Once again I am here to bitch about how your store needs to stock quality ear tips! I purchased the 7hz x Crin zero:2 & the Blon Z300 from the hangout (great store, great prices, quick delivery to the US). Both are great IEMs for different reasons, however neither of them came with ear tips that worked for me (not the Hangout's fault). I kinda went off the deep end, because this isn't the first time, and ended up spending $80 on Amazon finding aftermarket ear tips that were the correct length and width. That $80 could have been an up-sale for the Hangout if you had given me the option to buy from you instead of Bezos.
I got lucky and found a 5-pack of tips on Amazon that worked well - 5 Pairs KBEAR 07 Ear Tips (got the large Yellow ones). Been using them on most of my IEMs. Also like the Spinfit CP145 large, a little softer and a pretty good seal.
Much prefer the Monarch MKIII over MKII. MKIII has much better bass, better technicalities, better details, and a lot more faceplate options. It improves on everything the MKII was except arguably the mids, which is in my opinion, as just as good, maybe slightly worse. Can't believe you still haven't done a video about the MKIII yet. Best IEM at or under 1,000 USD.
I bought my Monarch MKII two years ago and I still haven’t heard another IEM that I prefer over them. I’ve heard products triple their price that don’t do what the Monarch does.
@@oreozrelsion8818 I’ve demoed a lot of $3000+ IEM’s so I’m not going to create a list of everything I’ve heard on here. Needless to say the Monarch is a wildly popular choice for good reason.
I own a Diva, a Z1R and half a MMK2 (long story short, it was loose and it had fallen off while running for a bus.) and a OG oracle. The only thing I want now is to buy another MMK2 because this iem is special to me in the same way the Diva is great at vocal tracks, Z1R thumps, The MMK2 makes everything feel special but also pretty balanced and separated, only the Z1R, with its sheer amount of *fun bass* Competes in creating a unique experience that is completely distinct (I often find myself craving that particular thing). I often listen to my half of my MMK2 and I wait for the day I can afford to get another set. Though the Diva is a £600/£700 iem with a fucking Snake oil salesman cable. Effect Audio is awful quality cables in my limited experience, and that one bad cable isn’t worth whatever BS price they are charging. The Diva is a great IEM for vocals and has separation that is fantastic, but that cable broke within a month of getting it. That just shouldn’t happen.
Why can't they make a diva with the bass texture and imaging of the ierz1r, can't copy a sony dd ? Cross over timing to complicated? Stainless steel to hard to work with?
@@christopherbaxter1691 probably some combination of the three. It was likely an intentional turning choice to leave it relatively bright/neutral leaning. And just the internal components working differently compared to the Z1R. Two DD’s and a tweeter BA compared to 4 BA’s. While the bass is adjustable on the Diva, I don’t often feel the need to. It fits a hell of a lot better than Z1R though. I don’t own a custom iem yet, but I imagine the fit would be pretty similar for me. Probably not true of everyone though, but I felt out of all my IEM’s they just fit *right* with barrel tips.
I bought it just after release and haven’t looked at any IEM reviews since. When you know the next upgrade is over $3K, you just stop looking. So, this is the first review I’ve watched in a long time.
Wonder if I'm a bit of an oddball here. On one hand, I've felt no urge to upgrade from my current Truthear Hola for outdoor/portable use and Hifiman HE400SE for indoor use. On the other hand, I'm considering a 7.4.4 home theater for the living room and looks like I may end up spending close to 10k at minimum between the loudspeakers, the receiver and whatever sound deadening I can get away with. Loudspeakers are pretty unforgiving budget wise compared to their more portable counterparts.
@norm. This sentence may leave a bit too many details to get the point across properly. So I can only take guesses. One may be the assumption that home theater is my main hobby, but that'd be a half-truth. Audio equipment would be a more accurate description of my current favorite hobby.
