Que

Only recently got back into the game, but tried a variety of new releases besides the current gen peak-fi stuff. Would say something like the Yu9 Que or Hercules Audio Noah are easily there. They're both resolving enough to easily compete with IEMs at double the price or more like the Monarch Mk2. While from personal experience I feel that he Monarch is just a tinge better at soundstage and timbre, the Que and Noah aren't far behind. In fact, they're very very VERY close. Hence for just 400USD, I'd say they set both the new benchmark for the price-range, and also are the new lowest price-point for endgame technicalities.

I think I'm on board with this one too. Compares favorably vs Elysian Pilgrim. I'm hoping to see more reviews of this set. Paul Wasabii mentioned off hand during his IST Audio EST80 review...I'm more curious about the Que than that other set!

Yu9 que, Fiio fx17, are the best I've tried. I have top pro, only use it for 1week and sold it.

Yu9 que have nice female vocals comparable to my elysian gaea, while top pro vocals is dry and thin imo. Also yu9 have more details and the treble is definitely trade blows with kilobucks iem

Okay here is my mini and very novice review after a week of listening. My tastes , for what it’s worth is wide ranging outside of country, top 49and K/JPop. I used the Yu9 Que with an effect audio aeres II cable and Penon black liqueur tips though azla or spin fit tips would be similar. I used my IBasso DCElite dongle for a highly powered neutral sourced, though it seems fairly easy to drive. This set reminds me of the Elysian Pilgrim, albeit more musical and refined , and for me, a more addictive signature. Both the bass and subBass are coherent with quick decay. While this bit a basshead set, the low end is notable for its clarity, subbass rumble , and rapid and clean decay. Mids are neither overly forward or recessed. Male and female vocals are done justice and have weight without being syrupy or overblown. No honkiness - perfectly balanced for me. The uppers are smooth , yet not rolled off, and have really nice details without being sibilant in any way. It’s really good with both detail, separation, and technicalities. Since it’s smooth, it tolerates both well mastered and less well mastered tracks. Soundstage seems to vary for me based on what recording I listen to. At times wide and at other times, more intimate. Seems to adjust well to recording. Instruments seem very well separated and you can pick out where different instruments are placed with no issue. Vocals seem to present in front of me Timbre is natural and very pleasing. No metallic issues or the like. All in all, this is a nice balanced set that’s probably a bit meta in its tuning, but musical and not boring. Does everything very well and could easily be an endgame for me. I’d be happy to ride forth with this and only this IEM if it came to it. I think it does well against sets over twice its cost. I currently have the MMIV, NiceHCK Rockies, Loki, and a Fiio FA19 with me and yet am pulled to the Que for longer multi genre listening sessions . Hope this helps people .

Que. sold the Rockies though I still love and recommend it. The Que ain’t going anywhere. It’s one of my all timers. Musical, technical, balanced, and fun.

many shops i go to don't display lower end iems, or a lot of them. and lower end iems are hard to buy second hand, so for me they'd have to compete with iems double the price, because second hand iems are around 1/2 msrp or less dita (forgot the exact model), ulim(almost certainly oem), elysian pilgrim, yu9 que, are worth trying out. none are worth blind buying

First, I think RSV MK2 and Archangel is pretty close in term of bass response, Archangel just have more energy up top and the Vent just leak some sound so there's report that the Archangel behave like Open-Back headphone. Usually, Balance Armature have different kind of how the bass feel than Dynamic Driver, like the BA will fill more snappy and less rumbly, But RSV Mk2 Do pretty good job by making BA bass have a rumble effect like DD. To me anyways, Each ear perceive sound different. Yeah Niche brand will always have disadvantage of less people have them on hand to compare. From what I've seen, Yu9 Que, are more Neutral bright kind of signature rather than Mid bass warm kind, They have some bass for sure but surely less than Volume S.

The Yu9 Que might seem to be up your alley since it has a lot more of a mid-bass tilt compared to the Archangel. I got to try it in-person and you'd be surprised by the perceived bass quantity despite what the graphs look like.