Crin's Tribrid Shootout

IEMs / Other Earbuds / Clip-Ons / Other
102

This is one of the big reasons my collection is so large. When you have a set that people are interested in, they want you to help them with comparisons to other items they are interested in/want or sets they already have, so they can tell how it differs from a set they know.

I have purchased many sets just for the reason to be able to speak about it from first hand experience.

The latest set I bought for this reason was the Dusk. I already owned the Variations and the Blessing 2 but I was getting hit with so many questions about the Dusk and how it was different/compared to the Variations etc… I couldn’t answer the questions and it drove me crazy until I just couldn’t take it and I broke down and bought the Dusk. Now I have the Dusk and the Variations and they are completely redundant, but I can speak about them first hand.

Same with the Fiio FD3 I just got. I really didn’t want it but I wanted to be able to speak first hand about it so I had to buy it.

An offshoot of this is what I’ve seen and I can’t prove but I’ll mention it (drives me crazy)… I feel there are some people during discussions really do not have some of the experience with sets they claim to have. I’ve seen it a few times and have asked them to produce photos of the two sets together they are talking about. In both situations it turned out, the persons did not have the sets they supposedly owned and were incapable of producing a photo to show proof they owned both sets.

This is why I share photos of the sets I’m discussing to simply show that I own the sets and have first hand knowledge about them and have no ulterior motive to make shit up about them.

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103

This. Seems hard nowadays. Even got hate pms about cables… Just because I like and own cables, doesn’t mean I believe or care. Also people straightly picking up on me just because that wasnt the right cable that make the sound good. That looks don’t matter.

I wonder what big reviewers mailbox looks like, lol.

104

I am lucky that it isnt that bad for me.

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105

That makes you a passionate and good person. Also financially stupid, but arent we all? :upside_down_face:

I think this forum only has to thank you. Dont know much people that would do it, even if they could. Im not sure I would, even with your funds.

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106

You’re 100% right. But when I get DM’s from people such as yourself, I find it difficult not to go out of my way to do everything I can to give you the best advise I can. You deserve it and you’re awesome! :slight_smile:

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107

Thanks that and for the words. Only recs I didn’t get are on the way out or sold already, that must mean something. Gotta admit that you buying Mest made all our lives harder… I remember when I thought Clairvoyance was endgame :joy:

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108

Curious fact, got a DM of a buddie here couple of days ago, asking about gear and music. Until we found out we got the gear thanks to your recs :joy: you’re the in-house fairy

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109

@hawaiibadboy & @Rikudou_Goku have been my personal go-to’s for helping me along my hobbies path.

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110

Hey man, sorry for the late reply.

So, i don’t consider myself a vet in here at all but i had kind of a busy and fast journey in the past year or so.

In my opinion, unless you really have money to spare, i would not dive into $1000+ IEMs with 4 months into this hobby, if you don’t know exactly what you are looking for there is a good chance you will end up having to sell an expensive set because it was not exactly what you were looking for.

From your impressions on the Dusk it seems like you like a bit more bass presence and impact, and in that case i am not sure the MEST would be ideal for you, i know it is an endgame technicality / detail beast but i am not sure if it is enjoyable as a more fun set, i think not.

I had the Xenns UP and to me it was super weird, it had dark highs and a bass presentation that i disliked, keep in mind this hobby is extremely subjective and you may love the UPs.

My advise would be to purchase sets that can highlight different aspects of the sound so you can find out exactly what you like and what you seek, a few examples:

Dunu Zen - It has the best bass impact of all IEMs i tried, it is expensive but if you know you like bass impact maybe look for an used set.

LZ A6 - Has a huge soundstage and unique highs, may please trebleheads.

Fiio FD5 - Again big stage and hot treble with decent beryllium bass.

Mangird Tea - Excellent mids, soundstage, imaging, pleasing highs and very good bass presence and impact (not as much as the Dunu Zen)

Or you could try the LZ A7 which allows you to tweak the sound in different ways.

Hope this helps you in some way, i have limited experience compared to these guys.

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111

I think not?

It is enjoyable. I listen to it more than any other set I have. It isn’t necessarily “fun” because it’s not overexaggerated in any way. It is “fun” because it is masterfully tuned so that you can hear everything more clearly and everything is more clearly defined, and placed within the soundstage with better/more clear separation and total completeness vs any other set I’ve heard. It also slams with more authority than I ever expected it to.

The MEST MKII is not just a technical beast, it is the most authentic, detailed and complete audiophile replay I’ve ever heard.

When I think of the adjective “detailed”, I usually think reduced bass and extended treble with possible sharpness and sibilance. The MEST MKII is not this at all. It has EST drivers doing the treble, so it has the tribrid extended and detailed treble but without any of the harshness that comes with BA’s if they’re elevated too high. The MEST MKII has magic going on under the hood that I can not explain, but as soon as I heard it, I knew it was special and different.

