[HardstyleLoco96]

I'm missing certain things of IEM world occasionally and I've been thinking about Monarch mk3 or Prestige LTD. I have Susvara and 1266 TC already, but IEMs have certain "closed-in accuracy" that full-sized cans can't provide. I wouldn't want to have "mini-Susvara" nor "mini-TC", as I rather want to use the originala. I want something different, something where IEMs excel: studio level ultimate accuracy.

I've heard that Prestige is more refined and better fit for jazz and metal for example. However I'm kind of afraid that they would be too close to Sus or TC in presentation. Also comments that praise Prestige's more distant presentation kind of rings some alarm bells as I already have headphones with good soundstage.

I've been listening to these sound demos from youtube with Susvara and in these Prestige sounds a bit boring, while refined. However, I have a feeling that Prestige loses something more in the process as they sound so incredibly different. Monarch sounds more hypnotic.

How accurate picture do you think I would get from these sound-demos with Susvara and what other comments would you have? Especially if someone has TC or Sus, would be lovely to hear some comparisons.

As a (somewhat exotic) reference point: I had SoftEars Cerberus previously and I loved it. However it was a bit problematic with powerful desktop systems as it was so incredibly low impedance (5ohm) combined with high sensitivity (105db). That was my main reason for selling them. However, I also wouldn't want to have another Cerberus 2 with higher impedance, but instead something more "hypnotic" or "romantic". If Prestige is very analytical, that is likely not what I'm searching for at this point. However, I'm also fan of flat (measured) midrange between some 200-1000khz and not Harman midrange, which is kind of unnatural with acoustic instruments. However, both Monarch mk3 and Prestige look like they have flat midrange, so I'm not overly worried about that.

The Monarch MK3 will have more bass and rumble. Same with the treble, slightly more energy up top. More U shaped and fun overall. About an extra 2 to 3db more in the sub bass compared to the Prestige LTD. So around 10db of bass from the Prestige LTD and 12 to 13db in the Monarch MK3. So neither are lacking and sound boring..... Again with treble. The Monarch MK3 has a touch more energy up top. Not a huge difference. But enough to notice it. Overall, Monarch MK3 more fun. Prestige LTD, still very engaging, fun but more technical. Has the larger stage, more depth. More separation. More detail, touch more clarity. But none will sound anywhere close to Susvara. Susvara will sound thinner overall. By a fair bit.

Sound demos can give a slight idea of how a iem will sound. Maybe 10%. Very slight. But in reality, you are mixing the tuning of the headphone you use to hear that sound demo and completely mess with what you are hearing. I never trust a sound demo. Never. You won't hear how much detail the iem is capable of. You won't hear the presentation of the stage and imaging. You won't hear the dynamics of the iem. How it textures notes of drums, guitars, vocals. You won't hear the true extension of bass and treble. How smooth treble may be. How forward mids will sound. Again. You can get a slight idea. But even hearing a sound demo from a Susvara. The tuning of the Susvara will drastically effect what you hear. The Susvara is tuned to have flat low end. The Monarch MK3 and Prestige LTD are delivering more than 10db of bass. How will you hear and feel that from a headphone that's tuned flat? Maybe a tiny amount of impact and slam. But you won't get that 10db with the same quality and separation. Also the anatomy of our ears drastically will effect what we hear to. I can go on and on haha. But to answer your question quick. Both are great iems. None will ever sound boring. Just depends if you want a little more bass and treble and sacrifice some detail and clarity. Or sacrifice a little amount of low end and treble energy but gain in refinement and overall technicalities

 

[Rayon]

The Monarch MK3 will have more bass and rumble. Same with the treble, slightly more energy up top. More U shaped and fun overall. About an extra 2 to 3db more in the sub bass compared to the Prestige LTD. So around 10db of bass from the Prestige LTD and 12 to 13db in the Monarch MK3. So neither are lacking and sound boring..... Again with treble. The Monarch MK3 has a touch more energy up top. Not a huge difference. But enough to notice it. Overall, Monarch MK3 more fun. Prestige LTD, still very engaging, fun but more technical. Has the larger stage, more depth. More separation. More detail, touch more clarity. But none will sound anywhere close to Susvara. Susvara will sound thinner overall. By a fair bit.

