ThieAudio - Legacy 2

I can not stand the Harman tuning even though this tuning is very popular with many people. My tuning preference is very similar to the HBB tuning. I prefer the HBB tuning's 8 dB rise for the simulated pinna gain in the upper midrange since the Harman tuning's 10 to 11 dB rise for the simulated pinna gain in the upper midrange is too sibilant for me. I also don't like how the Harman tuning decreases the lower midrange. Right now my two favorite IEMs under $300 are the Aful Performer 7 and the Dunu DaVinci. The Performer 7 simply is an improved version of the Performer 5 across the board. I still love my Performer 5 IEMs. At first I didn't like the DaVinci's powerful sub bass relative to the mid bass, but I found some eartips which fixed this issue such that the sub bass is in balance with the mid bass. I have some other favorite IEMs at lower price points. I was very surprised by how much I like the Kima 2 which Dunu sent to me. I knew that the Kima 2 uses single dynamic drivers, yet when I listened to the Kima 2 I could have sworn that there must also be BA drivers in the mix since the macro and micro details are very well defined. For example, the Kima 2 performs much better than the Thieaudio Legacy 2. It also dawned on me that the Kima 2 is tuned very similarly to the original Moondrop Starfield which was my first IEM, yet the Kima 2's technical performance is so much nicer to listen to in comparison to the OG Starfield. There always a very slight veil to the sound when I listened to the OG Starfield, and the Kima 2 totally rips any veil away. On the budget side, I really like the Simgot EW200 after I easily added some self adhesive mesh filters to shift the overall tuning from Harman to HBB. The transition after adding the mesh filters was splendid. The thing is that after adding the mesh filters to adjust the tuning, I was able to really appreciate the quality of the EW200's dynamic drivers. I hope that the above helps you with your research.

So I actually kinda bought a ton of IEMs to answer this question too. I was trying to find something that works for voiceover, for mixing, for critical editing, and for checking how mics sound in reviews. If I had to choose under $300, here’s my categories: * Mixing: Neutral enough to translate well on different setups (HD6xx, speakers, etc.) * Critical editing: Can it expose bad audio or does it hide flaws? * Monitoring: How good it is for hearing your own voice accurately. * Enjoyment: Just how fun it is to listen to. Letshouer Galileo Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent (voice literally sounds just like me when monitoring) Enjoyment: Low Moondrop Blessing 2 / Blessing 3 Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Low (pretty harsh, basically MDR-7506s in IEM form) Zigaat Lush Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Below average unless you crank the volume on sibilant spots Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Good

Etymotic ER2XR / ER4XR Mixing: Below average (soundstage is too 2D) Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Okay Crinacle Daybreak (surprisingly) Mixing: Depends—more “Meta” neutral than Etymotic-style Critical Editing: Excellent (picks up sibilance like crazy, great for catching issues) Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: High Xuan NV (big surprise) Mixing: No, too much bass Critical Editing: Excellent (vocals are super accurate for both male and female) Monitoring: Iffy—low impedance can be weird with interfaces like the MOTU M2 Enjoyment: High Thieaudio Legacy 2 Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Decent Cadenza 4 Mixing: Excellent Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Excellent Orchestra Lite Mixing: Excellent (surprisingly neutral—not bright like Blessing 2/3, not warm like Dusk or Lush) Critical Editing: Excellent Monitoring: Excellent Enjoyment: Excellent Basically the Studio4 but more revealing with sibilance instead of smoothing it out. Hexa I don’t really recommend it—too many fit issues and inconsistent impressions. If you do try it, use wide-bore tips (not narrow). Video explaining why: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x-T8el9fbs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x-T8el9fbs) Hope this helps.

