HIDIZS - MK12 x DucBloke

Owned Tea Pros, Hype 4 and MK12 at the same time. Decided to sell the former two because the MK12 sound that good to me (after PEQ), and was <1/2 the price (backed on Kickstarter).

Not OP but I have listened to the Hidizs Mk12 (both standard and collab) and the Thieaudio Valhalla. I simply do not get how one can listen to both IEMs and rank them 0.02 points apart, it's not even close, the Valhalla wipes the floor with the Mk12. I don't even like the Valhalla, but the quality difference is enormous.

As you're new, it's hard not to fall for IEM marketing hype cycles. Every month, there's a new "best ever" IEM. Tons of reviews come out saying this *is* it. Then it arrives. "Is that it?"- That was my first reaction to the Martilo. It's great, but it was nowhere near as bassy as everyone said. Months later, I still want more punchy bass. I stumble one I'd never heard of, released months ago with barely any hype- the TSMR Armor. It's got nowhere near the same marketing budget but the few reviews I find compared it to the Martilo and said it's punchier, a more impactful bass. I take a punt. It arrives. No hype. I'm not expecting much.... IT IS AWESOME. The lesson: If this is a big purchase for you, wait a while before buying. Nobody has heard the Portazo yet. It might be amazing. It might be crap. But the real verdict is if people are still talking about it after 2 months. Final final point- I listen to DnB quite a lot. Weirdly, I enjoy it most on *not* total Basshead IEMs. For example the Hidisz mk12- is an absolute DnB beast, it's so fun and punchy and energetic. On paper, the Martilo should work best with DnB, it has tons of sub-bass, but it feels a bit dry and dull in comparison.

Chat GPT doesn't know shit about IEMs. Imo, there's too many, and too similar. The most unique choice is the Diablo... To the delicate ears of our favourite Singaporean IEM God that might be a lot of bass, but there's more bass out there. The others kinda just blend together... If your goal is to experience every kind of sound and weird driver combination there is, go much further. Buy an all BA set. Buy a bass head set. Buy a tribrid. Buy a KZ Decet with 5 DDs squeezed in each side. Buy a bone conduction set- "subtle" options that boost the soundstage a bit, or "obvious vibration" sets like the Kiwi Ears Etude, Kbear03/02. Buy a treble head set. Buy something off Penon. Buy a desktop amp and see if that makes a difference or not to you. For what it's worth, I really love the MK12, and I think the MP145 is a much better IEM than the Mp143 (which is fine but a bit boring) If your goal is quality... You can afford a couple of AMAZING sets instead of 15 good ones.

Isn H60... I love the mk12, and the H60 has an even more fun engaging tuning- probably my favourite IEM. Possibly the EBC80 if you have a lot to spend (I've not heard it but I've read it's the next level H60)

Why I keep returning iems like tea pro and moon drop dusk and keep returning to my MK12? I cannot fault them in anything and I tried hard to not like them. They beat the tea pro in every department and cost less than half of them. Where am I wrong?

Supposedly the Hidizs MP145s got a retuning. I got them fairly recently so I suspect mine are the retune. I have since purchase the Horizons and a few others not in your list. And I gotta say they're very technical and musical at the same time. Female voices sound amazing. I get lost in the music when I put those on lay my head back and close my eyes. Their score on the chart says(old tuning) for those. I really like the Mk12s too tho (gold nozzle & SpinFit CP145s) so I might have a preference for their house sound. If you like something with great transients/instrument separation that's a good all arounder and bonus... Looks exactly like the Top Pros, the Pula PA02s are awesome and comfortable to me.

Hidizs Mk12 is the best for me from 2025. I'm looking forward to checking out Solomon, prestige Ltd mk2 and monarch mkiv.

I've listened to the mp145 and aether extensively. I'm currently auditioning the hidizs Mk12 red nozzle and think you should consider this in your options. I think these punch way above their cost. They look cool like the mp145 but fit way better imo. Tips settled on was dunu ss.

Hidizs mk12 out of 4 wired IEMs I ever had ($135 during Ali sale). I prefer them over JVC FDX1 I've paid $250 for back in 2020. mk12 is warmer, but still not too much bass. I'm using them with gold nozzle and vocal tips (silver nozzle had slightly higher treble peaks which were fatiguing, I could only use it with some foam tips but they had too much reduction effect on treble). I also have KZ zs12 pro x (1DD+5BA) which I quite like, I don't think you can get better sound for $32 (Tangzu Wan'er 2, CCA Phoenix?). I don't use any bass boost knobs here, I feel like vocals are less clear after boosting the bass. I'm looking for best possible IEMs for classic metal, but I also want very clear vocals. Are planars really the best option for metal (after EST of course)?

Thanks for the info. I love my MK12 but they could be a little smaller (at least they are very light, when compared with KZ ZS12 or JVC FDX1). I need something which is a clear improvement, I'll skip MP145 and keep looking (maybe Sivga Nightingale, or maybe skip planars and go for something else).

Which one is replacing your MK12? I like MK12 tuning, looking for something similar, but better.

I like my ZS12. $32, later I've seen them for $29. Black metal housing and tuning switches. I'm leaving the bass lowest possible as I don't like V-shape, I prefer more upfront vocals. My other IEMs are JVC FDX1 (paid $220 5 years ago but I can't really say that it's better than ZS12) and Hidizs MK12 (these are interesting, warmer than ZS12, my favorite at the moment, but I'd like vocals to be clearer/loader).