First of all, I would like to apologize for not explaining the development history and design philosophy of UM's dual flagships to everyone. Here is a recently compiled list of the updates to Mason and Mentor over the years, which I hope will better illustrate how UM's dual flagship products have evolved over the years. Because AP was a product developed by UM in cooperation with Cayin and sold exclusively by Cayin, it was not included in the UM product yearbook.
The Mason series has always been UM's Statement product, and the design and development process is to spare no expense, to concentrate the best resources we can call on. For each generation of Mason, we equip him with the latest technology, introduce the best cables we can mix and match, use the most advanced shell processing technology, and cooperate with newly designed top accessories. Therefore, the original intention of Mason's development is not to find market demand and develop products accordingly, but to challenge the ceiling of IEMs performance, technology, and creativity. Mason is not a simple IEM, but a reference-grade listening solution in our current understanding.
The Mentor series was originally positioned as a secondary flagship with reduced techs from Mason, and we have continued for 4 generations. But with the fifth generation MM, we changed our thinking. The development of MM was first guided by the market. We extracted the listening preferences of audiophiles from global media and forums and conducted quantitative summaries. Based on the listening preferences of the general public, combined with the framework structure of the flagship series with BA driver as the main body, MM was developed. This is also why the first four generations of Mason and Mentor were released simultaneously, while the fifth generation Mentor was released nearly two years later than Mason.
Compared with Mason, we did not give Mentor the top cable, we controlled the price and also gave audiophiles more space to match the cables by themselves. It has been proven that even though the MM and FS look similar, the sound is completely different. One thing is certain: the draft of the next generation of Mentor has not been drawn yet, and it will not be a simple Mason-reduced work. I am also looking forward to the new Mentor, but let me first recover from the stunning experience brought to me by Mason NE/ST.
The sound performance of the new Mason is still worth a try. I was shocked beyond words when I listened to the prototype when I visited the UM headquarters in December. I understand that not every audiophile is willing to pay a high price to own it, but I think it would be a pity if an audiophile missed the opportunity to listen to the new Mason. It is very special. Canjam NYC is coming soon, and I will be waiting for everyone there with the new Mason.
P.S. Now UM's technical department director Sam is by my side. I accompanied him to the Shot Show with UM's hearing protection sister company. He is one of the creators of BC-Turbo. If you have any questions, I can answer them on the spot.
I must say, I feel incredibly fortunate to be one of the 99 lucky buyers of Amber Pearl. Honestly, I absolutely adore them!
Speaking of money, I'm not rolling in it, but I put in a lot of effort to live comfortably. It took me quite a few months to recover from the cost of the AP.
About two weeks ago, I reached out to your customer support via email to inquire about the process and timeframe for getting a CIEM version. Unfortunately, I haven't received a response yet.
I wanted to share this with you here because I've noticed that some companies nowadays solely focus on selling their products and tend to forget about the importance of customer support. It's all about the complete package if you truly want to succeed, you know?
As you can see from this forum, nobody has anything negative to say about the sound of your products, but many are startled by the prices. And now, I'm adding the topic of customer support integration to the mix. Hopefully, this little comment will help you see things from the customer's perspective.