[dragonx64]

Hi all, I have finally gotten my review of the Thieaudio Monarch up on my site and on headfi! It's a joy listening to them and I hope it will help some of you decide on whether you should pull the trigger!

 

[GrandNagus50]

Hi all, I have finally gotten my review of the Thieaudio Monarch up on my site and on headfi! It's a joy listening to them and I hope it will help some of you decide on whether you should pull the trigger!

Thank you. I would like more commentary about how you perceive it in comparison to the Voyager 14. The Voyager costs more, but is it a better listening experience overall? If you had to choose one or the other, which?

 

[dragonx64]

Thank you. I would like more commentary about how you perceive it in comparison to the Voyager 14. The Voyager costs more, but is it a better listening experience overall? If you had to choose one or the other, which?

Now that I have thoroughly listened to both (having used V14 for more than a month as my daily driver and the Monarch for 2 weeks daily), I personally prefer the Monarch as it has a "better overall package". I say this in quotes because a better overall package for me is something that has good bass that goes deep when needed, realistic mids that has a good bite/attack when I need (I listen to a lot of rock and funk songs) and highs that has good extension and air. And I say this with Monarch on stock cable (2.5 to 4.4mm balanced) VS a V14 with PWAudio Xerxes 8-core cable (4.4mm balanced)

The V14 is a good earphone if you want something a bit more balanced, where the mids aren't laid back and you still get decent highs and lows. Mids on the V14 are definitely a tad better than on the Monarch as it has more presence and thus having more of that attack I get in snare drums and bite in electric guitars. Due to the more present mids, vocals have a greater authority, when the singer belts out higher notes, it really hits you and you feel it.

However, the Monarch though with laidback mids, still retains that similar quality that I described above of the V14. It just sounds "less audible" on the Monarch due to the V-shaped tuning so it doesn't hit you as hard as the V14. I do like the V14 when I wanna fully enjoy guitars and vocals only or if I am trying to do more critical listening (as everything is a bit more balanced on the V14), but then again, I listen to my music as a whole, so the Monarch is more suitable. The Monarch has bass that goes REALLY deep and the V14 doesn't quite achieve that, it still has that "BA bass" though with some semblance of DD qualities, but then still, it ain't a DD bass sadly. Vocals are more forward than the other instruments in the mid range segment on the Monarch so if your concern is just vocals, then no worries on that. Yes you can still get the highs and lows on the V14, but the quality and extension of the Monarch is just so much better that I feel is only achievable by using dynamic and estat respectively. To add on to that, the Monarch just has way better detail retrieval and layering to me so though mids sound softer, I can still easily tell apart the different instruments. The experience I get with the V14 when listening to really deep lows is just "Oh wow, not bad for a BA driver!" but on the Monarch is "Oh damn, that's really deep" and you get goosebumps from it.

Hence, the Thieaudio Monarch is just a better listening experience overall for me! However, if you want something a bit more balanced, then the V14 is also a good choice! Neither is bad, it's really a matter of personal preference here. The Monarch sounds closer to studio monitoring speakers, while the V14 is a technical BA earphone. I have also been very used to a tribrid sound (as my last few earphones were the M5 and Noble Khan) and a full BA setup can't quite fulfill my needs in the highs and lows segment anymore.

 

[hitman1]

Now that I have thoroughly listened to both (having used V14 for more than a month as my daily driver and the Monarch for 2 weeks daily), I personally prefer the Monarch as it has a "better overall package". I say this in quotes because a better overall package for me is something that has good bass that goes deep when needed, realistic mids that has a good bite/attack when I need (I listen to a lot of rock and funk songs) and highs that has good extension and air. And I say this with Monarch on stock cable (2.5 to 4.4mm balanced) VS a V14 with PWAudio Xerxes 8-core cable (4.4mm balanced)

The V14 is a good earphone if you want something a bit more balanced, where the mids aren't laid back and you still get decent highs and lows. Mids on the V14 are definitely a tad better than on the Monarch as it has more presence and thus having more of that attack I get in snare drums and bite in electric guitars. Due to the more present mids, vocals have a greater authority, when the singer belts out higher notes, it really hits you and you feel it.

However, the Monarch though with laidback mids, still retains that similar quality that I described above of the V14. It just sounds "less audible" on the Monarch due to the V-shaped tuning so it doesn't hit you as hard as the V14. I do like the V14 when I wanna fully enjoy guitars and vocals only or if I am trying to do more critical listening (as everything is a bit more balanced on the V14), but then again, I listen to my music as a whole, so the Monarch is more suitable. The Monarch has bass that goes REALLY deep and the V14 doesn't quite achieve that, it still has that "BA bass" though with some semblance of DD qualities, but then still, it ain't a DD bass sadly. Vocals are more forward than the other instruments in the mid range segment on the Monarch so if your concern is just vocals, then no worries on that. Yes you can still get the highs and lows on the V14, but the quality and extension of the Monarch is just so much better that I feel is only achievable by using dynamic and estat respectively. To add on to that, the Monarch just has way better detail retrieval and layering to me so though mids sound softer, I can still easily tell apart the different instruments. The experience I get with the V14 when listening to really deep lows is just "Oh wow, not bad for a BA driver!" but on the Monarch is "Oh damn, that's really deep" and you get goosebumps from it.