Going to use a grading system: A, B, C, D, F like in school A means excellent B is good C is average D is bad F is absolute fail **Mixing:** Going to avoid using the word "neutral" because then every mofo comes in the thread saying, what's neutral. Let's use the word "even-keeled'. Good iems for mixing are generally more even-keeled. If it has way too much bass you'll thin out your mix. If it's way too trebly and bright and shouty you're going to overcompensate. Ideally you want something more even-keeled. **Enjoyability:** Subjective. But how enjoyable it is **Critical Editing:** This isn't the same as mixing. But it means will it let you know if you have shit audio. If I listen to Kanye's sibilant ass tracks does he sound sibilant on them? If I listen to Lana White Dress is she sibilant on it? She better be. If I watch a DMS video from 6 years ago, does he sound sibilant on it? He better. Because he does. This is important because you need to evaluate your audio and the iem lets you know your audio is shit before thousands of people hear it. Etymotic ERXR Enjoyability: C to B to A. Pretty good, depending on who you ask Critical editing: A+. Very good at letting you know areas of trouble in your audio Mixing: D. Poor soundstage Truthear Hexa Enjoyability: D. I hate it Critical editing: A+ with wide bore tips Mixing: C. Imo actually a bit thin on lowend. You'll overcompensate. Also the soundstage on Hexa is kinda eh ngl. Salnotes Zero Original Enjoyability: C. I think it's ok. Or mid. Critical editing: B. Honestly pretty good at letting you know egregious areas. The version 1 is less forgiving with sibilance than 2, so it's better for critical editing. Zero 2 blunts the sibilance out (better for enjoyers; bad for audio engineers) Mixing: A. pretty neutral imo Softears Studio 4 Enjoyability: A to A+. Very enjoyable IEM Critical editing: D. Ironically. It smooths out all sibilance so you won't know sibilance is there. This is why it's so beautiful sounding. Mixing: A+. Very neutral. I'd even say probably my closest definition of neutral Moondrop Blessing 2 Enjoyability: D (harsh, shouty, bright, sibilant). Same with Blessing 3. Critical Editing: A. These are very picky with harshness in vocals. I genuinely think these are the Sony MDR 7506 in iem form. Mixing: A Zigaat Lush Enjoyability: B to A Critical Editing: C You won't really find problem areas of sibilance. You really really really have to crank it to hear it. Mixing: A. Pretty even-keeled. Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite: Enjoyability: B to C Critical Editing: A. Excellent at picking out flaws. Mixing: A+. Excellent at telling you the whole picture. Excellent for mixing. Very very even-keeled.

Letshouer Cadenza 4 Enjoyability: A to A+ Critical Editing: B to A Mixing: A. While a bit U-shaped it's not egregious. It's enough to make decisions. Sennheiser IE200 Enjoyability: B to A Critical Editing: D to F (rounds out a lot of sibilance imo, which is actually a good thing for enjoyers). Mixing: B. Kind of shocking but while people call this v-shaped this is actually not as v-shaped imo. If you monitor yourself using these iems it'll sound exactly like you down to the microphone. Most other v-shaped iems don't do that. Crinacle Daybreak Enjoyability: B to A- Critical Editing: A (rofl. It's funny because it genuinely is good at picking out bad audio. If it sounds harsh it's because the original track is harsh) Mixing: B (This is more of a "Meta" tuned iem. But imo just enough where it sounds true) Crinacle Dusk Enjoyability: B to A+ (depending on who you ask) Critical Editing: C on Analogue. F on DSP. It rolls out sibilance by quite a large margin. Mixing: A on analogue mode. Honestly pretty neutral. almost HD600ish. But about a C on DSP mode. Tanchjim Origin Enjoyability: C to A (depending on who you ask) Critical editing: A (it'll definitely let you know spicy regions Mixing: A. A bit bright-slanted but definitely capable for mixing. Theioaudio Legacy 2: Enjoyability: C Critical editing: A+ Mixing: A+ Xuan NV (honorable mention) Enjoyability: A Critical editing: B Mixing: D (too bassy imo) I mention these because imo these are the Audio Technica M50x of iems but the size of 2 quarters. They basically give you accurate vocals down to the tee but thumpy bass. The vocals are very accurate on these. Not good for mixing though. Dunu Titan S (original) Enjoyability: C Critical editing: D (the treble is rounded out quite a bit) mixing: A (these are my imo pretty close to neutral)

