Me too I have tickets rolled over for me and my good lady for next years London Canjam…hope to meet up with some of the you HFGF guys and a few of the Head-Fi crew too, to try some tempting IEM 
’s
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Sweet! I’d love to go to a Can Jam, but the closest for me is in New York City and I HATE the city. I refuse to get anywhere near it.
Maybe someday tho, away from New York. That’s for sure.
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Man what is it with the JP tuning and now the ROTW take?..ffs UM stand by your tuning principals and philosophies.
Get recognition for the product first then maybe like Campfire did with Andro’s release a JP tweaked LTD version or in this case a ROTW set.
It just annoys me and muddies the waters when it comes purchasing…what set ya gonna get? 
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Thanks for the graphs @hawaiibadboy but I went for the Z1R’s in the end (which should arrive today 
) as I’m not prepared to gamble on both tuning and possible qc issues with the MEST.
You order a Z1R and you know exactly what you’re getting, a tried and tested Sony product 
These have been out for 6 months and were flying under radar…it blows my fucking mind. The replay on these are peerless.
Enjoy the Sony!
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Hopefully they will be at audio shows whenever those start happening again. I’d definitely buy them now, but already purchased the Legend X, so probably should wait on buying a new set.
Go JP if ya can 
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Still absolutely digging my “JP” tuned Z1R’s 
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I just went with the international version UIEM, and am lovin it. I would prefer the recessed 2 pin socket though.
JP fits like a glove, Intl has to be pushed in or tips need to be just right. JP design is more like a ciem without the inner ear nozzle. Hope to have my customs in a day or 2
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I am auditioning the Intl MEST tomorrow so we’ll see how this goes. Has anyone from the US tried buying the JP version?
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Are we supposed to feel something from the bone conduction driver?
sense, feel, not sure? The better fit JP gives me a treble presentation that is amazing and only got by intl ver if I push into my ears deep so somethng IS going on. So ordered customs to see what that’s all about
Like I think I was able to feel something during Billie Eilish’s Bury a Friend or the When We All Fall Asleep… album. Trying the Intl version, fit wise, definitely seems like JP or custom is the way to go at least with my ears. What is the turnaround time for you on your custom order of these @hawaiibadboy?
Seems like a 2 week wait from when they get the molds or scans whichever though the prefer the scans
Oh wow, I have been waiting 8 weeks for my Legend X…
Well I’ll wait and see what your impressions of the custom version of these are for you.
Here are my first impressions of the Intl. MEST. Unfortunately I only am allowed 3 days with these so only impressions for now. This was listened on my RME ADI 2 DAC FS and LG G7.
First of all, I think these look amazing with the black almost carbon fiber flakes type look with blue or red flakes. Comfort wise, these are big and find them pretty uncomfortable and I have about average sized ears with my left ear being slightly smaller. My left ear can’t really handle them for more than hour, maybe less. I am coming from customs mainly so if you’re used to universal they might be fine. The shape of the JP version would fix the fit issues I have with these since the areas that look different from the Intl version are the areas I have issues with these on the Intl version. I can oddly listen to the IER-Z1R longer than these as long as I don’t dance with the music too much on the Z1R. None of the stock silicon tips fit my ears, but the small Comply Comfort tips it comes with and my Medium Spiral Dots fit well with my ears on this IEM. In general, I couldn’t decide if I preferred them pushed in as far as I could or slightly not pushed in as far.
Sound wise, first thing I noticed was how detailed these sound and even being used to listening to high end IEMs, there are some parts of certain songs that I didn’t know was there before. Issue with all this detail, some songs that are not as well mastered/recorded don’t quite sound as nice to me as some other IEMs, but not as bad as many highly detailed IEMs/headphones I have heard. To my ears, these sound pretty neutral/balanced in overall tonality, but with a bit more musicality than other neutral IEMs that I have heard. Maybe leaning towards a slight V-shape or U-shape. They feel quite open sounding, not as open as the IER-Z1R, but is really good. I don’t feel like I have that in my head feeling. Lower mids sound a bit weird to me, not in a bad way, not sure how to describe it. Bass wise, they have a slight bump in terms of quantity, but not much. Definitely great quality bass though and is quite fast. The bone conduction driver helps improve the bass experience and is cool to “feel” the music a bit more. Bone conduction in general feels pretty subtle on the universal version of this IEM. I am not sure if I notice it much with the other frequencies. Tips do noticeably change the sound and found with the spiral dots, it became a brighter IEM and with the Comply tips had gave it a bit more low end.
Now question is, would I want to keep these or at least buy the custom version? I am kind of undecided. I would definitely need to go custom version to get the full experience from the bone conduction driver, but I’ll wait till others have tried both to comment if there is a difference in experience between custom and universal versions of these. I understand the hype behind these, but I wouldn’t say I am impressed for my current mood in what I want to hear out of my music. I found these to sound especially nice on Billie Eilish’s “Bury a Friend” and Daft Punk “Lose Yourself to Dance” to feel more of that bone conduction driver. From what I have recently heard as in within the last couple months and with my current music tastes and what I want to hear: IER-Z1R>Andromeda 2020>MEST>Solstice. Compared to the IER-Z1R and this is all going off of memory as I don’t currently have them anymore, the Z1R had a slightly bigger sound stage and definitely a bit more punch/quantity in the bass. I don’t consider the Z1R to have bass head level of bass. I say that IEM has a balanced sound, but not neutral. Mids were slightly more scooped on the Z1R and find vocals to be more enjoyable on the MEST. I am getting a custom Legend X hopefully end of this week, early next week so we’ll see how I think of those compared to these. I will say, even though these are not fitting my current tastes, these are among the better IEMs I have heard.
I will however say, I showed these to a friend that used to own the Andromeda S and we have almost always agreed on opinions of sound gear we hear especially when we went to an audio show 2 years ago. I don’t see him smile pretty easily from audio gear and he did with the MEST. His favorite IEMs that he ever heard. He said he listened to a live recording of a song that he heard live and said the only difference between the MEST and hearing that song live was feeling the pressure from the speakers at the concert. He had no idea behind the hype of these so that might mean something.
Overall, if you are looking for an all rounder IEM that leans towards neutral (slight V/U-shaped) with a bit of musicality in there, I think these are a top choice.
Edit: Compared to the Andromeda 2020/Solstice, I do prefer the sound of vocals on those two compared to the MEST.
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Well written. I agree with your friend. It’s like being there for me, which makes it singularly unique in that sense. I appreciate anyone taking time and using music to explain. That is a language I understand.
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