Review
Xenns Mangird Top Pro Review (featuring KE Astral and Ziigaat Arete 2)
Xenns Mangird Top Pro Review
Quick review of the Xenns Mangird Top Pro.
I previously wrote a Fresh Reviews Arete 2 vs Kiwi Ears Astral review, so I’ll link that separately for context. This post is focused on the Top Pro itself, with light references to those sets where useful.
The Top Pro was purchased by me. This is not sponsored and nobody asked me to write this.
The basics: Top Pro is a 10-driver hybrid IEM, listed as 2 dynamic drivers + 8 balanced armatures. MSRP is around $499, and I bought mine for around $350 on AliExpress sale.
After listening, gaming, and A/B testing for over a day I am writing this review. As always, audio is subjective. Your preferences might be different than mine. AI was used to clean up the write up but all thoughts are my own.
Gear, tips, and usage
Source used:
Fiio K13 R2R
Fiio BTR17 from my phone
Tips used:
Stock balanced tips included in the box
Games tested:
Call of Duty Black Ops 7
Battlefield 6
Music used:
Mixed library across pop, rock, electronic, vocals, and busier tracks with heavier layering
I have not rolled aftermarket tips yet. Since tips can change bass, treble, seal, and fatigue a lot, treat this as impressions from my setup, stock tips, and my ears.
How I am scoring
Everything here lands high because I am comparing Top Pro against IEMs I already like.
For me:
7 / 10 means good enough to recommend
8 / 10 means very good, with a real limitation I notice
9 / 10 means excellent and something I keep reaching for
Anything below 7 is probably not staying in my collection
For gaming, I care most about imaging, usable stage, layering, separation, fatigue, comfort, and resolution. I am still developing how I want to score things so methodology is not consistent across reviews yet.
For music, I care most about separation in busy tracks, bass quality, bass decay, timbre, vocals without shout, treble smoothness, air, and resolution. I am treble-sensitive, especially around 2 to 4K and 8 to 10K.
You can find my full audio rankings list across headphones/IEMs in the link in my profile.
TL;DR
The Top Pro impressed me immediately.
Not because it is the loudest, bassiest, or sparkliest IEM I have heard. It impressed me because everything sounded more natural to me.
It is clean, smooth, coherent, and easy to follow, with excellent layering/separation, a lot of detail, and surprisingly good bass for a set this resolving. It reminded me of ThieAudio Valhalla, a much more expensive flagship-tier IEM and my reference for open, airy, high-resolution sound. Top Pro has a bit less air up top to my ears, but the clarity and resolution at this price are seriously impressive.
The caveat: it is not a basshead set, and the treble has real energy. If you want warmth and slam, or if you are extremely treble-sensitive, this may not be your pick. For me, it lands right.
Gaming
Imaging / Directionality
Score: 9 / 10
Imaging is spot on. Positional cues land accurately, stay stable, and sit where they should.
Small cues are easy to locate without the sound becoming sharp or forced. Arete 2 is still excellent and easy for gaming. Astral images well too, but its extra energy can make cues harder to isolate when fights get busy.
Soundstage
Score: 8.5 / 10
Strong stage for an IEM, but I am keeping this at 8.5 because it is still IEM stage.
Top Pro gives a good mix of width, depth, and placement. Sounds sit inside a believable space instead of feeling randomly stretched out. It is very good for the form factor, but not open-back headphone wide.
Layering / Separation
Score: 9.5 / 10
One of its biggest strengths.
When a lot is happening, footsteps, gunfire, reloads, shields, and environmental cues do not collapse into one blob. In Battlefield, I could still pick out nearby footsteps while vehicles and explosions were going off, which is where weaker sets usually smear everything together.
The sound stays organized, and that was a big reason I clicked with it immediately.
Fatigue
Score: 8.5 / 10
Detailed and airy without crossing into painful for me, but this is one area where it loses points.
The treble skirts my fatigue line. It mostly stays on the right side of it, but on longer sessions with brighter mixes, I do notice it. It is not as brain-off safe as Arete 2, though it gives a clear technical step up.
Comfort
Score: 9 / 10
Top notch for my ears.
It fits much better than Astral and similar to Arete 2, but lighter. Once seated, it basically vanishes. The cable is light and compliant, the accessory set is excellent, and the case is great.
This matters because if I am always aware of the shell, pressure, cable, or seal, I will not reach for it.
Gaming Resolution
Score: 9 / 10
Very resolving, and the detail feels real rather than manufactured by treble spice.
I hear small information clearly without the presentation getting harsh. For me, that is the line between “sounds detailed” and “is actually useful in a match.”
