[Marlowe]

7 AM, rainy morning in Brooklyn....Starbucks...hot coffee...my Shanling M8 and Raptgo Hook! Life is good!

7 AM, rainy morning in Brooklyn....Starbucks...hot coffee...my Shanling M8 and Raptgo Hook! Life is good!

f

And outside in the black lands
The evening came and went
And the bums in the street begging money for one last drink
Are hanging round the liquor stores trying to get a foot in
And the girl from Pittsburgh and I made love on a mattress with the new moon looking
And in the cool evening breeze I was down on my knees in Brooklyn

Sorry, couldn't resist. I was born in Brooklyn 69 years ago next month and grew up there until I was 12, though I now live on the left bank (better known as Hudson County, NJ, immediately across the Hudson). The quote is from a very early song (1969) by Al Stewart, now remembered, if at all, only for The Year of the Cat, though his finest work were the albums between this early one and that hit.

To get back on topic, I'm really intrigued by the Hook X, but I have the Thieaudio Monarch MKII, which sounds glorious and is undoubtedly superior technically. Does the Hook X do anything that makes it a reasonable complement to the Monarch MKII? I'm not using any planars ATM, though I do have an old Hifiman 400i and an Audeze Isine LX (which even with the cypher cable, is probably the worst IEM I've ever owned).

 

[samandhi]

Sorry, couldn't resist. I was born in Brooklyn 69 years ago next month and grew up there until I was 12, though I now live on the left bank (better known as Hudson County, NJ, immediately across the Hudson). The quote is from a very early song (1969) by Al Stewart, now remembered, if at all, only for The Year of the Cat, though his finest work were the albums between this early one and that hit.

To get back on topic, I'm really intrigued by the Hook X, but I have the Thieaudio Monarch MKII, which sounds glorious and is undoubtedly superior technically. Does the Hook X do anything that makes it a reasonable complement to the Monarch MKII? I'm not using any planars ATM, though I do have an old Hifiman 400i and an Audeze Isine LX (which even with the cypher cable, is probably the worst IEM I've ever owned).

First of all, happy Birthday next month, young fella'! As for myself, I do not recognize the name, but will look him up. Thanks for sharing that.

You sort of answered your own question there when you mentioned that they are planar. That alone would make it complementary to the MKII IMO. Beyond that I have not heard the MKII so I can't tell you the differences/similarities. The planar sound (especially the bass) will be different.

 

[szore]

Sorry, couldn't resist. I was born in Brooklyn 69 years ago next month and grew up there until I was 12, though I now live on the left bank (better known as Hudson County, NJ, immediately across the Hudson). The quote is from a very early song (1969) by Al Stewart, now remembered, if at all, only for The Year of the Cat, though his finest work were the albums between this early one and that hit.

To get back on topic, I'm really intrigued by the Hook X, but I have the Thieaudio Monarch MKII, which sounds glorious and is undoubtedly superior technically. Does the Hook X do anything that makes it a reasonable complement to the Monarch MKII? I'm not using any planars ATM, though I do have an old Hifiman 400i and an Audeze Isine LX (which even with the cypher cable, is probably the worst IEM I've ever owned).

The bums and the liquor stores are spot on...no mattresses tho....

 

[szore]

Sorry, couldn't resist. I was born in Brooklyn 69 years ago next month and grew up there until I was 12, though I now live on the left bank (better known as Hudson County, NJ, immediately across the Hudson). The quote is from a very early song (1969) by Al Stewart, now remembered, if at all, only for The Year of the Cat, though his finest work were the albums between this early one and that hit.

To get back on topic, I'm really intrigued by the Hook X, but I have the Thieaudio Monarch MKII, which sounds glorious and is undoubtedly superior technically. Does the Hook X do anything that makes it a reasonable complement to the Monarch MKII? I'm not using any planars ATM, though I do have an old Hifiman 400i and an Audeze Isine LX (which even with the cypher cable, is probably the worst IEM I've ever owned).

I heard the MkII at Canjam and did not like it at all...the top end was all out of whack for me....I was surprised because I wanted to buy it.

 

[Marlowe]

I do not recognize the name, but will look him up.

You must be pretty young (well, by my standards) if you don't know The Year of the Cat; the song and the album was a huge hit for Stewart in the late '70s and (I think) still pretty well known today. The song arguably has the greatest piano riff in all of pop music; once you hear it, you will never entirely get it out of your head. And personally, I'm a sucker for any song that name checks Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. And if you tell me you don't recognize those names either, I'll cry. (Stewart had a fairly unique niche in rock music--he often wrote songs about historical figures and/or events, though that is present but less explicit on the Year of the Cat album than on many others. I was a college history major in 1973 when he released a loose concept album with songs about each decade of the 20th century and I've been a fan ever since. He still tours but hasn't released a new album in almost fifteen years.)

