For the hell of itā¦ The IEMs in question here.
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Add todayās newspaper. No one gonna believe you.
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Have you heard the Oriolus Reborn or MK2? The mids on that IEM is one of the best I ever heard. So intimate, powerful, meaty and dimensional, despite the more intimate stage. Andromeda Solaris also said to have ādimensionalā midrange.
Is the Monarch midrange anything like that? If not, whatās it like if you can sum it up real quick 
No, I have not heard anything from that brand.
When I heard the Andromeda, I was so disappointed. This was over a year ago but I was positive that the Andromeda was going to be my end game IEM. I found one used and I planned to buy from a local seller but I asked him if I could listen to it first because I wanted to make sure an item of that value worked before I purchased it.
At the time, I had been listening to the Fiio FH7 a lot (with the beryllium DD). The Andromeda lacked all the impact and slam I was hoping for from it. Back then I did not know that all BA IEMs were going to lack so much impact vs an IEM with a dynamic.
So other than that one listening session with the Andromeda thatās all the experience with it. I was so disappointed in it.
The Monarch midrange and the treble tuning are on-par with the quality and detail of the MEST MKII. They are both top tier resolution and clarity. The Monarch has what I like to call āfunā sub bass and Iāll admit it is at times, too much. But what Iāve said many times before, I love it. When Iām listening to an IEM that doesnāt have it, I miss it. I really can not ask for much more than the mids on the Monarch or MEST MKII.
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Hoping Variations has this. Im a mid/upper mid freak 
Hey man, i was pretty sure you would not keep the UPs same as me! hahaha
The bass is just not what crazy people like us like. Also, good description about the sound being far away, i guess it makes them not as engaging as you would want, right?
Honestly i donāt regret selling mine, they are an interesting set for sure but not at all what i want from an IEM. I am much happier with my Dunu Zen + Mangird Tea.
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And I plan to buy ZEN. The combination Mangird + ZEN I think will be the end of the game for me and my library. Some compare XEN with NF Audio NM2 +. I donāt think that with the NM + equalizer it will become ZEN !?
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Haha yes mate, I think it has some potential, but the Teas are way better IMO.
I mean just on value alone.
If they could just make that EST and mid driver closer, I think great things could happen!
Ended up trying the Sony EX800ST with the tape mod which is pretty cool and now I have some Legacy 9s which may be a winner, but after this Iāll probably end my extreme basshead hunt for IEMs and just be happy with my over ears and subs 
Now the Monarch has interested me though
I will try and resist though and come back to in ears when I have Mest and/or Noble Khan money 
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You can end the search with something like a Hyla Sarda 
(Iād love one but theyāre rare)
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I might be able to demo a Xenns UP in the future and do a review for it, interesting to see how it pans out after reading your guys feedback.
Teas > All
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Iāve heard the rumours, but Iām becoming like I was before I heard the SZ-2000s, extremely incredulous and pessimistic 
Seriously when I first heard them I was wondering what all the hype was; then they just got better and better.
Still, Moondrop S8 (I think) and Dunu Zen gets a lot of praise from people too which I wouldāve liked to try sometime in my journey.
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Yeah, would love to try those and Illumination as well 
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Iāve heard a few reports from quite a few people whoās ears I trust that they are very good basshead IEMs, Iād be more pessimistic too if I hadnāt heard from them though.
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No, thatās a bad idea, if I recall correctly, this company will make endgame stuff, but it will almost definitely be multi-thousand pounds
If it appears at Canjam London next year and I hear it, what happens to all my plans of saving for a house ?
But seriously, I feel like this is a direct response to the MEST!
āOhā¦stealing our rich bassheads are you? Weāll see about that!ā
Looking forward to it.
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Yep weāll be there too, tickets been rolled over more times than Beethoven 
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So this arrived today thanks to @Purplezorz cheers bud.
Tip rolling at the moment but first impressions are very good. I get why these might sound too warm to some folks - been one track it sounds like a bit too much bass coming through, but need time for brain burn-in and maybe get used to the ESTs for the treble. Need to feed them high gain on the dap.
Love the looks and fit is really good and feels comfortable for me but not had them in for long, med sf cp100 seem to be giving me best seal so far.
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@Purplezorz so you decided to sell huh? Thoughts on why?
Enjoy what I call āswimming in the warm gooienessā of the Xenns Up.
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Yay
Happy they came - in the audio community we trust 
I actually forgot to write about my discovery which was that through my iFi iDSD Micro Black Label they actually sounded really great for electronic music thatās usually harsh (Dubstep).
So actually, all along I think what they needed was some more POWER >=D (rare for an IEM though so you could see why I didnāt immediately think to try that). Also, whilst I was using the iFi, it should be noted that it was on Eco (no IEM match though) - they need power, but not full size headphone power 
But in any caseā¦They lack intimacy and as I said before the treble and mid placement canāt be fixed by EQ as it seems to be a physical location thing. When I tried to go basshead with them, it sounds like youāre in a cupboard, the mids and highs canāt recover from the cut you need to put on them to not deafen you (basshead tuning), so itās not really fit for purpose.
I was enjoying the Teas more and when the Legacy 9 came along and fit my tastes so perfectly, it was over. I originally got it because I wanted it to be a more sub-bass oriented Tea, but they sound nothing like the Teas - which is so close and in your face (like an IEM should be :P) and I actually bought it back when the Teas still sounded questionable (I know, I know, probably the brain, but I SWEAR this is one of the burn in situations xD). I originally got excited for it because it was a tri-brid, it had beryllium-coated drivers, BGGAR recād it and it was made by the same company as the Teas.
Soā¦it was too expensive to keep around as just a ānice IEM to have in the collectionā. Feel like this will be a Audioquest Nightowl (or hawks, I can never remember) of the IEM community. Where itās very dark, but the details are still there.
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Just curious, any of you can answer this I think.
I have UP incomming. How ādistantā or ānot intimateā are we talking about??
I like Teas presentation, ej07m and variations are the most i can bare with about distance. So, how distant?
Edit: talking about vocals or general sound