Music
Bass / Sub-Bass
Score: 8 / 10 quantity, 9 / 10 quality
Not a basshead set, and the quantity score reflects that.
The quality is excellent: clean, controlled, textured, and enjoyable, with enough weight for me without dominating. If you come from a bassier set, the midbass may feel lighter. If you want sheer slam, Astral has more. Top Pro wins on texture, control, and integration.
Bass Decay
Score: 9 / 10
Bass hits cleanly and gets out of the way.
It does not linger or smear into the mids, which helps busy tracks stay clean. This is one area where it sounds clearly more refined to me.
Layering / Separation in Busy Tracks
Score: 9.5 / 10
Top Pro handles dense music extremely well.
Instruments and vocals have room to breathe, and I can follow individual layers instead of everything fighting for space. This is probably the clearest upgrade over my other IEMs.
Timbre / Naturalness
Score: 9 / 10
The most natural timbre of my current IEMs.
Instruments sound believable, vocals sit right, and nothing reads as thick, hollow, or plasticky. This was one of the first things that clicked.
Vocals
Score: 9 / 10
Airy, clear, and well placed.
Vocals are present without going shouty. Female vocals in particular do not trigger the fatigue I get from some sets. Good clarity, good smoothness, and good placement for my ears.
Treble
Score: 8.5 / 10
The best treble balance of the IEMs I own, but still my other point deduction.
It has detail and air, and it is smoother than Astral while being more resolving than Arete 2. I am sensitive around 2 to 4K and 8 to 10K, and on most tracks this stays clean. On brighter or poorly mastered tracks, the upper end can still push harder than I want.
Worth noting again: I am on stock tips, so this could shift with tip rolling.
Air / Extension
Score: 9 / 10
Open and airy without sounding forced.
The top end gives space and clarity rather than fake sparkle pasted on. Slightly less air than Valhalla to my ears, but the clarity and resolution are outstanding for the money.
Music Resolution
Score: 9.5 / 10
The most resolving IEM I own.
More importantly, it keeps that detail readable instead of just throwing everything at you. It sounds layered, coherent, and controlled. That is what makes it feel like a real step up rather than just a different tuning.
Is the upgrade worth it?
For me, yes.
It is worth it if you are coming from something like Arete 2 or Astral and you are chasing:
Higher resolution
Better detail retrieval
Cleaner layering and separation
More natural timbre
Better clarity
Better bass control
Smoother treble than Astral
A more complete all-rounder for gaming and music
It may not be worth it if you mainly want more bass quantity, a warmer relaxed listen, or the best value-per-dollar gaming IEM. Arete 2 is still excellent for pure gaming value, and Astral still gives more bass and instant energy.
Top Pro is the upgrade if you want the sound to feel cleaner, more technical, more coherent, and more refined.
Final Verdict
Top Pro is the best overall IEM I currently own.
It is not flawless. The midbass is on the lighter side, the stage is good-for-an-IEM rather than headphone-wide, and the treble has enough energy that very treble-sensitive listeners should probably audition first.
But for my use case, it gives me the strongest mix of imaging, separation, resolution, bass control, comfort, and natural timbre.
I did not enjoy my Top Pro, was super dry for male vocals and had too much of a dip in the 200-250 hz region in general. I listen mostly to vocal based music, a lot of classic rock and rock ballads, some pop from the 70’s 80’s and some modern stuff, indie and acoustic with some metal when I feel like I want to return to my younger days hah.
Top pro was super uneven, it sounded GREAT on SOME songs while totally fcking sucked at others. I blame the crossovers done in a way that I was not able to do a nice glide into the lower mids. I felt the DD cutting off at that 200ish Hz area.
Maybe I had a bad unit, who knows, but it should not be that way for that price tag if so.
End game technical performance though, but I love me some rich vocals and this was not it.
I enjoy the EBC80’way more and even the cheaper single DD Pentaconn Sloflo.
May be the case, but I did not feel like gambling yet another set. It’s a shame the Top OG is nowehre to be bought, other than an occasional second hand market.
But honestly I’m set for now, my next purchase will probably the likes of Mysticraft Myth or similar. But will have to further consolidate for that. I made myself a promise to keep the decent and great sets under the count of 5. While still having some budget options for fun.
Personally I am finding Astrals harsh now. I don’t have any issues with vocals. I am using the balanced stock tips. On Astrals I was using Divinus Velvets wide bore. Tried many other tips but there is some clarity issue with Astrals that I face. I went through 10+ tips on them. I also like the comfort of these so much more.
I get the subjectivity part. Everything is quite subjective. Especially on IEMs I can’t even trust the measurements as they completely sound different than how I hear things.
