Thieaudio Monarch MKII Impressions
Wow, I’m actually not late to the party by a year this time! I’m sure everyone knows about the Thieaudio Monarch already, but if you’re out of the loop it was one of last year’s most hyped tribrid IEMs - that I didn’t actually like very much. But that’s the past. Presently, Thieaudio is back for round two with the Monarch MKII. Let’s see if the Monarch MKII has what it takes to turn around my jaded paradigm.
First - listening to the OG Monarch again really reinforces how weak the dynamic driver being used in it is. It’s smeared, plasticky, and sounds like it has little texture despite the excellent sub-bass shelf. In this regard, I can confirm that the Monarch MK2 is at least a solid improvement in the texturing department wherein bass notes hit with more “grip” to them. But I can’t say I’m impressed outside of this. The slam on the Monarch MK2’s bass is rather mediocre and I hear more air being pushed in direct A/B with the 64A U12t’s BA bass. That’s also ignoring the still rather obvious blunting issues to attack wherein there’s poor distinction between successive bass hits. To be perfectly blunt : I expect better for dynamic driver bass, and the Monarch MKII’s bass barely clears the bar for me.
That said, I have to say I mostly like the midrange of the Monarch MK2. It’s more palpable, slightly thicker than its predecessor thanks to some more warmth around 200Hz. The upper-midrange, at least the pinna compensation, is very close to the Harman 2019 IEM target so it’s pushing it for extended listening and comes off quite forward. But there’s a small improvement in clarity and texturing relative to the OG Monarch; maybe a difference of ‘0.5’ by my metrics, but it’s definitely present. Between the Symphonium Helios and the Monarch MKII, I would also say that midrange transients on the Monarch MKII actually sound more natural. The midrange is noticeably “louder” on the Helios even if I think transients sound more energetic on that IEM. This reassures me that the Monarch MKII is at least not being completely propped upon its sheer macro-detail like its predecessor. Good stuff.
Unfortunately, the Monarch MKII’s treble response is likely the biggest turn-off to its tuning. It’s characterized by heavy amounts of 5kHz, so leading hits have a certain sharpness to them that makes you think “wow, that’s detail!” on initial listen, but it quickly becomes fatiguing to hear. This is followed by a minor slope off of the lower-treble which exacerbates the amplitude of this peak. It doesn’t sound like particularly compressed treble (it helps that it’s not a straight dagger like many Chi-Fi IEMs), but I do think the tuning itself could have been done better. Speaking of which, the Monarch MKII’s extension could also benefit from some more air over 15kHz. It’s probably not a big deal for most listeners, but the Helios still has better detail in the upper-treble for me, as does the 64A U12t. Maybe it’s just my younger ears that are sluts for treble air, but I digress.
For intangibles outside of resolution, the Monarch MKII is a noticeable step-up in imaging capability. The OG Monarch had a rather 1-dimensional soundstage presentation (no height, no depth) and, on second listen, I don’t think its imaging is anything special. The Monarch MKII comes across more defined in its localization, thus mitigating the layering issues the OG Monarch had on busier stuff like Sawano Hiroyuki’s music. Between the Symphonium Helios and the Monarch MK2, I’d still give the Helios the win for that “speaker-like,” enveloping quality (which is really something of a meme when we’re talking about IEMs), but it’s close. Honestly, this is a great step forward and I think most listeners would be hard-pressed to find themselves outright dissatisfied with the Monarch MKII’s imaging chops. Lest you think me too praise-happy though, some readers will recall one of my biggest criticisms of the OG Monarch lay in its dynamic range. By this, I mean that there was a distinct lack of incisiveness to jumps in volume and vice versa in a track. Alas, this issue is still very much apparent on the Monarch MKII. Dynamic swings come across sort of “sputter-y” and dampened; the music just doesn’t seem to flow to my ears. I’m sorry, but there’s simply no contest versus the Helios much less the U12t for this metric.
As an assessment of value, the Monarch MKII enters a highly competitive scene, but I think it definitely has what it takes to compete. Relative to its predecessor, the coherency issues aren’t as glaring, the technicalities are more refined, and the tuning is slightly more palpable. Needless to say this is the best IEM I’ve heard yet from Thieaudio and I can give it my stamp of approval if you’re gauging for this type of high-clarity sound. I wouldn’t even begrudge someone who gravitates toward this over the Symphonium Helios despite the Helios coming out on top for the metrics I index for. But as for whether the Monarch MKII competes with “top-tier” IEMs, or is worthy of being called one…well, I think you already know my answer to that question. Further comparison outside what I’ve outlined above isn’t warranted in my eyes.
Score: 7/10