[UnknownOperator]

Friends, it may not be dishonest. We don’t know the details of their manufacturing agreements with their suppliers. It may be that once the order goes in it can’t be changed. It just sits in queue until it‘s your turn to be made. Sure, if the order is a “stock” model then maybe it would be better customer service to let that stock version just go into their warehouse since they don’t seem to have trouble selling them, but it seems extreme to accuse the company of “lying” to their customers.

Like I said, I’m not going to raise hell and I am in no rush. I just wish they would be transparent especially since I requested a change and was told it was too late because they were already well within the production process... and then 10 days later I get an email response replying to an email I sent a month ago informing me that they cannot accommodate my request and is it ok to proceed with my order. It doesn’t really add up, but that’s ok. There are bigger problems in this world right now. I am very happy with the Monarch and would be content if I lived the rest of my life with the 2 IEMs that I own.

 

[blomman77]

Well my last Thieaudio i ordered (the L9) was suppose to take 2 weeks before shippement. I contacted them after 2 weeks and they said it was " in production right now". 3 weeks later it was finishen... I contacted them once every week for thoose 3 weeks to check the status,and every time same anser," next week". According to their webpage "a wood shell L9 takes a whole day to produce" somehow my set took 3 weeks. So obviously lies to keep me calm. If they don't know the time frame,THAT is what they should say,nothing else...

Friends, it may not be dishonest. We don’t know the details of their manufacturing agreements with their suppliers. It may be that once the order goes in it can’t be changed. It just sits in queue until it‘s your turn to be made. Sure, if the order is a “stock” model then maybe it would be better customer service to let that stock version just go into their warehouse since they don’t seem to have trouble selling them, but it seems extreme to accuse the company of “lying” to their customers.

 

[IEMusic]

Friends, it may not be dishonest. We don’t know the details of their manufacturing agreements with their suppliers. It may be that once the order goes in it can’t be changed. It just sits in queue until it‘s your turn to be made. Sure, if the order is a “stock” model then maybe it would be better customer service to let that stock version just go into their warehouse since they don’t seem to have trouble selling them, but it seems extreme to accuse the company of “lying” to their customers.

I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt, but what would you call it when you say something is ready to be shipped soon, but then every week you send an email saying it will be sent the following week, on and on for a month? What about creating shipping invoices w/o shipping the product for another few weeks? Maybe they couldn’t change the faceplate design in this instance, I’m not arguing that, but these other practices are either dishonest or woefully incompetent. Either is egregious. When you lose a customer’s trust, you can’t blame them for questioning your every response.

By the way, I’m a huge fan of a lot of their products, and have nothing against them personally. I would much rather they do business well, and succeed, but these practices have persisted, without signs of improvement. Competing companies, in the same situation, take much better care of their customers, so there is no excuse.

Edit: BTW, @morphon, I do appreciate you not joining in with our grievances just to pile it on, and providing the opposing argument, but I have a tough time defending their behavior. I would love it if our comments prompted change, then I would be cheering them on.

 

[eloelo]

Received my monarch!

As expected, my brain decided that it was too thin today, so I put my 20ohm adapter and it was perfect with the right amount of warmth! The rumble is crazy fun too hahaha. After a while, I removed the adapter and felt the default monarch wasn't too thin anymore, and had the crispiness in the vocals restored. The adapter kinda helped in accounting for brain lol. That was what made me choose monarch over clairvoyance even though clair's mids is oof (but I have nothing to adapt if my brain decided that clair was too veiled one day. Happened in my 2nd time of demoing clair).

 

[IEMusic]

Received my monarch!

As expected, my brain decided that it was too thin today, so I put my 20ohm adapter and it was perfect with the right amount of warmth! The rumble is crazy fun too hahaha. After a while, I removed the adapter and felt the default monarch wasn't too thin anymore, and had the crispiness in the vocals restored. The adapter kinda helped in accounting for brain lol. That was what made me choose monarch over clairvoyance even though clair's mids is oof (but I have nothing to adapt if my brain decided that clair was too veiled one day. Happened in my 2nd time of demoing clair).

The 2-in-1 versatility of the Monarch is most definitely appealing. Enjoy! They look beautiful. Let us know your impressions after some time.

 

[morphon]

Edit: BTW, @morphon, I do appreciate you not joining in with our grievances just to pile it on, and providing the opposing argument, but I have a tough time defending their behavior. I would love it if our comments prompted change, then I would be cheering them on.