If you haven’t heard it, I can understand how these descriptions might sound strange because the MEST MKII breaks usual conventions. It cannot even be graphed properly because of the bone conduction tech used within it.

I wish there were more sets that incorporate the bone conduction technology so we can better understand exactly what it’s doing to the sound and what good or bad implementation sounds like.

But if anyone had assumptions that the MEST MKII is boring, only technical/detailed sounding or is lacking anything in its tuning, you would be wrong. I believe most of us that own the MEST would consider it one of, if not the most authentic audiophile replays available today. I wonder if @hawaiibadboy would agree? And Chris has had the opportunity to hear many more sets than me.

There are still tons of IEMs out there that I need to listen to. I don’t have experience with every IEM on the planet by any means, but the MEST MKII blew my expectations away upon first hearing it and I can easily say it is the most impressive IEM I’ve ever heard.

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112

That all makes sense to me, my point was that i think it is risky for someone who thinks the Dusk lacks bass to get a MEST, it is a super expensive set and its strongest suit is not the bass as far as i know, right?

One man’s trash is another mans treasure, i think in this hobby this applies quite often. The fact that i don’t even consider the MEST for myself is proof of that, you got to know what you are looking for before buying. It may be widely considered one of the best IEMs out there, but until you know what you like in sound it is a huge gamble in terms of cost.

Another good example is the Sennheiser HD800, i would never spend money on that set. I know for sure it would hate every aspect of it for my library, even the big soundstage would be a con.

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113

The Dusk is lacking in mid bass. Definitely not sub bass.

I don’t think the MEST MKII is lacking anywhere.

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114

You are going to make me buy a MEST and apply a +200dB bass boost on it if you continue with this talk, lol

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115

I’ll stop. :slight_smile: Nice chatting with you!

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116

You too man, life is crazy right now. I am sleeping from 6am to 9am every day for 11 days now. Geez it is tough being a father…

I am now listening to my Zens and spending some time in this forum, this hobby keeps me sane these days.

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117

Wow this thead has really blown up! Thank you everyone for sharing your kind opinions!

@Rikudou_Goku thanks for the advice! Yeah I suspect I definitely would have wanted more bass than what the Solaris could offer. I also wondered about the reduced mids and whether that contributed to my feeling of limpness and boringness. What do you think?

@NarrowProgram ha ha hopefully we aren’t potentially fighting for the same one! But I doubt it. Good luck with the deal!

@Resolution 2 votes for getting the MEST straight up! Thank you for the awesome recommendation tier list and pictures. Someone should really sticky that so that you don’t have to keep copy pasta-ing that.

Also thank you for all the effort, passion and integrity you put into this hobby! It’s greatly appreciated!

@luizgarcia Yes. I suppose it can be a risky proposition looking at it from this way. It is I suppose why I decided to stop lurking and create an account to ask the opinions of all you fine folks! Also I feel you! My 6 month old after a month of not waking up all night has decided to wake up again in the middle of the night. 4 times last night in fact! Ugh!

I think my local shop has Dunu and Fiio… Maybe. If they do I will head on in and give the Zen and FD5 a try.

Unfortunately for the rest, I have no way of knowing and would have to blind buy. Do you think that’s worth it?

For me, I’m comfortable financially and I can afford the MEST but it doesn’t really mean that I would want to just splurge willy-nilly on everything especially all at once. In fact Im making a conscious decision to space it all out.

I think part of preserving the value of something, someone or some experience is to preserve (either artificially or naturally) scarcity and mystery. If you could have everything you want, anytime you want, nothing quite becomes that good anymore. @nymz made a good point about whether I would want to jump straight to the end goal that made me stop to consider. I don’t quite have my answer yet however ha ha. A slow decider I am.

Curious to know what people think of this? If you were in my spot and given the opportunity to get your potential end game right now would you jump to it? Or would you decide to perhaps instead choose to buy something lesser and slowly climb the ladder?

Of course under the assumption that you could afford it comfortably though at the same time not being a gazillionaire so of course costs need to be considered.

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118

Also I read this awesome article and I thought of how this forum is awesome and filled with what this article describes as “Social Capital”.

Thanks everyone for making this a great place to discuss how buying an expensive cable will make the bass better!

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119

Thanks, but I definitely can’t afford the MEST right now haha and it’s so painful seeing such a good deal on it and still unable to comfortably afford it

The MEST mkII you are talking about wouldn’t happen to be from a certain seller’s facebook page’s post that was made a couple months ago at a tempting price of $1100 or about 55k of a certain local currency for a essentially brand new open box unit?

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120

Wut! $1100??

… Well, I’m not sure, maybe if you direct me to the said page I could try to confirm this. :wink:

No ha ha. My deal is nowhere as insane.

It’s used I assume?

121

Slightly used I think, I’ll ask to double check, but judging from the pics they have been well taken care of and not abused, box looks like it has all its accessories too

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