Do you think It would be much better to save up fo the Monarchs?
Dont have them.
I canāt rember which reviewer who answered that, but it was a clear āYesā to the Monarch over both Dunu 112 and SA6.
Only caveat is re the cost, if it is out of your reach.
Iād say Monarch > EST 112 > Zen but thatās of course if your budget fits the Monarch, or can find a good condition used one.
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Iāll be able to evaluate the DUNU EST 112 vs the Thieaudio Monarch when mine arrives. I own the Monarch & Clairvoyance and have pre-ordered the DUNU EST 112.
Iām not expecting the DUNU EST 112 to ābeatā the Monarch.
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Looking forward to hearing your impressions vs the clair/mon!
I have serious respect for the following companies: KBEAR, iBasso, Dunu.
I am happy to hear about the treble part on the EST 112. A top-end roll-off is a big no no for me. This sounds like a successful drop to me 
Yeah, it really does seem like they heard my complaints with the Zen (small soundstage, lack of micro-details/air, rolled-off upper-treble), all of that is fixed.
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The companies who listen are the ones that are the best. All of the companies that I have mentioned have shown to have listened to previous feedback, whether thatās from reviewers or customers, they listened and fixed them. Thatās called being a responsible company.
Honestly, I dont really like Ibasso that much. They got a lot of problems with the DX160 (that wasnt fixed on the 2020 version) and for the price it is going at, I think those problems are unjustifiable.
But yeah, companies that listen and change accordingly are great and I support them.
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Also, another reason why I like Dunu so much. Is that they are active in the community and give out tons of behind the scene information. Really shows that they know what they are doing, unlike most chi-fi brands that seems to use the kz strategy lol. (throwing tons of iems out and see which ones stickā¦)
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As far as iBasso, I think it is my favorite company of the bunch. They put in a lot of effort in their products, and they have a history of making industry-leading products. I personally havenāt been following the DAP scene, but I do know that the new DX200/DX220/DX220MAX and the latest released DX300 have been highly-praised.
DAPs from 2020 and before have had known problems, so hopefully they work on that and it doesnāt happen again.
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Well, getting back on topic.
Here is my graph:
This iem is a ājack of all genres, master of nonā type. It is very versatile and has a very good ability to change its tonality to adapt to the track, whether it is to be brighter or warmer, note weight is also not too thick nor thin so it complements its versatility very well.
This does however limit its ability to play a specific genre to its full potential, because it does tend to either lack some more warmth or brightness to be fully tonally correct (happens mostly with the vocals).
And with some genres (particularly EDM and Hip-hop) the sub-bass quantity is a little bit lacking for my taste. Although it is definitely elevated above neutral it still lacks that extra bit to make it even more fun (thankfully the texture is good enough to ācompensateā a bit for the quantity).
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Came across this on reddit yesterday and thought you might be interestedā¦
(it has english subtitles)
ā¦its also on the topic of EST112
I already posted this lol.
Oh 
Sorry, I usually just read the āthumbnailsā of head-fi links and I didnt notice thatā¦
But the main engineer seems like a cool guy 
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@Rikudou_Goku These look really interesting! Now that Iām emotionally deep into this expensive little hobby, Iām curious to try some multi-driver/BA style IEMs; how would you compare to this to FD5 for TSFH style music? This and the SA6 are looking really interesting!
I will compare them (and more) in my review. Havent done any comparisons yet, but as I mentioned a little bit above. This iem is a very versatile set and I havent found anything (yet) that it plays bad.
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Size comparison
Smaller than the Blessing 2 which is like a potato in my ears.
A bit bigger than the fh3.
A lot bigger than the blon bl-03.
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The EST112 is actually superior in detail, clarity and overall performance. The soundstage is tied and they are similarly airy, which is very impressive since it looks like the upper-treble is more elevated on the FD5 in the graph compared to the EST112. Guess the EST is working hard lol.
The only reason why I would recommend the FD5 over the EST112 (besides price difference) is if you want a bassier iem, then the FD5 will probably be more to your liking. But the EST112 is a better tuned and more versatile iem.
Compared with the A7 (pop-red) and the EST112 is beating it on all factors. Bass actually sounds a bit bloated on the A7 in comparison. A7 is only better if you want a relaxing and fun iem (bigger bass).
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