From how I browse my future IEMs now, I don’t look for the perfect IEM of an all-rounder. I will find the perfect IEM for my music library. Yes, I do listen to other music genres other than korean music but because I wanted something more specific for my korean music library with focus on female vocals, the variations just happened to be wonderful for it which made it my personal endgame at this time.
The variations is of course not great in other genres like rock or other instrumental focus tracks, but it gets the job done for the price and is able to one-upped my FD5 in some tracks in that genre. I’m not an EQ person so I leave it as is.
My opinion is to get an IEM that is perfect for your music library that you always listen to and then later down the line, you can browse for an all-rounder. If you find users here that are similar to your music library, ask them and you may find your answer much sooner.
In regards to genre: I really listen to pretty much everything and anything, so I guess it should be an all rounder for me.
In regards to @Rikudou_Goku , @Kalnet and the FD5: Thanks for the reference to gokus list. I looked at many different rankings, but somehow missed gokus list. I didn’t listen the FD5 per se (which is #3 on gokus list), but I did listen to it’s little brother FD3 and I thought it had a terrible sound! I rechecked the frequency response graphs, but the FD3 and FD5 look very similiar. Crinicale gave the FD5 a C+, which is something I can relate to (even if I don’t always agree with his ratings). The GD3A seems to follow the same frequency curve. I recently have heared about the Sony N3 quite often recently… does it hold up to something like the Blessing 2?
The U12T would be budgetwise doable but somewhat of an upper limit. So the mest would be well within budget.
I guess I will spend some time, asking around if I can try borrow units from dealers, even if I don’t have a lot of hope to get a positive response. Thanks for your input so far
I have a feeling that you would prolly enjoy the U12T the most. There’s also a bit of versatility considering there are 3 modules you can use to modify the bass response.
I gave it some more thought and I think I came to a conclusion:
I will just blind buy the Blessing 2 (Dusk). Worst case scenario, it doesn’t fit and I sell it used, loosing 50$ or so in the process. At least I get to try and listen to the proclaimed value king and get a better understanding about how my taste overlaps with crinacles, who basically rates them on par with the MEST
Once I have a better understanding of the Blessings value proposition, I will get the U12T and see how big the gap really is. While it is not straight forward, I have found an option to test the U12T so I don’t have to shell out the money, if I don’t like it.
I got the Blessing 2 and my first impression was… underwhelming. In short: it is technically surely better than my other IEMs, but in terms of tonality it is much more laid back, then I hoped for. Also while technically better, it is not super obvious. If you A/B it with my other IEMs, it is clearly better technically, but going just from memory and factoring in tonality, I am not convinced it’s (according to my tonal preference) better than the Aria… kind of disappointing
After my first impression i fiddled with eq and got it to a place, where I think it is clearly the best of my IEMs, but it is it 200$ better? I need more time to say…
Now I was able to borrow the u12t and my first impression… again underwhelming (I think this is where I make a lot of enemies ). Actually it was a repetition of the Blessing 2: Technically better, but bummed out by the tuning. I did some A/B testing with my other IEMs (incl. Blessing 2) and after a few hours of listening, I definitely found a lot of things to appreciate about the u12t, but again: in lack of a comparision and considering tonality, it is not that much better imho
So far I couldn’t spend a lot of time with the eq, but first impressions are, that it is much harder to tune than the Blessing 2.
So these are my first impressions (got the Blessing 2 a few days and the u12t even less), which I actually didn’t want to share, but seeing as I have to return the u12t, I still hope for your feedback, as you might have suggestions what I should test with the u12t before I have to return them very soon.
Some thoughts that are floating in my head, but none of which are set in stone yet:
probably won’t buy the u12t…
I suspect that the Moondrop Variations will better suit my preference, so I really would like to test it. However considering I already am not quite sure about the Blessing 2’s value, I wonder how much the Variations will improve on the tonality in regards to my preference… I am wondering whether I should just sell Blessing 2 + Aria, add some money and go for it!?
the Blessing 2 with eq actually sounds pretty good, so maybe I should just keep it and sell my Aria!?
Leaving money out of the equation: if I had to choose good technicalities and poor tuning vs good tuning and poor technicalities, at this point I think I would go for the later, assuming there is no chance to eq… so maybe I just should stick to searching at a lower price point?
Having listened to the u12t, I kind of have a lot more empathy for oluv, after I complained about him in the other thread xD
if I had to answer the thread title myself, at this point my answer would be: Price (even just looking at recommended IEMs) doesn’t correlate all that much with value of an IEM in the first place. I think a good 50$ IEM can sound better than a good 500$ or 5000$ IEM, depending on preference.
If you have any suggestions or thoughts, I would be grateful to read them
Indeed it’s all subjective after all, I could’ve saved a shed loada and bought the Z1R on day one but what I rec for most of my library, fit and value for money might not work for you plus I use 2 other sets for more specific genre listening so finding just one set that covers a wide and diverse library is always going to be hard…A jack of all trades…
Ultimately it will come down to you putting listening time… demo’ing/borrowing or buying returning/selling sets to be 100% sure as there’s nothing better than firsthand experience I’m afraid
Oh man… did you just read my mind? The timeless is really tempting and may be worth buying if it brings nothing else to the table besides the experience of a planar IEM alone…
I think this experience is why it’s generally unwise for people who are new to this hobby to drop too much money into an IEM without finding out their preferences first. Good on you for trying out all that you did!
