Can you share more on why the Prestige Ltd. sits above others including the Anni for you?
I'll certainly try! I don't & won't ever call myself an audiophile. I find talking in a lot of jargon very unnatural but I think I can articulate my thoughts just as well without doing so. Of course I am interested in gear as it's part of one of my biggest passions - music - which I think is the real hobby, although I think it's far more than that. It's one of the biggest parts of my life & it always has been. And my enthusiasm for gear purely stems from the want to experience the music in the best way possible. I like telling a story to give background - to me it's important. Pardon my long response & just skip to the bottom if you want the bare bones.
I personally love the sound of well implemented EST drivers... Mest MKII was my first experience with them & my jaw hit the floor when I first listened to them. I didn't know what EST drivers were at that point, but I couldn't believe my ears. I'm relatively new to personal audio as my main way of listening. I used Sennheiser's for professional audio work, but I always used speakers for home listening if I wasn't in a club or studio working.
I decided that with my change of lifestyle (leaving my music career behind, partly as I'm now disabled & can barely walk), personal audio was really appealing, especially with my partner moving in - who isn't big on music & certainly not what I like... and she won't want a big speaker centric hifi set up in my house - but I wanted my music so decided to dive deep, skip the cheapies & go for things I really loved that would last . Fortunately I can try almost anything here and after listening to dozens & dozens of IEMs I found the one correlation was that the vast majority of stuff I loved had very well implemented EST drivers. The only pair I bought that didn't were the Anole VX.
The overall makeup of the Prestige Ltd is absolutely perfect to me. I listen to a lot of (mostly modern/less freeform/zero scat) jazz, which tends to benefit especially well from
imaging/spatial qualities, clarity of details & excellent separation. The PL handles this all so well, the tuning is perfect - they're the only pair of IEM's I own where I don't feel anything is lacking at all when used to present the most compatible music
I wouldn't call the PL's a limited use pair... they're a reasonably good all rounder as an all day long (non fatiguing) listen - especially when I pair them with a Chord Mojo 2 (this is an amazing combination, period - the most impressive synergy between a dac/amp & pair of IEM's... they genuinely sound like they are made for each other.
If you have a chance to check them out properly, the album below is an especially good representation of what they can do (even if not to your personal taste - it's certainly mine). I will say that although I've said I can use them all day, I do rotate heavily ad I like to keep things fresh... if I really want to relax & become immersed in music... I'll be amazed if hear better.
https://tidal.com/album/298087041?u
PS vs Annis. Spectacular treble. Not much else to say about them. I thought they paled in comparison to the PL's. I only got them the other day & it was only because I was desperate to trade an A&K SP3000 DAP that I wanted rid of, and the Anni's are & will remain better 'currency'. Where's the sub!?!