Hence, the Thieaudio Monarch is just a better listening experience overall for me! However, if you want something a bit more balanced, then the V14 is also a good choice! Neither is bad, it's really a matter of personal preference here. The Monarch sounds closer to studio monitoring speakers, while the V14 is a technical BA earphone. I have also been very used to a tribrid sound (as my last few earphones were the M5 and Noble Khan) and a full BA setup can't quite fulfill my needs in the highs and lows segment anymore.

Hello, I read your post. I really want to hear if Clarovoince has better bass. So where would you place this in your top 10 IEMS? Does it make your top ten. I wanted the Shuor EJ07, but after your post and the YOUTUBE video I am leaning towards Thieaudio.

 

[Darkestred]

I know these are still fresh but reading makes me wonder how the monarchs compare to the Pola 39s. They seem very simiilar minus the bass won't be as deep and "good" from the pola 39. That was a pretty damn nice iem that is just a little bit more expensive.

 

[morphon]

Hi all, I have finally gotten my review of the Thieaudio Monarch up on my site and on headfi! It's a joy listening to them and I hope it will help some of you decide on whether you should pull the trigger!

Thanks for the detailed review; it answered some lingering questions I had. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Monarch and hopefully they will arrive in a few weeks! I'll post some impressions once it gets here, and some comparisons to my other gear.

 

[lazner]

Is Monarch or Clairvoyance an upgrade in any way over T800 and Andromeda 2020 that I already have? I'm all about detail. Thanks.

 

[Rocfort]

I have clairvoyant and Andromeda. They are quite différent in termes of tonality and weight of note. But i love both as are two perfect IEM for all type of music. Just clairvoyant it's a bit better for EDR.

 

[DeadpoolRJ]

Is Monarch or Clairvoyance an upgrade in any way over T800 and Andromeda 2020 that I already have? I'm all about detail. Thanks.

if you are about details and tonality, between the two the Monarch is for you. If you want more fun sound with more bass and less neutral tonality and details, Clairvoyance.

 

[dheepak10]

I have clairvoyant and Andromeda. They are quite différent in termes of tonality and weight of note. But i love both as are two perfect IEM for all type of music. Just clairvoyant it's a bit better for EDR.

Thanks this definitely helps!

if you are about details and tonality, between the two the Monarch is for you. If you want more fun sound with more bass and less neutral tonality and details, Clairvoyance.

Just to reconfirm if you have tried both or is it based on others' feedback? Coz I spoke with a couple of folks and they only mentioned the difference on midbass and nothing about less details in Clairboyance.

 

[hitman1]

if you are about details and tonality, between the two the Monarch is for you. If you want more fun sound with more bass and less neutral tonality and details, Clairvoyance.

Thats what I wanted to know. Thanks!

 

[IEMusic]

if you are about details and tonality, between the two the Monarch is for you. If you want more fun sound with more bass and less neutral tonality and details, Clairvoyance.

The tonality/tuning differences are pretty obvious based on the graphs, but does the Clairvoyance really present less detail? Just curious what are you basing this off of?

 

[max1236]

If Clair did that there would be no reason to buy the monarch, just by virtue of less mid bass the monarch will probably be more technical. This seems to be the consensus.
Clair:mid bass, thicker notes, musical
monarch: sub bass, leaner notes, analytical.

This is just based of others impressions ( I've searched crin and linsouls discord and read everything possible as well as here and on Reddit) leneo who heard both said Clair is safer and more Harman but has less treble
Will probably come down to preference as they are both getting high praise. I have an order in for monarch but it will be a few weeks.

 

[Spa03]

He is associated with Linsoul though, just something to keep in mind

Great point I almost forgot In his latest ranking, looks like Clair just pitted EJ07 to the 3rd spot. Judging by this and the FR chart, I will stick to my EJ - but they are both exceptional IEMs, Clair might also be too big fitting become an issue.

 

[DeadpoolRJ]

The tonality/tuning differences are pretty obvious based on the graphs, but does the Clairvoyance really present less detail? Just curious what are you basing this off of?

Are you not on the Linsoul Discord yet? A handful of people had talked about it there, Crin, Leneo, John Park, Kevin and etc... Even Hifi Dreams has both and talked about it on his chanel there. The consensus is that Monarch is more technical, reavealing, has better image accuracy and has neutral to leanner tonality (-1 on Crin's note weight scale). While Clairvoyance bassier (more mid bass), with thicker notes and a little veil/less resolving in the mids and highs.
PS: Crin's full review on both come maybe this week.