PART 1: I'm coming back to your post now 22 days later. Because I wanted to answer this question. So think of this as a better update/answer than what I gave you. From a point of simplification, there's monitoring (this means when you use a microphone your voice sounds pretty close to you). There's critical voiceover editing (this means you wear headphones you can accurately detect problems with your audio, ie sibilance, plosives, phasing issues, etc) Then there's mixing. mixing means you are generally trying to make everything comprehensive and cohesive and sounds good on many mediums, ie iphones, speakers, car speakers, cans, openbacks, everything basically. Here's my thoughts: The Tanchjim Origin/Tanchim Fission are good at all 3. The Westone Mach60s (bought recently) excel at all 3. To elaborate, when I use any microphone it sounds exactly like me. When I watch microphone reviews by Podcastage, Boothjunkie, Curtis Judd, not only does it sounds like them to the dot but it sounds exactly individually how that mic sounds on them. When I listen to male singers, they sound correct. When I listen to female singers they sound correct. But it also does a great job of pointing out flaws in audio, ie I can hear everything. But also these have a ton of soundstage. The Beyerdynamic DT70IE (bought recently) excel at all 3. Though I'd give the edge to the Mach60s. Vocally it's pretty on point, with my voice and others. I noticed a voiceactor on Youtube mentioning the same thing. Just be sure to use the silicone eartips and toss the sponge ones (those suck). The Shure SE846 (bought recently) can do all 3. However I used the blue filters (neutral) along with the the black adapter from the AZLA SednaEarfit Crystal Standard which allows you to use all eartips, ie Dunu S&S. It veers warmer than the Mach60s but it's still pretty on point. It reminds me a lot of my JBL 305 speakers on my desk. The Moondrop Blessing 2/Blessing 3/Cadenza 4 excel at all 3. I map these all the same. While not exactly the same they're pretty much in the same camp. If you own 1, you don't need the other. The Softears Studio4 is good at only 2. Monitoring and mixing. But it isn't good for critical editing for voiceover. This is because it tends to round out sibilance and round out flaws in audio. So you need to cross-check it with something like a Moondrop Blessing 2 or a Thieoaudio Legacy 2. The Etymotic ER2XR is only good at voiceover editing and monitoring. But because of its poor soundstage it's not good for mixing. The Crinacle Dusk is good for monitoring. Good for mixing. But not suitable for critical voiceover editing. You won't know you have sibilance and problems in your audio. It even smooths out DMS's old sibilant headphone videos. ie I use his old videos as a reference for detecting horrible sibilance. The Dunu Titan S (original) are good for monitoring and mixing (it's relatively neutral). But not good for critical editing. It completely smooths out harsh sibilance on female vocals. Wouldn't count on these. The Salnotes Zero (original) are surprisingly good for $20. They are perfectly fine for monitoring. They also give you a general sense of the landscape and can be used for mixing. I thought it was a meme when I saw a ton of audio engineers mentioning the Salnotes Zero (original) for mixing. It also is good with critical editing (but nowhere near as reliable) as other options but it'll definitely point out egregious areas with your audio. Not bad for $20. I'd still strongly recommend going with the Fission (with S nozzle) which almost the same as the Tanchim Origin for a good price.

PART 2: (CONTINUED) Thieoaudio Legacy 2 are good at all 3. Excellent for monitoring. Though when I hear through with my microphone it's my voice but with about 10-15% of the lowend removed from my voice. These imo are the true "Baby Blessing 2" and imo are far more effective and reliable than the Hexa. These also are fantastic for pointing at flaws in your audio, ie issues like sibilance, clipping, plosives, boxiness, phasing, muffled audio, etc. Zigaat Lush (recently bought) is fine for monitoring. But I'm not entirely sure how it would translate to mixing and critical editing. It tends to relax a bit of the highs a bit too much imo. However, the Lush sounds substantially better when paired with the Moondrop Spring tips. Truthear Hexa - I'm going to list these as unreliable (for me). They've steered me so wrong so many times. Not that it won't for you. But I can't recommend them. Also the Hexa is the most divisive IEM. Just read this thread. No one agrees on how it sounds. Watch and read everywhere. No one knows what it sounds like. You got people saying it has a ton of bass. No bass. Little bass. Peaky. Harsh. Smooth. No one knows. You have me saying it's anemic in bass. Who's right? Who's wrong. Imo these are fine for monitoring and mixing. Not for critical editing. Purely anecdotal. But they have steered me wrong.

