Yes, both can do.
Although I’d recommend going with QDC because of fit. MEST is already a large set, and most 2-pin cables tend to extend too much upwards over ear. Depends on ear shape though, YMMV, play around!
You could already get a taste of the QDC fitment with the stock cable so see if that fits you for long duration.
Now I know what was happening. I think MEST Mk2 needs to be properly burned in. They are very bad when new. Only after 200hrs or so they start to show how GOOD they are.
Today MEST are my favorite headphones ever. I like them more than Utopia and VC.
Finally found a few tips that work well with my mest OG.
Azla short light MS : fits deep and sounds the best but hurts like hell after 30 minutes. Need a size smaller.
Spiral dot ++ M . Most comfortable of all the tips and go with them for hours of listening sessions , 2nd /3rd best sounding as well, can hear all the details and separation but not as clear as the alza Short light.
Kz starline inverted S : sounds good but the two above are bit better .
Blue heart S , xelastec M, new bees foam , tin hifi blue foam are a bit shouty .
Mest OG is magical with rock music and the separation of the electric guitar, drums and bass guitar over vocals.
I got my end game for a VERY decent price of $650 , bought a new cable and found some decent tips to go along with the OG.
I can officially retire happily till i can afford the next level of $1.5k + IEM . Which is probably never😭
Better late than never.
I just picked it up, and I won’t have time to play with it until tomorrow. I guess it’s a good problem to have.
Yeah! Mine showing up today… So excited to play with them!
Well, I’ve had more than enough time to realize that the UM MEST MKii is the best set I’ve owned or heard. Absolutley love it! Dang!
Bought the unit with balanced cable using my Hiby R6Pro. I listen to a wide range of music including HI-Rez flac files (HDTracks.com) and flac from cd rips. Primary listening is jazz/pop, vocal, classic/hard/metal rock, classical, and occassionaly digging into my collection of old punk rock (ahh, memories). As you might imagine, the recording quality of a flac from cd of Dead Kennedys vs HI-Rez download of Tool, Pink Floyd, or Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana varies quite a bit. The Mest MKii handles all recordings well without needing to play with EQ. As I spend much of my iem listening time walking/hiking/playing disc golf, using my beloved Fearless S8Fs was at times painful if my music choices fell to poor recordings. There were times I’d switch over to my Thieaudio Legacy 9s but was never quite happy with their slight low to mid bloat/muddy sound and less detail although they handled poor recordings better. In short, I’d always wanted a set that provided the wonderful detail of the S8F while also providing realistic/accurate and “full” bass. Well, the MEST MKii provides those things and more.
Iem qaulity is incredible with good fit and a cable that is not too heavy making securing it to clothes while active good. I have large but symetrical ear canals and use Dekoni foam tips appreciating their great seal and ability to keep the units in my ears while being very active (trail running).
Plan to sell my other units soon to fund a DAP upgrade. Hate to see my Fearless go but the MEST is so much better in all regards… So happy!
I’m not selling my S8F nor my Monarch. Now with Mest MKII I think I have reached my end game in these 3 iems.
Honestly I don’t think you need to upgrade the player R6pro should be more than capable to drive these. They don’t require lot of power unless you are after different flavor. I have M11+, A55 and V50 for sources, MKII sounds good with them all.
Cool, will think harder before upgrading DAP. Thanks for your thoughts!
Curious how many people had the mest OG before going to the mkii and how many people went straight to the mkii ?
I went straight to the MKii 
I’ve been back reading this thread since I just recently got the Mest MKII and I have to comment on this
This is probably most aqurate description of both iems I have read, it’s exactly how I hear it as well.
@Resolution bro you have not just a good eye for photography but a good ear for music too.
Rocking Mest MKII with Xinhs 8 core you recommend 
Yep. I haven’t listened to them, but it seems that Mont MK2 is more musical and enjoyable than listening to music. Maybe for more fun listening most people will prefer UM MEXT. UM Mest MK2 for now seems more like a technical and a bit boring kit. I would definitely choose Mon MK2 or MEXT 
.
Mest MKII is anything but boring. Unless you want even more bass which imo MKII have plenty of.
All right. I wondered who would be more fun. You helped me choose!
ouch. MEST MKII boring? double ouch. if I were to look for a MEST MKII quick description, “boring” is the last thing I would think of. better said: “boring” would never cross my mind.
one thing though: MEST MKII are extremeley, and I say really extremely sensitive to tips. before using the Azla Sedna Light Short, my rank of these IEM was A, after was S+ (and still is, even after having listened to some more TOTL IEMs)
of course the above is just IMHO and as usual YMMV
how many hrs did you put on them? They’re probably not burned in yet. Also don’t use foam tips.
Probably less than 100 h. I’m using cp145, I still need to tip roll, I’m waiting for delivery of cp100, cp1025, Kbear 07 some recommended ones.
I have no issues with Mest MKII other than high mids slight lack of energy and occasional sibilance and harsh symbals. But that is easily remedied by EQ.
I recently got a MEST MKII and noticed something, no review really seems to talk about. I really don’t care about sources or cables as long as they are “good enough”. Opposed to many others, I always said that the 7hz Timeless works just as well from your smartphone’s headphone out as it does from your big dac/amp. But with Mest MKII:
So from what I understand, headphones/IEMs have an impedance curve, which ideally is flat. If it isn’t flat, the sound will significantly differ depending on the source. I didn’t find the MEST’s impedance curve graph, but I found this:
Isn’t this troublesome? Isn’t this what everyone complained about with the Softears Volume?
So basically one would want to slap on a 75 ohm of resistance?
More V-Shaped but also more appropriate gain relative to mids + more extended highs.
more resitance = more bass and less treble…
But again: isn’t that a flaw? Why is no one pointing it out? Or am I missing something?
Look at where the bass curve ends… the bass reaches into 800hz instead of 300hz and lowering the treble 4db?
I don’t have anything to measure my stuff, but it is bad enough that I thought my MEST broke after switching the source 
Part of that may be that my bluetooth receiver may not be the best/have a bad design, but I never had a problem like this with any other of my IEMs.
