommend the 7Hz Salnotes Zero with Type-C.

Moondrop Droplet

All right, my third IEM of choice that I'm going to recommend is the Moondrop Droplet. This is quite a bit more expensive than the other Moondrop IEMs we spoke about. It's priced at 4,999 rupees. It has its Type-C connector, which has its own inbuilt DSP and DAC, so you'll find that it's convenient and it sounds really, really nice and capable.
The design philosophy behind the Droplet is a little bit different from what we've seen in some of the other IEMs. It has a single balanced armature driver that it's using inside this really, really compact, well-built, even slightly pointy housing. Now, what I'm thinking is that the balanced armature driver offers several advantages over the dynamic drivers that are used in most of the IEMs in this segment. It's really, really detailed, very sensitive—it picks out all the airy details that sometimes can be congested-sounding in a dynamic driver.

So, if you don't want to hear that and you want to hear a very nice, airy sound—very, very quick, very, very detailed—the balanced armature driver is the way to go. The problem with IEMs that feature a single balanced armature driver is that the sound signature can sound a little hollow, a little empty without the low end being there, without the bass sounding nice and meaty. And that's precisely where this Digital Signal Processor comes in.
You'll find that the Type-C connection has the chipset, the DSP, and the DAC that basically compensates for the lack of bass in the drivers alone by changing the sound signature a little bit before feeding it to these drivers. So, the combination of both—this DAC as well as these balanced armature drivers—I think is something that Moondrop was experimenting with. The Droplet is their attempt to do that, and I think they've done a reasonably good job for it.
For the price of 5,000 rupees, the fact that you don't need to go and get yourself an external DAC that's going to probably cost you 3,000 rupees or so, I think that this is still pretty nice value for money.

Conclusion

All right, guys, here are three different IEMs at three different price points that I'm going to be recommending with a Type-C connection. I still truly do believe that if you're someone who's starting off in the audiophile hobby, just getting yourself a wired earphone with a 3.5mm connection and using a USB-C portable dongle DAC to use on the go is my first recommendation.
I do understand the inconvenience and sometimes the budget constraints involved, which is why some people do look out for a Type-C earphone. And these are the ones that I think I'd probably recommend if I had to.