[HiFiHawaii808]

The Stormbreaker is pure OCC copper while the stock cable (ThieAudio EST) is silver plated OCC: maybe it’s the reason of this difference.
Tomorrow I will try on my Monarchs the Stormbreaker and the DUNU Blanche (pure silver) too, which I'm using with the Blessing Dusk.

I am really interested in that Dunu Blanche. How does that pair with the Monarch?

 

[IEMusic]

The Clairvoyance is very intriguing to me b/c it looks like it is tuned nearly perfectly for my tastes. I’m interested in getting it as an IEM that needs no EQ adjustments. One question I have is does it still have a really deep sub bass rumble? Not like the Monarch it seems, but I’m just hoping that the bass isn’t a bit dry sounding. I love the subwoofer-like rumble.

One of the few IEMs I have right now that I apply no EQ to is the LZ A7. Can anyone compare the Clair to the LZ A7? What tuning combo of the LZ A7 most sounds similar to the Clair’s tuning?

Thanks.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

The Clairvoyance is very intriguing to me b/c it looks like it is tuned nearly perfectly for my tastes. I’m interested in getting it as an IEM that needs no EQ adjustments. One question I have is does it still have a really deep sub bass rumble? Not like the Monarch it seems, but I’m just hoping that the bass isn’t a bit dry sounding. I love the subwoofer-like rumble.

One of the few IEMs I have right now that I apply no EQ to is the LZ A7. Can anyone compare the Clair to the LZ A7? What tuning combo of the LZ A7 most sounds similar to the Clair’s tuning?

Thanks.

It's funny you mentioned this right now because I am listening to the Monarchs and EQing the Monarchs to the Clairvoyance FR curve. I definitely prefer the Monarch tuning because I like the more transparent presentation and deep sub bass rumble. The warmth of the Clairvoyance loses some transparency. In addition, the deep sub bass rumble present in the Monarch is no longer there. You can hear it, but it is masked by the warmer presentation of the Clairvoyance. I am listening right now to a Flamenco Guitar playlist and the bass guitar is so fabulous. The percussion has its own space and the background guitars are totally integrated with the rhythm section. The lead guitar has this wonderful sound stage and his sound fills it completely. I might add that I did the unthinkable which is to pair the Monarchs with the Odin Stormbreaker cable. I should have never done this because this sound is intoxicating. I can't put the stock cable back on. Not sure what I am going to do now. I am definitely putting away that stock Monarch cable for good.

 

[drummguy26]

It's funny you mentioned this right now because I am listening to the Monarchs and EQing the Monarchs to the Clairvoyance FR curve. I definitely prefer the Monarch tuning because I like the more transparent presentation and deep sub bass rumble. The warmth of the Clairvoyance loses some transparency. In addition, the deep sub bass rumble present in the Monarch is no longer there. You can hear it, but it is masked by the warmer presentation of the Clairvoyance. I am listening right now to a Flamenco Guitar playlist and the bass guitar is so fabulous. The percussion has its own space and the background guitars are totally integrated with the rhythm section. The lead guitar has this wonderful sound stage and his sound fills it completely. I might add that I did the unthinkable which is to pair the Monarchs with the Odin Stormbreaker cable. I should have never done this because this sound is intoxicating. I can't put the stock cable back on. Not sure what I am going to do now. I am definitely putting away that stock Monarch cable for good.

I'm using a pure Silver Litz OCC cable with my Monarchs and I can definitely hear larger soundstage, better separation, detail, crisper bass rumble and texture with these over the stock cable. Now, I can only imagine what the stormbreakers sound like with their lovely $1,300 price tag.... But I'm never gonna spend that much on a cable. Im just not.

But I'm more than satisfied with the combination I got going on here.

 

[tgx78]

my favorite pairing: Penon Totem cable & Azla SednaEarfits light short.

Apple lightning dongle for reference sound.

Out of the 3.5mm (6S) for bit of warmth.

 

[PoetOfTheKill]

Any comparisons between the Monarch and the new UM MEST Mk2 by chance?
Any speculation?