Sound demos can give a slight idea of how a iem will sound. Maybe 10%. Very slight. But in reality, you are mixing the tuning of the headphone you use to hear that sound demo and completely mess with what you are hearing. I never trust a sound demo. Never. You won't hear how much detail the iem is capable of. You won't hear the presentation of the stage and imaging. You won't hear the dynamics of the iem. How it textures notes of drums, guitars, vocals. You won't hear the true extension of bass and treble. How smooth treble may be. How forward mids will sound. Again. You can get a slight idea. But even hearing a sound demo from a Susvara. The tuning of the Susvara will drastically effect what you hear. The Susvara is tuned to have flat low end. The Monarch MK3 and Prestige LTD are delivering more than 10db of bass. How will you hear and feel that from a headphone that's tuned flat? Maybe a tiny amount of impact and slam. But you won't get that 10db with the same quality and separation. Also the anatomy of our ears drastically will effect what we hear to. I can go on and on haha. But to answer your question quick. Both are great iems. None will ever sound boring. Just depends if you want a little more bass and treble and sacrifice some detail and clarity. Or sacrifice a little amount of low end and treble energy but gain in refinement and overall technicalities

Thanks! Yes, reading your comment made me realize how vague my question was

I know, there is ko way to experience the real thing. I was just thinking that someone with both Prestige and Susvara could listen to that demo and comment things like: "In reality LTD is much more engaging. That doesn't come through at all." But as no-one can possible understand what I'm hearing and worried about, it's hopeless.

It's just that listening to mk3 demo, I'm tapping my toe and want to continue. With LTD demo, nothing happens. This just raises some concerns that I would end up ending up buying something like Susvara: beautiful, refined, but nothing new. Mk3 instead sounds like something completely different: engaging, fun, but still super tasteful and high quality. Something I wanted when I was younger, but wasn't available 15-20y ago. That would be amazing.

But as I said, something may be happening in the process that favors mk3 over LTD and makes them sound like night and day regarding to engagement. I would definitely demo them, but we don't have local retailers here in Finland, so will need to buy blind.

At this point I think I'm starting to lean towards mk3 as I'm looking for something new and different vs. one audiophile IEM to fill all my needs. If I was still looking for my "end-game", it would definitely be LTD. But I have Susvara for that.

 

[OhmsClaw]

That's a conundrum for blind buyers.

 

[Rayon]

That's a conundrum for blind buyers.

Indeed. Almost identical measurements, but in sound demo it's night and day difference.

 

[OhmsClaw]

Indeed. Almost identical measurements, but in sound demo it's night and day difference.

That was from the Youtube videos with recording rigs on the nozzles? I would argue actually getting em in your ears is a much different story. Your ear canal interaction with a universal and the tips will be the deal breaker when they're tuned so close. How the isobaric set up affects the bass of electronic instruments vs the timbre of strings and drums. That's a tough call. Thus are the pitfalls of blind buying before the MK4 and the Uber LTD Mega Prestige Mk2 comes out.

 

[RIGATIO]

That's a conundrum for blind buyers.

The Prestige seems to have the most correct fr among them all. The 4,5k dip is welcomed for someone who is sensitive for this area and tbh, this area along with the 5k are the most problematic for many listeners. Also early boost at 2-2,5k doesnt do any favor to the upper vocal harmonics- Hype 10 shame
The Mmk3 has flatter pinna but boost around 5,5k which also makes it too bright for many.
The LTD seems like a better tuned u12t, with a DD for the bass and more controlled air region.
The LTD also has the most downsloping trebles after pinna gain which is a correct approach.

 

[Rayon]

That was from the Youtube videos with recording rigs on the nozzles? I would argue actually getting em in your ears is a much different story. Your ear canal interaction with a universal and the tips will be the deal breaker when they're tuned so close. How the isobaric set up affects the bass of electronic instruments vs the timbre of strings and drums. That's a tough call. Thus are the pitfalls of blind buying before the MK4 and the Uber LTD Mega Prestige Mk2 comes out.

