Best IEMs from $600 - $1000

Letshuoer Mystic 8

• Vocal benchmark for female vocals under $2000. Clean, airy, sweet, ethereal. Better than Diva and direct upgrade to OG Oracle and OG Mangird Tea. What the Braindamage and Cantor wishes they could be....
• Lack Bass Richness, but is a beautiful set.
• Surprising in a lot of fronts. Maybe a little bit overpriced but I like it

Thieaudio Monarch MK2

• Neutral tuning with one of the clearest mid-ranges. Natural and clean vocals. Great resolution, separation, and detail. Can be a little dry with its analytical presentation. Bass is well-seperated...
• Smooth, balanced tuning with natural vocals, beautiful timbre, and excellent tonality. Detail and could use more bass. Treble depends on ear tips. Outstanding tuning.
• Still a king, more neutral to my ears, than MK 3. Just wow.
• A solid improvement in imaging with slightly more palatable tonality than its predecessor.
• Pros: Cohesive, smooth, balanced, technical. Cons: slight treble wispiness.
• Good treble

Thieaudio Hype 10

• U-shaped, nice treble extention and dynamics, solid vocals, more low-end emphasis than MK3, dynamic and great all-rounder that doesn't specialize in anything.
• More detailed Hype 4. Too similar to the Hype 4.
• It leaves me lacking nothing, just a fantastic set.

ORIVETI OH700VB

• A more engaging Supernova, cleaner, with better sub-bass, and vocals. Very big stage and fantastic separation and layering. Vocals are airy without being too sharp. Lots of air/reminds me of the LTD....
• This is like a supernova with better Bass, but slightly less technical.

Thieaudio Monarch MK3

• Better low-end texture and overall more engaging than MK2, but lacks the mid-range/vocal magic, so depending on your preference either is great. Still TOTL tech like MK2. Great all-rounder.
• More bass, treble, and detail than the Monarch MK II. The vocal magic of the Monarch MK II is gone. I prefer the Monarch MK II for its tonality, vocals, and timbre, but I get why some prefer the MK...
• Fatiging at times for me, too fun at times.
• Still perplexingly poor bass performance, but improves upon the Monarch MKII's treble extension noticeably.
• Elevated, well-textured mid-bass. Pleasant mids. Elevated upper-treble may be pesky to some.

7th Acoustics Supernova

• Super smoooth. TOTL dynamics and treble air - dunno how they managed this airy and smooth with only BAs. Very clean, no sharpness, or sudden peaks, endgame separation and detail. Only drawback is...
• Natural king. Special iem at any price.
• Nearly immaculate tonality, coherency, and timbre with reasonably good technicalities.
• Rich, honeyed timbre. Well-tuned with solid techs. A very smooth listen. Could use better resolution and incisiveness.

FATfreq x Effect Audio: Quantum

• Bright and full sound, very detailed, sparkly, airy, tons of treble extenstion... but it gets fatiguing with the stock filters. Blue filter has the best balance but still doesn't scale too well. 300...
• I don't want to like, but I love.

Sennheiser IE600

• Tons of detail and amazing clarity. Stage is smaller than most IEMs at/below its price tag but very well defined details and imaging within that space. Bass is detailed, but amount is not as much as...
• Fantastic bass (both quality and quantity), great V-shaped tuning, excellent detail, and precise imaging. Treble is too much, could use more vocal focus. Fun, V-shaped tuning.
• Well-tuned mids, powerful yet controlled sub-bass, with highly extended (and somewhat spicy) treble.
• Lots of upper trebble.
• Well-extended on both ends of the spectrum and adds back in the upper-midrange the IE900 lacked.
• Pros: Very well rouned fun subbass focus sound. Cons: Treble might be too much.

Softears Twilight

• Beautiful warm sound signature with outstanding timbre and an open sound. I wouldn’t change a thing. My top choice for timbral accuracy.
• It's like a tubed iem, it's really fun. Something about DDs, so good.
• Pros: Warm tuning done correct, one of my favorite single DD. Cons: Need more treble.

