[Rockwell75]

Maybe I have to specify that I only listen to hard rock, progressive and metal.

And that I don't like the "flat" and boring sound at all.

The thing that jumped out at me was seeing the Isabellae on top of a list full of some pretty heavy hitters. As someone who loves Isa myself, I approve

 

[firesign]

The thing that jumped out at me was seeing the Isabellae on top of a list full of some pretty heavy hitters. As someone who loves Isa myself, I approve

Isa has the perfect tuning / tonality for me. I love these little orange candies

 

[Rockwell75]

Isa has the perfect tuning / tonality for me. I love these little orange candies

They're a masterpiece of tuning & timbre and on that front they stand with anything on the market right now.

 

[blotmouse]

Opinions on the 18S aside, tia treble to me is still the golden standard in the industry. Haven't heard any estat that has managed to keep me satisfied for more than a few days/weeks, and no driver is as fast in the upper treble as tia Imo. It isn't the most natural sounding, but on technical ability I find it pretty much unmatched

In full agreement here.
I too find the wispy ethereal nature of EST's to be unsatisfying, but also less natural sounding than tia treble. For me, it's due to the relative lack of note body. They are real good for painting space, real bad at filling it. Tia is a good middle point for treble by being clearer and more extended than regular lidded BA's and having more meat on the bones than EST's. Our ear biology has not changed in thousands of years so there is no need to judge music equipment performance as needing an upgrade to be satisfying. Plenty of old tech is better than new tech. Look at pro audio, the new stuff sucks hard compared to the old.

 

[mvvRAZ]

In full agreement here.
I too find the wispy ethereal nature of EST's to be unsatisfying, but also less natural sounding than tia treble. For me, it's due to the relative lack of note body. They are real good for painting space, real bad at filling it. Tia is a good middle point for treble by being clearer and more extended than regular lidded BA's and having more meat on the bones than EST's. Our ear biology has not changed in thousands of years so there is no need to judge music equipment performance as needing an upgrade to be satisfying. Plenty of old tech is better than new tech. Look at pro audio, the new stuff sucks hard compared to the old.

Yeah there's a lot of ESTs by this point that I quite enjoy, but none that I'd say match tia fully. I guess a combination of the two produces some extraordinary results (Xe6), which is a little too dark for me in the lower treble, but the air and general quality of the highs is incredible

 

[ljnew]

Monthly update, new additions are in bold. That makes 100+ IEMs I've heard. Rookie numbers compared to some, but I'm pretty happy about it

Curious about your opinion on u18s. Why is it ranked less than u12t and not in top tier?

 

[ljnew]

In full agreement here.
I too find the wispy ethereal nature of EST's to be unsatisfying, but also less natural sounding than tia treble. For me, it's due to the relative lack of note body. They are real good for painting space, real bad at filling it. Tia is a good middle point for treble by being clearer and more extended than regular lidded BA's and having more meat on the bones than EST's. Our ear biology has not changed in thousands of years so there is no need to judge music equipment performance as needing an upgrade to be satisfying. Plenty of old tech is better than new tech. Look at pro audio, the new stuff sucks hard compared to the old.

I can agree, there's alot of old tech even better than new tech. However, companies still need to keep up with the latest tech. It doesn't mean they have to get rid of the old stuff that's great, but they should give fans the option to choose.

Moreover, I would love to hear a u18t or u18s with dynamic bass drivers and estats maybe even combined with the tia treble. 64 audio has layering and thickness that I simply haven't found in other iems. I just wish they could combine some of their strengths with new tech in a coherent sound.

 

[Precogvision]

Curious about your opinion on u18s. Why is it ranked less than u12t and not in top tier?

I've A/B-d them many times in the past. Each time, I've come to the conclusion that the U18S is very resolving - it actually has more "texture" to trailing ends than the U12t - but I just don't find myself enamored with it for the following reasons:

• First, I think the dynamics on the U18S are not as good. The U12t sounds like it's pushing more air in the bass and like it's more explosive for gradations in volume. It's possibly just one of the benefits of having a stronger sub-bass focus, but I do think the BA drivers handling bass in the U12t are distinct from those in the U18S.
• Second, the treble response of the U12t is more lower-treble oriented at around 5kHz. This is necessary because, without this, the tia driver's response tends to sound like it's lacking a sense of weight, as both IEMs are also dipped in the mid-treble.
• Third, the imaging of the U12t sounds more reminiscent of a two-channel speaker to me. The U18S has excellent layering, but I subjectively felt like the staging was slightly more compressed.
• Finally, the timbre appeals to me more on the U12t because it has less gritty-ness (which some might associate with resolution). I don't like that grit; I don't hear it on speakers. Just personal preference.

