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7/18/2025, 3:20:19 PM
Monarch MK4 demo unit died so unfortunately I didn't get a chance to listen to it. But here's some recent pos impressions part 1:
>Nicehck Rockies
Tested on Azla Crystals – Decent JM-1 timbre, sounds like a less muddy Mega5est. Subbass and midbass are adequate, but it sounded less bassy than stock Harman sets. Compared to the EPZ P50, the Rockies have a smoother treble presentation, but it’s a minor difference.
All in all, no glaring issues. Low-end is thinner than what I’d have liked, but not suffering from bass bleed is a huge plus. Rockies’ pricing is out of touch with the market tho, it’s at best 5% better than the P50 but costs double the EPZ. 9/10.
Personal JM-1 ranking: Rockies => EPZ P50 > CrinEar Daybreak > CrinEar Meta > Mega5Est > DaVinci > Dusk
>Truthear Pure
Tested on Azla Crystals – Nice warm tonality but also incredibly muddy, even more so than the Zero:Red+10ohm. Lower-mids are barely coherent and on select tracks female vocals can sound a tad drown out. I’m a big fan of the warm tonality, but having heard better warmfi sets like the Artpical Lucifer, Alter Ego, Prismatica Gold, the aforementioned sets just completely mog the Pure in sound quality.
A/B’d to Hexa: My issues with the Hexa is the lacklustre bass and treble presentation, and fortunately the Pure has slightly improved on both areas. But it’s a very marginal change, and not enough for me to call it good. 5/10.
>Ocharaku Donguri Kaede
Old Japanese bullet pos, very tip dependent. When using the Azla Crystals, the Kaede sounded really lean and congested – like you could tell the sound is being played through a small nozzle.
Swapping to Lepic Nuon tips helped the Kaede to sound kinda like a less midbassy Tanch Origin. I don’t have triple flange tips, but using my deeper insertion EBT Earrbond tips helped a lot in smoothing out the treble and improving the sound. I can see the potential but I can’t be bothered to tip-roll further. 7/10.
>Nicehck Rockies
Tested on Azla Crystals – Decent JM-1 timbre, sounds like a less muddy Mega5est. Subbass and midbass are adequate, but it sounded less bassy than stock Harman sets. Compared to the EPZ P50, the Rockies have a smoother treble presentation, but it’s a minor difference.
All in all, no glaring issues. Low-end is thinner than what I’d have liked, but not suffering from bass bleed is a huge plus. Rockies’ pricing is out of touch with the market tho, it’s at best 5% better than the P50 but costs double the EPZ. 9/10.
Personal JM-1 ranking: Rockies => EPZ P50 > CrinEar Daybreak > CrinEar Meta > Mega5Est > DaVinci > Dusk
>Truthear Pure
Tested on Azla Crystals – Nice warm tonality but also incredibly muddy, even more so than the Zero:Red+10ohm. Lower-mids are barely coherent and on select tracks female vocals can sound a tad drown out. I’m a big fan of the warm tonality, but having heard better warmfi sets like the Artpical Lucifer, Alter Ego, Prismatica Gold, the aforementioned sets just completely mog the Pure in sound quality.
A/B’d to Hexa: My issues with the Hexa is the lacklustre bass and treble presentation, and fortunately the Pure has slightly improved on both areas. But it’s a very marginal change, and not enough for me to call it good. 5/10.
>Ocharaku Donguri Kaede
Old Japanese bullet pos, very tip dependent. When using the Azla Crystals, the Kaede sounded really lean and congested – like you could tell the sound is being played through a small nozzle.
Swapping to Lepic Nuon tips helped the Kaede to sound kinda like a less midbassy Tanch Origin. I don’t have triple flange tips, but using my deeper insertion EBT Earrbond tips helped a lot in smoothing out the treble and improving the sound. I can see the potential but I can’t be bothered to tip-roll further. 7/10.
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