[vilhelm44]

I received my Monarch III earlier and I'm impressed, it's a great fit and very comfortable. I don't find the treble too much and thought the bass would be more prominent but sounds nicely balanced. Quite liking the stock cable with Spiral Dot tips at the moment. I've tried my EA Cadmus cable as well which is good but sounds a little thinner than stock. This will be a nice stop-gap while I wait for my Custom Art FU7s to be repaired and returned.

 

[peripheralsdealer]

HQP->May->Bliss,

I won't be pairing 1k iem such as mmk3 which again, barely scales, to 8k + system just to squeeze something better out of it (if I already had that desktop system sure why not).
There is a chance that such higher end DAC would do something better but it's just the wrong iem to do it with imo but ymmv.
You'd probably want to do it with anni 2023, fei wan, etc.
Didn't compare m15's dac vs n8ii so idk how much better it is, but still, differences are minor, it's an iem to throw on your apple dongle, m15, whatever dongle you have and live your best life, adding high end gear for 1k-ish iem in general doesn't make much sense to me, let alone mmk3, but then again I can't argue with your experience.

Not saying you are doing something wrong of course, as long as you love what hear, it's a win imo.
I assume you are a headphone person and less of an iem one? I can imagine you getting anni / fei wan soon haha.

note - the n8ii i have isn't meant for the mmk3, just in case you will ask "then why u even bothered doing this pairing", it's for an upcoming fei wan, just happened to have mmk3 already so I was curious if it will scale at all and figured out mmk3 barely cares where it's plugged into.

 

[Rayon]

I won't be pairing 1k iem such as mmk3 which again, barely scales, to 8k + system just to squeeze something better out of it (if I already had that desktop system sure why not).
There is a chance that such higher end DAC would do something better but it's just the wrong iem to do it with imo but ymmv.
You'd probably want to do it with anni 2023, fei wan, etc.
Didn't compare m15's dac vs n8ii so idk how much better it is, but still, differences are minor, it's an iem to throw on your apple dongle, m15, whatever dongle you have and live your best life, adding high end gear for 1k-ish iem in general doesn't make much sense to me, let alone mmk3, but then again I can't argue with your experience.

Not saying you are doing something wrong of course, as long as you love what hear, it's a win imo.
I assume you are a headphone person and less of an iem one? I can imagine you getting anni / fei wan soon haha.

note - the n8ii i have isn't meant for the mmk3, just in case you will ask "then why u even bothered doing this pairing", it's for an upcoming fei wan, just happened to have mmk3 already so I was curious if it will scale at all and figured out mmk3 barely cares where it's plugged into.

I'm not directly a headphone or IEM person as such, just enjoy high quality sound and music. IEMs are interesting as they are in your ear canal and thus certain things are easier to accomplish with IEMs and others with headphones. MK3 does sound great from other sources as well. I've been listening with Mojo 2 and it sounds great. But I'm just personally amazed how well MK3 scales. Comparing Mojo 2 and May+Bliss is honestly a night and day difference with MK3. I'm just pointing this out as there was discussion that MK3 wouldn't scale and that hasn't been my experience. Yes, attaching more powerful amplifier in front of it doesn't do much as such, as power is not the problem, but it can scale well with higher quality DACs.

 

[peripheralsdealer]

Yes, attaching more powerful amplifier in front of it doesn't do much as such, as power is not the problem, but it can scale well with higher quality DACs

Ye got ur point, thanks for the explanation : )

I will say that I decided to ditch the n8ii for a few days, I used apple dongle & m15.
Went back today (i use it mostly on tubes mode), and could hear the better quality (bass & instruments for example) on the n8ii - so yea there is an improvement but I still wouldnt say mmk3 scales much, compated to anni / fei wan (based on users comments).

When I say it doesnt scale its cuz the differences are not huge.
If having to pair them to super high end dac / amp to hear a big diff compared to low priced sources, imo it doesnt really scale haha

I am sure with ur high end gear it does really manage to emphasize the differences so thats understandable to me.

I think that if you tried anni / fei wan, compared to mmk3, maybe the term "scales" would get a new meaning : )

Hope you keep enjoying ur mmk3! : )

 

[Rayon]

Ye got ur point, thanks for the explanation : )

I will say that I decided to ditch the n8ii for a few days, I used apple dongle & m15.
Went back today (i use it mostly on tubes mode), and could hear the better quality (bass & instruments for example) on the n8ii - so yea there is an improvement but I still wouldnt say mmk3 scales much, compated to anni / fei wan (based on users comments).

