IEMs Reviewed by Crin

Elysian Annihilator 2021

Thieaudio Monarch Mk2

Hidition Viento

• Crin: Best-in-class tuning and tonal balance with near-perfect coherency. Recommended as a custom-fit.

Thieaudio v16 Divinity

Hidition NT6

• Crin: If Etymotic made a multi-BA IEM, this would be the closest to that dream

Sony IER Z1R

• Crin: Extended yet natural treble, realistic sub-bass focus and spacious imaging capabilities.

Moondrop Variations

• Crin: Sub-bass-focused signature with Moondrop's clean tuning makes this one of the best $500 tribrids.

qdc 8SL/Gemini/Anole VX

• Crin: Reference tuning with good tonality and top-level resolution. Similar tunings across top tier models.

Sennheiser IE600

• Crin: Well-tuned mids, powerful yet controlled sub-bass, with highly extended (and somewhat spicy) treble.

Softears RS10

• Crin: A little shouty and intense but very resolving and well-defined. A somewhat refined Moondrop S8.

Oriolus Traillii

Thieaudio Monarch

• Crin: Neutral with bass boost

Moondrop S8

• Crin: More faithful to the Harman target compared to the A8, with a smoother bass response.

Moondrop Blessing 2

• Crin: Very well tuned from bass to treble, perhaps lacking in the last octaves of extension.

Thieaudio Oracle

• Crin: Functionally similar to the Clairvoyance with slight cutbacks in overall clarity and resolution.

Softears RSV

• Crin: Very well-balanced tonality with surprisingly good timbre, though slightly lacking definition.

64 Audio U12t

• Crin: Amazing bass (for a BA), top-tier resolution and detail-oriented signature.

StereoPravda SB7

• Crin: Technically proficient but marred by a sharp timbre. Interesting concept.

Hidition Violet

• Crin: Strong sub-bass presence, slightly cut-back upper mids. A fun IEM through and through.

Empire Ears Odin

• Crin: A Legend X with the bass properly controlled and the resolution one step higher.

Vision Ears Erlkonig

• Crin: Good tonality, high resolution and an overall decent all-rounder.

Elysian X

Dunu Talos

7hz Timeless

• Crin: Easily the best-tuned planar IEM by a country mile, the Timeless is also no slouch on the technical front.

Elysian Diva

Moondrop A8

• Crin: An odd but surprisingly decent take on the Harman signature, with added midbass compared to the S8.

Symphonium Helios

qdc Anole V14

• Crin: Rather bassy even in stock form; fun and engaging, though at the expense of sheer technical performance.

Kiwi Ears Orchestra

• Crin: Very well-tuned reference-y signature with a mild bass and treble emphasis for added energy.

Vision Ears Elysium

• Crin: First decent implementation of Sonion's EST tweeters.

Ultimate Ears Reference Monitor

• Crin: The benchmark of an era, dead-flat with an upper treble boost

Thieaudio Clairvoyance

• Crin: Inoffensive, pleasant tuning specialising in extremely balanced tonality and bass control.

JVC HA-FW10000

• Crin: Intense and shouty DF-style signature with solid resolution.

JVC x Drop FDX1

• Crin: Highly technical sound with a clean, well-tuned neutral signature.

Softears Twilight

Moondrop Blessing

• Crin: All rounder that comes the closest to the Harman Target.

Kumitate KL-Sirius

• Crin: Excellent technical ability, well tuned with a dash of Japanese flavour.

Sony IER-M9

• Crin: Neutral tonality, highly coherent and decent detail pickup. The all-rounder of the IER lineup.

Pears SH3

• Crin: Great detail pickup and solid all-rounder, perhaps a little strident.

Empire Ears ESR Mk2

• Crin: Possibly the most pleasant-sounding of the Empire Ears lineup with decent detailing to boot.

qdc 8ss

• Crin: The neutral "studio monitor" of qdc's 8-series of IEMs, lacking a bit in overall extension.

Kumitate KL-Focus

• Crin: Selectable bass response with the rest of the FR following a more "Japanese reference" tuning.

Hidition NT8

• Crin: Coloured neutral kind of sound that works better with Asian genres.

64 Audio Tia Trio

• Crin: A more correct sounding version of the Fourte with slight cutbacks in staging and sheer resolution.

64 Audio Nio

• Crin: A decent bassy set with the m15/m20 modules, but really shines with the mX modules.

Dunu Vulkan

Hidition Waltz

• Crin: Neutral-fun signature that works both as a reference monitor and a rock-out IEM.