In any case, it's these types of small distinctions that set apart a "great" IEM and a "top-tier" IEM for me. Hope this helps explain more!

The units I A/B-d:

 

[Precogvision]

Oh yeah, I've also updated my ranking list quite a bit since my last post in this thread! It's now at 300 IEMs and counting. The trip to SG boosted the list by 50+ IEMs if I'm not mistaken, although I didn't want to completely rank the ones that I heard in show conditions. I mostly put them down with a bias score just to note that I've heard them and my initial thought at the time.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pUCELfWO-G33u82H42J8G_WX1odnOYBJsBNbVskQVt8/edit?usp=sharing

 

[Bax1020]

Trying to list my top 10 based on some demos and owned iems.
I wonder if anything is going to change in a few months…

1. Jewel
2. Trailli
3. Phonix
4. Indigo
5. Fitear DC Ti
6. Shichiku Kangen Dita x Final Audio
7. Sony IER Z1R
8. IE900
9. Empire Ears Evo
10. Sony XBA-N3A

 

[ljnew]

I've A/B-d them many times in the past. Each time, I've come to the conclusion that the U18S is very resolving - it actually has more "texture" to trailing ends than the U12t - but I just don't find myself enamored with it for the following reasons:

• First, I think the dynamics on the U18S are not as good. The U12t sounds like it's pushing more air in the bass and like it's more explosive for gradations in volume. It's possibly just one of the benefits of having a stronger sub-bass focus, but I do think the BA drivers handling bass in the U12t are distinct from those in the U18S.
• Second, the treble response of the U12t is more lower-treble oriented at around 5kHz. This is necessary because, without this, the tia driver's response tends to sound like it's lacking a sense of weight, as both IEMs are also dipped in the mid-treble.
• Third, the imaging of the U12t sounds more reminiscent of a two-channel speaker to me. The U18S has excellent layering, but I subjectively felt like the staging was slightly more compressed.
• Finally, the timbre appeals to me more on the U12t because it has less gritty-ness (which some might associate with resolution). I don't like that grit; I don't hear it on speakers. Just personal preference.

In any case, it's these types of small distinctions that set apart a "great" IEM and a "top-tier" IEM for me. Hope this helps explain more!

The units I A/B-d:

Did you ever find the u18s to sound veiled or even extremely veiled at times?

 

[iDesign]

Did you ever find the u18s to sound veiled or even extremely veiled at times?

Yes and as Precogvision alluded to, the tuning and Tia driver cause the treble and placement of instruments to sound distant, imprecise, diffused, and soft. I also perceive other issues that may be associated with its first of its kind crossover network that was implemented in the A/U18s-- many have observed the problem (also see the YouTube comments) and some described it as an unnatural "transition from upper mid range to upper treble.” There is a critical engineering flaw with the A/U18s and I can’t recommend it.

 

[Damz87]

Updated List

 

[ryaneagon]

Trying to list my top 10 based on some demos and owned iems.
I wonder if anything is going to change in a few months…

1. Jewel
2. Trailli
3. Phonix
4. Indigo
5. Fitear DC Ti
6. Shichiku Kangen Dita x Final Audio
7. Sony IER Z1R
8. IE900
9. Empire Ears Evo
10. Sony XBA-N3A

Great List! I'm curious. Were you able to listen to the UM Mest MKII? I'm asking because I have a set of MKII customs and 64 Audio u12t that tend to be my go to for listening, they're also the most expensive IEMs I own. I thought about demoing the UM Indigo and possibly purchasing them. I wanted to get some perspective from other members who have heard the MEST, Indigo, and u12ts and wouldn't mind sharing their thoughts and opinions. Cheers!

 

[phaeton70]

have the MEST2 and had the U12t (both universal). to my ears, and to my taste, MEST2 has better basses (more defined, impactful and go deeper) and slightly better mids (slightly more refined). treble are difficult to compare, just different I would say. stage definitely goes to MEST2. technicalities would say on par.
overall I prefer MEST2.
only IMHO and YMMV of course.
never heard the Indigo, to my understanding it is using the same basic technologies from MEST2 but with 4x EST and a different tuning (more basses), and since the basses from MEST2 are IMHO already optimal in terms of quantity I don't feel the need to upgrade but if you have the budget and like more basses, Indigo definitely is worth of a listen.