When I say it doesnt scale its cuz the differences are not huge.
If having to pair them to super high end dac / amp to hear a big diff compared to low priced sources, imo it doesnt really scale haha

I am sure with ur high end gear it does really manage to emphasize the differences so thats understandable to me.

I think that if you tried anni / fei wan, compared to mmk3, maybe the term "scales" would get a new meaning : )

Hope you keep enjoying ur mmk3! : )

Thanks for the tip! I will definitely have a look at anni / wei fan as MK3 already is blowing my socks off. It's far from Susvara in staging, but it's also very different representation. I also bought IEM partly because I wanted to have proper noise reduction that I occasionally need and all the closed backs I have tried have been a bit meh after living with headphones like HD800, HE6se, Utopia, Susvara and TC. MK3 not only is super enjoyable in itself, but it also gives superb SQ with passive noise cancellation. However I do feel silly having dedicated HQPlayer computer, May and Bliss feeding such tiny things

 

[npatrix]

Anyone has the MK3 with A&K SE300 or any others A&K DAPs, really interested on this combo?

 

[Aetherhole]

Thanks for the tip! I will definitely have a look at anni / wei fan as MK3 already is blowing my socks off. It's far from Susvara in staging, but it's also very different representation. I also bought IEM partly because I wanted to have proper noise reduction that I occasionally need and all the closed backs I have tried have been a bit meh after living with headphones like HD800, HE6se, Utopia, Susvara and TC. MK3 not only is super enjoyable in itself, but it also gives superb SQ with passive noise cancellation. However I do feel silly having dedicated HQPlayer computer, May and Bliss feeding such tiny things

Absolutely nothing wrong with feeding the MMK3 with the May / Bliss if it sounds good!! I agree, really do like having an option for passive noise canceling and all closed backs I’ve heard so far have not really done it for me. I end up using my MMK3 more than my 64Audio A12t nowadays— it’s so good.

 

[peripheralsdealer]

However I do feel silly having dedicated HQPlayer computer, May and Bliss feeding such tiny things

Totally agree and happy you did such decision going for iems (especially mmk3 as a first is amazing) instead of closed backs, considering your current open backs, you cant be but underwhelmed, yet iems perform differently, in a good way.

And I feel you about the "too much of source for such thing" but you already have the gear and it happens to be very high end + it plays super well, so just consider yourself a lucky man : )

If you go anni / fei wan route, lmk, would
love to know.

Anyone has the MK3 with A&K SE300 or any others A&K DAPs, really interested on this combo?

Didnt try this dap but keep it mind mmk3 isnt the iem you'd want / care to pair with relatively higher end daps / dac&amps, it doesnt scale a ton, (i dont consider it as a scaling iem but it does to some not-so-high extent).

I am using it with n8ii and its amazing although I wouldnt get such dap especially for the mmk3, it can shine
on a simple apple dongle really.. anything better would be trying to squeeze the most out of it and its not
needed, its always welcomed, but surely not needed.

imo, mmk3 kind of just plays at its best regardless of paired source, will it benefit a 2k dap over a 150usd dac&amp, it might, but still, it won't blow ur head off so keep that in mind.

 

[peripheralsdealer]

Absolutely nothing wrong with feeding the MMK3 with the May / Bliss if it sounds good!! I agree, really do like having an option for passive noise canceling and all closed backs I’ve heard so far have not really done it for me. I end up using my MMK3 more than my 64Audio A12t nowadays— it’s so good.

100%

 

[npatrix]

Totally agree and happy you did such decision going for iems (especially mmk3 as a first is amazing) instead of closed backs, considering your current open backs, you cant be but underwhelmed, yet iems perform differently, in a good way.

And I feel you about the "too much of source for such thing" but you already have the gear and it happens to be very high end + it plays super well, so just consider yourself a lucky man : )

If you go anni / fei wan route, lmk, would
love to know.


Didnt try this dap but keep it mind mmk3 isnt the iem you'd want / care to pair with relatively higher end daps / dac&amps, it doesnt scale a ton, (i dont consider it as a scaling iem but it does to some not-so-high extent).

