Cool little shout out to the man himself @GooberBM
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Mostly cause I started some insanity…but I’ll take it lol
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Jesus Christ. What an opportunity.
Thanks to all the boys, I had an amazing time demoing, listening and just straight up enjoying some incredible IEMs that I would probably, most likely, never had the opportunity to hear inside my home. Without their help, this all wouldn’t be possible.
Pictures and write-ups coming shortly!
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That’s hot, bro. My ears are all hot and bothered, now lol
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Dom not in public
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These are just phone pics, the camera pics are going to be 
thanks, boys 
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Your foreplay game is too good, though. Can’t even wait to get home!!!
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Oh, man! Here’s an attempt at not taking too much of anyone’s time. Here are my final thoughts on all of the sets I’ve been fortunate to hear the last few days, special thanks to the crew again. Y’all are the best audiophile friends an audiophile could ask for, thank you 
My library and set up if anyone has not seen it yet;
Summary
Desktop use - Toppling L30, Topping D10s, Tidal hi-res, and some local files.
On the go use - FiiO BRT7 in both wired and Bluetooth
•Goon - fruiting body
•Mega Mango - OMG!
•Chastity Belt - different now
•Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile
•Courtney Barnett - small poppies
•Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener
•Big Thief - Simulation Swarm
•No Vacation - Days
•Men I Trust - Tailwhip
•Men I Trust - Sugar
•High noon - not the one
•Paramore - Decode
•Paramore - figure 8
•Just Mustard - In Shade
•Ludwig Goransson - Can You Hear The Music
•Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
•Pearl Jam - Alive
•Everything yes - My Turn
•Varsity - alone in my principals
•Varsity - cowboy killer
Daft punk - infinity repeating
Daft punk - horizon
Daft punk - give life back to music
Daft punk - voyager
I’ll get right into my conclusive thoughts and then follow them up with some closing thoughts on each individual set as I think that’s just the most efficient way to go about this; right off the bat, the best set I heard this week is a 3-way tie between the Monarch MKIII, Monarch MKII, and The Prestige LTD.
I think all 3 of these bad boys are incredible sets in their own right (for my preferences of course). I found they all have their own unique properties that allow my library to shine. Some days I would really prefer the Monarch MKIII due to its thicker low-end presentation and more forward vocals. And some days I would prefer the Prestige LTD, with its more snappy low-end, and emphasis on the late treble detail resulting in a more ‘open’ and spacious sound. They’re both great. I would say they both have faults of course and the flaws that stood out to me would be the slightly too forward consonant playback on the Prestige and the overly thick mid-bass on the Monarch MKIII. While the thicker mid-bass on the Monarch MKIII is not ideal for my library, it’s undeniably fun and I can get used to it pretty quickly. Letting go of all the notions of the ‘perfect’ playback and just melting in the music. The Prestige is a more ‘correct’ sounding IEM to my ears and while I’d say it probably would score a higher “objective” score, on the subjective scale, the sharp consonant replay does knock it a bit. The OG Prestige had the same issue I felt only worse. The OG Prestige was an un-listenable IEM for me personally, so I’m happy to report that the LTD version certainly has it’s place in the market and greatly improves on the OG’s formula.
In conclusion; The Prestige LTD has a spacious, correct-sounding reply with fantastic timbre, enjoyable snappy bass, and open treble response with more details than anyone really needs to hear in their music, albeit a little sharp on some occasions for my ears. The Monarch MKIII is a more ‘fun’ reply, with less accurate lower-midrange and mid-bass replay giving you thick lower mids that engulf nearly the entire replay, the downside? for someone who prefers a snappier mid-bass kick like that of a beryllium driver (XENNS UP for example) and a more ‘correct’ sounding lower mids, you’ll probably want to stick with the MKII. While the MKII may come off as thin to some and lacking some mid-bass body, they don’t come off that way to me. The Prestige LTD I think strikes a balance between those two sets. Now I’m not sure if the 2 extra EST drivers are at fault here, but there is something around 6-8k that just doesn’t get along with my ears too well coming out of the LTD. The BA drivers in the Monarch series just get along better with the rest of the replay IMO but of course, your mileage will mostly definitely vary. The Monarch MKII is still the king in the Mids department and quite frankly, that’s the most important area for me. All of these sets have fantastic timbre, with the Monarch MKII having probably the most accurate timbre I’ve heard to date, which helps the grading of that set tremendously.
Relative to all the sets I’ve mentioned;
Monarch MKIII
“Objective” (Trying to ignore bias as best as possible) - A
Subjective (All the Bias) - A
Prestige LTD
“Objective” - A+
Subjective - B+
Monarch MKII
“Objective” - A
Subjective - S-
Next up is the Night Oblivion Butastur. Oh boy…
I’ll make this one quicker than the first part since I’ve already gone into some detail on the Butastur; The timbre is fantastic, and that helps this set a great deal for me personally. The techs are there - the resolution is pretty top-notch, especially for my library. All the details of your music will be on full display. The stage feels fairly open and spacious, while not being the widest tallest, or deepest, I think most people will find this set more than adequate. The tuning is damn near S tier - it is an intelligently tuned IEM, with all sections of the FR being well executed, maybe even too well. That’s my problem with the set - it takes no risks. There is no fun to be had for me personally in this set. It has no specialty embedded in the replay. I never felt moved with the music coming out of the very comfortable shell and I spent probably the most time with this set as I really wanted it to be a complete homerun. Unfortunately (or Fortunately, I don’t have to buy them!), there is nothing in this IEM that stands out besides maybe it is just too well-rounded. Tuned too well. The only other problem I had with this set, and maybe I’m just nitpicking here a touch, is the slightly thin note weight. The lack of a DD is felt, with Sub-bass being present but you need to really focus on the rumble to get a taste of what those high-end BAs can accomplish.