Two different sound signatures

Mk2 has an all rounder approach

Monarch has the clean mid and treble extension and sub bass rumble if present on track.
I enjoy monarch for its detail retrieval and separation in the music i listen to

Mk2 i could listen to anything and enjoy it even watching movies
Has an exciting tuning that some may find bright but not me.

Its best to demo them yourself if you can because we all hear different.

 

[el-jorge]

Thieaudio Monarch (feat. Volt)

Preamble
My bias in quality of music is a consortium of warm and non-bright sound with clarity. Ok this statement in its own is a bit of a contradiction as clarity has a price which is the production of songs may reveal the bright aspects in the music, which is something I can live without.

Introduction
While tribrids have always done a good job of sounding big and their imaging has always been wonderfully precise with the surrounding space, their timbre never had quite the precision and naturalness of the best DD transducers for me. However I feel each succeeding generation of hybrids/tribrids have improved on their performance in this regard, and both the Monarch (timbral contrast) and Volt (timbral richness) are dramatic improvements over the predecessors (say IEMs made before 2019).

Expectedly, the Monarch images naturally, and the details are sufficiently resolved, in a general sense: individual instruments within an orchestral section, even within dense, complex passages. Similarly, the images' edges interacted naturally with the surrounding space, the notes blooming and expanding, the overtones dissolving into the background ambience. However, I feel there is a slight lack of layering ability and squashed dynamics that contributes to the collapsed staging depth. The note weight is also bit thin and tilted towards a drier side especially coming from the thick and liquid sounding Volt.

Sound Impressions
Starting with the bass. The Monarch's bottom end shows bit of weirdness to me. While it remains powerfully elevated, clean, and articulate all the way down to subsonic area, it feels little disjointed from the rest of the frequency range. Imagine trying to integrate 2 decently fast subwoofers with the immediate sounding line source panels that belches out even faster sounding trebles by ribbon tweeters; it can sound sufficiently pleasant yes, but it is near impossible to achieve a perfect phase coherency with this setup. Now I am not saying the Monarch has a phase coherency issue, but I can definitely hear that there are a few different types of drivers working in unison within the shell. I also feel that unusually low crossover point around 100Hz took away bit of slam and impact that is required for a complete and full sounding low ends.

Moving onto the Mids... Midrange performance is very good with no perceptible loss of detail or obvious transition to the EST tweeters. Piano recordings showed this off well, and Krystian Zimerman's Liszt Piano Concerto with Seiji Ozawa is a particularly good example. This very natural-sounding recording has a slightly distant perspective and a very well-defined portrayal of both the instruments and their interaction with the surrounding space. With some IEMs, the piano will sound slightly contrasting as its pitch moves up and down, or its size and placement within the recording space will seem to change. With the Monarch, the piano's tonal balance and the combination of the notes' attack, bloom, resonance, and decay were entirely consistent across the instrument's range, as were its stable size and placement.

Additionally vocals were treated reasonably well, not as dense as the Volt, but with a natural mix of chest, throat, and mouth tones.

I would say treble of the Monarch is the highlight of its tuning. Piccolo sounds pure and clear, and maintained all its detail and sharp metallic cut all the way to the top of their range- and without getting sharp or steely. Solo violin sounds delicate and sweet, and high, massed violin crescendos had tremendous power and presence, but never crossed over into a hard, unnatural screech. Cymbals are perhaps the best example, and the Monarch unfailingly had exactly the right balance: a rich, bell-like tone at the center, a palpable sense of waves of overtones emanating from the cymbals' vibration, and, surrounding it all, a cloud of shimmer that seemed to permeate the entire space.

Summary
Overall, the Monarch is a very good earphones, and at $730, quite reasonably priced. In some respects it's pretty close to best IEMs I've heard. Even in the areas where it's perhaps not the very best, it's awfully close- and you got to remember that very best is several times more expensive. (I am looking at you Elysium )

thanks, what I read in your preamble is very much my preference also. I’m eyeballing the monarch, or the volt, or the it07. I’ve read your volt review a few times where you compare to the it07. I was wondering if you could give your opinion which iem of those 3 you would prefer for the following genres. Soundtracks (Zimmer etc), EDM, electronic heavy pop, rock, indie?
And can you say something about the comfort?

