Where’d yours go though? 
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Thought you sold them?
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I did. And i also rebought them from the same dude within 16 days lol
Turns out he got the andro gold and preferred them. And i missed my andros too much
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Andros are and have always been one of the best things to happen to me when it comes to audio. They just match my preferences so damn much while being awesome in termd of separation, timbre, great tonal balance, everything sounds right with them. Extremely balanced sounding IEMs. Ill have to write an essay on em eventually
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Glad you got them back, I was really surprised when you sold them 
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Just going to dump some quick impressions here since I don’t know where else. Will update throughout the day as I listen to more things
Softears
RSV - Eh overall. Almost harman but not as offensive tuning wise, a bit soft slightly oversmoothed and not that detailed, bass is actually quite good in impact and body, timbre is good, dynamics and stage are fine but nothing special, pretty solid coherency. Overall enjoyable I guess but I think it’s lack in general technical ability is too offputting to me given what they go for. Kinda like what the aeolus does, so unoffensive it’s boring and not the great value prop given it’s technical ability
RS10 - Opposite of the RSV, but somehow not? Still harman but more typical here, It’s very technical and forward with what it does, almost to a fault, good resolution and liveliness but lacks some coherency and organicness in presentation, good speed and seperation, dynamically pretty alive but isn’t presented well, timbre is fine, this has the technical chops but lacks refinement and the tuning is only ok, also ending up being meh but at least more interesting and enjoyable than the rsv to me, but I can see some liking the rsv’s tuning and presentation more. But really can’t say I like much either given what they cost, might lean more toward the rsv just given it’s price but really idk what the hype is about these, both are forgiving to source so perhaps that’s why.
Erua Audio Tawa - Overall pretty balanced cable with actually a focus in subbass and upper midbass, very resolving and capable, pretty smooth actually, great texture, neutral slightly more tonal density, stage has better placement and space but not that much presentation change, great microdynamics and good macro. Kinda just improves everything without shifting balance all that much, pretty sweet overall, although can push some iems too forward or too bright
UM Mest MK2 - Kinda sounds like a more meaty (more tonally dense) and warmer slightly more relaxed og mest, pretty nice honestly, not that much of a technical step up, just slightly different tuning. Although slightly less holographic sounding but more natural spatial recreation, so preference change there. A bit better timbre too. Still really like it given the price, I do prefer the mk2 to the mk1 but it would honestly come down to preference. I will say the mk2 gets the edge regardless though as it comes with a nicer stock cable that I honestly wonder if is responsible for some of these changes. Ah and the mk2 has more volume range than the mk1
MMR Gae Blog Complete - Pretty enjoyable, a pretty fun overall signature with still reasonable technical ability, great weight and richness, good control and impact, reasonable detail, spatially pretty immersive with a more spherical stage like it’s bigger brothers, very dynamic, good detail, nice smoothness, timbre is pretty good too. Not the most organic iem out there but a very fun one for someone looking for something a bit more warm, meaty, immersive, and non fatiguing.
Etymotic Evo - A further refinement of what they already do well, midrange focused, great detail, very fast and pinpoint, studio focused signature, subbass is meh overall and somewhat one note, surprisingly good timbre, great coherency, surprising impact outside of bass, pretty dynamic for an etymotic. Also surprisingly both a bit more weight to things vs like an er4xr, and also reduced treble to where I actually might say it was lacking a bit of air, interesting change. Overall I do like it though, pretty enjoyable if you like something no nonsense and refined (and care about the overall midrange linearity and coherency the most). Spatially is slightly better but still unimpressive
Plussound Verse Copper+ - Really liking this one so far, very spatially impressive with a very large stage with lots of depth and pretty accurate placement with a very black background, great bass and subbass texture, control, and impact with a bit of a lift in prominence, very dynamic, very detailed, slightly warmer leaning overall. Really impressive the balance they have here, paired well with mostly everything I threw at it
And a few more to come later on lol (UM Mason FuSang with Fabled cable, Elysian Labs X, Senn IE900, Dunu EST112, and others)
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Sounds like another reason I am interested in the MEST Mk2 now that I’ve read what you think
Its a shame about the Softears stuff, the Cerberus seems the most interesting iem that they do to me.
Your impressions echo what I’ve been finding listening to the MMR GB again on the p6p, I just wish it was a little comfier and a bit more competitive with my Graces in terms of detail.
