My SO listens to a lot of music on the go, and he’s been poaching my IEMs over the past few months. Now he’s got a big b-day coming, and I’d like to get him some really nice IEMs to call his own.
What I know of his tastes is that his absolute faves in my collection are the 7Hz Timeless. He’s also been enjoying my Moondrop Blessing 2s, but he’s less fond of the OG Andromeda that I got, and we listened to the EJ07, which I enjoyed more than he did. Oh yeah, and he doesn’t love the Tea!
With that in mind, do you have ideas for something that would give him a similar experience to the 7Hz Timeless in the sub-1k range? Does such a thing exist?
Damn the sub1k…I have og Andro and can understand why he’s not down with that set (I do love them but they’re library and mood specific) as for Timeless it’s a banging set for my library and taste…The next level if fit is good than Z1R and job done.
I’m not a big fan of Timeless (I’m rather planar-agnostic), but I’m a big believer in higher price does not equal better.
If there isn’t something specific that stands out at higher prices, I’d just ask “does he like good all-around performance or does he want a specialist set?” If he wants an all-arounder, the Simgot EA500 is all he needs
The OG Tangzu zetian wu might fit the bill? A bit warmer, with more bass but slightly less resolution than the Timeless…of he prefers a bit more neutral then the Heyday version of the WU might do.
Tighter bass and better resolution than the OG and closer to the Timeless tuning .
At around the 1k then the Thieaudio Monarch mkii is end game for many, myself included.
I was considering the Monarch - would you say it’s similar in terms of sound to the Timeless? On the curves it looks like the mids are slightly more recessed - but might not mean much!
Pretty similar tuning but way better bass extension. Mids may be a tad recessed but the resolution is such that, honestly, its not noticeable (well its not to my ears but ymmv).
My trio of iems is the Monarchs, Timeless and the tangzu heyday .
Sad to hear the Teas didn’t work out haha, but ya OG Monarch would be a good upgrade! Fun fact I’m actually listening to them right now Probably the clearest IEM I’ve heard - vocals can sound a bit light though.
Oh the Tea worked out for me just fine! In fact even better since they don’t get nicked from me randomly I love them particularly for jazz, oddly enough. There’s a sort of warmth and detail there that works great! I’m very grateful for those
I’m not sure why SO didn’t resonate with them as much - slightly different library, probably, and different ear canals (his accommodate the Blessings 2 just fine, so I basically surrendered them to him, because they hurt like hell after an hour of listening for me )
YES. Fellow Tea lover Glad you’re enjoying them! And yup, same here the Dusk kills my ears and the Monarch is similar at higher volumes - I’m gonna try some filters to see how they work. Really want to keep these since the clarity and layering/separation is sooo good. If your so vibes with the Dusk and Timeless then he’ll probably love the OG Monarch (if you can find any).
+1 to this rec. I had the Timeless in the past and while I really enjoyed them they felt a bit off to me. I have since then landed on the IE600 and love them however I do think they are priced a bit high. Especially compared to chifi offerings but they great sounding and have a very similar sound profile to the timeless. They graph with more bass but I they don’t sound super bass heavy. A very detailed and highly balanced iem
Thank you all, that’s all brilliant stuff.
At this point, I think the Z1R if I can find them at the 1k mark are my top contender, and if that cannot be done, then Monarch or IE600 sound like two damn good options!