[JAnonymous5150]

Those who are big fans of the Prestige Ltd, could you please comment:

1. What music do you find them good for
2. What kind of sound signature do you generally like in your IEMs? Are you treble sensitive? Into detail? Bass?

I listen to everything from blues/blues rock to classical to jazz (of all stripes and styles) to prog, post hardcore, punk, alternative and metal. I'm a professional musician (drummer and saxophone) and songwriter so I listen to all kinds of things to broaden my own musical palette.

I agree with @gentzen on the general description of the LTDs. They've got agile, well articulated bass and well extended, but not offensive treble though I'm not particularly treble sensitive and actually have plenty of examples of brighter tunings that I enjoy. The LTDs are an example of an IEM with plenty of detailed treble that I think most people would agree is neither dark, nor bright. The least talked about part of the LTDs is the mids because they are slightly recessed and the treble and bass are so well done. Personally, I think the mid presence, detail, and balance is actually very tastefully done for a mild U/V shaped tuning. They maintain great detail retrieval and clarity and, perhaps more importantly, they give you accurate tone, timbre, and presence which is something you often lose or compromise in tunings that elevate either end of the spectrum. The bass also remains clean and doesn't infringe on the mids so you don't get any added and unnecessary warmth.

I've said it on this thread before and I'll say it again, I have owned literally every model from the ThieAudio Tribrid lineup and the LTDs are the most impressive and versatile of the lot for me.

 

[zootx]

Those who are big fans of the Prestige Ltd, could you please comment:

1. What music do you find them good for
2. What kind of sound signature do you generally like in your IEMs? Are you treble sensitive? Into detail? Bass?

1.
bass is good when slam is important, but not the main focus because its a bit dry. So for instance metal, soundtrack, and electronic great because it accentuates the slam of drum hits. Not so good with RnB and soul where you want a "buttery" enveloping bass. Treble is crisp and highly detailed with boosted upper treble providing excitement. This is generally good for well mastered music, but fatiguing for music with poor mastering or lot of treble energy. So some rock and metal only works with EQ. I don't listen to a lot of electronic music but I could imagine this can also become a problem there.
Otherwise almost an Allrounder.
2. I dislike boosted upper mids and lower treble like in Harman tuning, e.g. Truthear Nova or variations. Not a bass head. Everything else can be good if implemented correctly. Prestige ltd is definitely more of a (treble) detail focused IEM with tame macrodynamics (except in the bass maybe).

 

[jwheat09]

Have to say, I've been unlucky with my cable. I bought a second pair of Prestige LTD, as I found their sound to be really great for the price bracket (and out of my DAP), but I'm not using it with the stock cable, waiting instead for an Eros 1 Anniv. ed. cable to arrive. Meanwhile, my partner loaned me her BQEYZ Topaz iems to use with the Prestige cable for my commute (fairly detailed, nice timbre and good lower and mid section for a <£100 iem, but weird separation/imaging and shrill treble, but that's another story). Guess what: twice within the same day the 2-pin connectors plopped off and I was left scrambling on the floor for the iem (which I was fortunate to retrieve)! I'm not sure about how much a cable improves sound quality (relative to its price, importantly), but a more well constructed cable will hopefully help.

Just curious if you were able to try the Ltd with the Eros 1st Anniversary cable yet. If so, how did it compare to the stock cable? I'm looking for an upgrade cable as well.

 

[gentzen]

Just curious if you were able to try the Ltd with the Eros 1st Anniversary cable yet. If so, how did it compare to the stock cable? I'm looking for an upgrade cable as well.

Still waiting for the Eros S Ann. ed. to arrive. It is out of stock with Hifonix (despite appearing available on their website), so it's now a backorder. Back when I ordered it they said 3 weeks, which makes it this coming Monday, so lets' see. I'll mention my impressions when I get it. However, bear in mind I remain skeptical of cable effects, and the main reason I got it was hoped for robustness: I was looking for a fixed 4.4 termination and for the 2 pins to lock firmly into the housing. If the new cable manages to solve these problems with my stock cable and the sound is not any worse, I'll be happy.

 

[Knee Deep In Epoxy]

Niiiice, can't wait to hear what you discover!

Those who are big fans of the Prestige Ltd, could you please comment:

1. What music do you find them good for
2. What kind of sound signature do you generally like in your IEMs? Are you treble sensitive? Into detail? Bass?

Hype 4 impressions with reference to the Prestige LTD:

To sum up, the Prestige LTD delivers a more sophisticated presentation... As one would expect for three times the price... But the Hype 4 is great value for money.l by comparison to the LTD.

