Product page : https://vision-ears.de/premiumline_en/ext (Price : 2650€) Fit, Build & Isolation There are some advantages to a universal build and one is that you can use different materials, the purple with complex CNC machined faceplates. The EXT also features a special aluminium acoustic mesh “giving the dynamic drivers the air to breathe and unfold their rumbling power” as stated on Vision Ears website. The shell is made of “solid black acrylic in a semi-custom shape”, but “a black transparent area is allowing you to have a discreet peek on...

Fit, Build & Isolation The Spark feature a lightweight shell and just like the Land the build quality is excellent. I picked a custom fit for the Spark as I do for all my flagships now. The fit is perfect and Tansio accepts STL file which makes the process seamless and safe. The Spark features the same beautiful smoke (transparent grey) shells that show the internal craftsmanship is very good including the switches system with tight tolerances. The fit is deep but not overly tight and provides both comfort and excellent isolation which was...

Product Page : https://penonaudio.com/tansio-mirai-land.html Price : 599$ Fit, Build & Isolation The Land feature a lightweight shell and the build quality is excellent and I do feel one step up from the Zodiac (seamless joints of the faceplate, resin quality). The inside of the transparent grey shells show the craftsmanship is very good up to the switches system with tight tolerances. The fit is perfect with lightweight shells that you quickly forget once you wear them. The included tips are high quality, a good thing because the stem of the Land...

Product Page : https://en.alambic-ears.com/produits-et-services Price : 850€ (universal and custom) Fit, Build & Isolation The universal Mundaka features beautifully made shells with a piano black finish along with a colored nacre decorum. The shells are small except for a significant depth. They should fit smaller ears pretty well but will protrude a bit from your ears. The socket is a flush 2pin and I had no issues with cable rolling (worth mentioning). Note that Alambic Ears can build a custom Mundaka for the same price as the universal. Also...

Fit, Build & Isolation The Penon Volt features a superb build, worthy of its flagship status and the fit was perfect right out of the box, I sent my usual digital STL prints and it took 10 days to build which is pretty good time from my experience. The fit is quite deep (deepest of all my customs in fact) but not too compressive it’s very confortable. I can see people having a problem with the artist fit as compared to the usually more relaxed fit of audiophile CIEM. I personally love it but if you’re sensitive I would ask for a shallower insertion...

Product Page : https://ikkoaudio.com/product/ikko-oh1/ Price : 139$ Packaging and accessories The Ikko OH1 comes with a superb packaging featuring nice art piece, a rare sight at this price point. The box feature a premium quality cardboard with a nice tray system and the unboxing is a real treat and suprise at this price point. The package contains the OH1 along with a soft leather carry pouch and two sets of tips one is “bass” focused (blue) and the other “balanced” (gray). Fit, Build & Isolation Consistent with the packaging quality, the...

Product Page : https://penonaudio.com/penon-orb.html Price : 259$ Fit, Build & Isolation The Penon Orb features a fully transparent medical grade resin material shell, highlighting excellent craftsmanship of its internal. The Shell is on the smaller side and very lightweight. I found the Orb to have only average isolation, but the shells are so light I am not too suprised. This shouldn’t be an issue in real world condition for most with music playing except for noisier environment if you’re a low volume listener like me. Note that the shell is quite...

Product Page : https://www.dunu-topsound.com/sa3-detail Price : 139$ Fit, Build & Isolation The SA3 shell are made of a transparent blue lightweight 3D printed biocompatible photopolymer resin. The shell is a bit surprisingly bigger than the 6 drivers SA6, and is ergonomically shaped with a metal grille to protect the bore. The SA3 feature a 2pin 0.78 connector which the choice Dunu made for all Studio IEMs in the lineup. As usual with Dunu the SA3 comes with a nice 27 AWG kevlar-reinforced, high purity silver plated OFC with a (fixed) 3.5...

Product page : https://www.dunu-topsound.com/sa6-detail Price : 549$ Fit, Build & Isolation The SA6 features one of the most beautiful build among Dunu IEMs, with its high quality resin acrylic sourced in Germany and hand-poured shells and unique stabilized wood faceplates. As usual it comes with a very nice cable, here an 8 core silver plated copper cable featuring the now famous switchable plug system (you get 3.5, 2.5 and 4.4 termination in the package no less). The SA6 is a looker but note that you don’t get to choose your color as those are...

Product Page : https://penonaudio.com/lz-a7.html Price : 318$ Packaging and accessories The LZ A7 come in a nice package with a pseudo wood finish and a very nice hard leather green carry case but I wished there was a holding compartment for the filters and switch tool there. The filter holder is metal and you can screw the unused colored filters on it when you’re not using them. The switch tool is used to switch the A7 from Pop to Monitor mode. The switch is located on the metal faceplate. Note that the filters are color coded and easily...

