S8F is freaking awesome to me, no matter what anybody else says, I love this set… To date still best one I tried.
Monarch might win in technicalities, bass rumble, stage, but S8F surely wins in overal tonality, speed and fit in my case. FD5 is nice too, stock not so much but when EQ’d they are fantastic.
It depends on one’s bank account, for me, yes it’s very expensive hobby, but I’m at this stage where I realy don’t want to buy anything else unless I hit the lottery.
@Resolution Ooo yes; how do you like the S8F vs FD5 & Monarch? Would you take it over the FD5 for a V tune?
I sold the S8Z when I received the Lokahi. I sold the Lokahi when I heard the SA6. I prefer sets with a DD over all BA sets in general. Although the Lokahi sounded great for an all BA set, I preferred the overall package of the SA6. If I’m being completely honest, the Lokahi felt cheaply built, especially with whatever was going on inside the nozzle. I’d never seen anything like it. The DUW-03 cable was the biggest reason I kept the SA6 not to mention the SA6 is just beautiful and is a compliment to my collection I enjoy. The DUW-03 is the best cable I’ve come across.
I greatly prefer the ZEN to the FD5. The FD5 is bloated in the mids for my tastes. The Zen is one of my favorite IEMs because of its bass, coherency, stage and slam. It is beastly for heavy music. The FD5 doesn’t get much play with me at all. I’ve been contemplating selling it and giving it to a new home that would enjoy it, but don’t know if I want to deal with the bother. I feel about the same with all of my Fiio IEMs of which I own all the hybrids and dynamics.
My favorite IEMs are not V shaped. I’ve fallen in love with the tunings of the Mangird Tea and the Monarch most. I haven’t had much time with the Oracle yet and I do have the Excalibur ordered and coming soon. So, I will be able to evaluate all the Thieaudio hybrids at some point. I wasn’t going to even bother with the Excalibur, but I broke down and ordered it earlier this month.
As for IEMs like the Odin, which I owned and sold… I personally am a believer in if I am being asked to spend spend that much for an IEM, I expect to love it and for it to be better than what I already own or bring something new or different to the table. I preferred the Thieaudio offerings and spent a lot less $$$. It is a pretty IEM though.
The Excalibur is very interesting, most of the hype seems directed at Oracle for being a mini-Clair.
Monarch ordered. Hopefully I won’t get screwed like with the L4 ciem.
Praying that you wont have problems with it.
S8F vs SA6…
Most of these earphones are all using the same drivers/driver technologies. Knowles and Sonnion. I think you’re right that consumers won’t be experiencing a giant leap forward when no manufacturers are innovating from the ground up. It doesn’t make much sense to me to spend gobs of cash on 1 item that’s using the same drivers or driver tech as something 5X less expensive and even sounds better, unless you really think a pretty faceplate design is worth thousands of $$$.
Just an update.
@Resolution
Monarch is just as described. It exactly how I thought it will sound.
I just had 1-2 hours with them out of the box and not bad at all. Even the mid-bass I don’t find it lacking 
Very happy to hear you’re enjoying them and that you hear what I hear.
Thank you for trusting my advise.
But… Advise can also go horribly wrong…
Money is paper… In the next months I will be looking for a desktop dac too… But a cheaper one 
Hi @Resolution again, amongs these IEM, which one do you find the bsst with prog metal (mostly Dream Theater)? Is it Dunu Zen? I am planning to get Zen Pro if it has several good reviews
I don’t think you need Zen or Falcon for the Dream Theater. They are for very dynamic music. You need a good hybrid or tribrid, with a good sound scene and mids. 
Zen is a great choice.
Okay sir, i just made an order on Zen Pro, let see how it sounds 
thank you. Hope it better than my SA6
I love their dynamic so, let see
For Dream Theater and similar groups you don’t need a dark sound, but a good soundstage, but you know. Not everything in prog metal is Zen.
Hi, if so, which iems do you find it best with prog?
It depends a lot on what tonality you prefer. According to FiiO FH7 or Shuoer EJ07 . They have dynamics, but they also have an open presentation and a very good soundstage , excellent resolution i very good mids. I have FiiO FH7, but I’ve read a lot of reviews about Shuoer EJ07(original). Zen are for brutal prog metal. With Zen you will not experience pleasure from the stage, only dynamics! But here some people only recommend Zen for prog metal, which is a pity !! Good luck…
I’ll take a look EJ07 and EJ07M
But FH7, i had a good listen with these about 2 years ago and i found them nothing except plasticky. They have so much BA timbre with me, that’s worse than my SA6. So, i skipped them. I find FH3 even more exciting and more organic than FH7.
Thank you for EJ07 suggest!!
