I’m my experience it is never worth it to spend top dollar on the safe bet. Sink the money into fun and get another cheap for the other times.
It’s like buying a $200k mini van and then getting a $10k sports car.
In all seriousness though, the MM is fire and does bass in a way that doesn’t mess up non bassy songs. For instance I had the moonlight which is a pretty nice neutral set and I would pick the MM over it for any genre hands down.
My recommendation would be to grab the MM if it interests you and then see were, if anywhere, it falls flat for you and get a sub $50 Harmon tuned set for those occasions.
EDIT: another option is get the MM and a nice cheap set of buds for neutral listening. That way you have two different signatures and listening experiences
Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer my questions! Might just bite it an get the MM and then maybe a pair of those budget gems maybe the wan’er. Currently only owning a pair of Tape Peo(which I never ended up liking) and my Gold Planar GL20s which I am all in for with some EQ.
Just picked up a pair of Sony MDR-EX155 for a road trip. Pretty v-shaped, could use some EQ but otherwise can’t complain for the price (16$). Single 9mm DD, comes with a bag of grey tips. Too bad nobody seems to have measured them(?)
I decided to pick one of my little used iems for a listening session last night, fell asleep, and the music continued all night. It was pleasant waking up to my Massdrop X Kaiser K10s playing the orchestral works of Ennio Morricone. Im really enjoying these!
I’m considering picking up the Galileo honestly if the price is right. I’ve held off so much on the recent budget offerings, and it looks like the Galileo has a touch more bass then the Hexa without that divot from 4k - 7k so perceived resolution might be better … thanks for the graphs, it puts it into perspective, man.
I would say for a seasoned IEM connoisseur, dumping a good amount into a fun set is preferred. But if you’re struggling to find something that works for you or your just really starting out, finding that ideal tuning, dumping $500 on a set that has that specialty type tuning may be too risky.
However, I’d say the MM is a glorious set, with the best bass I’ve ever heard, and clean mids. The only downside I’d say is that they can come off as a bit too relaxed with some songs. But hey - that might be exactly what you’re looking for so go nuts!
Good point about the risk and finding the FR that works for you. It’s tough because imo there is nothing out there like the MM in a lower price point. It’s a rare find to have so much bass while simultaneously replaying the rest of the FR in a neutral way.
I wonder if there are any cheap IEMs that graph similarly from 600-8k. It’s might be a good cheap option to see if you like the upper range of the MM
In fact, overall the FR of the IE200 is very different from the FR of the IE600. From here it follows that the sound will also be different, and the technical characteristics will be day/night in favor of the IE600 or almost as different. So if you want to buy something good - IE600, if you want to buy something for music - IE200.
It is absolutely an anomaly to have the tuning of the MM and the MSE - FatFREQ has my entire endorsement because they’re really pushing what’s possible for bassheads.
I would love to see a budget set from FatFREQ with the same type of mentality of the bigger brothers because to your point, I don’t think there’s one out there.
(16$). Single 9mm DD, comes with a bag of grey tips. Too bad nobody seems to have measured them(?)
it’s a feeling like no other.
