[PopinTeddy]

I was itching to buy Mest OG available on Classifieds for very attractive price but its gone now. Really cant figure where they stand tonally. Seem to have less midbass warmth but also less treble than mkII.

OG MEST has less treble? I thought it had more 6k bump than the MKII, like this:

And then the MKII vs Indigo, just for comparison:

Would seem to me that the Indigo has the less treble of the three?

 

[Skullar]

I think the answer is obvious to me just reading what you have written. You like the MEST mkii the best. Just buy it and keep it. For some reason, you are conflicted about that. You shouldn't be. It's a great IEM.

Well i have mkII with me and switching in between. And its not that simple. There is a lot to like about Indigo. Some genres MKII does better, others Indigo.

Have you received yours yet?

 

[Skullar]

OG MEST has less treble? I thought it had more 6k bump than the MKII, like this:




And then the MKII vs Indigo, just for comparison:



Would seem to me that the Indigo has the less treble of the three?

Hmm. Crins graph shows a bit different picture between OG and MkII. Wonder which one is more accurate. Anyone?

Indigo is warmer than MKII for sure. Less upper mids and lower treble presence mostly.

 

[Mehran]

That's the custom OG.

 

[Skullar]

That's the custom OG.

Oh havent even noticed.

Anyways. Just to bare in mind, at least in my ramblings when i discuss tonal differences. If i say there are noticeable differences, its only relative to a fact that they are same models. They are all still Mest. Hence my indecisiveness.

I think OG and Indigo would sound quite distinct but between 3 the newer the model the warmer it is.

 

[PopinTeddy]

I just got my OG MEST a few hours ago (thanks to @SoundJedi ), and after some critical listening, here are my immediate impressions A/B/Cing between MEST (stock silicon tips), Variations (Spinfit CP155), Tea (Azla Sedna Earfit regular):

• Power requirement: Variations > MEST > Tea
• Clarity: MEST >>> Variations > Tea (Veilness: Tea > Variations >>> MEST)
• Sub-bass: Variations >> MEST ≧ Tea
• Mids: MEST > Tea > Variations
• Highs: MEST >>> Variations ≧ Tea
• Male Vocals (Billy Joel): MEST ≧ Tea > Variations (in background)
• Female Vocals (miwa): MEST (sharp) = Tea (natural) > Variations (in background)
• Naturalness: Tea > MEST > Variations
• Sound stage: Variations (auditorium) >> Tea (excellent front-back stage) > MEST (near)
• Imaging (Yosi Horikawa): MEST >> Variations ≧ Tea
• Technicality/separation: Variations >> MEST > Tea
• Coherency: MEST > Tea > Variations
• Lower slam/punch: Variations > MEST ≧ Tea
• Upper slam/punch: MEST > Tea ≧ Variations
• Detail Retrieval: MEST >> Variations > Tea

Sound Signatures (by personal enjoyment rank):

1. MEST: W-shaped / clarity beast / fun / coherent through all frequencies / sometimes peaky treble / upgraded Tea
2. Tea: Neutral W-shaped / fun / warm (compared to MEST and Variations)
3. Variations: L-shaped / sub bass monster / technical / mid-scoop vocal loss

Test Tracks:
Boogie Wheel - Superwoman
Billy Joel - Just the Way You Are
miwa - ヒカリへ (THE FIRST TAKE)
Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles
Camo & Krooked - Loving You Is Easy

Running off iFi Zen DAC v2.

To be honest, I think the three of these IEMs form a great trinity of endgame IEMs. The MEST is like a massive treble upgrade of Tea, and both tunings are headed the same direction. Variations’ tuning is the outlier here, but Variations is a monster in terms of frequency and instrument separation, although sacrificing the vocals a tad bit. Also, the sub-bass is unbeatable among the three. If Tea is the base for the other two, MEST adds more and more towards the upper frequencies to achieve the complete package, whereas Variations stretches all frequencies apart and adds a clean and punchy sub-bass that’ll rock your brain.

I’d still recommend that everyone should at least try Variations once to get the taste of that sweet, sweet technicality and sub-bass BOOM BOOM BAP. But my ears are more for the Tea tuning, so the Variations might be going soon. Yet in the one month + that I’ve spent with the Variations, I had great joy over its uniqueness. If it weren’t for the EQ for my personal taste, it would have sat on the same throne with Tea as Thanos and Lady Death. Now MEST is the single king there, with Tea as the queen at its side. MEST and Tea are of the same bloodline, Variations is the beast from the East.