Hisenior Mega5-EST

• Neutral, clean, well-balanced, monitor like, great tech, but boring. Just get the TOP PRO, Oracle MK3 or Volare, or Xuan Wu Gate.
• Great tuning, neutral with bass boost, smooth, safe, and balanced. Could use more detail, incisiveness, and excitement. Very neutral, "plain water" sound signature.
• Let's call a spade a spade, this is boring.
• Very bouncy bass but midrange sounds sucked out and has some oddity. Original sounds more coherent even if less exciting/detailed.
• Pros: Exceptionally tuned across the board. Cons: Could use more "wow" and details.
• Fantastic tuning.. it really does not get better. Technical performance could be better.
• Well-tuned and great techs at this price point. Lacks dynamics and the mids are a little lean. Otherwise a great all-rounder.

Softears RSV

• One of the best vocals I've heard on any IEM (especially for male artists). Mids and Treble is TOTL, smooth and well extended and has great naturalness and the perfect bite. Bass has great speed and...
• Warmer, bassier, and slightly more resolving than the Studio 4, with great timbre. BA Bass. I prefer the Studio 4.
• Very well-balanced tonality with surprisingly good timbre, though slightly lacking definition.
• Great upper treble, but its overall tonality isn't perfect.
• Well-tuned from top-to-bottom with good timbre. Safe to the point of boredom.
• Pros: Timbre so beautiful you think it's not a BA set.

EPZ 530

• Great set for jazz/blues/soul/acoustic. Thick and lush. Warm but with nice treble extension. Solid tech. Vocals can be overly husky and buried in busier songs.
• It does some things very well. Very good item.

Moondrop S8

• Harman-like sound with plenty of detail. BA bass. Smooth, detailed, and balanced tuning.
• More faithful to the Harman target compared to the A8, with a smoother bass response.
• Special set.
• Excellent treble extension and detail retrieval.
• Pros: Smooth engaging harman signature with fun bass. Cons: BA timbre.
• Very resolving with a sweet, pleasant timbre. Good mids and treble. Average bass. Upper-mids may be shouty to some.

FlipEars Legion

• Fun and bassy, v-shape, great low-end slam and texture, full, rumbly, solid tech imaging, and cool faceplate... but price is a bit high.
• What this does well, it does very well. Fun set.

ThieAudio Origin

• Best bassy set under $1K. Bassy/thicker meta tuning. You can actually feel the reverb and vibration from the bone conduction drivers, great control and low-end texture. Mids and treble are also well...
• Great set, has a lot of positives and is amazing on bass tracks.
• Pros: Mega bass additiveness. Cons: Bass too much.
• Interesting sound. It becomes it's own thing. Fit is not great.

Aful Cantor

• LOW VOLUME SET. Clean, airy, and highly resolving at its price with endgame separation and detail. Low-end is quick, but lacks impact and a bit of texture. Notes are on the lighter side, not very...
• Exceptional detail, neutral tuning, and great bass quality. Very revealing. Could use more bass for my taste. One of the most resolving IEMs. It reveals details you’ve never noticed before.
• Maybe best detailed set, fit is extremely difficult.
• It's super impressive but also really difficult to edge on comfort. It's not my favorite sound but good sounding. Competing well at it's price point

Tangzu Xuan Wu Gate

• Clean, neutral, balanced, technical, laid back, very detailed. Neutral tuning done right while being a little dynamic/engaging (unlike the MEGA5EST). Tip wise Azla spinfits for more detail, tangzu...
• Solid mid-bass, natural vocals, and detailed treble. Treble is a bit elevated, and upper mids feel a bit relaxed.
• Pros: Great relaxed tuning. Satisfying subbass and treble. Cons: Female vocal lack a bit of life.

Moritz Dragon

• Smooth, cohesive Harman-like tuning with a single DD. Overall detail.
• Bonkers fun DD set, love it. Very V shaped.

Dita Mecha

• Great bass, vocal-focused, cohesive sound with excellent detail. Cohesive sound with great detail.
• This is the best Dita iem that I've heard, I dig it. Big and Bold Sound
• Warm laid back and base-forward. competes with other IEMs in it's price range.

LETSHUOER EJ07M

• Holographic staging with an amazing midrange. Great bass texture and impact. Incredibly immersive and endgame for most. Has more sub-bass and treble air than OG doesn't scale as well.
• Fit is an issue same as the Blessing 2 Dusk.
• Excellent tonality and dynamic bass held back only by a lack of intangible performance.

