Monarch is a noticeable step up in technicalities from the Excalibur but I'm still debating whether I prefer the more aggressive tuning of the Excalibur or the smoother tuning of the Monarch! Also the Monarch is significantly larger than the Excalibur, and is much less comfortable so yet another trade-off to consider.
If you love the Excalibur I think the MEST MkII is a similar tuning/tonality (with a more aggressive upper treble shelf) taken to a whole new level of performance. The upper treble is too hot for me so I'll probably be selling my MEST MkII soon
I think the HE1000 V2 and Monarch have a similar stage, relative to their form factor at least, but pretty different presentation, tuning and timbre.
The Monarch has an interesting vertical quality to it's presentation. Bass sounds like it comes from below, mids come from the center and highs come from above. I actually love this quirk but it can come across a bit strange at times. V2 is 100% cohesive and has insane instrument separation.
The V2 is significantly brighter than the Monarch. This might be unpleasant for some but it's nothing that EQ can't fix. Monarch is the is the best compromise I've heard between smoothness and detail out of the box.
Timbre is noticeably different between a planar and a DD/BA setup... obviously. I believe that even the best BA's will always be inferior to the best planars or DD's. The Monarch's timbre is great for an IEM, but the V2 presents many sounds like percussion, bass guitar, crowd and nature ambience etc. exactly how it sounds in real life. I have yet to hear an IEM with timbre on the level of the V2 and I doubt I ever will.
If you love the Arya/HE1000 and want that in an IEM, the Monarch is the closest I've heard so far. Still, comparing them one-on-one it's not even close. The V2 is the best headphone I've ever heard and I imagine the only thing that could change that would be the Susvara.
Cool! I think we have just about the same opinion and sound preferences. I also EQ my V2 just a bit.
Though I tend to think the V2 and, honestly, every other open back headphone I've tried has significantly more soundstage than the Monarch which, IMO, isn't a big deal for an IEM but just something to consider as I had to get used the the more "in my head" feeling of IEMs.
It's funny, I just received the Qudelix and it certainly suits the Monarch more to my sound preference what with being brighter and to my ears allowing more instrument separation than the portable Fiio's I tried before it. Certainly makes the gap between something like the B2 and Monarch bigger in terms of technicalities as a portable IEM now.
But, yeah, if the Monarch is something like 90% of the way to the technicalities of the much more expensive IEMs I'll take the compromise as it's still nowhere close to a kilobuck headphone like the Focal Clear which I can only assume would also blow away the technicalities of the best IEMs currently on the market.
i found the lack of tips very disappointing. i could not get a good fit with anything i tried besides foam and foam never stays in my ears. maybe i need to try the foams you guys mentioned above. i sold my oracle for what i paid and got the fh5 for 130 dollars. it comes with 7 pairs of tips of all types and the fit in 100 times better and more secure. the sound is 95 percent as good. less refined but great. fit is very important and these are hit and miss.
Thanks for the tip about the fit; that's probably a deal breaker for me. I was thinking there must be some sort of penalty in terms of size and weight, with anything having 8 drivers (the Clairvoyance), and was hoping that the Oracle with its 5 drivers, would come in an appreciably smaller enclosure; that doesn't appear to be the case. I had Shanling IEMs before, and that company is really good at putting five drivers in a small enclosure that's shaped like your ear. You don't have to keep readjusting them, and they would obliterate outside noise. If another company could put five good drivers in an enclosure that's shaped like that, for $600 - $700, I'd be very happy.
I would be interested as well. They will have tough competition though with the MEST up around that price. I would still love to see something form them though. I really enjoy Thieaudio!
For the cable, I remember someone on here saying that the Stormbreaker cable that comes with the EE Odin is amazing on the Monarch.
However, that's a $1000 cable....
But personally for me, I've found getting a type 2 Pure Silver Litz cable (~$250) works amazingly well for the Monarch if you wish to exaggerate the micro detail even further.
In regards to tips, I've settled on the Spinfit CP500 tips with foam inserts. That provides the best fit and sound quality for me.
Very interesting ranking indeed. I love the Monarch and the sub bass rattles my brain every time I listen to it. I also have the Oracle and Excalibur on the way. So I think I’m covered on all fronts.
I was debating getting the Clairvoyance too, but I thought it would be a little redundant of the Oracle… but regardless, I’m truly looking forward to the Excalibur. It has a super nice V shape sound sig and one that may have BOTH sub bass and mid bass to spare.