My main take away is that the Hype 4 is aimed at "bass flirts" who are not quite outed as bassheads yet. Meanwhile the Prestige LTD delivers as much snap in the subbass while pulling back the rest of the bass frequencies for a more textured and detailed experience.

The Hype 4 bass and mids are thick, not muddy, but the effect is that the overall the sound is warmer, more compact, less spacious sounding than the LTD. This is not a criticism. In fact I love this presentation for listening at mid to low volumes as all the detail is present without having to crank it up. However, on the flip side, turning the volume up turns the Hype 4 into a really fun sounding iem, but the bass impact can get fatiguing for my early/mid-life (feel too old for clubbing) preferences. The LTD on the other hand, I can crank up and feel like by doing so I can get more immersed into the space between the sounds without being thumped by the mid-bass, but still being able to enjoy the bass (it's sill my favourite bass of any device I've listened to, iem or otherwise).

As I said before, the Hype 4 is warmer and more intimate through the mids. The LTD is more natural (not necessarily neutral) and more spacious, resolving and better separated through the mids.

The LTD is also more resolving through the treble, more crisp without being brighter.

Happy to own both. I think even though I prefer the LTD's presentation for really immersing myself in the music, I'm more likely to listen to the hype 4 more often at mid/low volumes where I can enjoy the music in the background while I work, still get all the detail when I want to concentrate on it, but also forget about the music when I'm focusing on my day job. The LTD on the other hand makes me want to concentrate on the music more and would probably end up getting me sacked.

 

[gentzen]

After @JAnonymous5150's suggestion, I tip rolled between the Azla SednaEarfit Max and the Radius Deep Mount NE. Found the Radius tips to have a slightly narrower presentation with mids (e.g., voice) more recessed. Bass guitar rumble was slightly more accentuated and there was a perceptible tunnel sense (more narrow, more reverb, kinda) to the sound. Drum slam was a tad warmer on the Deep Mounts, but thump was equal to that in the Maxes. Azla Max had vocals slightly more forward and sound felt wider and a bit brigher. With the Prestige LTD Alza Max definitely boosts vocals, Radius Deep Mount boosts bass slightly more. Low end sounded more emphasized in metal music with the Radius tips (but vocals were less pronounced). Synth-based music was crisper (with percussion thumps more articulated) with the Maxes. They're both interesting tips, so while I very slightly prefer the Azla Max tips for my music, I'll keep both to provide some variety.

 

[OhmsClaw]

After @JAnonymous5150's suggestion, I tip rolled between the Azla SednaEarfit Max and the Radius Deep Mount NE. Found the Radius tips to have a slightly narrower presentation with mids (e.g., voice) more recessed. Bass guitar rumble was slightly more accentuated and there was a perceptible tunnel sense (more narrow, more reverb, kinda) to the sound. Drum slam was a tad warmer on the Deep Mounts, but thump was equal to that in the Maxes. Azla Max had vocals slightly more forward and sound felt wider and a bit brigher. With the Prestige LTD Alza Max definitely boosts vocals, Radius Deep Mount boosts bass slightly more. Low end sounded more emphasized in metal music with the Radius tips (but vocals were less pronounced). Synth-based music was crisper (with percussion thumps more articulated) with the Maxes. They're both interesting tips, so while I very slightly prefer the Azla Max tips for my music, I'll keep both to provide some variety.

AZLA crystals are where its at.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

After @JAnonymous5150's suggestion, I tip rolled between the Azla SednaEarfit Max and the Radius Deep Mount NE. Found the Radius tips to have a slightly narrower presentation with mids (e.g., voice) more recessed. Bass guitar rumble was slightly more accentuated and there was a perceptible tunnel sense (more narrow, more reverb, kinda) to the sound. Drum slam was a tad warmer on the Deep Mounts, but thump was equal to that in the Maxes. Azla Max had vocals slightly more forward and sound felt wider and a bit brigher. With the Prestige LTD Alza Max definitely boosts vocals, Radius Deep Mount boosts bass slightly more. Low end sounded more emphasized in metal music with the Radius tips (but vocals were less pronounced). Synth-based music was crisper (with percussion thumps more articulated) with the Maxes. They're both interesting tips, so while I very slightly prefer the Azla Max tips for my music, I'll keep both to provide some variety.

