Prestige LTD

All but one of my sets is less than $1k retail - and that set can trade blow for blow with many well regarded $2000 sets... and out of the hundreds I've heard, it is the only one that I can say that for. It is of course the Moondrop Variations, and they easily sound like a decent $1200 - $1300 set. The only $1k set I own that does not sound like a. $1k set is the Campfire Alien Brain. I'd say 600-700 would be a fair price for these. Fortunately I got them for $500 open box & /they are my out & about set & have the right characteristics for that. My list of others, their retail price & my thoughts as to whether they represent good value. Canpur 622b - $5500 I think this is an INSANE amount of money for a set. I lucked out & bought (technically) secondhand as an unwanted gift & unused. These are so far from my favourite typical kind of set as they have very little sub bass (not that I need to have every set be a basshead set) - BUT - that does not stop them from easily being the most impressive pair I've ever put in my ears. I savour them. I used them twice a week & really make sure I have no distractions & no one is home. For funk/rare groove/soul etc, they are unbelievable. For excellent pop/rock in eg Prince, Queen & MJ, same thing. For the Blade Runner 1982 Vangelis soundtrack - best I've ever heard it & I've heard it a lot. It's really difficult to qualify $5500 as a price for ANY IEM - but if one set does - it's these. Others - Final A8000 - $2000 - absolutely. Most clear & natural anything I've ever heard. For well recorded jazz, absolutely unbeatable. Good with lots of other stuff, too. Empire Ears Raven - $3750 - the best sub bass heavy 'basshead' set that have ever existed IMO. This is basically the dream sound I had in my head as a 'basshead' set & I've been through them all. Absolutely yes - absolutely worth it, but the build quality could certainly be better for that price. Campfire Astrolith - $2200 - the best planar set that exist IMO. Decent value. Incredible proprietary tech. Thieaudio Prestige Ltd CIEM - $1800 - my most used set of all time. All day every day for two years solid. Fatfreq Maestro SE CIEM fully custom - $3500- technically sound, bass is decent but nowhere near the Raven. Still, it's great to have a bottom heavy set that are so comfy, look stunning (my choice of around 200 aesthetic designs + additional options). FiR RN6 - $3000 - the ultimate one & done! Thieaudo Valhalla - $2000 - no idea, haven't arrived yet 😅 I have more but I gotta Run.

Sorry, I can't narrow this down to one. The ultimate one & done - as in buy this & just don't bother with anything else, competent with all genres (especially with the tuning modules) - FiR RN6 Most used of all time - Thieaudio Prestige Ltd​; laid back/zero fatigue, but still has guts/excellent technicalities, but still a fun listen. This is the *only* set I've converted from UIEM to CIEM. Best basshead set of all time (coming from someone who has worked with & enjoyed bass heavy club rigs for 25 years & made ddum n bass for a similar amount of time) - Empire Ears Raven. They are exactly the sound I had in my head as the basshead set I wanted. It's just a shame about the build quality. Most impressive set I've ever heard - Canpur 655b - so so so far from my favoured tuning, but these are absolutely spectacular. They are absolutely not an all rounder, don't play nice with what are my two most listened genres (jazz/drum n bass), but for anything mid centric - Jesus CHRIST!!!!! Funk/disco/soul/rare groove/decent pop (eg Prince/MJ/Hall & Oates etc) - absolutely out this world. They raised the bar & are now the only set I can give a full 10/10 to. I savour them for a session or two a week.

Prestige Ltd is NOT an all rounder whatsoever. It's most my used iem & I even converted it to a CIEM myself as I own a business that does this & makes custom tips. It's an easy all day listen with beautiful imaging & is very genre picky. High energy or Fast music that needs to be played loud is absolutely not going to work. This is my artillery & quite honestly, I'm struggling to pick an all rounder. Possibly the Aura, but they're 4k. I have a prototype of what was supposed to be the Letshouer EJ10 and is now going to be called the Sonata. That's price TBC but I think they're going to need to reduce the price from what I was told was the retail & it's an all rounder. Looking at it, the MA Alter Ego could be a decent all rounder. IEMS - CA Astrolith/Fatfreq Maestro SE CIEM/Thieaudio Prestige Ltd CIEM/Final A8000/Empire Ears Raven/MA Alter Ego/Canpur 622B/Vision Ears x A&K AURA/FiR RN6/Campfire Axion/Final VR3000

I bought my prestige ltd about two years ago and it still sounds incredible to me every time I put it in my ears.

Letshuoer Cadenza 12 and Thieaudio Prestige LTD are two more options you could try for near-top-tier IEMs with a more natural sound than U12t. They're also more modern. The JVC is just a single DD IEM, basically pushed to the limit.