I'm wearing the mmk2 right now as I'm watching this video xD. I don't personally agree with some spots in your ranking list (i.e. u12t being on the same rank as the blessing). But with this iem, I can wholeheartedly agree, for an IEM in 2021, this has stood the test of time very well, I've also tried out the mmk3, it is yet another awesome iteration of the Monarch family but I still find myself going back to the mmk2 for its beautiful midrange and overall balance sound presentation. I can see myself still using the mmk2 for a very long time to come.
@@flat-eric same here lol, though I believe he would not rank it as high as the mmk2 due to a slightly more exciting tuning, which deviates a bit further away from that "new meta" he was mentioning. Me personally also very enjoy the mmk3, both are all worthy to be default recommendation at the kilobuck entry.
@@pokeryj u12t is a bit more resolving than mk2, with very high dynamic level and the imaging is excellent as well. However, If I have to choose btw the 2, I would choose the mmk2 despite the slightly lower res, due to that impeccable midrange, the mid of the u12t is quite scooped out, making female vocal sounds quite weird. The bass is quite awesome for ba bass though, nearly on par with mmk2 there. U12t will be great if you're into st like jazz, instrumental music when you can make use of its respectable technicality.
@@damtran993 I agree 100% after having both and comparing them many many times. Ive finally sold the u12t and kept the MMk2- their midrange is just magical where the u12t dont have anything particularly amazing.
Picked up for $650 gently used a couple weeks ago - bargain of the year. Replaced microphonic cable and loving it. Look on used market if you want one (head-fi).
Yes, tried the mmk2 on two occasions, once during e-earphone on akiba, and another time at our local star pickers it sounded really weird and uncomfortable
To this day, I firmly believe that my pair of Monarch MK2s is the 2nd* best IEM I’ve listened to up to this point. It’s so fantastically balanced and the tonality and timbre is simply unbeatable.
What's your no.1 IEM? Storm? =)). Now, with that said, I love my mmk2 so much that I still use it on a weekly basis for 2 years now. Truly an all-time favorite of mine, best all-rounder and also the the best price/$ in the kilobuck market as well. Nowadays I use the mmk2 as a complement to the other 2 iems of my weekly rotation which are the Anni 2021 version and Jomo Flamenco 2017 version. If I have to give rank, then the mmk2 will stand at the solid 3rd spot, with the anni 21 at 1st and flamenco at 2nd.
@@damtran993 depends on when ya ask me, really. But if I had to choose a #1 it’d be incredibly hard. Most likely it would be the Anni 2021, Diva 2023, or the STORM. All of em are fantastic but the Monarchs stay right behind them, not too far away. It’s truly an exceptional set!
A very, very good IEM. I actually preferred the V16 because the bass was better and more cinematic, but this would've been an insta buy had I not tried the others.
I sold my Monarch MK2 after getting the DUNU SA6 MK2 and using S&S tips. It’s just better period excluding upper mids being a little more present on the Monarch.
I wish I could agree with you. It has shouty upper mids to me and poor bass quality. Not much punch, or texture. Rather overrated iem. Only part of it that I like are its treble. Monarch Mk3 improved the bass but still doesn't have great bass. U12t has both better tuning, better bass, and just better iem. It is double the price new though. I did get my U12t used for $1200. Which makes it much closer in price.
If $1,000 is too much, the I\O Volare at $600 is a great alternative. It's a bit more V-shaped, a bit more "vivid" sounding than the Thieaudio Monarch MkII, but it's very close and IMO the technical performance is just about as good. The Volare has better bass, the MMkII has better resolution.
For real. I can't see why shouldn't we get at least an approximate release and price window. Not everyone will be sitting at their money waiting for an indefinite amount of time.
U know, i would love if you could review either the tgxear serratus or serratus black sands, i have found people discussing them pretty rarely but whenever someone mentions them they aways claim to be amazed by their ‘timbre’(presumably decay). So much so that someone claimed that they sounded more real than the annihilator, crazy since they cost 200 and 250$ respectively. No one has anything bad to say about them somehow? I found them at first when i tried to find a iem with similar properties to the hd600 since im not in the us and transportation is a continental pain, not even including how returning them would be pretty much impossible, thats also why i would like some reviewer (especially you) to check them out.
