My favorite earphones are MEST MKII and are Black
3 Likes
lol, my bro! Me too! Black for ever! A little gold sprinkled in never hurt either. bling!
Legendaryā¦
2 Likes
Mangird and Mest
I favor āMā too
4 Likes
Moondrā¦ Oh never mind.
Marvin Gaye howeverā¦!
2 Likes
LMO, donāt! Yaāll were cracking me up. Just couldnāt pass up the opportunity to snipe at Moondropās hold my beer moment. xD
1 Like
Oh, you Missed HiFiGo getting bannedā¦again 
Dear HiFiGo, (cause they will read this)
HiFi Guides is a user driven site. If was founded by Z,DMS and Josh (iirc). There are links that are affiliate for Z and that is fine as everyone knows and most influencers use such links.
Those links are not stuffed down our throats.
Links that are placed by users which may also be affiliate are no problem with this site
Many users are already getting items sent by you including Z.
They link to you.
I just sold a buncha 7Hz for you unintentionally (your welcome).
Head-Fi, Facebook groups, Discords, those are places to whore yourself.
Not here.
People are slowly losing trust in platforms that are sponsored. Money and politics and DM being the only place real words are spoken are making folks tired.
Over time, this forum will overtake Head Fi.
If we consider and minus all the fanboy and shill talk there, this site is already on par and passing with authentic user/buyer and known influencers input.
This is where you want your best influencers to have the most trust.
Let them do that.
Get out of their way and offer the best price and good shipping.
21 Likes
Great write up.
I love to hear first impressions from " the common folk" (like myself)
I seem to be able to click or understand better what you mean.
Although my playlist is similar to yours, I kept on thinking ābut how would it do with prog rock/prog metal?ā
This last post was the cherry on the top and just sealed the deal for me.
Thanks.
1 Like
Itās just about money ā¦
3 Likes
Thanks bro! Appreciate it. I dont do prog much. I use @Resolution as a bridge for it. Iām a brainiac and an addict. I try to capture why people prefer A to B, within their reason. It was hard at the start. For instance Fiio FH3. Hate that thing, still trying to sell it. So I had to āmurderā my ears to understand it.
Itās also about expectations. Yesterday I saw multiple opinions on a set I own praising their qualities about about a part of my library, and I donāt fully agree, else Iād happier with it. But itās about preferences and expectations. One mans trash is another mans treasure.
@hawaiibadboy , respect 
Love being a part of this community and love seeing it growing. Everyone here has a voice and can share opinions. Youāre probably the main reason for it.
I donāt care if youāre working with A, B or C. Keep doing what youāre doing.
Also, your last upload is your best video to date. People that try to help others with reviews or impressions will understand how hard it is to separate what youāre really hearing from what your brain itās hearing after all the external factors. Takes a lot of power of will to put it as you did, without feeling ashamed.
Wishing you and your fiance the best. Take care of her, family first.
7 Likes
Thanks to @nymz and @Resolution for the discussion earlier about the MEST and diminishing returns. Iām a pretty happy owner of the Clairvoyance and I was pretty determined not to buy any more new IEMs to try but rather to save up to get the MEST sometime next year. Since the pricetag for the MEST is basically a two-months salary for me, it really was a longterm saving plan.
However, maybe I really do need to step backā$700 for the Clair was the most Iād ever spent on audio and I thought Iād never even think of topping that. I love it, I just wish it fit better and that it had better sub-bass.
Maybe Iāll just save up for the XENNS or the Monarch for the bass and get out of the game for a few years. I too want to know what āholographicā in audio means, but itās not really worth that much money lol
EDIT: not to mention that the pricetag always goes up because EU and customs duties. My Clairvoyance actually cost me close to $850. I donāt even want to know what the MEST would cost
2 Likes
I might be getting UP in a near future and Iāll give my review on it. Also, get Var instead of monarch. Monarch might be slightly better, but costs 200 more and has even worse fitting. Variationās fit is the most I can get by. Anything bigger than that is game over.
My advice to anyone is to buy good but cheaper stuff while budget still is a factor. You have some great options on 300 or 600 range. Play around a bit.
My advice to you directly would be a Single DD (Like Oxygen), a single BA (RSV?), or a different tunned tribid (Var/Monarch/EJ07m). You might like stuff you donāt know because you never heard it.
1 Like
I really love the Xenns UP fit.
Definitely not bulky like the Empire Ears. Not small as the Mest mk2 but still very comfortable and passive isolation.
1 Like
Canāt wait to try it! ready for the slam jam
1 Like
Alright, after much deliberation, rewatching several videos and rereading essentially the entirety of some threads on here, maybe some coin tosses. I finally decided on my first official IEM!
Big thanks to everyone thatās given great views, advice, and keeping me somewhat grounded when taking my first taste into gear like this now that I finally pulled the trigger on an IEM
6 Likes
Congratz 
1 Like
I never liked Moondrop as a company and Iāve only had good experiences with Thieaudio (the Legacy 3 is THE set that got me exploring more new music than I ever had before that, and that may just be the best compliment you can give to an audio product)
The Monarch is on the list because Iām expecting it to be sufficiently different enough to the Clair (if itās a clone with just slight differences in the bass Iād be disappointed)
And the XENNS is here because from what Iāve heard itās a whole different ballgame, which maybe just what I need. As long as itās not a fully dark set with everything else in the background
1 Like
Monarch might be more different than UP from Clair, judging by graphs. More analythical, sub-bass focus. Itās a monitor, really. More than I had expected.
3 Likes
I am aware of a set at about Mangird TEA $$$ and about TEA SQ
Just a heads up
12 Likes
Im ready. Fully ready. Been waiting for this in fact. Spill the beans š„²
Trading my lunch for info. LMK your offer.
2 Likes
http://www.lotoo.cn/english/Hi_Fi_Player/PAW_S2/
A new friend for our IEM collections. (Even if I am still an L&P W2 fanboy)
3 Likes