[davidcotton]

If you have the opportunity, plan a demo session and listen to a variety of IEMs so you can decide for yourself if moving up is worth it. I have heard IEMs at most price points and some of the most enjoyable ones have also been among the more affordable. The Final E5000 I thought were great and I rate the Custom Art FIBAE Black very highly for their wonderful musicality, irrespective of price. Most important is that you are happy with what you buy and don’t end up spending more than you can afford out of fear of missing out. Despite all the high end gear I have around (and listen to most of the time), I can still really enjoy the more sensibly priced stuff. There are some great gems out there.

Quite. One of the real dangers of this forum is the "keeping up with the joneses" aspect of it, which when you compare the prices of some of the flagships and even mid tier stuff recently can get very expensive very quick. There's a reason I've stuck with Custom Art for a while now. Enjoy what you have and only upgrade when you want to, if you want to. New toys are fun and all that (particularly at the moment) but got to keep it realistic (though with 3 and 4k iems around now who knows what that even is anymore! I miss the days of £300 westones etc etc).

 

[subguy812]

I personally prefer the Thummim with the Iliad though I feel like the Plato is kinda “objectively” better in the sense that it tightens the bass a little and gives a better balance between texture and clarity. Either way though the Thummim is an IEM that you absolutely don’t need to swap cables on, the stock wire is awesome

I would hope the stock wire would be adequate for the $4500 Hedgehog Thummim. It shouldn't be necessary to change a thing for minimal gains.

 

[mvvRAZ]

I would hope the stock wire would be adequate for the $4500 Hedgehog Thummim. It shouldn't be necessary to change a thing for minimal gains.

I don’t think any of what we do in this hobby is necessary

 

[subguy812]

I guess the most fair assessment between the Erlkonig and Thummim would be, if you had to pay full price for either option which would you choose? Although, that is not altogether fair either since, minus VAT in US for Erl, the Thummim is $4500 and the Erlkonig is like $3800-$4000, somehow the Erlkonig seems like a bargain geesh.

 

[mvvRAZ]

I guess the most fair assessment between the Erlkonig and Thummim would be, if you had to pay full price for either option which would you choose? Although, that is not altogether fair either since, minus VAT in US for Erl, the Thummim is $4500 and the Erlkonig is like $3800-$4000, somehow the Erlkonig seems like a bargain geesh.

I did pay almost full price (4050$ to be exact), and I cancelled my Erl order a few days after receiving it. No matter how I stack the two I still flat out like the Thummim much, much better - regardless of their respective price points

 

[Audiosolace]

Definitely agree. Not a surprise as they are first and foremost a professional brand.

Ultimate Ears have always been a professional brand - and I hope they do achieve further impressive releases which can compete with today's offerings

 

[arijitroy2]

I did pay almost full price (4050$ to be exact), and I cancelled my Erl order a few days after receiving it. No matter how I stack the two I still flat out like the Thummim much, much better - regardless of their respective price points

Did you order in Europe? Did you end up paying customs on it?

 

[KuroKitsu]

I don’t think any of what we do in this hobby is necessary

*Sweats* of course it's "necessary"

 

[mvvRAZ]

Did you order in Europe? Did you end up paying customs on it?

I did but didn’t pay customs

 

[Wyville]

I guess the most fair assessment between the Erlkonig and Thummim would be, if you had to pay full price for either option which would you choose? Although, that is not altogether fair either since, minus VAT in US for Erl, the Thummim is $4500 and the Erlkonig is like $3800-$4000, somehow the Erlkonig seems like a bargain geesh.

I never heard the Erlkönig, but from what I know about VE's sound I expect those will have a more conventional tuning then the Thummim. Joseph explained that they wanted to do something crazy out-of-the-box with MMR and the Thummim embody that unmistakably. They are unique with a genuinely spherical stage (sounds seems to come from every direction), a heavily coloured tuning with gobs of energy and yet they manage to produce a very high level of detail and texture. The term "marmite" comes to mind once again. They are completely unique and amazing if you like their sound, but can be off-putting if you don't, especially if you demo only briefly without adjusting to them. I love a good marmite IEM and am really enjoying these now, but if I had to put my own money down I would go for the Erlkönig. In part that has to do with the fact that I don't like the Thummim for classical music and I expect the Erlkönig will be a lot better there. I would be curious though to see how the Erlkönig would stack up against the Dream XLS for classical, as I think the Dream XLS do phenomenally well for that.

