They look the same o.o
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Thats right 
In fact, no one said whether the UP upgrades Tea`s or is it just a different setting? I know they have different drivers, but âŠ
They are apples and oranges, tuning wise.
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Really wondering whether I should get this one. Iâll never be able to afford the MEST but I have the Clairvoyance. Is the UP a downgrade or a sidegrade?
Sidegrade. Most Tribids around 500-700 are sidegrades. Only depends on your preferences. If you want an upgrade, Mest will be the target, specially if you like Clair.
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The upgrade to the Tea is the Thieaudio Monarch.
The Xenns Up is something entirely different.
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Iâm very interested in the topic, do you mind elaborate a little bit?
from what I have read (never listened to a Monarch or a UP) I had the impression that Monarch is is a good technical set, quite linear with a sub-bass boost, while the UP is more on the âfunâ side, has more energy in the bass - midbass and is less resolving/detailed.
given the Tea (to my ears at least) are more on the ârelaxedâ side of the technicalities, and with a âfunâ bass-midbass rather than an abrupt sub-bass boost, I was imagining the UP to be more an upgrade to the Tea than the Monarch, but for sure Iâm missing something (first of all, Iâm missing having listened to UP and Monarch 
)
??? 
I hope that they are on their warranty window, then 
well⊠I find the Tea âtechnically relaxedâ wrt something like MEST (especially in terms of detail retrieval and overall resolution), and also to a lesser extent to Oracle⊠but maybe Iâm just stone deaf, donât mind
These takes are accurate - I still have both of them here.
Iâm going to sell my UPs soon, since I have the Legacy 9 and it may finally be something that beats the Teas that still has characteristics that I like and is malleable with EQ.
The most prominent difference is the Tea sounds very close and intimate (like an IEM should) and the UPs sound far away. This is annoying, because Iâm guessing this is a driver placement thing - and it cannot be fixed with EQ.
Its mid bass is a little stronger and perhaps overall itâs a little more resolving, but the far away placement of the sound is unpleasing to me - but yes, makes for a very relaxing listen.
On the other hand, if you try and play on its bass driver strengths and turn it into a bass cannon (with EQ), it sounds like youâre listening to music in a cupboard (bass becomes boomy and towers over the mids/highs, which can no longer keep up). If they could move the mids and highs a bit closer to the listener then I think I would be in love.
Alas. We canât always have it all 
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You really should acquire a Monarch and an Up and have a listen for yourself. I think making assumptions when never hearing an item youâre making assumptions about is dangerous.
The Up does not sound like the Tea. Just because Mangird or Xenns (whatever anyone wants to call them) made both of these IEMs, it does not mean they have anything in common. I assure you, they do not.
To my ears, the Monarch is a more extremely tuned Tea with more extended treble and an even larger sub bass emphasis, but the Monarch retains the clean/clear mids that makes the Tea so good. The Monarch pulls this more extreme tuning off and retains the detail because of its driver count. The clear improvement the Monarch has over the Tea is in its extended treble, but because it is handled with est drivers, the Monarch retails the smooth Tea treble characteristics. To this day and to my ears, the Monarch has the most perfect treble tuning of any IEM Iâve heard to date.
The Up is like youâre swimming in warm goo. Itâs a very laid back set. Vocals are pushed back and the surrounding instruments are brought up in the mix. As hawaiibadboy has mentioned, itâs kinda like being at a live performance where the music is surrounding you. It does not have the super clean clinical mids of the Tea or Monarch. The funny thing about the Up though is because its DD is beryillium coated, it can get away with its super warm tuning and since the transients kick through. The Up is one of, if not the most unique sounding sets I own.
You have to keep things in context. For $300, the Tea punches WAAAAAY above its price point. The Tea is actually quite a technicalities monster. It has some of the most beutufully presented mids, especially in its category. The Tea is well known for its incredible stage, holographic imaging and detail far beyond its price point.
I donât really understand how anyone could see the Tea as not having fantastic technicalities.
Against something like a MEST MKII, sure, itâs going to show its weakness in treble extension and sheer detail, but come on, the Tea easily competes with everything in its price range and even then up into the 500-700 category. It is playing with the big boys no doubt. I actually adore its somewhat relaxed treble tuning. For balanced armatures handling the treble, the Mangird team did an amazing job of tuning the treble to be perfectly smooth and well extended but without harshness or sibilance. A feat most IEMs canât attest to with BAs handling treble.
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Appart from what has been said by both @Resolution and @Purplezorz, I think itâs very important people also learn how to read the first part of the story. Iâll leave both graphs here:
They are normalized @ 1k hz. Look at bass self. Monarch and Teas are sub-bass focused. Also keep in mind different drivers, but still.
Damn, guess I did a good purchase with Variations đ€·
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thanks, very clear!
YES! YES! YES!
YES! YES! YES!
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This is why the Monarch is the clear upgrade of the Tea and the Up is not. The upper bass and almost all of the mids match. The Monarch lifts the sub bass with additional drivers and the est drivers in the Monarch allow the treble to be even more pronounced than on the Tea without harshness.
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That raised sub-bass is one of the reasons why the treble is also lifted. Since they do share the same treble shape (except the 5,5k dip on the tea), they should be quite similar. Maybe the mon is a bit more V-shaped in comparison though.
Right. I think itâs also the differences in drivers. The Monarch is a detail beast. From the reports that I have heard (I am not sure if it is true) but not all of the Monarchâs bass is created through the DD. The DD is mixed with BAs creating the bass frequencies. Thatâs how Thieaudio is capable of retaining so much detail in the low end, while being as elevated as it is and retaining the DD slam the Monarch has.
As Iâve been saying ever since I heard the Monarch, the Mangird Tea, is a baby Monarch. Anyone looking for an all grown up version of the Tea should be looking at either the Monarch or the Variations. The Up is is itâs own beast.
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