Elysian Pilgrim Noir

• Good but expensive. Recommended if you can find it for around $500. Direct upgrade to the AFUL Explorer. Scales great. Reminds me of the EJ07M but a bit smoother and less dynamic. Prefer it more than...
• Bassier than the original Pilgrim with similar resolution. Sound is similar to the original Pilgrim.
• Way different than Pilgrim OG, less bright. Smoothe.
• Relaxed at the vocal region compared to orignial Pilgrim. Too expensive. Texturing is a little bit better than original Pilgrim
• Cons: Similar to Pilgrim OG at twice the price.

Sony IER-M9

• Neutral tonality, highly coherent and decent detail pickup. The all-rounder of the IER lineup.
• Boring, but you won't find anything more well-rounded for the price. Exceptional timbre for a BA IEM.
• Pros: Just great accross the board, nothing to fault. Cons: Not very special.

Symphonium Giant

• Super warm and thick, mid-bass centric, basically the Meteor with less treble and more low-end, needs power, turns into basshead at higher volumes, very bassy.
• There's warm, warmer, then a huge gap, then the Giant. Warmiest.

Symphonium Audio Meteor

• Meaty textured mid-bass, but can be a bit much. VVery warm sound. Library dependent. Airy treble, but vocals are a bit pushed back and buried.
• I'm just not a fan of the tuning, but I can see how others might like it.
• A fun U-shape through and through, at the expense of some detail. Fantastic bass and upper-treble extension.

Yanyin Carmen

• An OG EJ07 that does vocal scaling. A blast your brains out kinda set. Full, powerful, extended, VERY forward vocals, might be too much for some people. Reveals every last bit of emotion from the...
• I don't get this one. It's not good.

Symphonium Titan

• Most balanced bass set I've heard so far without sacrificing the fun/texture/impact in the low-end. Open staging, full sounding, deep sub-bass, vocals aren't buried either. No big peaky treble, good...

Thieaudio Clairvoyance

• Inoffensive, pleasant tuning specialising in extremely balanced tonality and bass control.
• A more pleasant, warmer Monarch with cutbacks in resolution.
• Pros: Amazingly balanced tuning.

DUNU SA6 Ultra

• An SA6 with improvement in treble extension, and stage air; better tuned Oracle2 with wider stage. Relaxing tonality but also very resolving. Airy stage with great depth and height. Smooth dynamics...
• QDC Anole VX tuning, excellent resolution, and great bass with a practical bass switch. Unvented design. Tuning style is a matter of preference.
• A slightly refined SA6 with better treble extension. Very coherent.
• Pros: Anole VX-ish tuning with less treble and details. Cons: Could use a little more upper mids.

DUNU Zen Pro

• Solid tuning with good speed. Could use more air and some minor work in the treble.

Dunu SA6 EST

• QDC Anole VX tuning, excellent resolution, and great bass. Unvented design, no bass switch, and less airy than the SA6 MK II. I prefer the SA6 MK II.
• Not a bad IEM if you get the right tips. It's a bit disappointing compared to the original SA6.

Thieaudio Monarch

• Endgame clarity and layering. Great resolution, and open staging. Not holographic but very clean. Rumbly sub-bass but mid-bass tuck can kill some libraries, and affects vocal thinness.
• Neutral with bass boost
• Not particularly coherent, but an attention grabber with solid, surface-level detail.
• Pros: Superb separation, fun clean signature.

I/O Volare

• Best Harman IEM under $600 (my unit is less harman), smooth and natural, great layering and tech, bass texture could be better/not as good as Oracle MK3, but overall very balanced and great...
• Nice overall quality.
• If you are looking for the most bang for your buck in terms of the costs of materials - this is it. But not the most interesting sound.

Yanyin Moonlight

• Balanced and clean presentation that scales beautifully with slightly forward/powerful vocals.
• Pros: Great vocal centric signature & Imaging. Cons: a bit safe bass and treble wise.

FATFreq Scarlet Mini

• Crap ton of sub-bass but still very well-controlled (for the most part). No mud or mid-bass bloat, uppermids/treble are smoother than Maestro Mini, still somewhat balanced without having the low-end...
• Ohh this set is a special love affair with BASS. Not Neutral lol.