I have heard it before, a kind of warm sound, feel so comfortable. I was shocking when sales told me the price. The sound quality with tuning is like a 2k usd range iem. But somehow I love V shape and extremely detail sound, that's not my cup of tea.
Hey Crin, I just picked up the Flagship IEMs from Nuarl, the Nuarl Overture, and since there is so little info on it on the internet, I was wondering if you could do a review on the website if that is possible. Many thanks
Man IEMs are so subjective. I tried monarch mk II at canjam due to your recc, but it just didn’t do anything for me. It felt kinda, boring? In that price range the Nightjar Singularity was wayyy more enjoyable to me, and that’s when I realised im a DD guy. You really do have to try a lot of iems to learn waht you like
Could you guys provide me with IEMs you'd consider upgrades to the technical performance of the MM2? I've had this IEM for a while but for the life of me cannot find an acceptable sidegrade that's even close to it in price. It seems that, whether I want it or not, this is my endgame.
Z1R is a great fun basey side grade, which trades some midrange for some base and perception of soundstage, the base performance makes it a fantastic complimentary iem. Might be cheaper and better fitting, but I love it. I heard Fat Freq are good for similar reasons, but I haven’t used them personally.
@@pokeryj I meant the MK2 when I said I like the U12T more, that being said the u12T is at an eye-wateringly stupid price. It’s not close to worth $2000
@@sephondranzer I see. the more review I read about, 1 of the point was the u12t is not worthy at $2k especially comparing to the chi-fi now. Thanks for the reply. will try to demo personally prior to buying 1.
Come buy at Hangout.Audio: hangout.audio/products/thieaudio-monarch-mk2
Hey There Crin! Missing your "blessings" that you give on the regular crinacle channel.
ngl I love that there is always one comment saying they miss his fck off ending, I being one of them, always will get a laugh and a like from me.
Well, it's like a dopamine shot, so it not being there is really sad...
since now he is a retailer then everything he said is like something comes out of marketing person, and they don't tell u to fck off didn't they?
Now since Crin is a dealer, a comparison between dawn and monarch mk2 would be very interesting
Once again I am here to bitch about how your store needs to stock quality ear tips!
I purchased the 7hz x Crin zero:2 & the Blon Z300 from the hangout (great store, great prices, quick delivery to the US). Both are great IEMs for different reasons, however neither of them came with ear tips that worked for me (not the Hangout's fault). I kinda went off the deep end, because this isn't the first time, and ended up spending $80 on Amazon finding aftermarket ear tips that were the correct length and width.
That $80 could have been an up-sale for the Hangout if you had given me the option to buy from you instead of Bezos.
I got lucky and found a 5-pack of tips on Amazon that worked well - 5 Pairs KBEAR 07 Ear Tips (got the large Yellow ones). Been using them on most of my IEMs. Also like the Spinfit CP145 large, a little softer and a pretty good seal.
Looking forward to the Monarch MKIII video, hopefully some comparisons with the Prestige LTD?
One more thing to note about the Thieaudio shells is that they are prone to cracking.
Much prefer the Monarch MKIII over MKII. MKIII has much better bass, better technicalities, better details, and a lot more faceplate options. It improves on everything the MKII was except arguably the mids, which is in my opinion, as just as good, maybe slightly worse. Can't believe you still haven't done a video about the MKIII yet. Best IEM at or under 1,000 USD.
I bought my Monarch MKII two years ago and I still haven’t heard another IEM that I prefer over them. I’ve heard products triple their price that don’t do what the Monarch does.
triple the price example like?
@@oreozrelsion8818 I’ve demoed a lot of $3000+ IEM’s so I’m not going to create a list of everything I’ve heard on here. Needless to say the Monarch is a wildly popular choice for good reason.