**Saw the top picks from** [Reddit Recs](https://redditrecs.com/iem/) recently, and wanted to make my own (in no particular order). Similar sounding IEMs will be grouped together with a slash "/", for example: "Tanchjim Bunny/Zero Ultima". IEMs that weren't included means they didn't make it due to better options available, for example: Zero 2, Pilgrim, Dusk, P5+2, 242, Mega7 etc. **Honorable mentions (HM)** just means they're still solid picks, but fall short due to either QC, price, or being too niche. *Full Video Breakdown* [*here*](https://youtu.be/bpn-ZzCZG-E) *My IEM Ranking List* [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZHVib50XFQW4up3SwOZUTbI-hZB6Ir5LX6XnZblIM6o/edit?usp=sharing) *----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* **Under $25 sales included (+/- $5 from price)** \-Moondrop Chu 2 non DSP (all-rounder) \-Tanchjim Bunny/Zero Ultima DSP or 3.5mm (all-rounders) \-Simgot EW100P/TangZu Waner 2 (clean vocals/balanced) \-Kz Duonic Bass Edition (sub-bass boosted all-rounder) \-Tangzu Waner 2 Bass Red Lion (mid-bass/warmer all-rounder) *HM: GK KUNTEN (bassy all-rounder cheaper Zero 2)* *Truthear Gate (all-rounder),* *Kiwiears Cadenza OG (all-rounder)* *KZ ELDAR/EDC PRO (bassy/warm),* *KZ Gale (clean/neutral),* *KBEAR ROSEFINCH (basshead)* **Around $60 sales included (+/- $10 from price)** \-Simgot EW300 non DSP (bassy all-rounder) \-7Hz Elua Ultra (slight-v all-rounder) \-Kefine Klean SV Black Nozzle/Kiwiears Cadenza 2 (clean/balanced) \-Simgot EW200/Artti T10 (bright all-rounder) \-KZ Zenith (vocals/smooth/mid-range) *HM: Tanchjim 4U (neutral to warm-balanced),* *TRIPOWIN VIVACE (bassy all-rounder),* *TangZu Yu Xuan Ji (airy/neutral),* *Moondrop Lan OG (clean/vocals),* *Kefine Klean OG (warm all-rounder)* *KZ VIBE X (bone conduction/balanced),* *TRUTHEAR CRINACLE BLUE ZERO 2 with IMPEDANCE Adapter (basshead)* **Around $100 sales included (+/- $20 from price)** \-Simgot EM6L (slight v/bright/smooth) \-Simgot EA500LM/SIMGOT EG280 (bright all-rounder) \-CCA HYDRO (bassy all-rounder) \-Tanchjim Fission (neutral/balanced) \-NiceHCK F1 PRO (bright leaning) *HM: AFUL EXPLORER (dark/bassy/scaling),* *KEFINE DELCI AE (bright all-rounder)* *ARRTI T10 PRO (warm/airy),* *KIWIEARS AIROSO (warm all-rounder),* *JUZEAR DEFIANT (slight v),* *HIDIZS MK12 RED NOZZLE (warm/male vocals)* **Around $200 sales included (+/- $30 from price)** \-Simgot Supermix4/Gizaudio Chopin/Truthear Nova (all-rounders) \-Ziigaat Odyssey OG (bassy all-rounder) \-Letshuoer Astralis (sub-bass/slight-v all-rounder) \-Crinear Daybreak/EPZ P50 (balanced/smooth all-rounder) \-7Hz Timeless 2 Silver Small Nozzle (warm/smooth) *-EQ OPTION: EPZ P40 (clean/bright)* *HM: AAV CJ20 (airy/bright),* *KEFINE ARNAR SILVER NOZZLE (dark/clean/scaling),* *MYER CK2V (bright/cheaper and better tuned Braindance),* *LETSHUOER CADENZA 4 (clean/bright/female vocals),* *HIDIZS MP145 PRO/SIMGOT EA1000 RED NOZZLE (bright/sparkly vocals),* *KIWIEARS AETHER (balanced/neutral-leaning*, similar tuned/tech but *cheaper AFUL P5+2)* **Around $300 sales included (+/- $50 from price)** \-Kiwiears Halcyon (sub-bass boosted all-rounder) \-Kiwiears Astral/Ziigaat Crescent (slight-v) \-Binary EP321 (clean/balanced-->replaces/better Dusk, Pilgrim, 5+2, 242) \-Ziigaat Horizon (bright leaning all-rounder) \-Xenns Tea Pro/Thieaudio Hype 4/Ziigaat Estrella (bassy all-rounders) *HM: Punch Audio Martilo (basshead/slight-v),* *Softears Volume S (warm/smooth),* *Crinear Reference (neutral/smooth),* *Dunu 142 (slight-v/cheaper astral/crescent but with peakier/sharper treble less refined)* **Around $500 sales included (+/- $50 from price)** \-Thieaudio Hype 4 MK2 (bright *leaning/a better tuned Dunu Braindance*) \-NiceHCK Rockies (bright/all-rounder) \-Xenns Top Pro/Tea Pro SE (all-rounder*s*/Top Pro sparklier SE is fuller and more balanced) \-IO Volare (clean all-rounder/I'd get this over the MEGA7) \-Hisenior Mega5est 7th (sub-bass boosted all-rounder/I'd get this over the MEGA7) *-EQ OPTION: Moondrop Variations* *HM: EPZ 550 (clean vocals/more textured Oracle MK1),* *Ziigaat Arcanis (scaling/textured vocals),* *Ziigaat Luna (warm/airy all rounder),* *YU9 QUE (scaling, mid-range. smooth)* *Symphonium Meteor (mid-bass, warmer/thick/airy),* *Kiwiears HBB Punch (basshead),* *TangZu Xuan Wu Gate (neutral/clean)* **$500+ to Around $1000 sales included (+/- $100 from price)** \-IO CIELO (dynamic all-rounder) \-Thieaudio Monarch MK4/Prestige LTD (all-rounder) \-Dunu Glacier (slight v) \-Thieaudio Origin (bassy all-rounder) \-Meze Astru (scaling/balanced/rever*b staging*) *HM: Letshuoer Mystic 8 (bright-neutral/female vocals)* *Softears RSV (vocal all-rounder),* *BGVP Solomon (bright leaning),* *FIIO FX17 (warm all-rounder),* *AFUL DAWN-X (smooth/scaling/sub-bass)* *Penon Voltage (slight-v)* ***Ya'll know this is just my opinion right?***