 

[Tomm11]

I'm glad that I don't care about searching for technicalities or putting things into words. I just listen and if the iem speaks to me and continues to do so, I'm happy. I love the MEST MKII. It's not going to be for everyone.

 

[Pascal3366]

Hi!

I‘m Dietmar from Germany.

The MEST is a fantastic sounding In Ear. I have had it for two weeks.
The highs are extremely detailed, the mids are very real and the bass is very punchy and dry.
The stage is also fantastic. Wide and deep. I listen almost only to classical music.

Many thanks to Andrew from Musicteck. The shipping to Germany was uncomplicated and extremely fast.
Great support from Andrew.

Best
Dietmar

Hi greetings from Germany.

I am also very interested into the mest MK2.

Did you need to pay any import tax? Thanks.

 

[Pascal3366]

Here are the photos of the Double Flange tips I have.
(I do have to note that DF tips on the MEST narrows down the staging and “airiness”)

EarSonics Medium (I cut off the stem to fit my Layla better and it’s fine on the MEST still.)




EarSonics Small (This is good for a deeper fit or if you have crazy small canals)



Here’s some SpinFit double flange as well. (Red is Medium and Blue is Small)

Hi, how would you say does the mest compare to the Layla ?

 

[drews]

I am confident, though, that Monarch is still the best iem under $1k. I don't think you can beat it until you move up to MEST.

I know the Monarch has a lot of fans but I found it dry and boring with an unnaturally boosted subbass. I vastly prefer my OG MEST (or Andromeda, or even FiiO FH7 for that matter).

 

[dhc0329]

Got my MEST v2 today and gotta say... not that impressed yet. I'm burning them in now and hope that will improve things. I mostly bought for the "vast" "3D" "holographic" soundstage, and honestly it's not much better than my Timeless. Tried some Moody Blues and Pink Floyd-- no dice. Tried the great "Ultimate Headphones Test Video" and got a very similar result to the Timeless: Sounds to the side and "behind" are great, verticals are pretty good, but then ALL "FRONT" SOUNDS ARE RIGHT IN MY HEAD.

I'm wondering if I need a different tip, or maybe my ears are weird or my brain is faulty (well that's definitely a part of it).

Talking about sounding holographic I just hooked up the First Times to Indigo and it sounded too overly holographic to the point it is disorienting.
I am not sure if I enjoy that actually...

 

[Frainen]

Thing is. I decided to sell EVO because i think my bass head days are over after being with EE's legends for almost 2 years. Iem mainly to blame for this move is Mest mkII.
I just realised how much i loved extra clarity. And on top of that you get that 3D show LX OG did not have.
EVOS gives you that 3d show but is basshead region and i think Legend range will stay there. EE sont seem to aim for balance-head crowd. So hold your expectations and beg for Odin SE or something. But eventually i knew i will move on.

After Indigo was announced it was a no-brainer to preorder. And id did improve few thing over Mest mkII. Fit improved or rather opened up more tip rolling options. I can now see it has edge on treble resolution and imaging by a small margin.
But there is also one other thing it did, which made indigo not such a clear choice over EVO and Mest mkII... Its tuning threw me away from more revealing signature back closer to bassier one. I mean look:

Yes EVO has more bass. But is cleaner and faster. Indigos is slightly thicker. Evos pull ahead on mid clarity too. Its only problem is rolled off treble. Lower mids tbh i dont find it as problematic as graph show, probably due to bass quantity.
Anyways. Yes Indigo is still more balanced but its not a charmer MKII for sure.
MKII is slightly less resolving as EVO or indigo. But its tonality suits my preferences better.

EVO is a basshead iem only due to rolled off treble. If it had treble of Indigo or MkII i would sell both Mests with not questions.
Now it will be loved by basshead or people who like having multiple flavours and need something to do bass at its best. I do think its best bass i ever heard, as far as quality goes.

Indigo is more balance but quite a bit north of neutral. I really like it. But i would lik a touch more upper mids. Or less thick lower mids?