 

[fast edi]

The Clairvoyance is very intriguing to me b/c it looks like it is tuned nearly perfectly for my tastes. I’m interested in getting it as an IEM that needs no EQ adjustments. One question I have is does it still have a really deep sub bass rumble? Not like the Monarch it seems, but I’m just hoping that the bass isn’t a bit dry sounding. I love the subwoofer-like rumble.

One of the few IEMs I have right now that I apply no EQ to is the LZ A7. Can anyone compare the Clair to the LZ A7? What tuning combo of the LZ A7 most sounds similar to the Clair’s tuning?

Thanks.

In my opinion it sounds like it is has a subwoofer, but it doesn't sound unbalanced at all, it is well balanced.

I consider myself a proud basshead. Other than the Clairvoyance, and the 58x, my preferred headphones are the Audeze LCD2C, the Fostex Ebony and the Campfire Cascade. I love all three.

I would say that the Clairs have the bass pretty well extended, and well tuned.

On Fantasy, from The XX, I might notice more subbass presence with the Cascades, but the Clairvoyance have all the subbass well present. Both make some clipping, but it might be because it's Spotify on mobile.

Another example, Excavation from the Haxan Cloak, the sub bass is rumbling all the song, with different textures and intensity.

Let me know if you are thinking about any specific sub bass song. I would not say it's dry or it rolls off soon. It is very deep. But, yeah, I can think about other presentations with more powerful bass, but it won't be as balanced as the Clairvoyance.

So, I wouldn't say that the Clairvoyance has a dry bass, it has well rounded, prominent bass. It's not a neutral IEM, it has a clearly elevated bass.

I have not tried the Monarch, but it seems, reading all the descriptions, that the Monarch has a bass tuned for electronic music and the Clairvoyance has the bass tuned for rock and similar.

I really like the Clairvoyance, but given my tastes, I think that I should have gone for the Monarch.

 

[slex]

The Clairvoyance is very intriguing to me b/c it looks like it is tuned nearly perfectly for my tastes. I’m interested in getting it as an IEM that needs no EQ adjustments. One question I have is does it still have a really deep sub bass rumble? Not like the Monarch it seems, but I’m just hoping that the bass isn’t a bit dry sounding. I love the subwoofer-like rumble.

One of the few IEMs I have right now that I apply no EQ to is the LZ A7. Can anyone compare the Clair to the LZ A7? What tuning combo of the LZ A7 most sounds similar to the Clair’s tuning?

Thanks.

LA7 high frequency are no match for the twins EST smoothness presentation. You should be looking at Monarch if you already have a VOLT?

I'll be demoing the new MEST MK2 today and hear how they match up against the twins, already demoed the OG MEST. I'm still curious wat these bone conduction brings to the table.

 

[HiFiHawaii808]

LA7 high frequency are no match for the twins EST smoothness presentation. You should be looking at Monarch if you already have a VOLT?

I'll be demoing the new MEST MK2 today and hear how they match up against the twins, already demoed the OG MEST. I'm still curious wat these bone conduction brings to the table.

After significant listening time, I have concluded that the Monarch is superior to the MEST OG. Would be interested in seeing if the MKII changes that.

 

[Pasopati]

Two different sound signatures

Mk2 has an all rounder approach

Monarch has the clean mid and treble extension and sub bass rumble if present on track.
I enjoy monarch for its detail retrieval and separation in the music i listen to

Mk2 i could listen to anything and enjoy it even watching movies
Has an exciting tuning that some may find bright but not me.

Its best to demo them yourself if you can because we all hear different.