not an upgrade but it looks like you're looking at either the prestige LTD or IO CIELO

You’re talking about comparing graphs when Dracomies don’t even have a database. Literally go look at mine. T10 is not warm, most people and reviewers call them bright leaning, or an all rounder before calling them warm. It doesn’t have enough mid-bass to be warm and too much treble. You and Dracomies are most likely mixing up the soft timbre in the treble as being warm. This is like being color blind and trying to convince others green is red, you’re technically not wrong, but certainly misleading. 

It's funny how he initially says *"one resorts to sarcasm when you have no idea what you're talking about"* when: 1. I didn't say anything sarcastic 2. Proceeds to then expose himself on how little he knows 3. Then throws personal attacks and gets banned when he gets called out You can't make this shit up. We are witnessing a masterclass in projection and hypocrisy lol

It's funny you mention Alter Ego when that's a worse all-rounder than the LTD in all areas, thinner lower-mids, less treble extension and peakier, and worse balance overall. You could've literally picked any other IEM... oh the irony behind *"you have no idea what you're talking about".* Hey, maybe your CIEM sounds different than the stock due to the custom fit, but all the stock LTDs are marketed to be balanced, and graphs so. Anyways, cheers mate.

>Yeah the Empire Ravens are a real all rounder These are more bass leaning than all-rounder, more slight v than balanced, also less refined in the treble vs LTD, again a bad example, I'd place the Raven as an bassy IEM more than an all-rounder (as others have described them as well) >FR Graphs are an AWFUL way to gauge anything. They don't tell half of half the story. Objectively wrong, they tell a lot with the right setup, not saying 100%, but definitely a lot >MA AE's respond very well to some very basic EQ nudges. Funny you didn't mention they're recessed treble which is by a VERY long way their biggest issue I literally did when I said "less treble extension and peakier" which is also reflected by the FR graph lmao you can't make this shit up >What's your background in music/audio? What's your body of work???Could you even make these? Yes, I tuned and released my own IEM, heard probably 400+ IEMs now, and make music on the side as a hobby. Look man, I'm happy for you that you were able to have a great career via music, I think that's very commendable, but there is also a chance that you might be in the minority here about the LTDs because not only to me, but also to the vast majority of reviewers - the LTDs are balanced and fits that all-rounder category, and definitely more than both the Ravens and the AEs, which is not only reflected by the FR graph, but also just by listening to them Ok I think I found where the disconnect lies: >tuned some of the best club soundsystems in the world... and produced/promoted/ran 1200+ music shows with some of the biggest artists in the world. I'd say my ears have served me pretty bloody well. This actually checks out with why you think those bassier IEMs are balanced because you’re probably used to clubs and festival speakers being tuned differently due to the context of getting people hyped, which is vastly different than audiophile listening or studio mixing which associates balanced with less coloration/less v and energy in both ends, for example I would never use the Ravens to master or mix a track due to the extra bass and peakier treble, and instead use something more neutral and smooth like the Crinear Reference

Valhalla was much warmer than I expected. Bass was impressive deep for an all BA set. Prestige LTD was great and seems to be closer to what OP is looking for.

I liked the excitement of the Mk4s but the Prestige LTD intentionally reduces that 7-11k to be a longer term listening type signature. Both were great listens at CanJam. It’s a similar issue I am also wrestling with on between a few summit fi sets. Do I go with an insanely smooth/weighty set or something hyper exciting but may get fatiguing? Hard choice.