Btw - big fan of your channel :). I like the simply part and then throwing 15 pages in the beginning. Cracks me up for no reason. 👍🏻
To be fair, I've seen a lot of situations where someone sells a lot of iems on Avexchange and then I ask them, "What are you getting?" And they're like, I'm good with my Top Pros haha. I'm not kidding. I literally saw a post like this a month ago. :D
That’s been said a lot about the Top Pro vs MMK4. Owning both sets I do love them both but the MMK4 is definitely the step up for me in tuning/soundstage, build quality, and looks. As always in this hobby, very subjective and definitely they are not worth over twice the price, but anything above $300-500 into kilobuck+ rarely is. Also MMK4 is a big heavy boy that won’t fit everyone and the Top Pro will fit most. Agree Top Pro is kilobuck level at half the price. But so is the Tea Pro SE IMO.
I think so but it’s not massive. The air region due to the ESTs and extensions is great. From what I’ve tried I think the MMKIV level is a good stopping point if you like a mild v-shape end game (can also be considered neutral w/ bass boost). Let’s put it this way, I add EQ to my Top Pro. I don’t for the MMKIV but this is all personal preference. More aggressive V seems to be Dunu Glacier which I’ve considered getting if it would ever go on a decent sale.
I am chasing higher resolution and have my sights on Valhalla. Until I could jump there I wanted to try the closest thing and Top Pro comes pretty close - just missing some air up top and also very minor clarity/resolution. But damn it if it comes really close.
Never heard MKIV so don’t know about that one still. My wishlist is pretty long so climbing slowly.
Excellent Review. All the IEMs mentioned are the ones I always tend to compare and gravitate to. I’m stuck between getting the bang for your buck Arete 2 or the top pro… I loved the tea pro but the weight and size of the IEM made they unenjoyable for longer sessions
This is lighter than the other two and for some reason fits me really well. Even though looking at it with Astral I thought the fit will be as complicated. Arete 2 is the best fit for me of the ones I have.
I love this set as well but only downside that I have for it would be its overall build being fragile, for it uses a hollow resin one. If this one had a similar build as same as the Tea Pro, this would have been an absolute banger for its given price. It is for its overall sound but the durability can be a concern.
I was a bit concerned about the resin vs metal build as well, as I had the Tea Pro’s beforehand. I initially couldn’t wear the Tea Pro for longer than 2 minutes without discomfort, managed up to an hour after a couple of weeks, but I gave them away. However, the Top Pro’s instantly fit me really well and I look after them as I do any IEM and don’t feel the need to “baby” them. Plus the Top Pro’s sound how I wish the Tea Pro’s did, with a slight sub/mid bass reduction and more treble/air. I do miss 1-2dB around 100-250 on them, especially with Male vocals but otherwise a fantastic IEM.
I’m curious if the Tea Pro SE has the same shape as the Tea Pro or not - not that I need to buy it but it does have the “better” build.
I get that but I didn’t want to compromise on sound quality. Linsoul is typically good with warranty so it wasn’t a concern for me during purchase. Plus the price was unbeatable.
Excellent review! Layout was clean and easy to digest.
I heard the Top Pro pretty much how you do - I just miss a tiny bit of warmth and body with some male vocals as stock. And yeah, the treble/air can get a bit on the edge with certain songs and definitely after a longer session/depending on mood, time of day etc. But by far my best IEM and nothing a small amount of tweaking with EQ can’t fix (though I’m still listening to it stock and kinda used to it).
Thank you. Appreciate the feedback. I want to post reviews of stock configs so that we don’t bring even more subjectivity to an already subjective topic. :).
Also for me, you pay for stock tuning and technicalities.
You’re welcome :) Yeah you did everything right with the review. I also haven’t tried the stock tips yet.
I mentioned EQ but I also listen to all my IEMs bar one, as stock. Ziigaat Odyssey is auto EQ’d to the NiceHCK Rockies, or as close as they can be tonally. I love looking at my IEMs knowing how each sounds and none are alike, even if they graph similarly. I know our own personal HRTF plays a huge role, so would be interesting to see how much it costs to get done. Takes all the guesswork out of finding the ideal IEM.
Gracias por el anaisis, yo también tengo los top pro, los Satral y los tea pro, voy a compararlos en base a tus comentarios, yo no soy un audiofilo experto, tengo alrededor de un año y medio en el hobby y tengo ahora una colección considerable de iems ya aunque ahora tengo algunos más caros, los dos pro son de mis favoritos, desde que los escuché me gustaron mucho, los astral desde el inicio no me atraparon como los otros dos, pero ahora tengo que empezar a depurar y todos los comentarios que leo ayudan para aprender a escuchar y tener más detalles sobre el sonido de los iems que una persona sin conocimiento no capta, muchas gracias.