And MKII is most balanced for me. Yes it has boosted upper mids and treble, but so is its bass. And i would not call its lower midrange much recessed. Not for me at least. But it has least secure fit and i am now starting to dig Indigos modest technical improvements lol.

So my preferences at this moment are not night and day here.

P.S. youmentioned Ely X, did you have a chance to compare? It looks for me like Indigo with my wish granted in upper mid section lol.
Got any impressions?

I agree with most of your points yes and it makes sense.

And with your preferences I can understand why the Indigo misses a little something.

If we take:

Elysian X will offer more forward vocals, if you really want to A/B you will conclude the X has better treble and suits female vocals nicely.
I would find the Indigo to have more stage than X on this song, the various instruments on the side are very clear with the Indigo and sparks well.
The Indigo will have a presence in the bass/mid bass that I like, it surrounds you. The bass with the X are more controlled and clean. (unless you start using a more powerful source, and there it can really give a nice slam)

With:

The drum hit stronger with the Indigo, as well as the string instruments. You get the wider stage with the Indigo again.
Separation for the voices and clarity is better with the X, as well as the claps. A bit more shy with the bass.

2 excellent sets, TOTL.
And for the reasons you mentioned, I have trouble using the EVO again. I think I have been over tolerant with it due to the hype train. If I am to choose one set for a full day, I would choose even the Monarch mk2 over the EVO. EVO is good for me with some electronic library, but that's it.

so yes, the Indigo is my preferred "fun" set. Even if the X is above in technicality.

 

[PatrickB]

Just listening to a Mest MKII got from @MusicTeck and was blown away by the sound! I have several IEM's and headphones at the moment trying to pick a favorite for mixing and mastering so I've been listening to Monarch MKII, Clairvoyance, Euclid, RSV, RS10, KSE1500, LCD-i4, ER4SR, and Blessing 2. I also have a U12t and 7hz Timeless on the way to compare. So far Mest MKII shot right up to the top of my favorites. Perhaps the RSV might be a bit more neutral.. not sure, but man the sound of the Mest really MOVES me in an emotional way and I feel you need a bit of that even if you want a somewhat neutral reference as well.

I know the Monarch has a lot of fans but I found it dry and boring with an unnaturally boosted subbass. I vastly prefer my OG MEST (or Andromeda, or even FiiO FH7 for that matter).

Haven't heard the OG, but I just got them Monarch MKII in and was ready to be blown away based on the reviews and mostly unanimous praise. First impression left me scratching my head a bit as it didn't really move me or impress me in any way. I didn't feel I was getting any better imaging or details versus the Mest MKII and RS10 (granted it's twice the price new). And this coherence thing some people talk about with hybrid/tribrids.. I think I understand that now because the sound didn't seem completely cohesive to me.. like listening to a sub speaker that didn't quite gel with the main speaker somehow. Anyway, I need to give it more listening time, but in contrast the Mest MKII was instant

 

[Kiats]

My Mest MkII customs will be a bit neglected now... The Fusang reshelled customs have come back from UM! Beautiful fit!

 

[Skullar]

Just listening to a Mest MKII got from @MusicTeck and was blown away by the sound! I have several IEM's and headphones at the moment trying to pick a favorite for mixing and mastering so I've been listening to Monarch MKII, Clairvoyance, Euclid, RSV, RS10, KSE1500, LCD-i4, ER4SR, and Blessing 2. I also have a U12t and 7hz Timeless on the way to compare. So far Mest MKII shot right up to the top of my favorites. Perhaps the RSV might be a bit more neutral.. not sure, but man the sound of the Mest really MOVES me in an emotional way and I feel you need a bit of that even if you want a somewhat neutral reference as well.



Haven't heard the OG, but I just got them Monarch MKII in and was ready to be blown away based on the reviews and mostly unanimous praise. First impression left me scratching my head a bit as it didn't really move me or impress me in any way. I didn't feel I was getting any better imaging or details versus the Mest MKII and RS10 (granted it's twice the price new). And this coherence thing some people talk about with hybrid/tribrids.. I think I understand that now because the sound didn't seem completely cohesive to me.. like listening to a sub speaker that didn't quite gel with the main speaker somehow. Anyway, I need to give it more listening time, but in contrast the Mest MKII was instant

How is Monarch MKII soundstage and imaging compared to Mest MKII?