What is the airiest IEM you have heard and how does it compare to the airiness of other IEMs you have heard?
Out of my sets OG Andro’s it’s hard to find a graph but I guess this’s close…
renowned for its airy and ethereal treble response a classic set that’ll never leave my collection 
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Interesting. When looking at the graph, it seems that the frequencies <1khz are quite boosted.
I found this comparision between classic and 2020, which seem to match mostly in that range:
In my experience and to my ears, a boosted range of roughly 150-600hz contributes to IEMs sounding rather muddy, which would kind of counter act an airy feel from my understanding, which makes it surprising to me that that FR could be airy at all, let alone the airiest.
For reference: I also much disliked the Fiio FD3 which I experienced as quite muddy.
Could you explain that discrepancy? Is it my ears? Different understanding of the term “airy”?
Also coming from Dan’s Audio Reviews and your recommendation in another thread: How would you compare the OG Andromeda to the Mest MK2? I would be curious.
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Airy treble to me, is found at 8k+.
Specifically, a mid-bass boost from 300hz to around 100hz, is going to add warmth, at worst, muddyness.
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I would agree with your definition of airiness @8k+. However to my ears a mid-bass boost pretty much obfuscates everything that happens in those higher frequency regions.
Thats because you hear everything as a whole. Increasing the bass, will lower your perception of the treble (like a scale). (which is also why some iems with configurable settings “bass boost” config, is actually just a treble reducer.)
Makes sense. But then shouldn’t an airy IEM (to some degree) be characterized by low (mid-)bass?
It definitely helps. But not neccessary.
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Not heard MEST MKII but I’d say OG Andro is more “airy” than say a Z1R which delivers more detail and impactful treble…like a snipers riffle (Z1R) v’s an Andro’s “shotgun” approach which leads to a more spaced out “airy” treble delivery…that’s the best way I can describe it lol.
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Definately the 64 Audio Tia Fourte
I have three in mind + 1 potentially controversial one, but I think it’s worth researching.
MEST Mk1
MEST Mk2
Andromeda OG or 2020
IE900 (Controversial pick, but I really enjoy this)
Depending on how you hear airiness (I don’t really look at graphs), IE900 and Andromeda OG/2020 to me sounds more airy out of the 5 that I’ve listed. Mk1 and Mk2 has the more “holographic” stage compared to the other 3 especially with the Mk1, but the MEST has some coherency issues between the drivers to my ears that detracts from it sounding “airy” if that makes sense. Part of that airiness feeling to me is having that coherency and effortlessness and I think the Andromeda and IE900 does that better. If you’re choosing between Andromeda OG or 2020, you can’t go wrong with either, it’s more tuning preference at that point and they are similar and have that classic “Andromeda” signature sound.
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