Fair enough. I ordered the Monarch a few days before the Crinacle review and it was 6 days total from clicking the order button to putting them in my ears. I have a feeling they are just completely overloaded with people who were primed and ready to get these but just waiting on a respected reviewer - having them be (by far) the least expensive choice in his top tier as well as being a tribrid without high-frequency roll-off (that isn’t also $3k) likely overwhelmed both their supply chain AND their customer service resources. Unexpected things occur, especially when we’re dealing with made-to-order hand-checked products. I would be very upset if Amazon pulled something like that because they just box things up and put them in the mail. But I want to give Linsoul as much benefit of the doubt as possible. It could just as easily be miscommunication between one part of the company and another.

Anyway, I hope they correct whatever issue is going on, and grow their manufacturing arm responsibly (without endangering the gains on QC and product consistency they’ve made recently). I just don’t want “they’ve had some customer service snafus with regard to communicating shipping times” to turn into “they’re a dishonest company.”

 

[Dolores Dolomites]

As expected, my brain decided that it was too thin today, so I put my 20ohm adapter and it was perfect with the right amount of warmth!

Indeed. The HiBy adaptor is great for me on those mornings after I slept on "the cold side of the pillow" and need a little warmth. It gives the right energy to rock and pop, although I rarely listen to that. The 20Ω impedance seems to sort of "clairvoyancing" the Monarch. =)
Modern electronica and jazz are just perfect without it.

As for Linsoul, I can say I'm happy with their service so far: Monarch ordered on September 1, on my porch on 11, clear shell no logo faceplate.
The EC-01 box I ordered along with the set was missing, but I didn't really _need_ it so I asked for a refund and after asking whether I had a picture of it (which I clearly didn't bother taking) they refunded those 19$ right away.

 

[UnknownOperator]

Fair enough. I ordered the Monarch a few days before the Crinacle review and it was 6 days total from clicking the order button to putting them in my ears. I have a feeling they are just completely overloaded with people who were primed and ready to get these but just waiting on a respected reviewer - having them be (by far) the least expensive choice in his top tier as well as being a tribrid without high-frequency roll-off (that isn’t also $3k) likely overwhelmed both their supply chain AND their customer service resources. Unexpected things occur, especially when we’re dealing with made-to-order hand-checked products. I would be very upset if Amazon pulled something like that because they just box things up and put them in the mail. But I want to give Linsoul as much benefit of the doubt as possible. It could just as easily be miscommunication between one part of the company and another.

Anyway, I hope they correct whatever issue is going on, and grow their manufacturing arm responsibly (without endangering the gains on QC and product consistency they’ve made recently). I just don’t want “they’ve had some customer service snafus with regard to communicating shipping times” to turn into “they’re a dishonest company.”

I had a similar experience with my Monarch. I ordered that 2 months ago and had it in hand 2 weeks later. I totally understand the demand they are experiencing now and, based upon my experience with the Monarch, it is justified. As I said, when I ordered my Monarch and interacted with their reps on the Discord server, take all the time you need, just be transparent about the manufacturing and shipping process so I can set my expectations accordingly.

 

[IEMusic]

The EC-01 box I ordered along with the set was missing, but I didn't really _need_ it so I asked for a refund and after asking whether I had a picture of it (which I clearly didn't bother taking) they refunded those 19$ right away.

That’s good that they refunded the money.

I’ve had that happen twice so far with Amazon, but how does one prove that something is missing? Fortunately, they were low cost items, and I actually didn’t bother disputing (my laziness).

 

[eloelo]

I guess this video is like 4 people's review of Monarch and Clairvoyance

 

[antdroid]

I guess this video is like 4 people's review of Monarch and Clairvoyance

I wouldn't believe anything out of those guys.

 

[widdyjudas]

Here is the situation here in Shenzhen China. I think Linsoul is very overwhelmed by all the orders they get worldwide. Even I must wait for 1 week for the demo unit to arrive. They will have the monarch for me next monday and the clair next wednesday. This is a special request from their manager Lilian to the factory.
Also, the golden week holiday will start on oct 1. this caused many of the factory workers take leave early.
I dont know where the factory is, but linsoul office is very near to my place, 5-7 minutes walking distance. However, I have not gone to their office yet. Waiting for the demo units first and will take picture for you guys

 

[widdyjudas]