Using that, I ended up buying a bunch of the CPs (100,145,500) and Azlas and the Deep Mount and Final Audio Type E. For my large ears, the Final Audio Type Es suited me the best aside from the Xelastec which fit the best (since they literally mold to your ear) but sounded more hollow and dull.
I find only the Final Audio gave the correct sound for mid-bass while keeping the cymbals also sounding right as opposed to the Deep Mount and CP500s which muted cymbals a bit. I also only found those three to really bring out the soundstage and dynamics which, unfortunately, made all the other tips just feel lacking. This is very much YMMV, though
I can at least tell you how the OG Mest compares to the Clairvoyanace for me.
The MEST is my favorite and makes me hardly pick up the Clairvoyanace anymore. The Clair is a smoother playback overall, but once you get used to the MEST, it becomes a new clear, resolved, neutral that everything ends up competing against. The Mest is best. Especially after some time adjusting to it (psychologically or burn in who knows, but probably psychologically).
It’s hard for me to imagine that something else from ThieAudio would compete, as companies tend to have a familiar house sound across their range, but I haven’t actually heard the Oracle, Excalibur, Monarch to know for sure.
Final Audio Type E tips for me. I went back and forth between those and the SpinFits for a bit. The issue with the SpinFits for me is that I think there is a sharp bend in my right ear that obstructs the tube of the more flexible tip, which causes the image to skew ever so slightly to the left. It's maddening, but otherwise fit and isolation are both solid and you can't go wrong with either. Final tips are a bit more "fun," where the SpinFits are more "smooth" (less punch, but more accurate).
As for cables, PLEASE don't spend more than like 50 bucks at max. The standard cable is quite good and even if you do believe that the cables affect the sound insofar as core material is concerned (it's demonstrably a placebo, but for something to be a placebo it has to make a perceived difference to you by definition), the improvement to the sound will extremely marginal. Tips are the most important by far and I'd spend money on finding the right ones for you, use whatever money you have left to buy a new cable if you really want to (but I don't see why you would).
I can at least tell you how the OG Mest compares to the Clairvoyanace for me.
The MEST is my favorite and makes me hardly pick up the Clairvoyanace anymore. The Clair is a smoother playback overall, but once you get used to the MEST, it becomes a new clear, resolved, neutral that everything ends up competing against. The Mest is best. Especially after some time adjusting to it (psychologically or burn in who knows, but probably psychologically).
It’s hard for me to imagine that something else from ThieAudio would compete, as companies tend to have a familiar house sound across their range, but I haven’t actually heard the Oracle, Excalibur, Monarch to know for sure.
Thanks, that is what I thought as well. The resolution, clarity and soundstage (wideness and depth) still stuck to me after auditioning it half a year back. The only one that kinda come close is the Empire Ears ESR MkII, which has EST too. Now just looking for one of the OG MEST for cheap.
Final Audio Type E tips for me. I went back and forth between those and the SpinFits for a bit. The issue with the SpinFits for me is that I think there is a sharp bend in my right ear that obstructs the tube of the more flexible tip, which causes the image to skew ever so slightly to the left. It's maddening, but otherwise fit and isolation are both solid and you can't go wrong with either. Final tips are a bit more "fun," where the SpinFits are more "smooth" (less punch, but more accurate).
As for cables, PLEASE don't spend more than like 50 bucks at max. The standard cable is quite good and even if you do believe that the cables affect the sound insofar as core material is concerned (it's demonstrably a placebo, but for something to be a placebo it has to make a perceived difference to you by definition), the improvement to the sound will extremely marginal. Tips are the most important by far and I'd spend money on finding the right ones for you, use whatever money you have left to buy a new cable if you really want to (but I don't see why you would).
Glad to see someone who understand the snake oil behind cables. It does affect sound, but the impact is the lowest among everything else you can influence (source, tips, depth of insertion, gear).
Instead of switching cables, spend more time tip-rolling, that can yield much more significant results given everyone's ear structure is different.
Glad to see someone who understand the snake oil behind cables. It does affect sound, but the impact is the lowest among everything else you can influence (source, tips, depth of insertion, gear).
Instead of switching cables, spend more time tip-rolling, that can yield much more significant results given everyone's ear structure is different.
NONO dont say snake oil its only because we aren't blessed with golden ears like others so we are unable to appreciate the changes that the cables bring. Definately not snake oil.
NONO dont say snake oil its only because we aren't blessed with golden ears like others so we are unable to appreciate the changes that the cables bring. Definately not snake oil.
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