I own a Diva, a Z1R and half a MMK2 (long story short, it was loose and it had fallen off while running for a bus.) and a OG oracle.
The only thing I want now is to buy another MMK2 because this iem is special to me in the same way the Diva is great at vocal tracks, Z1R thumps, The MMK2 makes everything feel special but also pretty balanced and separated, only the Z1R, with its sheer amount of *fun bass* Competes in creating a unique experience that is completely distinct (I often find myself craving that particular thing). I often listen to my half of my MMK2 and I wait for the day I can afford to get another set.
Though the Diva is a £600/£700 iem with a fucking Snake oil salesman cable. Effect Audio is awful quality cables in my limited experience, and that one bad cable isn’t worth whatever BS price they are charging. The Diva is a great IEM for vocals and has separation that is fantastic, but that cable broke within a month of getting it. That just shouldn’t happen.
Why can't they make a diva with the bass texture and imaging of the ierz1r, can't copy a sony dd ? Cross over timing to complicated? Stainless steel to hard to work with?
@@christopherbaxter1691 probably some combination of the three. It was likely an intentional turning choice to leave it relatively bright/neutral leaning. And just the internal components working differently compared to the Z1R. Two DD’s and a tweeter BA compared to 4 BA’s. While the bass is adjustable on the Diva, I don’t often feel the need to.
It fits a hell of a lot better than Z1R though. I don’t own a custom iem yet, but I imagine the fit would be pretty similar for me. Probably not true of everyone though, but I felt out of all my IEM’s they just fit *right* with barrel tips.
I bought it just after release and haven’t looked at any IEM reviews since. When you know the next upgrade is over $3K, you just stop looking. So, this is the first review I’ve watched in a long time.
Very wise choice considering how expensive those are and much the market has changed.
_sees pricetag_
man am I glad I'm not an audiophile
LOL
@@CErra310 this is one of the cheapers one
Wonder if I'm a bit of an oddball here. On one hand, I've felt no urge to upgrade from my current Truthear Hola for outdoor/portable use and Hifiman HE400SE for indoor use. On the other hand, I'm considering a 7.4.4 home theater for the living room and looks like I may end up spending close to 10k at minimum between the loudspeakers, the receiver and whatever sound deadening I can get away with.
Loudspeakers are pretty unforgiving budget wise compared to their more portable counterparts.
@@JoelHernandez-tz3vk this happens in every hobby, coming from custom mechanical keyboards
@norm. This sentence may leave a bit too many details to get the point across properly. So I can only take guesses.
One may be the assumption that home theater is my main hobby, but that'd be a half-truth.
Audio equipment would be a more accurate description of my current favorite hobby.
I'm wearing the mmk2 right now as I'm watching this video xD. I don't personally agree with some spots in your ranking list (i.e. u12t being on the same rank as the blessing). But with this iem, I can wholeheartedly agree, for an IEM in 2021, this has stood the test of time very well, I've also tried out the mmk3, it is yet another awesome iteration of the Monarch family but I still find myself going back to the mmk2 for its beautiful midrange and overall balance sound presentation. I can see myself still using the mmk2 for a very long time to come.
I'm wearing the MMKIII right now and I'm curious what he will say about them in the upcoming vid :D
How u feel about the u12t comparing to mk2? I'm planning to get 64audio u12t though
@@flat-eric same here lol, though I believe he would not rank it as high as the mmk2 due to a slightly more exciting tuning, which deviates a bit further away from that "new meta" he was mentioning. Me personally also very enjoy the mmk3, both are all worthy to be default recommendation at the kilobuck entry.
@@pokeryj u12t is a bit more resolving than mk2, with very high dynamic level and the imaging is excellent as well. However, If I have to choose btw the 2, I would choose the mmk2 despite the slightly lower res, due to that impeccable midrange, the mid of the u12t is quite scooped out, making female vocal sounds quite weird. The bass is quite awesome for ba bass though, nearly on par with mmk2 there. U12t will be great if you're into st like jazz, instrumental music when you can make use of its respectable technicality.