Yeah, I meant that my life would had been much easier if the measurements would had confirmed what I was hearing, but such is life

 

[gadgetgod]

That's a conundrum for blind buyers.

Having heard two out of these three personally(Hype10 I own, MMK3 I heard at a recent event), they both sound entirely different to each other to my ears. MMK3's stage is more open, and the vocals are much more relaxed in comparison. Treble is better extended(which i guess this graph shoes well as Hype10 has a big dip in the 8-12/13k region.

 

[OhmsClaw]

The Prestige seems to have the most correct fr among them all. The 4,5k dip is welcomed for someone who is sensitive for this area and tbh, this area along with the 5k are the most problematic for many listeners. Also early boost at 2-2,5k doesnt do any favor to the upper vocal harmonics- Hype 10 shame
The Mmk3 has flatter pinna but boost around 5,5k which also makes it too bright for many.
The LTD seems like a better tuned u12t, with a DD for the bass and more controlled air region.
The LTD also has the most downsloping trebles after pinna gain which is a correct approach.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Knale]

The Prestige seems to have the most correct fr among them all

We should probably be careful throwing the term "correct" around. Your correct might be pretty different from my correct.

 

[RIGATIO]

We should probably be careful throwing the term "correct" around. Your correct might be pretty different from my correct.

There is an objective and a subjective sound quality. The correct means that the vocals are more pronounced than the cymbals or hi-hats not the other way around. If you like it different, thats your choice and you have 100% right to like more but it doesnt make it correct. Ive spent some time with iems that had an incorrect fr, like the Mest 2 for example and i could easily hear that the presentation wasnt correct, when compared to the live performance for example. But it doesnt make the Mest 2 an unattractive iems, they still sounded good but just not correct. Variations, Twilight, Monarch 2 are correct sounding no matter if we like them or not.

 

[ext23]

I mean literally everyone will tell you that the Mk3 has significantly more bass than the LTD. But the bass response on those curves is identical across all three IEMs. There's just no way to distinguish them based on FR alone, at least as far as the bass is concerned. And as such I'd argue that you can't really read too much into the treble curves either. If @Brooding Sonata can't physically audition them, all they can do is "average out" what other users say about them and make a leap of faith based on what they think they would like.

 

[HardstyleLoco96]

Yeah, I meant that my life would had been much easier if the measurements would had confirmed what I was hearing, but such is life

I think what may give that extra sense of engagement and wow factor is the staging on the Monarch MK3 compared to the Prestige LTD. The Monarch MK3 from my experience sounded more intimate and closed in. Still big for an iem. But for me, staging was a little lackluster considering the $1000 price. But it did help bring things closer and sound a little more intense. Where as the Prestige LTD has more depth, width and height which can make things sound more airy and further away. Some may prefer the intimate intensity of the Monarch MK3, and some may prefer the spacious, airy sound of the Prestige LTD. The bass on the Monarch Mk3 feels like a huge wall coming at you. Where as the Prestige LTD is more surrounding.

 

[Rayon]

I think what may give that extra sense of engagement and wow factor is the staging on the Monarch MK3 compared to the Prestige LTD. The Monarch MK3 from my experience sounded more intimate and closed in. Still big for an iem. But for me, staging was a little lackluster considering the $1000 price. But it did help bring things closer and sound a little more intense. Where as the Prestige LTD has more depth, width and height which can make things sound more airy and further away. Some may prefer the intimate intensity of the Monarch MK3, and some may prefer the spacious, airy sound of the Prestige LTD. The bass on the Monarch Mk3 feels like a huge wall coming at you. Where as the Prestige LTD is more surrounding.

Thank you, these comparisons are most helpful and basically inline with my current expectations. My blind buying finger feels very reckless right now...

 

[Rayon]

Just blind bought MK3. Will post impressions once I get it. Based on comments, reviews and sound demo, I just had to hear it