1. Aful Explorer - Doesn't really have muddled mids like the EW300. It's bassy, but quite clean sounding. The problem it has is that the eargain is very low. So to me, vocals sound recessed, but also sibilant at the same time. How this sounds to you may be dependent on your HRTF as a lot of people seem to like it. It has pretty good treble & resolution too, it's just that one problem that lets it down. 2. Hexa - Is indeed pretty clean sounding, with good treble extension as well. The negatives for me are that the bass isn't great, the treble can be a touch peaky, the soundstage is narrow and the large nozzles make it uncomfortable. 3. S08 - Does not have planar timbre; it's tuned quite differently to other planars. However it also doesn't have quite the same ultra-detailed sound that other planars like the S12 have. It's much darker. I find it very tip-sensitive and it sounds wrong on almost all tips. With the right tip it's got a very intimate sound that is quite bassy, but it's let down a bit by the bass quality, which is a bit boxy. Still my 2nd favourite IEM but only with the right tips. 4. Nova - I haven't heard, but from what I know about it, the nozzles are large and it only sounds good with foam tips. At that point it does rival the Variations for Harman tuning, which is great for female vocals, but the bass tuck can ruin bass guitars etc. 5. Fudu - Honestly just sounds muddy to me, I consider it a downgrade from the QKZ HBB although it does have better build quality. The eartips are good, but it doesn't come with a full set of Divinus Velvet, which if you get them you really should get all 5 sizes. Based on your priorities I'd either go with the Hexa or the Nova depending on what you think about the trade-offs I mentioned. Or maybe consider the Simgot EA500LM - though some find it has too much treble energy; its an unusual tuning that doesn't sound like it graphs. I'd watch the Paul Wasabii review, as I think he captured everything about it more accurately than other reviews. Another one to consider is the Thieaudio Legacy 2. It's tuned a bit like the Hexa, but with stronger sub-bass, a bit more vocal-forwardness (reminds of the HD600 vs HD650) and it rolls off the treble a bit, so it sounds smoother, but possibly less extended. I find it has better soundstage than the Hexa and is much more comfortable. I also find the Kato to be more-or-less a direct upgrade from the Chu 2 and while I haven't heard it, the Aria 2 supposedly sounds almost identical to the Kato. The Dunu Kima 2 apparently sounds very similar too. These are all slightly more v-shaped than the Hexa/Legacy 2, but still a mild v, so there's more bass and the mids sound warmed-up, but not bloated.

Thieaudio Legacy 2. Bear in mind that there's barely any accepted definition of neutral in headphones, and even less so in IEMs because the sound varies from person to person based on ear anatomy. Most of the bass-boosted new-meta IEMs released so far (KE4 and so on) sound either muddy or veiled to a lot of people, including the Truthear Pure which is more of a warm, down-tilted tuning, but some would also consider it neutral. The Legacy 2 is a bit older so doesn't follow that style of tuning, but it's not quite Harman either (which some consider v-shaped or u-shaped), it's closer to what most people subjectively say is quite neutral (mostly) and unlike the Hexa which has no bass, the L2 has slightly boosted sub-bass. The Simgot EM6L is also within the bounds of what some would call neutral, but it's bassier than the L2 and maybe a mild v-shape. Another neutral-ish option is the Dunu Titan S, which is a bit warmer and more vocal-forward. There's also the Aful Explorer which is quite L-shaped so I wouldn't really call it neutral, but it might fall within what you're actually looking for. It has more of a bass boost, but it's quite clean bass that doesn't muddying up everything else. But I do find vocals on it sound a bit recessed.

I prefer the tonal balance of the EW300 to the Hexa because it's got a nice warm tilt that still sounds fairly clean, but it has a major issue with the midrange sounding muddled with anything busy, including distortion. If you're monitoring a guitar with distortion then it's probably going to sound mushy on the EW300. The Hexa isn't my favourite IEM, but it is pretty neutral and has no issues with things like separation & resolution. It's a bit lacking in bass weight but it has enough if it's for a 6 string and not a bass. Not sure if it's the best for metal either. Another neutral option I personally prefer to the Hexa is the Thieaudio Legacy 2. It's got a bit more bass (mainly sub-bass, so it doesn't bleed into the mids) and it's much more comfortable than the Hexa. The Hexa has quite big nozzles and some people find the shell shape awkward despite it being fairly small. The Hexa has better treble extension, but soundstage & imaging are both a bit better on the L2, which is another reason I prefer it for music listening. The Hexa can sound quite narrow & closed-in for some reason, although that won't matter at all for monitoring.