Did you end up getting that Wagnus cable in? I remember you saying that you had one on order.
Ah so the friend I am borrowing it from said he never picked up a set because he didn’t like a demo he got of them, felt it had coherency issues and felt too disjointed lol
Not sure if the comfort thing can be solved, but thummim? lol
Not yet, that’s taking it’s time getting here, I did get my new eletech aeneid and that’s been a step over my iliad with a similar but slightly less forward signature
Ah fair enough
Yeah that’s my only worry about them, although I may be a while off getting them anyway since I’d need to sell a few things to get it and then probably save up a bit, so I might go for something like a MEST mk2, Tia Trio or Fir M5 first.
I’ll be looking forward to your thoughts on that, it looks really nice, as does the Eletech, its a shame that it wasn’t the complete package Gae Bolg that I got since I do wonder what the upgraded Eletech cable sounds like with it.
Well a bit disappointed, he has an elysian annihilator not an x, but he has an x on order (he mistyped it in his message to me the day prior, damn). But that being said, I’ve told him to put an order in for the x for me as well, because the annihilator is really excellent and I have a feeling the x will fix the current complaints I have about it. This one I’m still both mixed on and also confident enough to put an order in for an x at the same time. It’s strange lol.
Right away I will say the tonality on this thing is weird. It’s a brighter leaning v shape with a lot of treble and not alot of density throughout the range. But the treble is really really good, it’s not peaky, it’s very clean and extremely well extended, very very fast and detailed, really enjoyable if you can get past it’s raw brightness/prominence, the most impressive range here. Midrange is a bit more recessed and dryer, very very linear, but personally not that impressive in comparison to the rest. Bass is a surprise, its very tight, very textured, and very controlled, perhaps to a fault, it’s just so technical it lacks a bit of roundness and weight to it which leads to it being a bit inorganic, and sounds a bit overdampened and lacking some macro power. But it’s also strangely fun too, subbbass digs deep but also isn’t that elevated, bass range has more prominence than subbass, it’s just really really capable and I think that offsets the lack of a bit of organicness. Speed, separation, and transient response are really the stars of the shows when it comes to technicalities, the most stand out for sure, really really good there, although it overachieves in this regard enough to where it’s lacking some organicness. Lots and lots of resolution that’s not presented harshly, but is pretty forward. It’s a pretty wide and open sounding iem spatially, very very black background, depth is good but it could be better, same with placement accuracy. Dynamically I think it’s pretty great in the treble but for the mids and bass I think it’s micro performance is really nice, but it does noticeably lack some macro
I do think the biggest problems to this iem are it’s lack of body/density, coherency (you can tell the different drivers apart but it’s fun enough that I can ignore it), a bit wonky tonality, and it’s large technical focus, that all ends up causing a lack of some organicness and refinement, but I think from what I’ve been told about the X, it will improve some of that, and I’m confident enough to put down for one after hearing the annihilator. Will be waiting for that one to come in for awhile lol
Much better than I was expecting honestly lol. I actually like foam a lot more on these things than silicone for what it came with, more tonally agreeable to me and they keep treble a bit more controlled, but it’s still potentially a problem lol. Bass is great with lots of impact, texture, and elevated prominence, almost like a consumer bass tuning done extremely well, really enjoyable for most things. Midrange is a slight bit dipped in comparison but reasonably detailed and technical without a lot of bleed, treble is well extended and reasonably controlled but it can get somewhat peaky at times and can get slightly harsh. Overall very energetic and more forward leaning, solid detail and resolution, good control, very dynamic in both macro and micro, spatially is a bit weird, it’s wider normal at first, but I notice placement is a bit off and potentially a bit exaggerated. Not in the way I’d describe something as holographic, just off and slightly misplaced, almost like specific things are always being forced to one area instead of how they should be to the recording. But timbre is very good, and tonal density is on the thicker side but still very well balanced, not as smooth as I would have expected it to be as well. Of course great coherency. These are pretty fun and I can see these being a pretty enjoyable daily iem if you like something a bit more fun and less reference, but still keeps it’s technical ability high enough to where one wouldn’t complain.