With that being said, however, I really want to applaud @AmericanSpirit_JP for his first creation. It’s not too often that a player gets up to the plate at his first MLB game in his first at-bat and hits a stand-up double, bringing in 2 RBIs. This is a fantastic IEM objectively and for the folks that are chasing that ‘correct’ sound, this is a very strong competitor alongside the other competitors in that price segment like the stuff from AuR Audio. At least there isn’t a 7 year waiting time for the Butastur!
“Objectively” - A-
Subjectively - C+
I’ll start firing off the next few, considering those were all the heavy hitters I currently have in my possession.
Thieaudio Hype 2
The boys over at Thie sure know how to make a faceplate, don’t they? For $300 I think these are a very very strong contender in that price bracket. The 2 standout points for me would be the bass performance and the above-average staging. The bass is so textured and enjoyable, it’s fantastic - full stop. I think it strikes a nice balance with the rest of the FR as well. It does not come off as bloated, veiling the mid-range. The staging is, to me at least, above-average in this price range. I’d even go as far to say that the stage depth alone feels as deep and spacious as the Monarch MKII so for the $700 discount you get, if you’re looking for a great EDC with awesome bass that won’t make you feel claustrophobic while you’re commuting, this is a strong contender. This may sound overly complimentary to the Hype 2 but honestly, the tuning really does speak to me, Thie’s house sound usually does, and for the price, I don’t feel the need to nitpick. While $300 isn’t cheap, it certainly isn’t $1000, or $1300 like the other sets I have on my desk right now. They’re not perfect, no IEM is, but for the price of admission, they are fantastic.
“Objectively” - B
Subjectively - B
Aful Performer 8
Another IEM I really wanted and fully expected to enjoy. I’ll keep this short - I’m not a fan of the overly thin note weight and the strange timbre. This stood out to me immediately so I couldn’t give them more than 30 minutes of listening. HOWEVER, I am very picky when it comes to timbre. Take that into account. The rest of the story basically boils down to this; good resolution and the tuning is well done. There is nothing special I could point out though.
“Objectively” - B
Subjectively - C
The Shortbus Glamdring
These are a hoot. I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing these. If the Butastur and the P8 are overly ‘correct’ with nothing special happening, knocking their grades down, the Glamdring is the exact opposite. Thundering bass, with plenty of texture and well-separated mids. The techs are top of the class in this price category and beyond with a special sauce in the upper midrange section of the FR giving you this depth in the sound that’s rarely heard under $500. For the price, again, I don’t think I can fault these. If you want a fun IEM with a very comfortable shell and you want to support a true gentleman and scholar of the community, Michael Bruce, these are basically a no-brainer. Be warned, however - if forward female vocals that come off angelic and command your attention are a priority for IEMs, this one is probably not for you.
“Objectively” - B-
Subjectively - B+
SeeAudio Yume OG
Of all the sets in this tour box, the OG Yume was the one IEM I thought would be right up my alley. Just an easy, solid B grade, no questions asked. Unfortunately, either this particular set has a channel imbalance somewhere or the timbre just does not get along with my ears. Within 2 minutes of pressing play, they almost immediately turned me off. I won’t grade or comment further - they are going to be on their way to @MMag05 for graphing and if they do come back to have good channel balance, I’ll continue my thoughts.
Tangzu Fudu
Just straight off the bat, the low-end is healthy and enjoyable, but the treble timbre is not my favorite. It is coming off as thin and oddly separated from the rest of the FR but not in an enjoyable way. Not for me, but I think they could be a solid EDC for a lot of people if treble timbre isn’t a soft spot for you.
“Objectively” - B-
Subjectively - C
That wraps up my thoughts on this tour. Thank you all for reading! I’m so happy to be back being apart of the forums. I know this is a small community and I hope I’m not coming off as taking this all too seriously - this is just all so much fun for me.
The overall winner for me this time around would probably be the Prestige LTD surprisingly. I think it strikes the right balance between the Monarch MKII and Monarch MKIII. I feel like maybe some more tip rolling could correct that sharpness in the consonants area and once that is corrected, it’s a very solid A+ - S- IEM. No doubt about it.
Lastly, thank you again to all my buddies in the tour group, I appreciate your friendships greatly and thank you to @GooberBM for hosting my write-ups this tour.
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Fantastic write up (and gallery!) as always!
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Always too kind, thank you Guy 
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Goat write up - thank you Dom
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Can someone hook this man up with Linsoul / ThieAudio?? These pictures should be used as sales photos for these IEMs!
Absolutely incredible, from write-up, to placement, lighting and color-matching 
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Yup, there’s the money shot. After that write-up and gallery, we all need a smoke
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You are far too kind, man. Honestly. Thank you so much! I work a lot harder on the photos than I do on the actually writing so this is very much appreciated 
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I’m pretty sure that it’s mine.
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Me thinks if you were to get your own Glamdring that was tuned by Mike towards your preferences that it would easily hit A grade or maybe even above for you 
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It all depends; mine is a “standard” Glamdring ie I didn’t send any requests or reference materials, and I really dig it regardless! I don’t see Glams hitting universal top appeal, but for those whom it hits, boy does it hit!
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I gave him a few of the top hardest tracks to tune to according to him, I’d be curious to know the differences between mine and your’s 
Mike was mostly talking in tetms of mixing, so for reference here’s one of the tracks I sent him
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