Thatās something I would have to leave to someone else, as I havenāt heard them before.
DMS did compare them to the Sundara in his review, though he didnāt seem to touch on imaging comparison
Zeos did compare to the Sundaraā¦ And while I usually agree with him, I donāt totally agree with him on how the 5XX sounds
Soundstageā¦ Depends.
It matters less for POP than it is for classical-orchestral records.
Iām just glad thereās a closed-back planar that sounds good without amps. THICC mids on the go.
Thereās always going to be sets that outclass others at everything. This is exactly why I personally feel there is no one perfect set earphones/headphones.
Couldnāt agree more about the 6XX being one of the very best headphones for vocals, especially on tubes. I prefer it for vocals even vs my VOCAL Clear MG which is known to be great for vocals as well.
In addition, I donāt really like this comparing headphones to IEMs thing weāre starting. I probably started it attempting to explaining the Timelessā stage. My bad.
True, Headphones vs. IEMās was something I was very interested in when I first got into the hobby.
Thereās quite a few differences that are not comparable between the two, namely use case (One being limited to home use for the most part, the other much more versatile).
In terms of sound qualities, I think you can def compare the two though. For me personally, it goes Open back > IEM > Closed back. Thereās certain things each does better at and each individual headphone/IEM makes all the difference of course, but thatās my general preference.
Some wine sellers, in France, organize some wine degustation sessions. You pay, letās say, 80ā¬ for a session ,and you get to taste different wines, differents flavors and all, and youāre guided by a professional seller to help you recognize it.
These sellers make this service available because many people feel they lack the experience/knowledge to judge au good/bad wine.
I wish the same thing come to mind for a sound seller: you come in his store with some friedns and/or aother audiophiles, and the sellers makes you test/taste different flavors of sound. That would just be so great to educate people about sound, and would be a good way to advertise for the seller. I donāt know why it has never been done (to my knowledge at least).
LOL this is the first time Iāve been called a āslam whoreā. But yeah you got it right 
I not only thought youād appreciate it, I thought it was the most suiting description of you I could come up with. 
Iām probably a slam bitch.
Just so you know about stage and imaging. I think Iām part of the tribe that were very surprised by your feedback about these two.
As a planar headphone owner, I fell in love with its technicalities. I had really high hopes about the timeless, that it could be as good as my he400i on details, separation, stage and imaging. As I understand it, itās something that is shared by almost all planar headphones.
When you said imaging was on hd600 level, I must admit my initial interior reaction was kind of āno way, that canāt beā. And I think many reactions here are because of the hours and the surprise.
That being said, as Iām a civilised person, I refrained my feelings and tried to understand/listen more carefully. I must say I havenāt 5% of the experience you have. So whoās right? You or my feelings? You have to be right. I trust you, your experience, the time you spent on listening these iem and the effort you put in comparing it to other stuff.
So in an attempt to chill a little, I just wanted to say thank you for your detailed feedback. I really appreciate it. It makes me hesitate about getting the timeless because I value imaging. So my wallet thanks you even more!
If you prioritize imaging. The tanchjim oxygen is probably the best you can get at sub 300 usdā¦
I did not mean to make a stir. I just gave feedback to everyone as honest as I heard it.
Imaging is weird. I think what imaging is to me, might not mean the same thing to others. It is not simply being able to hear events happen to the left or the right. Thatās just the stereo field. Youāll always be able to hear things in the left or right ear with IEMs or headphones from a stereo recording. Imaging is being able to clearly define audio events and their precise location within the soundstage.
If you really value imaging and soundstage, the Mangird Tea or the Oxygen are better choices IMO. I am happy to give more suggestions in higher price brackets too, but when it comes to resolution, the Timeless wins.
The MEST MKII is the best soundstage, imaging and separation Iāve heard in an IEM. Iāll be honest, I am spoiled. It also has the best resolution, detail and clarity as well with authoritative slam. It is a technical beast of which I have yet to find its match.
I donāt prioritise imaging, but I value it. 
And I actually think I tend to blend the concepts of imaging, resolution and instrument separation.
Anyway, Iām far from this budget bracket for now: I still have many things to try while staying below 50 bucks so I can taste all the flavours an iem can be (full ba, v shaped, L shaped, w shaped,ā¦). Once I feel I know and have experienced enough, Iāll go up in the 300-ish bracket and will buy my personal endgame.
After that, Iāll keep the knowledge, a good sound, and all the fun of learning. But I wonāt have kept many money, thatās for sureā¦
Here is a very good explanation to describe imaging (and the way I define it).
I overall prefer Mele to Timeless. For $50 itās totally insane. I have two of them.
Exactly. We agree. It isnāt that you can hear things left or right in the soundstage (thatās simply stereo), but how precisely positioned those audio events are within the soundstage that defines how good or how poor the imaging is. Imaging is really impressive when the events not only are pinpoint accurate, take place either from the left or right of you but also can be positioned with depth and layering.
That is what I consider good imaging and separation capabilities.
Shhhh, donāt reveal our secrets. Order will keep flooding and I wonāt get a gold or blue pairā¦
It sucks guys, move along 8)
ROFL! I know, I am looking forward to getting blue. lol
Yeah, this is why imaging is the nr 1 priority for a gaming transducer.
Since you want to be able to tell you are getting shot at from 10 oāclock instead of simply left.
Yeahā¦ Pretty sure its clogged til christmas by now. We should offer one to Riku, so he can do a review and clog it until easter lol
Luckily positional audio in games is getting better, but it was not that long ago that only a few games would even send precise enough audio data to do that. Now most shooters are pretty good to excellent and it is getting better in other games.
I might have an in at Linsoul with my lady friends I keep bribing with my photos. Heyā¦ you want this cool photo for your Instagram? You got some a dat blue Mele for me? 