It’s nice, it’s got an I guess balanced signature that is sorta w shaped, it’s bass is a bit more focused around bass rather than subbass and it’s on the tighter and cleaner side of things but pretty smooth and reasonably impactful and dense with good control overall, bleed is a non issue, midrange is somewhat forward more in the upper mids and is reasonably capable and full, treble is a bit weird but it isn’t that offensive as they have smoothed it out a bit, slight lack of air. Stage is actually pretty nice, resolution is good, coherency is better than expected but treble is a problem there (almost feels like they did some weird things to force better coherency between their est and the rest), timbre is good, dynamics are good. Honestly reminds me of the dk3001 pro but a bit more casually tuned. Nice for the money, could use further refinement
Also has a great cable for the money, same for the SA6
Dunu SA6 - Pretty overall refined but nothing jumps out at me right away, overall enjoyable with most things. A bit of a neutral slightly warm tuning, with the switch on it’s more neutral warm, doesn’t change all that much. I really don’t have much to say on this one because there’s not much standouts, and that’s a good thing in this price range as it’s overall good without many nitpicks. It’s bass is well controlled with good extension and prominence, decent weight, and slightly lackluster impact/punch, but well controlled. Mids are pretty even overall slightly forward with good technical ability and nice density. Treble is pretty refined for what it is, well controlled and detailed, fairly even, good smoothness, solid extension. Dynamically it does take a more micro than macro focus but it’s macro isn’t bad for the money. Good speed and separation, spatially it’s more average here slightly on the smaller side of things but good imaging and reasonable depth but not stand out. Timbre is good. Overall good all rounder that might not excite but does a wide range of things right for the price
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Enjoying seeing these IEM impressions from you, especially from different price brackets.
The Elysian Labs stuff seems very impressive considering its just one guy making the iems
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I don’t typically do it but I’ve got a lot of stuff here today and I figure someone might find this helpful eventually lol. Still think comparisons are more valuable than just impressions without references, but I’m too lazy to write comparisons for these unless someone specifically asks
Really really good. Just irritating that I’m going to have to wait many many many weeks to get an x lol
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I’m surprised with your findings on the ie900 and est112 in particular, I’ve been interested in some of the “tribrids” that people have been talking about recently (the Variations mainly due to the tuning).
That’s the unfortunate side of them, I think I saw the X being compared favourably to the Traillii and also the EE Evo which also seems kinda interesting.
In what ways out of curiosity?
I do wonder how it will stack up, given my experience with the annihilator I could def see a favorable comparison if the x is a step up from the anni. I don’t personally like EE stuff though so I’d already take the anni over any ee I’ve heard, although very different signature lol
How would mk2 stands compared to tia trio? I expect trio to be better in technicalities but considering price difference for new, since I would probably go for new.
I would agree the trio would offer better technical ability and a more refined experience, but the mest does have more prominent and clear midrange which the trio has a dip in so if you are after something a bit more linear and forward in the mids the mest will do that. Mest is more balanced neutral while the trio is more neutral slightly v, mest is more forward and trio is a bit more relaxed. For resolution I do think the trio has an edge, for dynamics the trio does better micro but the mest might do better macro, for timbre I do think the trio does better there. Stage wise the mest is more holographic and fun but the trio lays things out more naturally with a bit more accurate placement in front of you. Impact wise the mest might hit harder but the trio has more control in the low end. I do think the trio can offer more texture overall. The mest mk2 isn’t that big of a step down from the trio with some aspects that might make it compelling, but I still personally favor the trio here.
I will say the mest is more forgiving on lesser tracks and on source gear than the trio
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For the IE900, I knew the bass was supposed to be good but it sounds like its better than I thought. Also the resolution, dynamics and timbre sound like they are better than I expected.
For the est112 I’m just surprised that it was as nice as you said, I kinda just expected it to be another tribrid.
This rather important point for me since a lot of music I listen to is not high quality or I just use Spotify.
In terms of source, would dx300 work fine with both?
I also like that mest has a nice cable and something more fun would be nice addition to what I use now.
Very helpful as always.
I’d agree, it’s actually a good value
I mean it is dunu, they know what they are doing, and I was also mildly surprised, was expecting a bit less there too. I do kinda like the SA6 a bit more though, think it’s more refined and slightly more capable for the money, but hte est112 is a bit more immediately interesting/more initial wow
I think so yes. I might be slightly concerned the trio would get a bit too relaxed with the dx300 but it should still be pretty nice, no concerns with the mest
That is very true, it’s a step ahead of the stock trio cable for sure
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