[drummguy26]

Nice to hear a bit about your journey to getting them where you want them.
I’m already happy, but I’m also still finding the right combination. I’m using the monarchs with the lsc08, and trying different tips. The ones I like most fit wise, don’t bring big differences in sound. I still have the Dunu dw02 cable. Which I need to try.

I tried the LSC08 cable as well. It really brought out the bottom end for sure, but I felt it made the overall sound less articulate to my ears. It's a pure copper cable which makes sense. I would try a silver cable with the Monarchs and see how you feel with that.

But you might be happy with the Dunu DW02 cable since it's SPC and probably better quality than the stock cable. But it also depends on your source. If you have a warmer source, go with silver. If you have a bright source, stick with Copper or SPC.

Just throwing out my 2cents.

 

[el-jorge]

I tried the LSC08 cable as well. It really brought out the bottom end for sure, but I felt it made the overall sound less articulate to my ears. It's a pure copper cable which makes sense. I would try a silver cable with the Monarchs and see how you feel with that.

But you might be happy with the Dunu DW02 cable since it's SPC and probably better quality than the stock cable. But it also depends on your source. If you have a warmer source, go with silver. If you have a bright source, stick with Copper or SPC.

Just throwing out my 2cents.

I’m using a Fiio m11. Which I think is neutral to bright. I’m a bit of a basshead so I like the thump in the low end.

 

[GDunlop]

I’m using a Fiio m11. Which I think is neutral to bright. I’m a bit of a basshead so I like the thump in the low end.

The set-up I'm using at the moment for my Monarchs is the Astell & Kern SR25 and the spin-fit 100 's that ironically came with it lol. I did try different ear-tips but I'm fairly happy with how it sounds like this.

 

[Zmue]

Personally I love my Monarchs. However, it wasn't like that since day 1. Yes I did like them out of the box but I found them to be slightly lacking in the mid bass department.

But after many many hours (and days) of finding the right combination of tips, cable, impedance adapters and source, I finally found the perfect sound for my tastes. I primarily listen to electronica and a little bit of rock, and the Monarchs are just perfect. Female vocals are top notch on the Monarchs. Male vocals may sound a little thin due to the Monarchs tuning, but again, with the right combination of tips, cable, source, you can bring out just enough mid bass to make them sound great with male vocals.

Here's the setup that makes my Monarchs sing:


PC/Phone/DAP -> iDefender (with external power) -> L&P W2 -> xCan (balanced) -> Monarchs

For the Monarchs, I'm using a silver Litz cable and Spinfit CP500 tips with foam inserts.

This combination is simply amazing for me. Puts a smile on my face every time I listen to it.

I’m really curious about this setup! I am having the same initial issues with the thin mid-bass presence. I apparently like more fullness though the detail on the mid range is just fantastic. In tracks here the mid-bass isn’t really tokened, it’s perfect.

I was considering trying the W1/S1 for maybe some EQ in the pinch (use iOS so PMEQ not an option), do you use any EQ setting for W2? I was curious if the Bass preset may fix some of the issues without being too extreme? I don’t want to walk around with more then dongle DAC though.
The other option was maybe replacing for an Excalibur. That tonality looks fantastic though it would be unfortunate if the detail was significantly worse.

 

[drummguy26]

I’m really curious about this setup! I am having the same initial issues with the thin mid-bass presence. I apparently like more fullness though the detail on the mid range is just fantastic. In tracks here the mid-bass isn’t really tokened, it’s perfect.

I was considering trying the W1/S1 for maybe some EQ in the pinch (use iOS so PMEQ not an option), do you use any EQ setting for W2? I was curious if the Bass preset may fix some of the issues without being too extreme? I don’t want to walk around with more then dongle DAC though.
The other option was maybe replacing for an Excalibur. That tonality looks fantastic though it would be unfortunate if the detail was significantly worse.

You know, funny enough, I'm a basshead too and left the EQ preset on Normal and disabled xBass on the xCan and that satisfies my needs! For me, it's the perfect balance of impact and precision. True I can get more bass by using xBass, but I still prefer it off for some reason.

The W2 is definitely a warmer DAC and pairs amazingly well with the Monarchs. Previously I thought the ifi Signature was the best DAC/AMP for the Monarchs but that was before I heard the W2.... So glad I purchased the W2!

I'm also excited for the Excalibur too. Crin have it an A for technicalities, So I don't think you have to worry about it being significantly worse than the Monarchs.