On a completely different note: Our puppy was born yesterday!

 

[proedros]

when i see guys saying 'buying erlky for 4K is a bargain' , they make me look like the 2nd Bill gates for managing to get a custom zeus xr for 1/3 of the 4K

 

[mvvRAZ]

I never heard the Erlkönig, but from what I know about VE's sound I expect those will have a more conventional tuning then the Thummim. Joseph explained that they wanted to do something crazy out-of-the-box with MMR and the Thummim embody that unmistakably. They are unique with a genuinely spherical stage (sounds seems to come from every direction), a heavily coloured tuning with gobs of energy and yet they manage to produce a very high level of detail and texture. The term "marmite" comes to mind once again. They are completely unique and amazing if you like their sound, but can be off-putting if you don't, especially if you demo only briefly without adjusting to them. I love a good marmite IEM and am really enjoying these now, but if I had to put my own money down I would go for the Erlkönig. In part that has to do with the fact that I don't like the Thummim for classical music and I expect the Erlkönig will be a lot better there. I would be curious though to see how the Erlkönig would stack up against the Dream XLS for classical, as I think the Dream XLS do phenomenally well for that.

On a completely different note: Our puppy was born yesterday!

The Thummim has a really heavy signature all around, which I feel like is “saved” by the insane soundstage. It’s the dream IEM for me personally, as I love thick and heavy mids as well as an unnaturally large soundstage

 

[arijitroy2]

I am seriously considering putting all my eggs in one IEM or rather two and call it a day! I already sold most of the iems I had, 2 iems is good enough, 3 becomes a crowd!

Already have the Luna which to me is exceptional with everything, but the bass is a bit lacking, now my eyes on Thummim or Erlky and be content!

Would love to own Erlky, but I am not a big fan of switches anymore, and with Thummim its the insert that looks painful!

But if Thummim goes well with every genre, then that would be my choice.

One big problem I have realized due to this lockdown is that I majorly used my 2ch systems more than the IEMs since it was so easy and quick to just turn on and sit back enjoy!

 

[DavidS11]

For me, the Erlkonig sounds pretty much like a VE8 with additional settings. I listened to both in same demo session. I can’t make out any unique sound areas with the Erlkonig other than the different sound settings and its physical design. Maybe I didn’t listened long enough or need another listen.

edit: forget to mention about the settings - The setting 4 is baseline but too thin sounding. 1 is too much bass and sounds like listening to cheap speaker box. 2 and 3 are fine, I think I like 3 better or I may like 2 later but I will definitely only choose one of them. So what’s the point of having the settings?

 

[mvvRAZ]

I am seriously considering putting all my eggs in one IEM or rather two and call it a day! I already sold most of the iems I had, 2 iems is good enough, 3 becomes a crowd!

Already have the Luna which to me is exceptional with everything, but the bass is a bit lacking, now my eyes on Thummim or Erlky and be content!

Would love to own Erlky, but I am not a big fan of switches anymore, and with Thummim its the insert that looks painful!

But if Thummim goes well with every genre, then that would be my choice.

One big problem I have realized due to this lockdown is that I majorly used my 2ch systems more than the IEMs since it was so easy and quick to just turn on and sit back enjoy!

Actually Joseph at MMR is making some custom sleeves for me and @doctorjuggles so the comfort should be even better (though I haven’t had troubles with it so far either)

The erl might remain a slightly better all-rounder because of the lighter, more reference-y signature. The Thummim does remain the more unique and impressive of the two to me though, it just depends on what you’re after. For me and if I may speak for @doctorjuggles, having the U18t/A18S already filled a large portion of the niche that the Erlky was meant for and made it somewhat of an overkill