[RIGATIO]

I wouldnt care much about the fact that he slightly prefers the Prestige ltd to the MMk3. The fact that the new Prestige is his new fav and the MMk3 is just very slightly behind (but only in detail retrieval), means that they are both very comparable.
And this Kinera Skuld being so amazing.. well i dont agree. I liked them when i auditioned them but they were nowhere near as complex and refined sounding as my MMk2. I would even put the Kinera Nanna 1.0 higher than the Skuld so we are talking his preferences here.
Remeber when the Kinera 2.0 were Zeos's favs? They are destroyed by the MMk2 in every scenario.

 

[UnknownOperator]

Reading here and there, it seems that the highest point reached by Thieaudio in the quality/price ratio was with the first Monarch... let's hope they reach those peaks again... especially for those who buy the new MKIII. The only thing the original Monarch needed was a good cable and now with the Cadmus 8W I have found it.

I agree. I bought the original Monarch and the Odin FE at the same time and spent a few months with both before selling the Odin. I don’t exactly love the Sonion EST drivers, but the tuning of the original Monarch was my favorite IEM tuning to that point (used with a PWA no 10 cable). I thought the MKII was fine. It didn’t offend in any way, but I have other monitors that I prefer so I let that and the original Prestige go. With respect to his review, he really did not spend much time articulating a comprehensive comparison and words like “euphonic” and “audiophile” don’t clarify anything technically. I should have the mkIII and the Prestige LTD in about 4 weeks and will post impressions if anyone is interested.

 

[DynamicEars]

I agree. I bought the original Monarch and the Odin FE at the same time and spent a few months with both before selling the Odin. I don’t exactly love the Sonion EST drivers, but the tuning of the original Monarch was my favorite IEM tuning to that point (used with a PWA no 10 cable). I thought the MKII was fine. It didn’t offend in any way, but I have other monitors that I prefer so I let that and the original Prestige go. With respect to his review, he really did not spend much time articulating a comprehensive comparison and words like “euphonic” and “audiophile” don’t clarify anything technically. I should have the mkIII and the Prestige LTD in about 4 weeks and will post impressions if anyone is interested.

Of course everyone is interested with that flagships impressions! Thanks in advance

 

[Click]

Review of the Monarch MK3 from a gaming-centric perspective:

 

[buckster666]

Review of the Monarch MK3 from a gaming-centric perspective:

More reviews the better

 

[buckster666]

Another Monarch MK3 review

 

[Click]

Another Monarch MK3 review

LOL his videos should be banned on head-fi. The guy is an absolute troll.

 

[SweetCans928]

Too bright AND too muddy...it's such a rare sound sig, props to Thieaudio for pulling it off.

 

[HeadphonePerson]

Too bright AND too muddy...it's such a rare sound sig, props to Thieaudio for pulling it off.

He's a huge troll, most of his videos are just trying to crap on popular products for clicks.

 

[o0genesis0o]

Too bright AND too muddy...it's such a rare sound sig, props to Thieaudio for pulling it off.

Congrats, you wasted your life watching a video of that

 

[Denosha]

I just pulled the trigger on the Mk3s yesterday, as my IEM end-game.

Looks like the ETA is this friday (it's a local seller here in Singapore, so delivery is usually very fast if there's stock). Will update on some personal impressions once i get them in though i'm neither a serious audiophile nor really much of an IEM guy. But i guess some extra info/opinions wouldn't hurt since details seem rather scarce at the moment.

 

[tk3]

youtube link

Another Monarch MK3 review

You shouldn't link to that person without warning; I don't appreciate inadvertently giving him a click.
His videos aren't reviews but clickbait of the lowest class, and I doubt he even has the IEM (I didn't watch it).

 

[Click]

You shouldn't link to that person without warning; I don't appreciate inadvertently giving him a click.
His videos aren't reviews but clickbait of the lowest class, and I doubt he even has the IEM (I didn't watch it).

I mean, I warned everyone right after his post.

No, that troll doesn't have most of the IEMs he talks about and trolls on. He just rants nonsense and uses graphs to pretend like he knows what he's talking about. I'm not sure how he even has an audience, but I guess there are a lot of dumb people out there that finds him entertaining?

 

[buckster666]

You shouldn't link to that person without warning; I don't appreciate inadvertently giving him a click.
His videos aren't reviews but clickbait of the lowest class, and I doubt he even has the IEM (I didn't watch it).

Apologises, for posting it. I didn't watch it before posting, but will ensure i do so in the future

 

[Denosha]

Received my Monarch Mk3s yesterday. Here are some initial impressions based on the first few hours.

1st impression - Unboxing
As touched on by some other reviewers, the packaging is really quite meh for the price. Very standard selection of tips. Carrying case is okayish, abit large though that's good if you need to stash a dac/amp dongle. Cable is quite nice, especially with the modular plug system. Kinda thick for IEMs but they still quite comfy and non-microphonic.

2nd impression - Taking out the IEMs

Damn, these things are really quite huge and noticeably heavier than "lesser" IEMs. Here's the size difference compared to the Hidizs MS2 (1 DD + 1 BA hybrid). The nozzles are also huge. Tried to slip on some Spinfit CP145s and W1s but they don't quite fit as they bulge and slide off easily. Went with the stock medium sized silicon tips then.

3rd impression - Putting them in
Quite a snug fit to get into my ears but once in they are surprisingly very comfortable and i don't feel them one bit. Had them on for more than an hour, no issue. Passive isolation is pretty good even though there seems to be a vent at the front of the IEM.

4th impression - Initial listen (Lotoo Paw S1 via 4.4mm)
First thing that hits you is "Wow, that BASS". Probably the most visceral bass i've heard from personal audio, even compared to planars like the LCD2, Arya, etc. Really deep extension, crazy rumble and yet very controlled. I went through various audio test tracks and some classic rock via Spotify on my phone. They sound really fun and engaging as I was tapping my feet along with my eyes closed track after track. On certain tracks the bass was kinda abit much, not that it was bleeding into the mids or anything but so in your face that it was quite distracting.

[Edit 31-Jul - Turns out the crazy in my face bass was an anomaly. I've listened to some of the same Spotify test tracks on the same source (the Lotoo) via my laptop instead of my phone and the tonality is a lot more balanced this time round. Maybe there's some weird EQ or audio processing setting on my phone that i'm not aware of that i need to turn off...]

5th impression - Second listen (SMSL SP200 via XLR to 4.4mm + SMSL SU-8s)
The Monarch Mk3 seems quite source dependent and scales quite abit with the quality of the gear used. Bass quantity dropped quite a bit while the quality went up with the desktop setup. I went through another set of test tracks but this time in FLAC, both HD and "SD". With less distraction from the bass, I could now really notice how well extended and sparkly the treble is. The soundstage and imaging is incredible as well with a sharp center image and various instruments clearly defined in space around it. Very akin to my Arya V2 (non-stealth) though obviously not as wide. For an IEM with 10 drivers of different types, the coherence is really outstanding, everything just works together as one.

So far i've been very impressed.

And now to play some Diablo IV!