 

[anaveragebear]

Hi all, I have a conundrum that maybe you could offer some advice on solving:

I received my Monarchs in the mail about two days ago and immediately connected them to my Qudelix-5k to listen. I was greeted with amazing detail, but what stood out to me was the bass, which was actually tamer than I had expected from reading reviews. Oh well, maybe I'm just more of a basshead than I thought. To give you a sense, though, I settled on a low shelf of +3dB at 120Hz in the 5k's built-in PEQ in order to get close to the bass heft I wanted. Odd, but I still enjoyed the sound regardless.

The interesting part came the next day when I plugged the Monarchs into my desktop setup's audio interface (I produce electronic music in my spare time and I have a Komplete Audio 6 interface) using an adapter. Holy crap. I had to check my internal audio routing to make sure there wasn't a bass boost engaged somewhere, because these things were slamming. That 3dB boost quickly turned into a 3dB cut, and now I am wondering why the Qudelix isn't driving the DD properly. Is it a power issue?

Thanks for the help, and I am excited to no longer be just a lurker on this forum

 

[slex]

Hi all, I have a conundrum that maybe you could offer some advice on solving:

I received my Monarchs in the mail about two days ago and immediately connected them to my Qudelix-5k to listen. I was greeted with amazing detail, but what stood out to me was the bass, which was actually tamer than I had expected from reading reviews. Oh well, maybe I'm just more of a basshead than I thought. To give you a sense, though, I settled on a low shelf of +3dB at 120Hz in the 5k's built-in PEQ in order to get close to the bass heft I wanted. Odd, but I still enjoyed the sound regardless.

The interesting part came the next day when I plugged the Monarchs into my desktop setup's audio interface (I produce electronic music in my spare time and I have a Komplete Audio 6 interface) using an adapter. Holy crap. I had to check my internal audio routing to make sure there wasn't a bass boost engaged somewhere, because these things were slamming. That 3dB boost quickly turned into a 3dB cut, and now I am wondering why the Qudelix isn't driving the DD properly. Is it a power issue?

Thanks for the help, and I am excited to no longer be just a lurker on this forum

Definitely its the power!

 

[Narius]

Hi all, I have a conundrum that maybe you could offer some advice on solving:

I received my Monarchs in the mail about two days ago and immediately connected them to my Qudelix-5k to listen. I was greeted with amazing detail, but what stood out to me was the bass, which was actually tamer than I had expected from reading reviews. Oh well, maybe I'm just more of a basshead than I thought. To give you a sense, though, I settled on a low shelf of +3dB at 120Hz in the 5k's built-in PEQ in order to get close to the bass heft I wanted. Odd, but I still enjoyed the sound regardless.

The interesting part came the next day when I plugged the Monarchs into my desktop setup's audio interface (I produce electronic music in my spare time and I have a Komplete Audio 6 interface) using an adapter. Holy crap. I had to check my internal audio routing to make sure there wasn't a bass boost engaged somewhere, because these things were slamming. That 3dB boost quickly turned into a 3dB cut, and now I am wondering why the Qudelix isn't driving the DD properly. Is it a power issue?

Thanks for the help, and I am excited to no longer be just a lurker on this forum

Curious to know, are you using the 2.5mm balanced output or 3.5mm single ended output on the 5k?

 

[progdvd]

Hi all, I have a conundrum that maybe you could offer some advice on solving:

I received my Monarchs in the mail about two days ago and immediately connected them to my Qudelix-5k to listen. I was greeted with amazing detail, but what stood out to me was the bass, which was actually tamer than I had expected from reading reviews. Oh well, maybe I'm just more of a basshead than I thought. To give you a sense, though, I settled on a low shelf of +3dB at 120Hz in the 5k's built-in PEQ in order to get close to the bass heft I wanted. Odd, but I still enjoyed the sound regardless.

The interesting part came the next day when I plugged the Monarchs into my desktop setup's audio interface (I produce electronic music in my spare time and I have a Komplete Audio 6 interface) using an adapter. Holy crap. I had to check my internal audio routing to make sure there wasn't a bass boost engaged somewhere, because these things were slamming. That 3dB boost quickly turned into a 3dB cut, and now I am wondering why the Qudelix isn't driving the DD properly. Is it a power issue?

Thanks for the help, and I am excited to no longer be just a lurker on this forum

Did you play same files with qudelix and desktop setup?

 

[drummguy26]

Hi all, I have a conundrum that maybe you could offer some advice on solving:

I received my Monarchs in the mail about two days ago and immediately connected them to my Qudelix-5k to listen. I was greeted with amazing detail, but what stood out to me was the bass, which was actually tamer than I had expected from reading reviews. Oh well, maybe I'm just more of a basshead than I thought. To give you a sense, though, I settled on a low shelf of +3dB at 120Hz in the 5k's built-in PEQ in order to get close to the bass heft I wanted. Odd, but I still enjoyed the sound regardless.

