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Dark magician
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It is
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The Chifi market is cannibalizing itself. How long did they wait between the MkI and the MKII?
The Clairvoyance and Monarch were somewhat above the rest on that price bracket.
However, the MKII is almost 40% more expensive than the Monarch. (700 x 1,4 = 980ā¬). Is another price bracket.
Then they released the Oracle and the Excalibur on the lower bracket.
At some point itās imposible that you have enough people talking about just one IEM.
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Thank you, and I was wondering if that was the Dark magician, the IEM so magical, that it vanished for a while. 
I know Tony is a Variations guy, and I like Tony, but I saw Sharur decided it was the best IEM in the world recently. He will change his mind and crap all over it at some point, but until then, that is the association I have with the Moondrop Variations.
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Dark Magician is legit. 
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They must know how many headphone addicts to the nines there are.
Youāre absolutely correct. Thatās another valid point, the quick turn around time for the Chifi market is quite staggering. Iām happy some companies wait for a little while and let the set speak for it self. Iām not sure how long after the MKI was released that the MKII was released but it doesnāt feel like a long time if Iām honest.
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og was sometime in 2020 so at least a year
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the amount of choices in chifi make me unsure what the next option in buying isā¦ should i do dusk, should i do timeless, should i do olina, the harman signature (autoEQ mostly just adapts it to harman) upper mids i like but Iām also someone who loves a ton of bassā¦ and i want a technical upgrade in terms of resolution and fun factor (i bought a mele mostly because my blon was detatching from the cable), and everyone gives different choices (especially since the hifi guides website is broken basically and squiglink or crin arenāt always the ultimate advice). it causes the paradox of choice where you have no idea what to buy
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test some budget sets and see what you like the most then go from there 
already doing that buy waiting for the chu. as well as getting the mele as a bassy IEMā¦ those 2 kinda describe the major camps except maybe getting a CCA CRA or even an SSR if Iām really desperateā¦ the hard part is the upgrade pathā¦ i already have had 100 dollar and 150 dollar in ears both donated to me and that i bought directlyā¦ so i am mostly trying to figure out that 150-200 dollar range
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while graphs arenāt perfect they can help you narrow things down to close to what you like
then you can research and ask for comparisons to help narrow down your dream set even more
I mean, honestly is that a short amount of time though? I donāt believe so. Every market turns around items at least once a year, phones, cars, computers ā¦ technology as a whole becomes outdated so quickly. I donāt feel the same for audio, I think good audio stays good, per Dankpods, but I think that pressure for companies is a real thing.
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well can you upgrade your phone every year- yes, do you need to - no, I think the same applies to audio if you want a good upgrade might as well wait 3-4 years
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I absolutely agree with you, a yearly upgrade of almost anything totally unnecessary. However, what Iām saying is that this is the state of consumerism, a yearly upgrade of the next iPhone or Samsung or TV or camera or whatever is expected. Iām simply saying that I think thereās an added pressure on tech companies to fulfill this and I think the chifi market especially is effected by this pressure.
i mean i did think about the shouer and the timeless because of the FR but others were telling to me go with the olina and its hard to get a fully consistent opinionā¦ thatās the real issue for meā¦ with headphones its much easier because ābuy 6XX or Sundaraā has been basically all people have stated for a while, they are the standard and kinda first step headphones, meanwhile there are hundreds of different choices for chifi
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The chifi iem scene moves much quicker but Iād say those iemās you listed are basically the current equivelant of 6xx vs Sundara in this price bracket. I donāt think you can go wrong with either, just weigh up the proās and conās of planar vs dd & pull the trigger.
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Why canāt u be happy with just one good pair?
This is so true.
Chifi is pretty amazing and a bit nuts right now. If you have a tendency to chase gear chifi is a moving target. Four of my top five IEMs today didnāt exist 12 months ago, and I am betting that most of us have a similar experience.
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This is why I only chase tech. Find a tuning you like at a price point and stick with it. I only keep one type of each transducer config/combo.
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I spent the first six months finding what tuning I liked and why, thanks to cheap IEMs and EQ, you can learn that without too much cash in. As we all know, this hobby can get expensive fast.
Now I try to branch out on the tech and tuning a bit, but I am more intentional with it at this point. I have a budget, I went to permanent work from home 2021 ( 3 timezones away ), some of the gas money I didnāt spend went to IEMs. I have a pair of Mangird Teas being shipped, but I have always been curious about them, and the only other dark IEM I listen to is Mele.
I have yet to chase the amp and DAC side of things. I have a Fiio BTR5 that works well for everything I own, an Apple dongle for times that I want cheap or more neutral tuning. I also have DIY amp that is neutral-bright and has some DSP software I wrote to emulate tube sound, but I donāt use it much.
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