@@damtran993 I agree 100% after having both and comparing them many many times. Ive finally sold the u12t and kept the MMk2- their midrange is just magical where the u12t dont have anything particularly amazing.
thank you for the review!
I just got an Oracle MKIII today and so far I am really enjoying - now you are teasing me with the Monarch MK2
The Monarch Mk2 is one of my all time favorite iems from the industry
I'm planning to visit Singapore in September. I'll pop in. Got lots I'd like to try
You should visit Zeppelin & Co as well, many more to try out too.
Picked up for $650 gently used a couple weeks ago - bargain of the year. Replaced microphonic cable and loving it. Look on used market if you want one (head-fi).
Yes, tried the mmk2 on two occasions, once during e-earphone on akiba, and another time at our local star pickers
it sounded really weird and uncomfortable
To this day, I firmly believe that my pair of Monarch MK2s is the 2nd* best IEM I’ve listened to up to this point. It’s so fantastically balanced and the tonality and timbre is simply unbeatable.
What's your no.1 IEM? Storm? =)). Now, with that said, I love my mmk2 so much that I still use it on a weekly basis for 2 years now. Truly an all-time favorite of mine, best all-rounder and also the the best price/$ in the kilobuck market as well. Nowadays I use the mmk2 as a complement to the other 2 iems of my weekly rotation which are the Anni 2021 version and Jomo Flamenco 2017 version. If I have to give rank, then the mmk2 will stand at the solid 3rd spot, with the anni 21 at 1st and flamenco at 2nd.
@@damtran993 depends on when ya ask me, really. But if I had to choose a #1 it’d be incredibly hard. Most likely it would be the Anni 2021, Diva 2023, or the STORM. All of em are fantastic but the Monarchs stay right behind them, not too far away. It’s truly an exceptional set!
A very, very good IEM. I actually preferred the V16 because the bass was better and more cinematic, but this would've been an insta buy had I not tried the others.
MK3 video soon!
I tried them last year when they released and was absolutely obsessed!
glad you are now talking about fit. its extremely important now you are an international seller
It’s a great pair, but the fitting is an issue for me so I have to sell it within 2 weeks. MK3’s shell is on the bigger side as well, but fits well.
Where is the list where everything exists???
"One of the best iem in the world " you need to add "according to me" so it wont be a debate everywhere.
can you do a video on different ear tips, sound improvement, isolation?
I sold my Monarch MK2 after getting the DUNU SA6 MK2 and using S&S tips. It’s just better period excluding upper mids being a little more present on the Monarch.
this was my first IEM i spent a lo of money on and it has been a great IEM which I wouldnt need to upgrade from
Waiting to hear your impressions on Aful Cantor.
I wish I could agree with you. It has shouty upper mids to me and poor bass quality. Not much punch, or texture.
Rather overrated iem. Only part of it that I like are its treble.
Monarch Mk3 improved the bass but still doesn't have great bass.
U12t has both better tuning, better bass, and just better iem. It is double the price new though. I did get my U12t used for $1200. Which makes it much closer in price.
I agree , $50 bass texture in $999 iem
If $1,000 is too much, the I\O Volare at $600 is a great alternative. It's a bit more V-shaped, a bit more "vivid" sounding than the Thieaudio Monarch MkII, but it's very close and IMO the technical performance is just about as good. The Volare has better bass, the MMkII has better resolution.
And the Mega5-EST is also a consideration I assume.
I’ve always wanted to try this one…
Nice one Crin
Good vid. Meta when
For real. I can't see why shouldn't we get at least an approximate release and price window.
Not everyone will be sitting at their money waiting for an indefinite amount of time.
I liked this one, but preferred the Indigo over it. Now the Mega5EST is very close.
