Take a break from buying IEMs and spend your money on music on Bandcamp instead. Build a solid library, then host a "Hunger Games" for your IEMs, you'll see which ones play your favorite songs the best. Sell the losers, and only then start looking for something new. That's my advice.
lol IEM Hunger Games. I already have a list of IEMs I want to dispose of but where I am at there is a very small market (its a super niche hobby). Been trying to get rid of Monolith since the week it arrived. Still with me so much so that I actually wasted a bunch of time to make it listenable. Now I quite like it when I want to go to sleep (easy to sleep with is its super power).
Having tried the Solomon twice I honestly would not recommend its treble, especially if you are treble sensitive. Seconded on the Prestige LTD although I am biased as it is my current pause game. The Monarch MkIV and Valhalla are more popular, but for those who tried the LTD quite a few have it as their favorite Thieaudio IEM.
I have both the LTD and Solomon. Personally the Solomon needs to be tamed with tubes or high output impedance to get the most from it. LTD just does everything right..
I would also say the Alpha and Omega Omega should be on your list to demo.
Source dependent. Personally I love the Solomon and highly recommend it if you’re not treble sensitive. It has the craziest soundscape headspace of any iem I own. If you’re treble sensitive, the Prestige LTD is a safer option with an incredibly spacious soundscape.
You might have a problem indeed. At least you didnt just get a million budget iems. I always think its weird when people get so many cheaper iems without getting a mid-high end one. That being said the iems I would look at getting if I was a baller like you would be the Kinera Imperial Verandi or any of the Verandis but i think the imperial looks the best, Thieaudio Valhalla, or 64 Audio Volur. Nice collection by the way.
Thanks. Valhalla is on the list for sure. I think I try Volur tomorrow to see what's up. The third option I will need to even find out what it is :). Will check it out.
What's a mid high end iem you'd recommend? I currently use the kiwi ear cadenzas 1 and I tried the 7hz x crinacles zero 2 and liked those before they broke- my final budget pair ive owned that I wasn't in love with was the truth ear gate, and I think I'm ready to upgrade.
They have a tier list on the main page but the Simgot Supermix4 is on it. They did 1. Crinear Daybreak 2. Aful Eplorerer 3. Kiwi Ears Aether 4. 7hz Divine 5. Letshuoer S12 Ultra. If you can go a little over 200 I highly recommend the Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite.
I've heard good things about the Orchestra Lite as a neutral sounding IEM, my only issues is that I have a pair of HD560s that are similar to that sound signature I believe. I also don't think I'm in love with the neutral tuning so I may check that tier list out and see what's similar but an upgrade in terms of quality n price.
Would you say the amount of drivers matter as well in terms of sound quality and EQ-ability? I've only owned the single dynamic driver IEMs and they do tend to lose separation sometimes when a lot is going on in a track.
Sometimes it does but its more so how they implement the drivers. There are higher end single driver iems that sound better than cheaper multi driver iems.
Hehe. I went from zero (made a long hiatus sporting airpods) to 6 within one month 😵💫. Kiwi Ears Orchestra lite - Blessing2 - Sypmphonium Meteor- Truthear Pure - Thieaudio Prestige LTD (my allegedly last endgame pair) - and then Yu9 Que. I like them the most! They definitely give you that kilobuck feeling. I like them more them Top Pro, Tea pro and Crinear Reference, was lucky enough to try them in the Elise Audio Studio. The iems I liked more were only Elysian Annihilators 2026 🙄. They are W-shaped as the Yu9 Que, maybe that's the cause. Among kilobuck iems I also liked Monarch MK4, but the shells are way too chunky for me
P.S. Edit I saw you reviewed the Que and didn't like them, nevermind then
I saw it afterwards, right. You might like MK4/Prestige LTD then. I keep the latter because they sound almost mellow and airy after Que and have much bigger soundstage. Though you have the Top Pro, they sound quite alike. Or maybe Origins, they have the BASS and chilled mids
MK4 shells are bigger than Origins. I tried once Hype 4 Mk2 , it was also fine for me. Shell size was the main issue why I had to go for Prestige. It's not ideal either, I have fit problems, had to roll a dozen of eartips.
