Very true!
However i assumed that the Oracle and Excalibur wouldn't be as good as the Monarch and Clairvoyance, seeing as the Oracle and Excalibur are both cheaper and have less drives than the Monarch and Clairvoyance.
However like you said, it doesn't hurt to watch!
The Legacy 4 is considered to be better than the Legacy 5, and unless you’re a bass head, better than the Legacy 9. It is less expensive than both, and has fewer drivers.
That being said, I’ve been wanting the Clair for a long time, and it is a known product.
OT: I think ThieAudio needs to come out with a very well tuned Voyager 5 or 8, with a superb tuning, to compete with the SA6, RSV, and Lokahi.
Finally their here after 3 months, 2 pin cable supplied does RED side connect to the right ear or left ear Piece ? and also do it matter which way the pins go round ( no polarity ?)
Thanks in Advance
Finally their here after 3 months, 2 pin cable supplied does RED side connect to the right ear or left ear Piece ? and also do it matter which way the pins go round ( no polarity ?)
Thanks in Advance
If you can get a good fit with the Z1R you are in for a real treat, and I’d be shocked if the Monarch can match their musicality, phenomenal, speaker like soundstage and movie theatre like rumble! The Z1R are top dogs...
Just arrived and tested, the IER belong to another league, they have all the qualities of the Monarchs and in addition much more balanced and musical ... nothing to say a step forward and also very evident. For me it is enough and more, endgame.
Just arrived and tested, the IER belong to another league, they have all the qualities of the Monarchs and in addition much more balanced and musical ... nothing to say a step forward and also very evident. For me it is enough and more, endgame.
The Z1R is really phenomenal if you are lucky that your ear canals are big enough.
I listened to them 3 years ago for maybe an hour and can't forget it, but my ears are too small
ehhh saying z1r is in another league is a stretch in my opinion. More like the same ballpark. But hey thats just my opinion. We will see once my clairs arrive. But I find myself missing my other iems when im listening to my z1rs
ehhh saying z1r is in another league is a stretch in my opinion. More like the same ballpark. But hey thats just my opinion. We will see once my clairs arrive. But I find myself missing my other iems when im listening to my z1rs
If we talk about fun, maybe the Monarchs are even superior ... but if we talk about balance, musicality, soundstage, and richness in all the frequencies between the two there is the sea ... in my opinion.
I’ve been lurking for quite some time over these two and I’m a bit torn between them but ended up putting an order in for the Monarch.
It’s early though and I could probably still cancel but it seems the general consensus is Classical/Orchestra probably better suited for Monarch over the Clairvoyance
@Polky74 I’m curious about how you would compare to your FD5 (as that’s what I’m using mostly at the moment) for music such as this (if you don’t mind!):
ehhh saying z1r is in another league is a stretch in my opinion. More like the same ballpark. But hey thats just my opinion. We will see once my clairs arrive. But I find myself missing my other iems when im listening to my z1rs
I think people tend to conflate technical performance with tuning preferences. People tend to know what they like and if they like something, they may say it's technically superior when they actually may prefer how it's tuned. The way you figure that out is you tune IEMs to the same preference curve and then decide which one you like more.
My 3 favorite IEMs are Empire Ears Odin, Sony IER-Z1R and Thieaudio Monarch. I use them all as all around IEMs as they all sound great with all genres of music. I think technically all 3 are top tier, but have different strengths and weaknesses. To me, the Z1Rs have the best timbre and mid bass response, but since I am not a fan of its v-shaped FR curve, I need to EQ them. The Monarchs have the best tuning and the Odins have the best resolution and detail retrieval and best subbass for me. Odin and Monarchs are more similar in sound than different. The Z1Rs have more realism and excitement. The Odins and Monarchs are more reference-like to me. When you pair the Stormbreaker cable ($1299) from the Odin on the Monarch (stock cable $69), they are both worthy of best of the best classification. Or course, that is just according to my own subjective review as I am sure others disagree.
If we talk about fun, maybe the Monarchs are even superior ... but if we talk about balance, musicality, soundstage, and richness in all the frequencies between the two there is the sea ... in my opinion.
This illustrates my point. Balance is tuning. Sound stage and richness are technical attributes. Musicality is a subjective label and has different meanings to different people and can be either tuning or technical. ZMF headphones, for instance, have a house sound that is in large part achieved through its tuning. The headphones have a very rich sound which you can clearly hear when you EQ two headphones to the same curve. But, that house sound is lost when you EQ them to Harman. When you do that, it sounds like a reference headphone with rich bass and mids.
I feel like Monarch was the last piece of the puzzle for my collection.
I now rotate between Z1R (EQed) -> 3DT (Modded) -> Monarch (exotic cabled) -> Volt (EQed) and have no desire to buy anything else until next month
I feel like Monarch was the last piece of the puzzle for my collection.
I now rotate between Z1R (EQed) -> 3DT (Modded) -> Monarch (exotic cabled) -> Volt (EQed) and have no desire to buy anything else until next month
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