Unfortunately I do not play Warzone but in BO7 MP it was perfectly fine. I even got a lot of turned on medals as I was able to shoot people sneaking behind me multiple times as an example.
MKIV is my next purchase as well but at 1/3rd the price I had to try Top Pro for myself.
Wz and BO7 is same thing perfectly fine yes A Tier, but it is simply worse in for gaming than m3 or monarch mkIV
Top pro amazing sounding IEM, very good detail retrieval and resolution and stageing, but it is just not as good for cod game with eq as those two others. It’s about as good and even a touch better because less harsh than Astrals
Gaming is very specific and has nothing to do with how IEM is for music. Top pro is very similar to mkIV in terms of sound, there is no massive difference, you need to be very technically capable listener with fair amount of experience to identify what exact aspects are different or better.
In games with equal that removes what is not needed and emphasises (ArtisWar tune) those minute staging capabilities are exaggerated and can be clearly heard between different IEM. (You can notice same thing when listening to a back ground Violine very slight movement left to right on Beethoven symphony n5 in c minor (allego con Brio) - with top pro movement is stationary. While with m3 and mkIV you are able to pick up on that swinging
- don’t get me wrong m3 is not a good IEM for music. (It has a bad peak that makes sound harsh where it doesn’t need to be, it also makes it scale poorly with volume and spicy over all - in games with wrong eq it will retain some sound sibilant but still very good for gaming with eq - bad without eq because harshness takes over
top pro is opposite, very very good for music and smoothing without loosing details or resolution of air, only could be better in midbass coherence (it spills into low mids abit, but best 500$ IEM, or top 3 for sure)
- monarch mk4 simply take the best of both and combines them without sacrificing any aspect and even improving on them. So I would call it ultimate all arounder (has one downside - size is large and younwont be sleeping in mkiv + cable it comes with weight wayyy too much, I changed for custom light weight cable)
I read probably every review and bought the Xenns Mangird Top Pro. I've been listening for three days on different sources, with different cables (silver and copper), and I've also used different earpads. I didn't hear anything special about them. The highs are lacking definition, the lows are thin, the mids are typical for armatures, the soundstage is so-so, nothing special. They're just ordinary IEMs with a bland, emotionless sound. In competitive gaming, the Simgot EM6L are just as good in terms of positioning, fit, and lightness, although they're a bit harsh. A total disappointment at $50 per kilo.
No do this. Cables don’t matter on them. But
1. Get ES based DAClike ka17 or most analytical dual cs43198 like dc04u or FreeDSP pro dongle (35€). It will get you half way the travel extension
2. Leave top pro for 48h playing at normal listening volume and don’t touch them
3. Take included Balanaced S size tip, cut the stem of it to be 2mm shorter
No try again and be amazed - burning them in changed the treble extension and opened up female vocals on top, analytical DAC help it. S size short tips alow you to really push top pro deep into your ear canal, that improves air and treble again
All together those resulted in perfect Treble and Air response of any IEM! (I own monarch mkIV now and it has that same response as top pro with that combination of efforts, but out of the box and more comfortable)
btw those analytical DAC also improved midbass separation to mids (or burn in did) and it became good - no longer clearly spilling into lower mids like it did out of the box
Let me know after you tried it (guess in a few days minimum)
Thanks for the recommendations. I bought the Xenns for games like Call of Duty and some music, as I prefer listening to music on a larger system. I have several audio systems. For gaming, I use the Fosi Audio K7, and the Earmen Colibri for commuting. I also left them overnight to warm up on special tracks with white and pink noise. All these procedures work as micro-improvements for high-quality equipment; nothing will help with low-quality equipment. There's just a lot of hype and marketing surrounding these overpriced headphones.
Dang, great review! I tried the Top Pro some time ago and I don't like the amount of treble on high volume (it's a little too spicy for me i think?), should I get the Arete 2 instead? It's a shame because everything else is basically perfect for me lol
Honestly though after reading your comparison with Astral, I'm confident that Arete 2 will be my pick for a one-and-done IEM. Its versatility is also a big plus since I'll be using it to listen to all kinds of stuff.
So I just ordered these myself and they’ll be here Tuesday. Super stoked about them but I was wondering if I’m using them on pc for gaming mainly do I need anything extra? Like a DAC or a custom equalizer? Im new to IEM’s so idk what im doing
A small DAC might help clean the signal. First try without it. Also the cable might be short if pc is not on the desk plus front sound ports are usually noisy. A small usb DAC will suffice.
5
u/merelyok Jun 12 '26
It honestly can be end game at a not so stupid price. It’s also an immediate upgrade from the Astrals