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ThieAudio Signature Series Tribrid IEMs
Oct 22, 2023 at 4:42 PM Post #4,367 of 4,771
thale said:
The U4S was a pleasant surprise, engaging sound but still balanced and detailed with a good imaging.
However the bass was muddy, and not controlled enough, sub bass was bleeding into the mid bass with less impact.
Mids were clearly better than the U12t to my hear, more forward but not too much, trebles are defined but not aggressive.
On busy tracks however it was less clean than the Prestige. In that aspect the Prestige Ltd does an excellent job of keeping everything clean no matter how busy the track is.
"Do you know Squarepusher" from Squarepusher is my test track for this kind of thing along with some old school guitar hero tracks like Vinnie Moore "In control".

The U4s is also probably a nice option at 1k but to my ear it was inferior in every aspect vs the Prestige Ltd.

The Volur was the best I've tried from this brand, a REAL step up from the U12t, engaging but still defined and with an excellent imaging.
But for me the price difference cannot be justified vs the Prestige Ltd. And even at this price I could hear a tad of the BA graininess I hate in the mids.
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Thats strange because ive had the u4s and have the u12t and for me the u12t is a step up in every aspect. Better stage, more precise imaging and layering, smoother and more refined notes. Also the mids were less forward than on the u12t but more blurred and with more spice in upper harmonics.
 
Oct 22, 2023 at 6:29 PM Post #4,369 of 4,771
thale said:
Bought a pair of Prestige Ltd this morning, following 3 extensive listening sessions against 64 Audio U12t, U4s, Trio, Qdc Hi-fi Gemini S, Senn IE900, Mest MkII, Monarch mkIII and many more (very) expensive ones I don't even remember the name.
Straight to the point and BY FAR, the Prestige Ltd where the best.
(Listening done at e-earphones in Tokyo Akiba, what a shop btw...)

The bass are excellent, impactful without bleeding, the dual DD of the Monarch mkiii are useless imo. I'll even add a -1.5dB bass shelf at around 80hz.
Mids are very precise and to my ear perfectly tuned. (Contrary to most of the other iem tried)
Trebles are just wonderful, there is no sibilance or any sort of aggressivity but well defined and extended. I'm very sensitive to sibilance.

Layering/ imaging are way more I was expecting at this price point. It's not extremely large but it's solid and coherent.

And the most important: They are lively. Any kind of music, from classical to hard rock just sing... effortlessly, whatever the volume.

This was a pure discovery because I didn't even know that Thieaudio released this model, I've tried them without knowing anything about them... and wow !
I just wanted to try the Monarch MkIII which are just too rude on the bass and treble regions.

However I was really disappointed by the U12t despite this was my 1st choice prior entering the shop.
Apart from the large staging and precise imaging they are just... boring, lifeless. The mids sound off and they don't react well to Eq, with a fair amount of distortion if you crank the volume quite a bit. But they clearly NEED some eq to sound right (I tried with the base auto eq proposal from my Qudelix). I would not spend more than 800€ on these. The cable is truly awful as well (and I usually don't care about the cables and accessories).

As a conclusion, if anyone want to spend around 1k, the Prestige Ltd must be considered and tried before spending more for less.
Imo, above 1k, the price is clearly not a key factor, a 2k or 3k won't be better, at best just different, or even worse...
Trying before buying is mandatory.
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I do love the sound of the Prestige LTD. I don't have as much experience with high end iems as you, but the the sound they deliver does stand out among my high end headphones and lower budget iems. I'd definitely recommend people try them out.
 
Oct 23, 2023 at 9:32 AM Post #4,370 of 4,771
RIGATIO said:
Thats strange because ive had the u4s and have the u12t and for me the u12t is a step up in every aspect. Better stage, more precise imaging and layering, smoother and more refined notes. Also the mids were less forward than on the u12t but more blurred and with more spice in upper harmonics.
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Strongly agree. I love the u12t and for me the u4s sounded incoherent, full stop. I also find the u12 to be a step up in every aspect. I do say "for me" (like you did) because clearly people are having their own unique experiences with iems, so this isn't meant to denigrate anyone else's. But yeah. Agree.
 
Oct 23, 2023 at 12:38 PM Post #4,372 of 4,771
zootx said:
Do thieaudio IEMs (monarch, prestige...) Ever go on sale? 11.11 - singles day - a common sales day in China is right around the corner and I'm not sure whether I should wait.
Click to expand...

I was also wondering the same. But a secondary question is, if you live outside China, is it smarter to buy from a local reseller with good service as opposed to directly from the manufacturer? If doing so would alleviate some issues in case there were a problem, it might be worth a little extra $ for that.
 
Oct 23, 2023 at 1:17 PM Post #4,374 of 4,771
mark88888 said:
I was also wondering the same. But a secondary question is, if you live outside China, is it smarter to buy from a local reseller with good service as opposed to directly from the manufacturer? If doing so would alleviate some issues in case there were a problem, it might be worth a little extra $ for that.
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If no sale I would go for a reseller honestly, even if you pay some extra. I am not aware of QC issues with ThieAudio but still you probably have better service and more customer rights, especially in Europe.
 
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