The interesting part came the next day when I plugged the Monarchs into my desktop setup's audio interface (I produce electronic music in my spare time and I have a Komplete Audio 6 interface) using an adapter. Holy crap. I had to check my internal audio routing to make sure there wasn't a bass boost engaged somewhere, because these things were slamming. That 3dB boost quickly turned into a 3dB cut, and now I am wondering why the Qudelix isn't driving the DD properly. Is it a power issue?

Thanks for the help, and I am excited to no longer be just a lurker on this forum

Yea I had the same issue with my Qudelix too. It’s definitely a power thing. Monarchs don’t pair too well with the Qudelix for some reason. It just sounds flat and sterile to me…. Even with EQ… I gave up listening to my Monarchs on my Qudelix. Lol.

 

[JiWeng]

Yea I had the same issue with my Qudelix too. It’s definitely a power thing. Monarchs don’t pair too well with the Qudelix for some reason. It just sounds flat and sterile to me…. Even with EQ… I gave up listening to my Monarchs on my Qudelix. Lol.

Will the shanling up5 fix this issue?

 

[firesign]

Hi all, I have a conundrum that maybe you could offer some advice on solving:

I received my Monarchs in the mail about two days ago and immediately connected them to my Qudelix-5k to listen. I was greeted with amazing detail, but what stood out to me was the bass, which was actually tamer than I had expected from reading reviews. Oh well, maybe I'm just more of a basshead than I thought. To give you a sense, though, I settled on a low shelf of +3dB at 120Hz in the 5k's built-in PEQ in order to get close to the bass heft I wanted. Odd, but I still enjoyed the sound regardless.

The interesting part came the next day when I plugged the Monarchs into my desktop setup's audio interface (I produce electronic music in my spare time and I have a Komplete Audio 6 interface) using an adapter. Holy crap. I had to check my internal audio routing to make sure there wasn't a bass boost engaged somewhere, because these things were slamming. That 3dB boost quickly turned into a 3dB cut, and now I am wondering why the Qudelix isn't driving the DD properly. Is it a power issue?

Thanks for the help, and I am excited to no longer be just a lurker on this forum

Maybe your desktop setup has a higher impedance than the qudelix 5k. Monarch is really affected by the source impedance.

Have you tried to activate the qudelix high gain?
The qudelix should be enough to bring all the Monarch has. It’s really powerful. It has no problem to drive the Clairvoyance, and the Clairvoyance is harder to drive than the Monarch.

 

[anaveragebear]

Curious to know, are you using the 2.5mm balanced output or 3.5mm single ended output on the 5k?

I tried both, just be sure. The issue persisted with both ports.

Did you play same files with qudelix and desktop setup?

Yes.

Maybe your desktop setup has a higher impedance than the qudelix 5k. Monarch is really affected by the source impedance.

Have you tried to activate the qudelix high gain?
The qudelix should be enough to bring all the Monarch has. It’s really powerful. It has no problem to drive the Clairvoyance, and the Clairvoyance is harder to drive than the Monarch.

This is what I'm thinking. I did try the high gain setting and the only thing that changed was that there was an audible noise floor. is that the setting you're using? Maybe I missed something. Unfortunately my understanding of electrical engineering is less than stellar, so I'm not sure how to calculate the power needs for the Monarch to see if I should be theoretically able to drive it with the 5k (I trust your experience as well, of course.)

 

[phaeton70]

In the end I paid $570 including transport (Amazon.de). That is then $10 for the extra insurance against potential tax and return headaches...

Hello, can I ask which model did you receive? I need the 4.4 balanced cable, and I cannot find a way to order this specific model in amazon.de....

 

[firesign]

This is what I'm thinking. I did try the high gain setting and the only thing that changed was that there was an audible noise floor. is that the setting you're using? Maybe I missed something. Unfortunately my understanding of electrical engineering is less than stellar, so I'm not sure how to calculate the power needs for the Monarch to see if I should be theoretically able to drive it with the 5k (I trust your experience as well, of course.)

I use the low gain qudelix with my IEMs, including the Clairvoyance. No problem.

I'm pretty sure it's impedance issue. Your desktop configuration or even the adapter you are using, must have a noticeably high impedance, at least enough to change the sound of the Monarch (which we already know is very sensitive to this, and its response is precisely to increase the bass a lot as increases the source impedance).