Softears Turii

• Crin: Resolving and fairly well-tuned dynamic-driver IEM.

64 Audio A/U18 Tzar

• Crin: A rather simple and "mainstream" tuning refined to a high level.

Shure KSE1200

• Crin: Easily at the top in terms of resolution and definition, but comes with a big treble spike and slightly odd mids.

Tangzu Zetian Wu

Thieaudio Excalibur

• Crin: Probably the weakest of the ThieAudio tribrids, but still great on its own.

Etymotic ER4XR

• Crin: A more mainstream tuning of the ER4S/SR with slightly boosted bass.

Sony IER-M7

• Crin: Balanced across the board, though doesn't seem to excel in any particular area.

Lime Ears Model X

• Crin: Technically capable IEM that goes from decently neutral to warm and smooth in a pinch.

See Audio Neo

• Crin: Well-balanced tonality with good resolution; emphasised bass with good control.

InEar SD5

• Crin: Excels in timbre reproduction and has an overall pleasant signature.

Noble K10 Encore

• Crin: Reference oriented sound focused on technicalities.

Noble Katana

• Crin: Like the K10, except with less bass.

Elysian Poseidon

• Crin: Good, inoffensive midrange tone and bass tuning, marred by the lack of low-level detailing.

Empire Ears LEGEND-X

• Crin: High resolution hybrid flawed only by lack of control in the bass regions.

Vision Ears VE8

• Crin: Extremely coherent signature with a pleasing tuning and high technicalities.

Vision Ears EXT

Empire Ears Legend X SE

• Crin: A more upper-mid-forward variation of the original Legend X, which could come off as slightly more mid-recessed.

Massdrop x Noble K10

• Crin: Very safe tuning, almost to the point of boredom. Does nothing wrong but nothing right either.

Etymotic ER4B

Etymotic ER2SE/ER2XR

• Crin: Slightly less detailed than the ER4, but without the usual BA timbre.

Moondrop Kato

Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro

• Crin: A less shouty interpretation of Harman with the same controlled yet impactful bass response.

Tanchjim Oxygen

• Crin: One of the best-tuned DDs tuned somewhat to Harman. Defined and detailed.

Fearless S8Z

• Crin: Solid all-rounder with a safe, pleasing tuning.

Clariar i430

qdc 4SS

• Crin: High clarity, high resolution reference-type monitor with spot-on tone.

HYLA CE-5

• Crin: Probably the best bass response I've ever heard. Thin-ish midrange that sounds unnatural on certain instruments.

Clariar i640

Hyla Sarda

• Crin: Standard "HYLA" house sound, doesn't do much different from the CE-5 and TE-5B.

HYLA TE-5B

• Crin: Similar to the CE-5 though ever-so-slightly thinner in the midrange.

qdc 8SH

• Crin: Tonally, a slightly wonkier variation of the top-tier qdc IEMs.

qdc White Tiger

Fatfreq Maestro SE

Jomo Trinity SS

• Crin: Highly detailed, well separated imaging though severely lacking in treble extension.

Unique Melody Mason V3+

• Crin: Decent resolution, nothing really special otherwise.

AKG N400

• Crin: Does away with the timbral issues of the Buds+ and sets itself as a superior.

Truthear Hexa

Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro

• Crin: More lower mids than your average Harman-tuned IEM, but works in its favour by being more pleasant.

Apple Airpods Pro 2

• Crin: A more exciting sound signature in comparison to its predecessor, with little in terms of drawbacks.

Softears Volume

Gaudio Nair

• Crin: Well-tuned neutral monitor bottlenecked by timbre and resolution.

Fatfreq Maestro Mini

Sennheiser IE900

• Crin: Well-resolving DD IEM with excellent treble control, though with somewhat weak mid-high harmonics.

Noble Khan

• Crin: Clean yet lean, solid low-end rumble but treble get splashy. Technical but lacking naturalness.

Noble Kublai Khan

Etymotic ER3SE/ER3XR

• Crin: An ER4 with a bit less treble and upper extension.

Dunu DK-3001 Pro

• Crin: Well-tuned and coherent. Does little wrong and very easy to like.

Unique Melody MEXT

MIM Dark Magician

Ultimate Ears Reference Remastered

• Crin: Warm with good tonality. Good all-rounder albeit definitely not a reference signature.

Faudio Dark Sky

Vision Ears VE7

• Crin: Fairly inoffensive tuning with solid technicalities.

Unique Melody MEST

• Crin: A smooth, relaxing listen (in custom form) backed up with good technicalities.