Unfortunately the way this hobby is, without your personal experience, you can’t accurately gauge what you are looking for just via the words of others. It’s why most of us suggested trying some stuff first. Different people like different things. There is little sense in asking what’s best value before ascertaining your own preferences first. Top of the line models tend to be specialists and all rounders tend to be a little bit ‘boring’ and ‘underwhelming’ on first listen (M9, U2T).
Perhaps the question you should be asking is what is the kind of sound signature you are really enjoying. Then perhaps we can also help guide you further. You say that you are really enjoying your blessing 2 eqed - what sort of EQ are you adding to it? More bass? More treble? Less mids?
Otherwise you could buy different cheap sets of different signatures to see which signature is the one for you then armed with that knowledge look for the upgrade.
Another alternative is if you find it acceptable right now is to just enjoy what you have. Blessing 2 eqed sounds great to you? Awesome! Now just enjoy the music!
Thanks for your input. By trying out the U12T (which seems to receive universal praise), I tried avoiding the experience Ohmboy had with the Z1R. Lucky I didn’t jump the gun and commited, since it’s only on loan.
The problem I have with most IEMs seems to be, that they are too laid back in my preference. I really like clarity and detail and can’t relate if someone complains that the Aria is too bright (as I would prefer more brightness). When it comes to headphones, I used to use a DT990Pro, which gives you an idea, however I have to admit that the DT990Pro is even too harsh for me often times.The U12T has amazing treble detail sometimes, but especially vocals seem somewhat veiled to my ears.
As you already said, word describe only so much, so here is the eq I use for the blessing 2 making it go from “boringly laid back” to “actually engaging”:
Filter: ON LSC Fc 100 Hz Gain 5 dB Q 0.6694
Filter: ON PK Fc 227.4 Hz Gain -4 dB Q 0.6932
Filter: ON PK Fc 8318.21 Hz Gain -4 dB Q 1.5
Filter: ON PK Fc 12765.3 Hz Gain 15 dB Q 3.6547
Filter: ON PK Fc 12765.3 Hz Gain -7 dB Q 6.2931
I don’t claim to know anything about eqing, but I tried to get the blessing closer to the Variation frequency curve and I am very pleased when A/Bing eq on/off. However my general experience with trying to tune an IEM according to a different IEM’s frequency response doesn’t convince me that the result is necessarily anywhere close to what the Variation sounds in real life. I tried to tune the blessing according to the u12t’s curve and vice versa and both times the result was terrible. Tuning the u12t to resemble variation was also terrible.
@Tfaduh If you could give me any recommendations based on that info/those eq settings, that would be incredible.
IEMs on my radar to try out are: timeless, variations, zex and sparks. I will see what 11.11. brings… maybe I just go full ham and get all of them and try to sell some afterwards. Their price combined is still less than half of the u12t’s
At this point it sounds like the main things you like are vocal clarity, details and strong engaging character.
The Mest MkII for me is the most engaging IEM that I own. (I now own a U12T as well). Vocal clarity is phenomenal too. It is tip sensitive however - I found xelastics to work the best for me.
I own the timeless and I think it’s not bad. Good resolution. Deep extended subbass. The Mest MkII outclasses it in all except the deep subbass extension so I use the timeless for mostly listening to movie soundtracks.
The Thieaudio Monarch is very clear an IEM as well. Engagement-wise… I couldnt get a good gauge. I only heard it for a little bit (my friend’s).
Other IEMs that come to mind (keep in mind that I have not owned or heard these):
64 Audio tia Forte
QDC Anole VX (the ultimate ‘detail’ experience apparently)
Softears RSV
Moondrop Variations
UM Mest OG
Shuoer EJ07 OG
Shuoer EJ07m
Tanchjim Oxygen
Oriolus Isabellae
Ymmv of course.
@nymz is a real vocalhead. Anything else you would suggest? He also used to own the Variations.
For vocals? Well, texture and detail is a must but I take presentation over those. I need forward vocals and other stuff happening around them. I also look for big soundstages with good imaging, simulating a 3D effect if possible. My target is pretty explainatory:
Best sets for vocal presentation that I’ve heard to date are:
Mangird Tea (Radius Deep Mount) - The less resolving, but my favourite tuning and presentation. Wide stage with good imaging. Dark but enough treble.
EJ07M (Tanya filters on) - Very slight worse tuning than Teas but tech god. “3D”. The closest upgrade.
U12T - needs no words, imo.
I’d avoid stuff like Variations or monarch for vocals due to more recessed mids. RSV should arrive on monday and i expect it to join or even beat the above list.
There was something on Mest vocal presentation that threw me off, but my experience was limited with that. God OCD details tho.
I own his Variations now
And I can confirm that for purely frontal vocals, Teas are superior than Variations. Teas and Variations now share the crown for my endgameS for different enjoyments: Variations for clarity and sub bass thump; Teas for mid range and vocal punch as well as front-to-back stage separation.
Honestly, when I’m listening to Teas, I get a higher chance to hear tracks sounding like this, which is pretty unorthodox to the point that I love it (personally coin it “wishbone” shaped tuning):
). Actually it was a repetition of the Blessing 2: Technically better, but bummed out by the tuning. I did some A/B testing with my other IEMs (incl. Blessing 2) and after a few hours of listening, I definitely found a lot of things to appreciate about the u12t, but again: in lack of a comparision and considering tonality, it is not that much better imho
and bought the Z1R on day one but what I rec for most of my library, fit and value for money might not work for you 
plus I use 2 other sets for more specific genre listening so finding just one 
set that covers a wide and diverse library is always going to be hard…A jack of all trades…