If you want something very neutral then the Truthear Hexa needs consideration. The main downside with it are that the nozzles are quite largev. It's not as massive as the Zero Red/Blue but if you have smaller ears I'd avoid it. Also t has a very narrow soundstage. Another IEM with a similarly neutral tuning but a bit more sub-bass is the Thieaudio Legacy 2. I prefer that one to the Hexa and it's a lot more comfortable. It's slightly more expensive, but not much. Also the L2 has a bit more high treble roll-off although I don't find that sacrifices any detail, it just makes them a bit smoother sounding than the Hexa. These also have much better soundstage than the Hexa. Also sprach Zarathustra sounds very good on these btw; I don't listen to a lot of classical but that's one of my test tracks. I haven't heard the Aria 2 but I do have the Kato which it supposedly sounds nearly identical to, and it's another warm-leaning, mild-v. I think this will tend to sound a bit muddy with classical, compared to some of the brighter or more neutral sets. I wouldn't recommend the S08 either, because it's very tip-sensitive and even if you get good tip match, it's quite a dark tuning. It's great for certain music, but I don't think it will do classical very well at all. The S12 is a better option. Just make sure you have a reasonably good DAC/amp as planars don't always sound at their best when under-powered. Another potential alternative to the S12 is the Moondrop Stellaris. I would advise some caution here, because as it comes out of the box it's really bright and fatiguing. I personally find it becomes less fatiguing than the S12 Pro with Dunu Candy tips, but I can't guarantee those will work the same in anyone else's ears. Still [at least one reviewer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdLqjwXG7CA) recommends them for classical specifically. They do have a much flatter tuning than the S12. At least with the right tips they are a bright-neutral rather than an intense v-shape like the S12. Another non-planar option worth considering is the Simgot EA500. The original, not the LM. The LM is quite v-shaped and also sounds quite closed-in compared to the original. The downside of the EA500 again is, like several of these options can be so bright that it gets fatiguing. In fact it's probably the most fatiguing of these. It has a certain realism though and is nearly as resolving as the planars despite being a 1DD. It has a good sense of dynamics as well the largest soundstage I've heard on an IEM, with pin-sharp imaging. A much safer option is the Moondrop LAN. It's a bright-neutral tuning but regardless of eartips used it doesn't have so much treble energy for anyone to really find it fatiguing. It's also got quite a smooth treble response, and pretty decent soundstage. Short version: Moondrop LAN probably the safest option, but slightly less resolving than some of the others; Stellaris + Dunu Candy tips is a big upgrade iff your ears react to the tips the way mine do. Thieaudio Legacy 2 is another good & safe option.

The Truthear Hexa is arguably the most neutral IEM, but it's a bit lacking in bass and the treble can be a bit peaky. I personally prefer the Thieaudio Legacy 2 as a neutral reference, with a slight sub-bass boost. The sound reminds me of the HD600 but with full bass extension (it's not quite as warmed-up as the HD650, but it has sub-bass instead). The downside compared to the Hexa is the upper treble rolls off a bit, so it may not be ideal if you need to pick out a lot of details in the high frequencies, but I find it sounds more natural. You probably won't get a closed-back that sounds as good as an IEM, unless you go up to something like the DCA E3, which I haven't heard, but a lot of people say it's the best (and perhaps only) neutral-sounding closed-back. You'd need to ask in /r/headphonesadvice about closed-backs.

Neither. What you want is something neutral-ish like the Hexa, but the weak bass on the Hexa is going to be terrible for EDM. Look at the Thieaudio Legacy 2 instead. Fairly neutral but with a slight sub-bass boost. Also happens to have exceptional imaging, which the Hexa does not. I haven't heard the Pure yet, but [opinions are quite mixed](/r/iems/comments/1lmledy/first_truthear_pure_review_is_out/). If you want something neutral-ish for music production then I think the Pure is going to be too warm-tilted. If you use it for mixing, everything is going to come out too bright (although ideally you should use studio monitors for mixing anyway, or at least have some other way to check your mix).