Anyway, yesterday I tested the moondrop s8, B2, qdc vx.
first the B2, coming from the ie8, this I must say is very bright, detailed and clear. Its like a transition from foggy to clear day. I can hear more details and the imaging, separation is very good. I think its mid centric? because I feel that the other is a bit recessed. Maybe I am wrong about this, I am not a pro reviewer and dont have the golden ear. fits perfectly to my ear.
Then the s8, this is the step up for B2. I think this is more balanced, with more high notes. Nothing really recessed and very revealing. the details and imaging like 1 level above the B2 but the bass is softer for the s8. Overall, I prefer the s8 over B2, since I can hear even more details. One thing is, the tone is quite thin. I wish it got more body, although the bass qty is enough for me. also fits perfectly to my ear.
3rd is the qdc anole vx. this is the bonus round for me, since they placed it on my sitting area, and I am also curious because of its pricing... I must say, hearing the vx after the s8, my feeling simply wow. the instrument detail, separation and imaging I think is above the s8. Maybe I am wrong, maybe because I saw the pricing and just biased to the qdc. But the feeling is like, when the first time you hear music using headphone/iem, moving from standard speaker. You can hear all the details I didn't hear before. In the end, I didn't test it too much, too afraid to use my rtx 3080 budget for this baby . The fit, it didn't snug as well as the s8, very funny since I think the s8 body is even bigger than the vx.
I also tried the inear 8 (forgot the complete name) This also like a step up from the 8 a bit, not quite the anole level, I didn't test it much. Also, I tried the dk3001 pro, but I never able to fit it to my ear.
That is all, sorry if I am wrong. Again, I am not a pro reviewer, I dont know any audio terms. I just write this based on my hearing experience and tried my best to describe it.
Next week, hopefully I can get to test either the monarch and clair before decide which one to buy. For now, I think I would like the s8.
Too bad I cant test the fiio fh7, they dont have demo unit for it.

 

[widdyjudas]

Some photos for fun. All demo unit can be tested freely and no time limit. Free disinfectant and cleaning wet tissue too.

 

[IEMusic]

Here is the situation here in Shenzhen China. I think Linsoul is very overwhelmed by all the orders they get worldwide. Even I must wait for 1 week for the demo unit to arrive. They will have the monarch for me next monday and the clair next wednesday. This is a special request from their manager Lilian to the factory.
Also, the golden week holiday will start on oct 1. this caused many of the factory workers take leave early.
I dont know where the factory is, but linsoul office is very near to my place, 5-7 minutes walking distance. However, I have not gone to their office yet. Waiting for the demo units first and will take picture for you guys

Thanks for the update. I think many of us would really appreciate it if Linsoul would provide direct updates about what is going on. I suspect most of us are reasonable, and are understanding of situations that arise.

Anyway, yesterday I tested the moondrop s8, B2, qdc vx.
first the B2, coming from the ie8, this I must say is very bright, detailed and clear. Its like a transition from foggy to clear day. I can hear more details and the imaging, separation is very good. I think its mid centric? because I feel that the other is a bit recessed. Maybe I am wrong about this, I am not a pro reviewer and dont have the golden ear. fits perfectly to my ear.
Then the s8, this is the step up for B2. I think this is more balanced, with more high notes. Nothing really recessed and very revealing. the details and imaging like 1 level above the B2 but the bass is softer for the s8. Overall, I prefer the s8 over B2, since I can hear even more details. One thing is, the tone is quite thin. I wish it got more body, although the bass qty is enough for me. also fits perfectly to my ear.
3rd is the qdc anole vx. this is the bonus round for me, since they placed it on my sitting area, and I am also curious because of its pricing... I must say, hearing the vx after the s8, my feeling simply wow. the instrument detail, separation and imaging I think is above the s8. Maybe I am wrong, maybe because I saw the pricing and just biased to the qdc. But the feeling is like, when the first time you hear music using headphone/iem, moving from standard speaker. You can hear all the details I didn't hear before. In the end, I didn't test it too much, too afraid to use my rtx 3080 budget for this baby . The fit, it didn't snug as well as the s8, very funny since I think the s8 body is even bigger than the vx.
I also tried the inear 8 (forgot the complete name) This also like a step up from the 8 a bit, not quite the anole level, I didn't test it much. Also, I tried the dk3001 pro, but I never able to fit it to my ear.
That is all, sorry if I am wrong. Again, I am not a pro reviewer, I dont know any audio terms. I just write this based on my hearing experience and tried my best to describe it.
Next week, hopefully I can get to test either the monarch and clair before decide which one to buy. For now, I think I would like the s8.
Too bad I cant test the fiio fh7, they dont have demo unit for it.

That really looks like fun, getting to listen to all that great stuff. I’m pretty sure you can‘t go wrong with the S8, Monarch, Clairvoyance, or the Blessing 2 for that matter.