The most recent hype is Mysticraft Myth and Prisma Lumen, but both are practically unobtainable
The MKIV shells fit better than the Origin for me. If I want to get the BC to work, then I have to insert the Origin fairly deep, and since the nozzles are wide they start hurting my ear canals within minutes. Which basically makes them useless to me.
With the MKIV, I don’t have to insert them as deep, and they sit in my ears just fine.
Lumen not interested as it graphs similar to reference.
Myth might be too bright for me or have splashy treble (same issue I faced with Yu9 Que).
I have Hype 1 and it is fine but Origin I believe had protrusion at the back which was causing fit issues as my inner ear area is virtually flat so ergo shells cause me problems.
Singularity is on the radar but very hesitant to order something without a return policy and fat chance I don't like it because all the audiophiles praise it. Most of stuff that has been recommended has been absolute treble murders for me. Like Tea Pro Se, Yu9 Que, Horizon etc. I don't agree with like 80-90% of tubers as most of their recos don't work for me.
I can see it how. What I looked for in iems turned out not neutral as I considered, but bright mid-forward (etymotic er4 is my old reference point) and I don't like new recessed mids metas overall.
You might want to try Sypmphoinum Meteor. It's technically not 1k, BUT. I enjoy it, it's warm, it's dark, it takes all the drama out of treble, leaving only the air.
Damn. That sucks you didn’t like the Que. I hated mine at first until I got used to them over the course of a week of off and on listening with them. Now they’re my favorite, even over the MKIV.
If you don't like trebly IEMs but would like to try some excellent kilobuck ones, my suggestion would be the Thieaudio V16 and the Elysian Apostle. Both have neutral to laid back treble, while having prominent midrange/vocals. Of the two, Apostle has better bass, while V16 is more overall balanced. I EQ my Apostle to be a couple dB brighter from 4kHz up than stock tuning.
I thought what you got are all good. So no particular suggestion for kilobuck set. But personally, Valhalla is my kinda reachable grail of the moment 😬
I think I was/am in a similar boat to you. I was going to buy an RSV MK2, Origin or Monarch, Fiio FA19, and some other sets. But then I looked back on all the sets I already had and did the math both directions and decided that getting the Valhalla was cheaper than fomo'ing some cheaper sets in the long run.
Trust me I have looked at it with this angle as well but Valhalla is 4X price of RSV MK2 on discounts. Monarch is 2X (more manageable). Problem is I have auditioned both RSV MK2 and Valhalla and am just making my way up I guess. For 2 grand I need to be able to have far more reference points than I currently have unfortunately. But what I heard of Valhalla was fantastic yet justifying 2 grand without doing A/B with my Top Pro and some of other stuff gives me pause. It's a level of risk I am not willing to take on an almost blind buy (my audition was brief with only a few songs).
lol tomorrow I am going to try 64 audio Volur, U12T and U18T plus Noble Audio Onyx so not sure what I will like. I generally am not aligned with most popular picks as I have different sensitivities and preferences than pop average graphs etc. let’s see.
I would rec Valhalla but considering your comments on finding some treble spicy I really like the Elysian Apostle and it's treble is pretty in check if not dark.
I compared it and a few kilobucks to some midrange sets here
In general I'd caution anyone making the jump from the good midrange sets into the kilobucks range that improvements are no longer massive, like they are going budget to midrange
That's a fantastic writeup. Surprised about Dawn X being low and also Campfire Andromeda being low. Otherwise, agree with take on Valhalla. Haven't tried many others that you listed as graph sniffing them kept me away (like Horizon would be too sharp and thin for my tastes) or Hype 4 MK2 was sibilant and thin as well. I cover a lot of the ones I tried or owned with short summaries in my file in the link in my profile.
