Here’s a comparison between three tracks for the Thieaudio MKII vs the Prestige:
Ed Sheeran - Perfect Symphony
At the start of the song, the bass guitar is a LOT more forward in the mix with the Prestige vs the MKII, a bit boomier I might add. Both sets are resolving about equally and accomplish that in different ways. The MKII is more recessed in the bass presence, and combined with its more intimate presentation, make the midrange sound a lot clearer/crisper. The Prestige’s bass is elevated, which would’ve masked the treble if it wasn’t for the great extension and presence, so they tend to counteract each other. If you lessen the seal for the Prestige, it adversely effects this, hence, the metallic overtones I was hearing in my previous observation with shallower tips.
The strings have more perceived detail in the Prestige over the MKII, but the opposite is true for the Hi-hats. Everything is more in-your-face on the MKII vs the Prestige which is slightly pulled away from the listener with more cohesion between elements.
Madeon - All My Friends
Vocals are again center stage on the MKII, but the Prestige SLAMS, with the bass line being much more audible in the mix. The Prestige is more intense for this song.
I don’t have much else to say here, since the same observations from earlier hold true here. A lot more CLARITY (not resolution) on the MKII when it comes to elements that live in the mids and lower-treble, but you don’t get the slightly more cohesive/spaced presentation of the Prestige with the present bass and extended treble.
Julian Lage - I’ll be Seeing You (Live)
The bass is a lot more tactile, and present on the Prestige, but the small movements like shirts brushing against the instruments, and general movement are clearer on the MKII —not to say that they aren’t audible on the Prestige, but they’re recessed. Cymbals sound noticeably clearer on the MKII, but the presentation is like being in a small bubble center of the performers, so the Prestige sounds more right here. Percussion is more elevated on the Prestige, very resounding and tactile (almost a bit too intense volume-matched.)
My main takeaways are that both have pros and cons, and it really boils down to music you listen to. If you listen to genres that token more bass presence and sound better with that commercial, v-shaped sound signature (not to say that this IEM is that kind of v-shape), the Prestige is probably the better pick. If you really want to dissect the mids and want a lot of clarity, sacrificing some presentation/imaging accuracy, the MKII is the better pick.
**
A fun experiment I do is to take “8D Audio” tracks (which is just stereo panning) and use that to compare relative soundstage width (and consequently treble performance.) The MKII extends to the edge of my outer-ear with less clarity while the Prestige goes out an inch with more vocal clarity.
). I obviously have a ton more listening and tip rolling to do, but I was actually VERY impressed with my first listen. These definitely have the potential to be exactly what I had hoped and imagined which is SO SICK! They sounded great on Muse’s Absolution album which happened to be at the top of my queue. I’m so stoked to get these dialed in and see how they really do.
).