My wife makes fun of me because I sometimes switch tips when I'm planning on listening to a genre I think they're particularly good for. She says it's neurotic lol

That said, I'm off to order some of the Azla Max tips so I can give them a whirl. I'm not a super big fan of how sticky/rubbery my Azla Crystals feel, but I'll get over it if they provide a presentation I enjoy and I'm always down for more tip options.

 

[gentzen]

My wife makes fun of me because I sometimes switch tips when I'm planning on listening to a genre I think they're particularly good for. She says it's neurotic lol

That said, I'm off to order some of the Azla Max tips so I can give them a whirl. I'm not a super big fan of how sticky/rubbery my Azla Crystals feel, but I'll get over it if they provide a presentation I enjoy and I'm always down for more tip options.

Yeah, I'm off next week on a work trip to Liverpool, England, and I'm putting on the Deep Mounts to give them another run, cos I did enjoy the bass presentation on these.

(My partner rolls her eyes over this entire hobby and the cost of components and accessories).

 

[JAnonymous5150]

(My partner rolls her eyes over this entire hobby and the cost of components and accessories).

Haha! Thankfully, mine enjoys good headphones and speakers (not to mention video/photography equipment as she's an editor for a marketing firm) so she doesn't give me too much grief on that stuff as she has a decent collection herself.

Have a good trip! I'm glad the Deep Mounts have been enjoyable for you.

 

[GDunlop]

So I've booked a demo session with Elise Audio now in London for Tuesday next week. Hoping to listen to some IEMs and see what they are like. I have requested to listen to the following if possible so we will see what they are able to do.

FATfreq Maestro Mini
AFUL Performer 8
DUNU SA6 MK2
Kinera URD
Moondrop Blessing 3
Symphonium Meteor
Thieaudio Prestiege LTD
Canpur CP622B

There is very ,little chance of me buying the Canpur but apparently it's supposed to be really good so I need to have a small listen just to see what it's like. I should already have the Moondrop Blessing 3 but it was stolen off my doorstep so I don't actually know what it sounds like. This should give me an idea to see if I should arrange to get it again.

Hi Everyone,

So I went to visit Elise Aduio today in London. The guys were really helpful and I managed to get a little listen to some IEMs. Unfortunately not everything in the list above was available to demo but I did manage to get to demo some others instead, so I'll try and remember everything that I listened to in this post.

If you ever are considering visiting them make sure you make an appointment. They don't really have an official shop as such. They operate from a house really. I got to meet their neighbour who lives besides them. Bear in mind if you are buying anything then you will need to buy from their website but you can take it home that day once the purchase has been cleared.

In the end I ended up buying th Kinera URD (Currently listening to with Radius Deep Mount small tips) and I also got a XDuoo Link2 Bal DAC (For my laptop computer). So I'll give my intial impressions of what I listened to. Now I'm no expert when it comes to this stuff so I can't really give great descriptions and I'm going by memeory here as well so I may get confused and mixed up since I tried quite a few IEMs.

Also DISCLAIMER, I only listened to these iems for a short amount of time (5-10 mins), so I didn't really get a chance to try an array of different tips or anything. I mostly used the Radius Deep Mount large tips and a little bit of CP100s and TRI Clarions when I had fit issues. I also used an Astell & Kern Kann Max as my source.

So unfortunately, the FATfreq Maestro Mini, DUNU SA6 Mk2 and Moondrop Blessing were unavailable for demo. So I didn't get to listen to these.

AFUL Performer 5 - I was surprised at how good these sounded for their price tag. I did consider getting these as well while I was there but I decided to leave it for the future. I would say a good neutral sound with some energy behind the sound with some great detail for an iem listed at £154 on their website. I might just get these in future at some point.

AFUL Performer 8 - A little bit brighter than the performar 5 I thought but still really good it had the same kind of energy as the first one too. Certainly a bit more detail but to be honest I didn't notice a lot more. Once again however I only had a 5-10 min listen so I didn't really get to a lot of my library to be able to tell.

Kinera URD - What I ended up buying. Mostly for the sound signature. It's got a nice warm sound and the Deep Mount ear tips certainly brought a bit of energy out into it. Not to mention Elise Audio has the nice blue colour ear buds that they were able to arrange with Kinera.

Symphonium Meteor - They were OK. These are a set more on the Bassy side, which is fine. I do like a bit of bass sometimes but I did find these to just be OK and not really something I would consider purchasing for like £600.