I am using it with n8ii and its amazing although I wouldnt get such dap especially for the mmk3, it can shine
on a simple apple dongle really.. anything better would be trying to squeeze the most out of it and its not
needed, its always welcomed, but surely not needed.

imo, mmk3 kind of just plays at its best regardless of paired source, will it benefit a 2k dap over a 150usd dac&amp, it might, but still, it won't blow ur head off so keep that in mind.

Thanks for the info is very helpful, I was going the other way round, I already have a high-end DAP (SE300) and I'm considering de MK3 for while... but still have a lot of doubts if it will significant upgrade to my setup.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Anyone has the MK3 with A&K SE300 or any others A&K DAPs, really interested on this combo?

The 2000T is an incredible match, soundstage that rivals over ears, and a wide variety of tube mix options to tune the sound to the genre listened too.

 

[peripheralsdealer]

Thanks for the info is very helpful, I was going the other way round, I already have a high-end DAP (SE300) and I'm considering de MK3 for while... but still have a lot of doubts if it will significant upgrade to my setup.

I got the n8ii cuz of the good price I had, and it happened to be before I decided if I am going for annihilator 2023 or fei wan.

If you ask me if you should buy mmk3 to pair with your dap, I would say it depends on your goal.
If you have 1k to spend, you want a good all rounder performance, it's probably your best shot regardless of source.

If you already have the source (like ur dap) but you want to get the best out of your iem, mmk3 isnt the candidate, its hard to squeeze more from it.
You are probably looking at something like the annihilator 2023, they have crazy good reviews, they scale a lot according to people.

When searching, I didnt find any 2k-ish iem that I felt like they are as good as the anni 2023, no matter where I went, what I read, always went back to anni.

Then before purchasing I came across fei wan and will pull the trigger on it soon : )

So if you want an iem that will scale accordingly to the source, mmk3 isn't your answer.

If you want about the best performance as it gets out of the box regardless of source, mmk3 gets my vote any day.

 

[o0genesis0o]

I won't be pairing 1k iem such as mmk3 which again, barely scales, to 8k + system just to squeeze something better out of it (if I already had that desktop system sure why not).
There is a chance that such higher end DAC would do something better but it's just the wrong iem to do it with imo but ymmv.
You'd probably want to do it with anni 2023, fei wan, etc.
Didn't compare m15's dac vs n8ii so idk how much better it is, but still, differences are minor, it's an iem to throw on your apple dongle, m15, whatever dongle you have and live your best life, adding high end gear for 1k-ish iem in general doesn't make much sense to me, let alone mmk3, but then again I can't argue with your experience.

Not saying you are doing something wrong of course, as long as you love what hear, it's a win imo.
I assume you are a headphone person and less of an iem one? I can imagine you getting anni / fei wan soon haha.

note - the n8ii i have isn't meant for the mmk3, just in case you will ask "then why u even bothered doing this pairing", it's for an upcoming fei wan, just happened to have mmk3 already so I was curious if it will scale at all and figured out mmk3 barely cares where it's plugged into.

Maybe you underestimate the MkIII because it’s 1k USD rather than multi-kilobuck.

 

[peripheralsdealer]

Maybe you underestimate the MkIII because it’s 1k USD rather than multi-kilobuck.

From my own testing, imo, they just dont scale enough to claim these iem scale.

They just get to their best almost out of the box and having them paired to any budget dap / dongle will let them perform to their best or VERY close to there.

Purposely buying a 3k dap to pair with mmk3 as an upgrade, expecting to hear the best iems ever, wont happen, I can tell you right away it's a pure waste of money for mmk3, they just dont need it.

I am curious how did you test ur pair? using what sources and how did they sound different from each other? if at all.

 

[o0genesis0o]

From my own testing, imo, they just dont scale enough to claim these iem scale.

They just get to their best almost out of the box and having them paired to any budget dap / dongle will let them perform to their best or VERY close to there.

Purposely buying a 3k dap to pair with mmk3 as an upgrade, expecting to hear the best iems ever, wont happen, I can tell you right away it's a pure waste of money for mmk3, they just dont need it.

I am curious how did you test ur pair? using what sources and how did they sound different from each other? if at all.

Nah, I’m just curious about Mk3. I don’t own one but I did spend a while with a demo unit.

Agree that one shouldn’t buy $$$$$$ DAP if they hope to improve the IEMs they already have. I have a DX300, and I know newer ones with bigger amps can sound better in some cases, this bigass DAP is “enough” for me when dealing with IEMs.

One should grab a great DAP or a strong DAC/amp at some point in their audio journey though.