Today marks my 1 year anniversary on Headfi and as an audiophile. It was a memorable year discovering new gear and making friends along the way.
Where it started:
Monarch MK2 / Fiio M11/M17
This IEM was my gateway into Hifi IEMs. After a Google search, I compared ranking lists. I am a value oriented buyer. This stood out in terms of its price point. "
$1000 vs others that cost $3300 in the same tier, easy choice...Right? . I found it to be a big step up over the consumer iem I was using at the time. Its conservative, neutral tuning made it a great all rounder but it lacked engagement for me when I compared it to the Odin.
Odin / SP2KT
Odin took things up a level from the Monarch MK2 with technicalities with its ethereal clarity and hifi bass performance. Ultimately, I decided to sell it because I was sensitive to its upper mids (2-3K region).
Traillii (Pictured with Magnus 4 cabls)
A month after Monarch 2 and Odin I found Trailliis thread on Headfi. I remember reading
endless pages of nothing but praise for it. My curiosity grew but I had some doubts. This is a
$6600 IEM (used motorcycle) we are talking about. How much better does it get? By chancs, a local Headfi member Sbranson was looking to sell his so I took a ferry over to buy it. That ended up being worthwhile. This was the IEM that made be realize what IEMs were capable of. It blew me away with it's super wide staging, rich mids, incredible tonality and speed. Traillii for me is one of the few IEMs that married musicality with technicalities.
Not long after, I attended a local meet up with Jeff, Jim, Daniel and Stuart which introduced me to XE6.
XE6 / Ode To Laura, Aeneid / N8ii
This just sounded
different. XE6 is still my EDM king. It's bombastic, highly musical but not lacking highs. I bought it back recently to compare with the new prototype. Excited for it to arrive.
Supermoon / Ifi Go Bar
This was my introduction to single drivers. I bought a custom based off the hype it was getting on black friday. Overall, a highly resolving and fun set for its price. I had a persisting problem with its treble edginess but I found an answer to that recently which I'll post about in a few days.
Serratus / RS8
This earbud does a few things well for me. It has a speaker like staging and gorgeous timbre. Despite being priced a lot lower than my other sets this is my first pick for acoustics when I am home.
Ragnar / N8ii
Ragnar is possibly the most resolving set I've heard next to Mentor. It has this uncanny ability to extract the tiniest nuance from a track. But because it was treble emphasized, it was fatiguing for bright music. Since it became a specialist for classical, I sold it to fund other iems.
Elysian X
This is a set I recently let go of and the only one I still miss. X has class leading stage and treble.
Mentor / SP3K / PW Orpheus
Where I am now. Mentor ticks all the right boxes. It replaced Trailliis role as my daily all rounder. This is also the closest I've been able to walk away from this hobby.
A big thanks to people on this thread for pushing me in the right direction.