ESR MKII (Universal)

I've had my eyes on the Empire Ears ESR Mark 2. It's around $1000 new and contains 3 sonion BAs and two electrostatic drivers that top the frequency out at 100khz (inaudible to humans ik but I've never seen it that high on an iem ). It's their flattest iem yet I've compared it to the Gaudio Nair, ie600 and monarch mark 2-4 and it seems the ESR mark 2 is more analytical and detailed while still being considered a studio reference tuning. Both float around 1k new. Absolutely looks gorgeous too imo. I'm rocking my Elysian Pilgrims till I can get some sort of payment plan or find them used (honestly hesitant to do without a warranty of some kind at their price). Be warned that these are more reference tuned than the other suggestions given here. Buying these I'd feel the closest to owning a stax headphone within my "feasible" budget hah. The Gaudio Nair is also super-neutral like these yet they are "smoother" sounding as it's not as much of a technical monster/lacks the est drivers. Haven't been able to audition either. Just read up on reviews There's also the Final Audio A8000. A very revealing single dynamic driver that is brighter than neutral. Besides the Esr 2 I've been longing for those also. I do think for my music tastes (prog and alternative) the Esr mark 2 would perform better as an all rounder though

EE ESR MKII is an excellent neutral tuned iem. Its intended role in their product lineup is as a studio reference monitor. I cannot say it is the best neutral iem because I have not heard every iem, but I have owned it for years and it is both neutral and excellent.

Empire Ears ESR MK II are tuned for monitoring and as close to HD600s as anything I’ve heard.