I got the S8 and the B2 Dusk and if bass is your thing, then go for the Dusk out of the 3. It is a great IEM for the price and it is worth the price. The S8 is a better IEM, but the one area where it is not on the top of the game is bass.
8 BA drivers are not punchy enough to make it up for lack of a DD driver. But the mids are fantastic and the S8 is truely worth to look into in the bracket between the B2 and $1K IEM’s.
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Thanks @Gordon_Freeman. I currently own the B2 (OG); I chose it over the Dusk because I didn’t want to lose the treble sparkle and extra bit of air that the Dusk sacrifices. I think the Dusk’s bass response would be right up my alley, though. It’s too bad that the S8 doesn’t perform at least as well as the Dusk in the bass region. That’s why I’m leaning toward the IER-M9 at this time. I’m open to other suggestions though, of course.
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@Dynamic and @Gordon_Freeman nailed it. The S8 falls behind the B2 - at least in terms of bass - as the S8 makes use of BAs versus the B2’s dynamic driver. The IER-M9 should satisfy on both of those fronts and serve as a good foil to the B2.
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Thank you @Precogvision - much appreciated!
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Great write-up as always. Monarch doesn’t rate or did you simply not have it available?
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Yeah man, it’s on loan currently, so I wasn’t able to sneak it in. It’s definitely up there, although I don’t know if I’d consider it to quite be a kilobuck contender. Can play with the S8 no problem for the $700 bracket.
Clarification:
For you s8 is kilobuck but monarch is not?
JH Audio check their FB page 
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The SeeAudio Yume is a hybrid IEM with a 1DD+2BA configuration. coming in at $169. The SeeAudio Yume has a Harman-ish tuning, and comes close to ticking all of my boxes in terms of its tonality. I would like a bit more upper treble extension, and the Yume underwhelms in terms of its detail retrieval. Overall though, Moondrop and Tanchjim should watch their backs.
My full review, with additional images, measurements, and a comparison with the Moondrop Starfield, is available on my blog:
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Can’t wait to read your thoughts and impressions on the DUNU EST112 (1DD+1BA+2EST).
You wont hear anything til end of this month. 
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What a tease… what a tease… 
I am obliged to keep my mouth shut.
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How is the Moondrop Illumination?
Ohhhhhhhhhh. Intriguing designs😍
Welcome to the forum!
5 posts were merged into an existing topic: Sony IEM’s - IER-M7, IER-M9, and the IER-Z1R
Just posting my initial impressions of the Softears RSV - it seems to be all the rage these days. In general, I like it. The tuning here is really quite good, with perhaps a bit too forward of an upper mid presentation around 3khz for my liking, but the treble balances it out reasonably well. In fact, the treble in general is quite well balanced - even if a bit relaxed overall. So there’s no sibilance or fatiguing qualities, and while it looks like it tapers off in the upper treble, it is reasonably well extended too - more so than most IEMs up there.
Keep in mind this uses the GRAS RA0402 coupler, which is different from the one Crin uses, so there’s no resonance peak at around 8khz on this one (it’s slightly damped there).
Soundstage is also pretty darn good for an IEM, as is the timbre. I don’t hear any BA smearing in this one. For detail… I think that’s really the only thing that’s not as good as the rest of its aspects. It’s not bad per se, just… nothing all that special. I do really like the way the bass feels though. It’s not massive or overdone, but still commands a decent punch to it. Again, not the most detailed or textured but generally satisfying.
So in general, everything is solid here. Would I take it over a Dunu SA6?.. maybe. There’s better treble extension on the RSV, and it’s also less bassy. So maybe for a more ‘reference’ neutral sound, the RSV would be preferable. But if I’m honest with myself for what I prefer… it’s that SA6 / U12t type of sound.
A few notes on the ‘tangibles’. The cable is a bit annoying, and the IEM itself isn’t the most comfortable for my ears. It’s quite large, with a somewhat longer and protruding nozzle. For this reason I had to use smaller tips than I normally would. But, others may not have any issues with this.
In any case, it’s great that there’s another contender available to compete with the Thieaudio twins. Think of this as a slightly less bassy clairvoyance in a sense.
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I like how this one graphs