U know, i would love if you could review either the tgxear serratus or serratus black sands, i have found people discussing them pretty rarely but whenever someone mentions them they aways claim to be amazed by their ‘timbre’(presumably decay).
So much so that someone claimed that they sounded more real than the annihilator, crazy since they cost 200 and 250$ respectively.
No one has anything bad to say about them somehow? I found them at first when i tried to find a iem with similar properties to the hd600 since im not in the us and transportation is a continental pain, not even including how returning them would be pretty much impossible, thats also why i would like some reviewer (especially you) to check them out.
Fun, everyone talks about the MK3....
I have heard it before, a kind of warm sound, feel so comfortable. I was shocking when sales told me the price.
The sound quality with tuning is like a 2k usd range iem.
But somehow I love V shape and extremely detail sound, that's not my cup of tea.
Nearly 1000€ jesus christ
What do you think of the Prestige LTD?
I still love mine!
I'm just here to be told to fuck off...now what do I do???
FO!!! ;P
confirmed everything: excpetional tuning but chonky like 3 fingers trying to penetrate my ears :))) thanks for your video
What is this "current meta tuning" called?
Sounds ok
Hey Crin, I just picked up the Flagship IEMs from Nuarl, the Nuarl Overture, and since there is so little info on it on the internet, I was wondering if you could do a review on the website if that is possible. Many thanks
THE BEST
I have died.
I generally have an issue with bigger iems and find them hard to wear, knowing this what would be an equivalent iem to this but smaller?
€950? Pfff. You do pay for it.
Here I sit with my ZeroReds.
Man IEMs are so subjective. I tried monarch mk II at canjam due to your recc, but it just didn’t do anything for me. It felt kinda, boring? In that price range the Nightjar Singularity was wayyy more enjoyable to me, and that’s when I realised im a DD guy. You really do have to try a lot of iems to learn waht you like
i stopped buying as soon as i got my Mkii's.
Just a fantastic iem.
Is there any plan to review hbb jupiter?
I’m enjoying my monarch mk2 a lot but I can’t use it for more than an hour as it gets uncomfortable.
Monarch mk2 only iem I’ve heard where I can tell if things are coming from above when gaming
Could you guys provide me with IEMs you'd consider upgrades to the technical performance of the MM2? I've had this IEM for a while but for the life of me cannot find an acceptable sidegrade that's even close to it in price. It seems that, whether I want it or not, this is my endgame.
Z1R is a great fun basey side grade, which trades some midrange for some base and perception of soundstage, the base performance makes it a fantastic complimentary iem. Might be cheaper and better fitting, but I love it.
I heard Fat Freq are good for similar reasons, but I haven’t used them personally.
how about monarch mk3?
❤
Anyone wanna donate a pair for long term testing? 😊
SAME HERE.
Thanks for that.
Just letting you know your website isn't functioning properly.
dusk or monarch mk2?
MM2 in my opinion. Dusk is really good though so if you don't want to splurge, just go for that.
I don't think it's a fair comparison considering the MM2 is 75% more expensive. It really comes down to your budget.
@@mariovelasquez1243 The mm2 isn't just 175% the price of the dusk, it's 275% of it
I still like the U12T a little more than the Monarch tbh.
It’s also double the price
How u feel about the u12t and mk2?
@@pokeryj
I meant the MK2 when I said I like the U12T more, that being said the u12T is at an eye-wateringly stupid price. It’s not close to worth $2000
@@MemeEnthusiast24
Yes I mean purely from the audio perspective. The U12T is double the price and the accessories are an abomination
@@sephondranzer I see. the more review I read about, 1 of the point was the u12t is not worthy at $2k especially comparing to the chi-fi now. Thanks for the reply. will try to demo personally prior to buying 1.
Didn't you quit?
hihi
hehe I did the thing
I liked when you was rude, like fu#k off, but I understand why you change, nowadays generation is too soft(
He's a businessman now.
This is his business channel, so he has to maintain being civil
first
first?