Product Page : https://isnaudio.com/cables/isn-ag8/ Official Distributor’s page : https://penonaudio.com/isn-audio-ag8.html Price : 199$ Introduction I discovered the ISN brand when I had the chance to review the sales hit ISN H40 IEM which boast fantastic value for money. When I had the opportunity to review their 8 strands pure silver cable the AG8 I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to write my first cable review. I actually spent a lot of time (200+ hours) with the AG8 before finally getting to write this, with a lot of different pairings...

Manufacturer’s website : https://www.stealthsonics.com/ Price : 1499$ Fit, Build & Isolation StealthSonics is no newcomer to building IEMs and the C9 Pro build is simply superb, the shell is flawless and the smoke transparent show great craftsmanship on the internals. I picked simple colored transparent faceplates but the result is really nice and I love looking at them as much as I love to listen to them. The 2 pin socket is recessed, which has my preference for a more secure fit. As you can see there are 3 sound tubes and bores are flush, which...

Listening notes I spent approximately 40 hours with the AF180 mk2, listening on the Lotoo PAW Gold Touch and PAW S1 with the stock cable and also Dunu Lyre and Hansound Zen 8 wire cable. Special Thanks Thanks to Michelle at Audiofly for providing the opportunity of a review unit of the AF180 mk2. As usual, this review is my honest opinion. No incentive was given for a favorable review. The unit has been returned to Audiofly. Fit, Build & Isolation The AF180 mk2 comes with a very nice sturdy protective hard case that is worth noting at the price...

Product page : https://www.dunu-topsound.com/dk-2001 Price : 299$ Fit, Build & Isolation As I said in my DK-4001 review, the DK-2001 fit is one of the best I have had with an universal IEM, it is small, lightweight and ergonomic. The form factor is consistent across the DK lineup and I fit the whole range perfectly. Design wise, I like that the nozzle has a small ridge line to allow for deeper tip insertion, I didn’t need it but it can come in handy and reflects the ergonomic focus in the DK-2001 design. Included spinfits are really good and I...

Manufacturer’s website : https://mezeaudio.com/products/rai-solo Price : 249$ Fit, Build & Isolation The Solo shell looks identical to its bigger brother the Penta, the only difference being color. It’s compact and lightweight which contributes to excellent comfort and the fit is top tier as far as universal goes. This is no small aspect of an IEM for every day use. The build is superb with very tight tolerances and immaculate finish which punches well above its price range. The Solo look sturdy (up to the color coded metal nozzle). Isolation is...

Product page : http://www.earsonics.com/in-ear-monitors/en/stark/ Price : 1390€ Fit, Build & Isolation The new hybrid lineup is a new form factor altogether for Earsonics universal IEMs : the inner part of the shell is acrylic while the faceplate is metal. Both Blade an Stark feature the same build, metal color is the only difference between the two. This is a clear departure from the legacy line up, the build quality is flawless and the Stark looks as sturdy as it comes both the metal obviously but the acrylic as well. It’s much heavier IEM than...

Manufacturer’s website : http://www.earsonics.com/in-ear-monitors/en/blade/ Price : 549€ Fit, Build & Isolation The new hybrid lineup is a new form factor altogether for Earsonics universal IEMs : the inner part of the shell is acrylic while the faceplate is metal. Both Blade an Stark feature the same build, metal color is the only difference between the two. This is a clear departure from the legacy line up, the build quality is flawless and the Blade looks as sturdy as it comes both the metal obviously but the acrylic as well. It’s much heavier...

Product page : https://www.dunu-topsound.com/luna Price : 1699$ Fit, Build & Isolation The Dunu Luna is clearly a superb piece of engineering, the housings are precision machined entirely from a custom-modified grade 5 titanium alloy. This is a flawless build worthy of a flagship and an even smaller footprint than the curent hybrid lineup. The small footprint makes for a very comfortable fit, even more so than the hybrid line up that was pretty good to begin with. The footpring is such that even with custom silicon tips the Luna does not protrude...

Manufacturer’s website : https://tansio-mirai.com/ Price : 1349$ Fit, Build & Isolation The Zodiac feature a lightweight shell and the build quality is very good, the inside of the shells show the craftsmanship is very good up to the switches system with tight tolerances. The fit is perfect with lightweight shells that you quickly forget once you wear them. The included tips are high quality, a good thing because the stem of the Zodiac is on the bigger side (over 5mm) and this means not everyone of your tip collection will fit. The fit is not too...

Fit, Build & Isolation The Gravitas features an excellent build and the shell are quite compact except for thickness which means they do stick out a bit, fit is good but shallow and I had to do some tip rolling to accommodate my big ears (either double flange or something like large EarFoams from Flare worked for me). The shell material looks like transparent acrylic and show the nice craftsmanship of the inside, and isolation is fair. The demo unit features exquisite custom artwork. Like the Argent the sockets of the Gravitas are on the tight side...