ThieAudio V16 Divinity Impressions
Configuration: 16BA
Price: $1500
Shoutout to my reader, "OGK", for loaning this unit for review.
Whoo-whee. ThieAudio's current flagship IEM and, in theory, their last - so one would hope that the V16's here to make a mark. Let's get right into how it sounds.
The bass on the V16 is some of the better BA bass that I've heard. The sub-bass curve is solid and intangibles are not too shabby either. However, I do feel that bass decay is not quite where I'd like it to be. It's a funny thing to say - especially given this a BA IEM - but notes sound almost excessively boomy and have too much thump at times on the V16. It follows that control is probably not as good as it should be for a BA monitor; certainly falling behind the 64A U12t's BA bass in A/B. In any case, this can be best summarized as a "fun" bass response that is, unfortunately, sacrificing some of the refinement that I've heard from the best BA bass. Punch is not bad at least.
The midrange of the V16 comes across somewhat odd to me. It tracks very closely to IEF's neutral target up until around 4-5kHz, at which point the V16 exhibits an unusual dip. This has the effect of skewing midrange note-weight thicker. But I don't think the balance struck here is quite ideal. When Carrie Underwood belts, I find her voice to take on a more muted characteristic up-top. This is a general trend with vocals on the V16; you have this sort of uncanny contrast to the upper-midrange that sounds off because, at the same time, it generally
is forward. The IEMs that go for these types of recessions normally have a more relaxed pinna, for example, à la the 64A U12t. Intangibly, too, I find myself second-guessing the V16's midrange. It might be the 4-5kHz recession, but timbre is generally plasticky and lacks vibrancy. For a sense of micro-contrast...well, I don't think the V16's midrange has very much either, and it goes further downhill from here.
Most who have read my reviews before will be aware that I never thought that ThieAudio's EST treble implementations were all that good. Call me a hater, but I genuinely think that the V16's BA treble implementation might be even worse. The V16's treble response is unremarkable. Bland. Dry. Compressed. Makes me want to fall asl - actually, you get the idea. I don't know what's going on here, but stick impact between rapid hits is undefined and hazy on SNSD's "Into the New World". The peak at 6kHz does not actually sound very present if you ask me. And where's the air, my upper-treble shimmer at? The V16 has less presence over 15kHz than the Monarch MKII had, which I already thought was pushing it. Seriously, for $1.5k...miss me with this.
Rants about the treble aside, the V16 is still pretty resolving for sure; I say this in the sense that internal detail - reverb trails and texturing - are quite good in the midrange despite the lack of perceived micro-contrast. Bass detail and treble detail are more questionable as I alluded to above. Likewise, for a sense of incisiveness to instrument position, I would say that the V16's younger brother, the Monarch MKII, actually comes out the winner from memory - as does the Symphonium Helios in A/B. The V16's macro-dynamics are...okay. It definitely sounds like it's pushing more air than most of ThieAudio's IEMs. That's a welcome change of pace. However, it still comes across more subdued for sheer contrast of decibel gradations on less compressed music such as Steve Jablonsky's "Lone Survivor" (2:16) and FictionJunction's "Kaze No Machi E" (2:42).
As an assessment of value, the V16 is basically in no-man's territory at $1500 - which is not necessarily a bad place to be. There are few immediate competitors that come to mind outside of the UM MEST MKII and the CFA Solaris 2020. The problem? As I see it, the V16 doesn't really offer much over even the established kilobuck monitors to justify the price increase. We've observed this trend before with a number of ThieAudio's IEMs: well-tuned, fairly technical, but lacking that special sauce. Perhaps the V16 is a fitting legacy in some respects, even if the context is not-so-desirable. In any case, I prefer the Monarch MKII and a number of kilobuck IEMs over the V16.
Score: 6/10
All critical listening was done off the 3.5mm jack of the DX300. The V16 is also like CFA IEMs level of sensitive, so be aware that it'll hiss with most sources. I swapped in the IEMatch after some time listening.
I couldn't find anything about it in a quick search, though - is this a new model?
