I was listening u18tzar, tia fourte and my KSE1500 (KSE1200 to be exact) out of my Sony WM1a.
Tia fourte - very wide soundstage, incredible clarity but they are rolled off somowhere between mids and highs which kills the timbre and what's worse they have an unpleasant highs. The highs arent harsh but there are boosted and very accentuated on piano notes for example. I consider myself a neutral-trebble head but I've been listening to them about 15-20 minutes and I've already felt fatigue. I've tried both stock foams and silicone tips.
u18tzar - now that's more like it. They are warm and with boosted bass however they retain correct timbre. Resolution is stunning, the soundstage is very good. They have very "fun" tuning with punchy sound but with world class technicalities. Kinda remainded me UE triplefi10 but 10 times better in every aspect. Thick midrange, fat bass, with good inoffensive highs. I would call highs that they are good enough. What was very suprising with their warmer and more fun approach they hold their own in more audiophile recordings.
KSE1500 - most neutral, transparent, with best clarity and coherence but also they are not immediately striking Smaller soundstage than u18tzar but the sound is also closer, so close that you feel you almost can touch it. Highs are by far the best out of the three. Midrange, neutral and accurate, definately not as weighty and thick as u18tzar. Less bass which is also faster and more compact but still not lacking. Same as in u18tzar it's suprising is how versatile they both are. I would expect that they will be great with softer music but they hold their own with rock, metal and electronics as good as u18tzar in audiophile recordings.
Tia fourte was packed into box after 20 minutes. I wouldn't call them a let down but they are half baked to me.
I've spent over an hour comparing u18tzar and KSE1500 and I think they are very comparable. They have very different tuning but they both are very versatile. I think that I could live with both of them.
@John Culter u18tzar are indeed not very big but they are very thick so they protrude out of the ear quite a lot. Tia fourte are even bulkier, not by much but still. KSE1500 basically fit entirely in ear.