Elise Audio X Symphonium Helios SE & Kinera Verdedandi - This is where my memory is a bit hazy. Both of these were not to my tastes really. I felt like the bass and the treble didn't really match up well on one of them (Can't remember which one but I think it was the Helios). So they sounded a bit weird for me personally. l'm sure that others will like them but they didn't reallt strike a chord with me. Perhaps the tips just weren't right for them either. The other one was difficult to drive and even my Kann Max had to go to a higher volume level on them. So they didn't really sound right based upon that (I think this was the verdandi). I could be mixing these two up though so I'm not sure.

Thieaduio Pristiege LTD - Well, I've finally managed to listen these. They are good but I think I prefer my Monarch Mk3's. They have a very laid back sound without the same energy as the MK3's but I guess that a lot of people like that.

Canpur CP622B - I had heard good things about these beforehand but really I was actually underwhelmed when I heard them. Like I said before I only got a little listen to them and I used the Deep Mount large tips but they came across as a bit bright and thin for my liking. I was expecting some had hitting bass but I didn't get that. I think maybe I needed to try smaller tips for a beter insertion probably. They do have BC driver so maybe that wasn't positioned right. Also I think they are probably really difficult to drive but I was using super gain on my A&K Kann Max.

Thieaudio Hype 4 - These were really good actually. The only reason why I didn't get these is because I already have the Monarch Mk3s but I really do consider these to be along the same kind of lines, obviously cause they have Thieaduio's in house sound. They might not be quite as detailed and resolving as the MK3s but to be honest they are not far off and they are a good bit cheaper. I might pick these up at some point in the future too but I wanted to branch out a little with something a bit different hence why I went with the Kinera URD.

Elise Audio X Dark Phoenix - When I used my EQ that I normally use for my MK3s they became better sounding. When I listened to them I could tell that the 2k peak was a bit high for my personal tastes but it's an easy fix really. These are only £135 so I wasn't expecting much but they seemed pretty good for their price range. I think the Performer 5 was probably still a bit better though.

I think that was all of it. The Kinera URD, The AWFUL Performers and both of the Thieaudio's were the real standouts I think. If you don't have the money to buy the Monarch MK3s or the Prestiege LTD then the Hype 4 is definetly a good option.

I'm now going to go back to tip rolling to see if these deep mounts really are the best for the Kinara URD (sounds really good just now). Alos I have a DAC to try out too.

 

[Brooding Sonata]

I too just went to Elise Audio. Tested the Monarch mk3 and Prestige Ltd. Liked both, but came home with the Prestige Ltd. Will post some thoughts after a few days, but so far I'm loving them very much.

 

[JAnonymous5150]

I too just went to Elise Audio. Tested the Monarch mk3 and Prestige Ltd. Liked both, but came home with the Prestige Ltd. Will post some thoughts after a few days, but so far I'm loving them very much.

FWIW, I think you made a great decision. After owning all the ThieAudio Tribrids at various points, the LTDs are my favorite and they have the tuning and presentation that I find to be the most versatile in my daily listening.

This may not be a popular opinion, but I also actually preferred the sound of the Monarch MK2 to the Mk3. I found the fit on the Mk3 to be more comfortable, but ultimately ended up selling them and keeping the Mk2.

Happy listening and I'm looking forward to reading your extended listening impressions!

 

[gentzen]

I too just went to Elise Audio. Tested the Monarch mk3 and Prestige Ltd. Liked both, but came home with the Prestige Ltd. Will post some thoughts after a few days, but so far I'm loving them very much.

I too think it's a good choice. They're very balanced across the spectrum and lack in no department (or, as critics might say, jacks of all trades but masters of none, still I like them that way). Your DAP/DAC-Amp system will also play a role, as will tips. I found audible differences (quite easily too) between various tips and ended up with the Azla Max (with Spinfit CP145 from my old DUNU iems a close second). But I suggest you try a number of tips to see where your tastes lie. Also, make sure your cable terminations either end are securely locking (unlike my own first pair). Although the cable that came with my second pair seems more secure than the first, it still is just an okay cable. Myself I have ordered the LL Ebua II as an upgrade.

Edit: I'd had the Eros S Anniversary Edition on order with Hifonix, but after 3+ weeks in the wait they told me they are OS with Effect Audio. So, I'll never know how that cable sounds. Evua II is also a Copper and Silver hybrid and should be a good replacement, if not an upgrade (judging from LL' reputation with the Venom).

 

[Alkamei]

I think my headphones are now obsoleted by comparison to the sound of the Prestige LTDs

They're just too good haha
Also, using Dunu S&S tips, great seal I find them more comfortable than the Azla xelastecs.