Which one do you prefer between 12t, monarch or mest mkii for acoustic jazz / folk / world music ? I seriously considering this 3 iems. Thanks

 

[firesign]

The Clairvoyance is very intriguing to me b/c it looks like it is tuned nearly perfectly for my tastes. I’m interested in getting it as an IEM that needs no EQ adjustments. One question I have is does it still have a really deep sub bass rumble? Not like the Monarch it seems, but I’m just hoping that the bass isn’t a bit dry sounding. I love the subwoofer-like rumble.

One of the few IEMs I have right now that I apply no EQ to is the LZ A7. Can anyone compare the Clair to the LZ A7? What tuning combo of the LZ A7 most sounds similar to the Clair’s tuning?

Thanks.

I read you a lot on this thread and the IEMs for metal thread. That's why I was wondering how you still don't have a Clairvoyance, because it also seems related to your favorite profile.

I apply a little EQ to the Clairvoyance, I simply reduce its high mids peak by 1 or 2 dBs on some albums, as it can be too intense to my ears. As I say only for some albums (an example would be Ghost Reveries by Opeth).

 

[Gront]

I have not tried the Monarch, but it seems, reading all the descriptions, that the Monarch has a bass tuned for electronic music and the Clairvoyance has the bass tuned for rock and similar.

I really like the Clairvoyance, but given my tastes, I think that I should have gone for the Monarch.

The Monarch's bass is pretty... "2D". Dry. It has a ton of volume but texture isn't that good, I EQ'd it at 150 Hz with +3 dB and it felt better but I feel like I should have gone with the Clairvoyance since I listen to a lot of rock/jazz/metal. But honestly, that and the tight fit are my only complaints.

 

[IEMusic]

I read you a lot on this thread and the IEMs for metal thread. That's why I was wondering how you still don't have a Clairvoyance, because it also seems related to your favorite profile.

I apply a little EQ to the Clairvoyance, I simply reduce its high mids peak by 1 or 2 dBs on some albums, as it can be too intense to my ears. As I say only for some albums (an example would be Ghost Reveries by Opeth).

Hah! I ask myself that exact same question a lot, and oddly, I don’t have a great answer. These 2 IEMs have been on my radar since they were first released, but somehow, some other IEM always got in the way of me purchasing one of them. Now my dilemma is which one to get.

On one hand, the Clair tuning is nearly perfect for my tastes (similar to the tuning of the Dawn, Dusk, Yume, etc). However, I think I can also achieve a similar tuning with my Volt and some EQ, so it may be a bit redundant. I already find the Volt and Tea a somewhat redundant.

On the other hand, the Monarch has a very unique tuning, which is a characteristic I really appreciate. I don’t think I can achieve a similar sound with any of my current IEMs by using EQ. I also tend to frequently decrease the mid bass on a lot of my IEMs, b/c I like a lot of sub bass, but a very clean separation between bass and mids. I don’t really care much about the differences in clarity and detail retrieval, as I’m sure both will be plenty adequate for me. I do, however, care much more about instrument separation and imaging (not so much soundstage).

 

[firesign]

Hah! I ask myself that exact same question a lot, and oddly, I don’t have a great answer. These 2 IEMs have been on my radar since they were first released, but somehow, some other IEM always got in the way of me purchasing one of them. Now my dilemma is which one to get.

On one hand, the Clair tuning is nearly perfect for my tastes (similar to the tuning of the Dawn, Dusk, Yume, etc). However, I think I can also achieve a similar tuning with my Volt and some EQ, so it may be a bit redundant. I already find the Volt and Tea a somewhat redundant.

On the other hand, the Monarch has a very unique tuning, which is a characteristic I really appreciate. I don’t think I can achieve a similar sound with any of my current IEMs by using EQ. I also tend to frequently decrease the mid bass on a lot of my IEMs, b/c I like a lot of sub bass, but a very clean separation between bass and mids. I don’t really care much about the differences in clarity and detail retrieval, as I’m sure both will be plenty adequate for me. I do, however, care much more about instrument separation and imaging (not so much soundstage).

For me the Clairvoyance already sounds thin on quite a few records, so I don't want to imagine what the Monarch sounds like on them.
But I only listen to hard rock and metal. Maybe in other styles and with modern albums it will be different.