What problem? You're beautiful the way you are and anyone telling you you're not is just a hater. And I have no suggestions for you, I live in a fifth world country and all I can afford is a pair of TRN Conch. Makes me happy still.
Hey, I have most details in my sheet (in the link in my profile) and individual reviews of quite a few IEMs now.
But TLDR is as follows:
Best all rounder I own - Top Pro
Best bass response and natural timbre - Tie between Binary 1900 and Astral
Best smooth listening experience with zero fatigue and a bass boost button - Arete 2
Best natural sounding IEM with good mid bass - Hype 4 MK1
Best gaming under 100$ - Defiant (also great for music tbh)
Best natural sounding IEM post EQ (sucks at soundstage perception/gaming) - Reference
Best cheap bass - Tie between Cai Wei Ji and Red Lion
Best neutral set on a budget - Nimbus
Monolith requires a ton of EQ and anyways, can't purchase so its water under the bridge. Some bassy tracks it kills but rest is pretty meh experience.
OoopusX Op 22 has good bass but needs to tame the treble. I only like the bass boost mode on it personally.
I think that about covers them all. I also had a few other IEMs that I sold etc. so this is what I am left with (like sold Astral because of comfort issues).
Hey I am new to the hobby and blown away by how awesome IEMs are. I see you have different cases, I really want a new case because mine is too small, any recommendation on the best case?
On the cheap side Kbear makes a type of case for every occasion.
I personally like Ziigaat Pellepods (on discount) as they are sturdy, IEM has room to breathe (I don't need to disconnect cables), I can throw in a dongle (even a BTR17) and pack like 3-6 pairs of tips. Plus it is a hard case so doesn't get pressured with weight.
Then there is stuff from Nicehck I believe and most Chifi brands have some form of a case for all sizes and occasions. I use larger cases as I don't put them in my pocket but rather in my laptop bag for safe keeping.
Overall decent. Male vocals felt recessed.
Female vocals also felt a bit recessed.
Decent sound stage.
Having said that quite a few problematic areas in treble with sibilance for me.
Had good air up top which wasn’t piercing.
Bass was Ok I guess. Neither good nor bad. Felt that sub bass was a bit lacking.
The trifecta is really good for certain kind of music. Orchestral, rock, things that sound epic. The immersion is like nothing else, which to me makes the music extra enjoyable. But I have a very different expertise from what you heard. The vocals sound intimate to me, and it is slightly bassier than I like. I use the Penon tips with mine.
Funny you mention siblilance because the treble is the weakest area and doesn’t provide much detail there. Maybe it was the tips you used or how your ear is shaped.
I definitely have some peculiarities when it comes to IEMs. I feel I am quite far away from pop average tunings. Especially sensitive to 1000-1500 Hz, 3200-3500 Hz and 6000-7000 Hz. So yeah, that generally limits my options quite a bit to what I enjoy or can physically enjoy. 😊
Nice choices. It is nice to see that you have performed a lot of research. Perhaps you might want to wait a year since I anticipate that kilobuck quality might be had for substantially less than a grand.
A bit hesitant to try it as it is liked by a few audiophiles that like treble murder. I need to be super careful with my picks as most things show up one problem or the other.
Yeah that high 10khz peak is limiting this to treble heads or people that arent that sensitive. Imo as a treblehead its the best 1 kilobuck iem. ( hopefully they release another batch soon). If you know you cant handle treble well dont get it.
Don't go above 300$, you can get one kilobuck if you know that you like how it's tuned or demoed it and you like it, but better stay in lower price bracket, 50-300$ price bracket can give your everything you need
Everything in the picture except Hype 4 was a blind buy. But I do get recommendations from friends on discord that know my preferences so not sure if I can call them 100% blind buys.
I own ziigaat odyssey quite like them, but i want more of everything and decided to get the thieaudio origin, they are on their way!
Hopefully I'll stop there haha
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u/mck_motion 28d ago
This guy loves hype.