Dunu Titan S (slightly warmer & more vocal-forward) or Thieaudio Legacy 2 (more of a reference-neutral). The Legacy 2 is maybe more suited to pro work as it can be a bit less forgiving about badly mastered tracks, but it's still a good IEM for listening to music, as long as you're not regularly listening to absolutely awful mixes. It has particularly good soundstage and imaging for the price. The Hexa gets recommended a lot, but I'm not a big fan because it has peaky treble, bad imaging, weak and flabby bass, and the fit is uncomfortable for a lot of people (including me), because of its large nozzles. There aren't really any other flat neutral options in that price range, but if you want a slightly brighter neutral then the Moondrop LAN is pretty good, as long as it hasn't sold out (it's been discontinued but the LAN 2 REF is even more bright and not as neutral). The Aria 2 isn't really neutral, it's more of a warm-leaning mild v-shape, but it's not some crazy Beats By Dre style of tuning or anything. It's probably close enough to neutral for most people and a good all-rounder (at least as far as I know as it's the only one I haven't heard, but I've heard what it's very frequently compared to). And of these will run just fine on the Apple dongle, even the EU one.

There's quite a broad range. For example: * Aful MagicOne - pretty, but not overdone * Ikko OH10 - good looking, nature-based & reserved * 7Hz Timeless, Timeless AE, Simgot EA500 - minimalist * Tin C2, Dunu Titan S (black/red version), Truthear Hexa/Pure - industrial There's a whole load in the middle that are just random swirly colours which has become the default low-effort design. Something like the Thieaudio Legacy 2 does that well IMO because its just one colour with a bit of texture, not all the colours, all at once. If you want a plain black cable, look at the KBear ST12. There's lots of options out there. I notice the stock cables often don't match the IEMs very well, and intentionally or not, this most likely helps sell a lot of aftermarket cables.

Interesting point. There were some comments on this review & general confusion about the way it graphs: [SoftEars Studio 2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJoBPuaj9U8). SoftEars generally know what they're doing and apparently tuned this based on feedback from musicians; mainly singers. It's supposed to be for live monitoring vocals, but the FR graph (and listening impressions) suggest that it would be terrible for that. One idea is that it's partly to compensate for the occlusion effect, where your own voice sounds weird because you have IEMs blocking your ears. That's a good point about high frequency noise in un-mastered recordings, especially if you're not low-pass filtering at 20kHz. Most IEMs start to roll off around 15kHz anyway, so it's not really a problem, but some of them intentionally have a frequency response past 20kHz, which could potentially lead to hearing damage from sounds you can't hear (they can still damage the ear). Some IEMs are tuned with an elevation in the "air" frequencies (above 10kHz or thereabouts) in order to sound artificially more resolving, but there are also plenty of audiophile IEMs that aren't tuned that way. One I recommend a lot as a neutral reference is the Thieaudio Legacy 2. It's very comfortable and a has generally neutral response, natural timbre, with a slight bass boost & some vocal-forwardness. One of the things I normally say is a slight negative, but you've indicated could actually be a positive, is that it has quite a bit of treble roll-off. Here's a graph: https://squig.link/?share=Super_22_Target,Harman_Adjusted_Target,ThieAudio_Legacy_2 There is a peak around 16kHz but that's probably mostly a coupler resonance, so it's not really there. The main roll-off starts around 10kHz and it has almost no response at 20kHz. That's not a £20 set though, but it's still under £100. Another one I normally don't recommend is the Kinera Wyvern Abyss, which is about £20 but often goes on sale closer to £10-12 (on Aliexpress anyway, it's a bit more on Amazon). [FR graph](https://squig.link/?share=Harman_Adjusted_Target,Kinera_Wyvern_Abyss). That peak at 8kHz is *definitely* a coupler resonance - that's present on all IEM graphs made with this type of rig. It has a big dip in the treble, starting to roll off around 4kHz. It can make things like cymbals quite hard to hear. But if you're mainly concerned with say, guitar & vocals, you're not going to care about that anyway. That dip in the treble is the only thing wrong with it: it's very comfortable and well built, plus it looks quite good as well.