Moondrop Dark Saber

• It has it's moments, but it is a massive please demo first style iem.
• Basically the Moondrop S8 with a dynamic driver for the bass. Negatively affects the coherency of the presentation.

Hidition Waltz

• Neutral-fun signature that works both as a reference monitor and a rock-out IEM.
• Fun tuning with Hidition's mid-treble sparkle and none of the Viento's nasty resoance.

Yanyin x HBB Mahina

• Pros: A more balanced Moonlight with better bass. Cons: a bit safe treble wise.

ThieAudio Excalibur

• Probably the weakest of the ThieAudio tribrids, but still great on its own.
• Better clarity than the Oracle and more dynamic than most of ThieAudio's IEMs at the expense of some shoutyness.

Moondrop Illustrious

• Basically the Softears Twilight with less sub-bass extension, alot more neutral and monitor like, and very pricy since Twilight goes on sale for $700 with a more musical playback. This is just...
• Nice single DD, not a benchmark, but very nice.
• Sounds like it has metallic timbre. Percussino compression around 5kHz due to lack of treble extension and generally bad tuning.
• Sounds like an open-back IEM. It delivers on open design. Something to consider if you are looking for that.

Symphonium Triton

• Pleasing tonal balance and coherency, but not the last word in detail, especially relative to the Helios.

Fiio FD7

Oriolus Isabellae

• Awesome shimmer, and cool unique sound.
• Midrange doesn't sound very DD-like; more along the lines of etched and gritty perhaps due to 11kHz peak in treble.

GS Audio SE11

• Good tonal balance and fairly coherent. Bass needs work.

Fiio FA19

• Warm V-shaped sound with bassy lows, sparkly treble, and excellent resolution. Bass quality could be better and treble is bright. Great resolution and micro-details.
• I can't recommend this IEM. Even if it would be 1/10 of it's price.

ThieAudio Voyager 14

• Evokes a qdc-ish house sound, though stumbles in both tuning refinement and technicalities.
• Good tonal balance and technicalities. Just lacking a few legs of refinement.

Kinera Nanna 2.0

• Bass is a tad uncontrolled and the mids could use more refinement. The original is arguably superior.
• Probably Kinera's best set. Pretty decent overall.

Tanchjim Prism

• Somewhat tinny in the treble and generally anemic.

Shuoer EJ07

• Tuned almost Etymotic-like but with underwhelming treble extension bottlenecking it all.
• Decent tonality, but weak treble extension and technicalities.

Fiio FX15

• Odd recessions in frequency response lead to unique imaging but uncanny tonality.

Fiio FH9

• Pretty alright overall. Warm and reasonably well-balanced in the upper-midrange and lower-treble unlike some of Fiio's other IEMs.

Colorfly Quintet

• Generic V-shaped tuning and middling technicalities.

Tansio Mirai Land

• 123 setting. V-shaped and a bit harsh in the lower-treble.

Dunu Zen

• Good dynamics, but poor tuning with nasty 8kHz treble peak contrasted to zero air.

Moondrop Illumination

• Well-tuned with natural timbre, ultimately marred by subpar detail retrieval and definition.
• Mushy transients and imaging, basically par with their other single DDs for techniclaities.

Empire Ears Zeus XIV

• Top tier detail and resolution with poor tone and timbre reproduction.
• Wonky tuning and plasticky timbre, but pretty detailed.

Unique Melody MEST Mini

• Bone conduction driver doesn't seem to be doing much. Just your average V-shaped BA IEM.
• Definitely does not sound much like the actual MEST.

Empire Ears Bravado MK.II

• Valkyrie's darker, bloated brother.

OpenAudio Mercury

• Basically a poor man's Legend X without some of the technicalities.

64 Audio A2e

• A rather interesting "V-but-also-not" signature. Can get a little hot in the treble.
• Bloated mid-bass and extremely dark upper-midrange and treble results in hazy, uninspired listen.

Shozy Black Hole Mini

• The bass roll-off issue of the original is somewhat fixed, though at the cost of everything else.
• Midrange, especially the upper-midrange, is literally a black hole alright.

Cayin Fantasy

• A fantasy, indeed, if the sound is supposed to be commensurate with the asking price.