 

[samandhi]

You must be pretty young (well, by my standards) if you don't know The Year of the Cat; the song and the album was a huge hit for Stewart in the late '70s and (I think) still pretty well known today. The song arguably has the greatest piano riff in all of pop music; once you hear it, you will never entirely get it out of your head. And personally, I'm a sucker for any song that name checks Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre. And if you tell me you don't recognize those names either, I'll cry. (Stewart had a fairly unique niche in rock music--he often wrote songs about historical figures and/or events, though that is present but less explicit on the Year of the Cat album than on many others. I was a college history major in 1973 when he released a loose concept album with songs about each decade of the 20th century and I've been a fan ever since. He still tours but hasn't released a new album in almost fifteen years.)

I would have been 8, 9, or 10 in the late 70's... But I don't think it is an age thing, more like an ignorance thing. I still listen to stuff like the Andrews Sisters, and Glenn Miller, and ect... now and again. And yes, I do know those names well, see? hehe. But I always like to discover new music, even if it is only new to me...

 

[Seazer]

Out of curiosity I ordered abort unit and out of the box I can hear the kind of tizzy/buzzy

I’ve only noticed it once or twice. Kind of a “buzzy” sounding treble on some notes. But in my experience it’s very rare.

Out of curiosity I ordered another unit and out of the box I can hear the kind of tizzy/buzzy treble. That is not present in my other pair, I wonder if my other wore in through burn in or if this is a unit variance thing

 

[samandhi]

Out of curiosity I ordered abort unit and out of the box I can hear the kind of tizzy/buzzy

Out of curiosity I ordered another unit and out of the box I can hear the kind of tizzy/buzzy treble. That is not present in my other pair, I wonder if my other wore in through burn in or if this is a unit variance thing

Very interesting experiment! It has been driving me crazy that some have heard it, and I NEVER hear it in my set even right OOTB. I thought I was going deaf or something. LOL

There have been others that have heard it in the mids more than the treble though. I wonder if you are right and there is some unit variance (in the piezoelectric driver specifically, because by themselves that is sort of how they sound naturally).

 

[andreasp]

Sorry, couldn't resist. I was born in Brooklyn 69 years ago next month and grew up there until I was 12, though I now live on the left bank (better known as Hudson County, NJ, immediately across the Hudson). The quote is from a very early song (1969) by Al Stewart, now remembered, if at all, only for The Year of the Cat, though his finest work were the albums between this early one and that hit.

To get back on topic, I'm really intrigued by the Hook X, but I have the Thieaudio Monarch MKII, which sounds glorious and is undoubtedly superior technically. Does the Hook X do anything that makes it a reasonable complement to the Monarch MKII? I'm not using any planars ATM, though I do have an old Hifiman 400i and an Audeze Isine LX (which even with the cypher cable, is probably the worst IEM I've ever owned).

I had the Monarch MK2. Loved it. But i was curious about planars so i bought Letshouer S12. Turned out that i enjoyed S12 so much that i decided to sell MMK2. S12 isnt technically better but i thought it was more fun. More v-shaped and more punch in the bass. MMK2 shines in the mids but other than that i didnt feel it was that much difference. All in all, i couldnt value MMK2 at 1k since i got s12 for 130 bucks.

 

[Hunterua]

While making a custom cable, I wanted to fix the phase problem, but...

 

[samandhi]

While making a custom cable, I wanted to fix the phase problem, but...

Was the grill just glued in? and is that cover also glued in?

 

[Hunterua]

Was the grill just glued in? and is that cover also glued in?

Yes, everything was easily glued, and the next protection is glued too, but there are so many details inside that I changed my mind to continue)

 

[samandhi]

Yes, everything was easily glued, and the next protection is glued too, but there are so many details inside that I changed my mind to continue)

I don't blame you a bit.

 

[darren700]

Just got the dunu viridian to pair with my hook x. The green cable looks stunning with the hook x and sounds amazing!

 

[samandhi]

Just got the dunu viridian to pair with my hook x. The green cable looks stunning with the hook x and sounds amazing!

Oh WOW! I didn't know the Viridian was still around?! It does indeed look great with the Hook-X. Enjoy!

Also, I didn't know it came in two pin; I guess I thought all of their cables were MMCX. Are you useing MMCX to two pin adapters?