I'd also call the Hola warm, or warm-neutral anyway. My point was that on the 5128 it follows the JM-1 target more closely than either the Pure or the Hexa, so is therefore "the most neutral" (even though it clearly isn't flat neutral). Supposedly the bass is a lot more accurate on the 5128 and it's been said that this explains "BA bass" where the measured level was much higher (on 711) than the perceived level. I've started looking at the 5128 to check where the bass level falls, but 711 to try to understand the actual tonal balance. The Hola improves a lot with the right tips btw, the stock ones aren't very good. I personally find Tang Sancai (balanced) works best, but they may not work the same for everyone. It goes from an OK budget set to a *really good* 1DD, just with a very relaxed tuning. They really tuned it to the driver, so where it lacks treble incisiveness, it doesn't matter, because that tuning doesn't require it. The QKZ HBB is very similar, in fact it sounds a lot like the Hola, just with a lot more bass. I really don't like the Gate at all. The treble just sounds gritty and knocks the timbre out. For that sort of mild v-shape, I'd much rather listen to the Chu 2. For a brighter take on that 1DD modified Harman, I find the EPZ Q1 Pro to be quite good. I personally had to so some tip-rolling to get rid of a resonance peak in the treble, but I've since asked a couple of people I recommended it to (with that caveat) and they didn't have the same problem, so I think that's just an interaction with my ear canal. For a reference neutral tuning, I like the Thieaudio Legacy 2 more than the Hexa. Similar mids (the L2 is just a touch more vocal-forward), but it has a sub-bass boost, so it's still fairly neutral but you can actually hear bass. The treble is slightly rolled-off, but less peaky and more natural sounding (just less airy). I haven't heard the Yume, but the Legacy 2 and Yume have nearly identical graphs.

The ones I would consider to be some version of neutral are the Hexa, the Dunu Titan S and the Thieaudio Legacy 2. Apparently the Pure is more of a warm-neutral than the Hexa, but about half of reviewers found it sounded muddy, so I'd hesitate to put it in the same category. It seems to be very hearing-dependent though so you might like those, but if you really liked the Hexa then possibly not. I haven't heard it myself yet. I would say the Legacy 2 is more accurate and more neutral than the Hexa, but the only disadvantage it has is that the Hexa has a bit more treble extension. My Legacy 2 extends up to about 14kHz, which is fine for general music listening but there might be some instances where you need to hear higher frequencies than that, such as mixing, which is one of the use-cases where the Legacy 2 excels, unless you need to hear higher frequencies than that. Still, even though the Hexa has more treble extension, it has much worse treble *quality* than the Legacy 2, as the Hexa is quite peaky and that can exaggerate channel imbalances too. Imaging on my Hexa is really bad, with instruments appearing to wander around the stage, because those treble peaks are in slightly different places on each side. The L2 is much more solid in that regard and also has a much more natural soundstage (the Hexa is weirdly narrow to me). Also when I say the Legacy 2 is more accurate than the Hexa, that means it won't hide issues in a bad mix to the same extent that the Hexa will. So if the mix is sibilant, it'll sound sibilant on the Legacy 2, whereas the Hexa will hide that and smooth over issues more. So some may find the Hexa is more pleasant to listen to, not because it's more neutral, but because it's suppressing some of the potentially problematic frequencies in the 3-6kHz region. This makes the Legacy 2 a better choice if you need a neutral reference for mixing etc., but possibly worse for music listening (personally I prefer it to the Hexa so YMMV). I would put the Titan S ahead of of the Hexa as well. It's got a slightly more warm tilt compared to the L2 and more vocal-forwardness that, unlike a lot of Harman-like "vocal forward" IEMs isn't limited to only female vocals. It's arguably a bit less neutral, but it's coloured in a good way, and it's a subtle A-shape rather than the usual v-shape. The treble on the Titan S can be slightly grainy at times, but it's only noticeable occasionally. That's really the only thing that holds it back from sounding like a $150 IEM instead of a $50 one. It probably has the best build quality of the 3 too, although the Legacy 2 is the most comfortable, stable and lightweight. I would say bass on the Titan S is a lot better than on the Hexa. It doesn't have significantly more (maybe just a touch more), but it's more impactful, without getting outside the bounds of still being at a neutral level.