I have finally casted my vote for these IEMs, let me share my experience:
The fit for the tips is terrible. The width of the nozzles is too much for the custom tips to endure. Changing them is a real hassle and I'm sure that you can break them even when changing them with considerable caution. I started with the balanced tips, but wanted to compare them against the bass ones. After suffering due to how difficult it was to change them, I decided to stay with the bass ones permanently. For that reason, my impressions steam mainly for the combination of pink filters and bass tips. They have three kind of filters and three kind of tips, but you are not encouraged to experiment with them at all.
The cable is mediocre. It is thin, it tangles and you feel like it will also break or get damaged, even when you just careful slide the ring they have to adjust the length of the bifurcation they have before going to your ears. They are also strongly microphonic. You can experience the auditory experience of an earthquake if you slide their metallic ring.
The point in which the cables insert into the monitors doesn't rotate, so you can't make them perfectly fit to the sides of your head, like you can do with the FH9s.
I was unable to detect any flex problem, but that has been reported a number of times.
Having said that, this is the best IEM I have ever tried, it is even better than most of my headphones. I know that many people believe that frequency response and distortion is everything; but, either the commonly used preference target is not for me, or there is more to this whole deal that we aren't measuring yet. Comparing these IEMs to something like the Zero:2s is a joke. The MP145s sound spacious, natural, refined... Whereas the Zero:2s sound too close and congested.
Until I tried these IEMs, I thought that having your hears fatigued after listening to an album was normal. I now think that I may have been listening music wrong for years, maybe for chasing targets that weren't fitting for me. These IEMs are incredibly laid-back without sacrificing any sparkle or detail. Hidizs has threaded the needle in a way that I thought wasn't possible. Even though they are detailed, they are more laid-back than detailed. I believe that we are surprised at first with more intense tunings, only to get fatigued hearing after a while. These were made for long sessions. You may think that they lack punch during the first ten seconds, but you will be filled with bliss after half an hour.
For my personal taste, which may not extrapolate, they are a masterpiece of tuning. After playing for hours with different EQs and surround DSPs, I have concluded that everything that I can do to them only worsen their sound. Dolby Atmos, which is essential to squeeze some soundstage out of the Zero:2s, diminishes the outstanding soundstage of the MP145s.
I like their tuning so much, that I have started to tune my headphones to more closely resemble the experience the MP145s offer.
Despite the troubles with the tips and the cable, they are extremely comfortable, both physically and acoustically. I believe that these IEMs are a masterpiece and everything that I have been waiting to have. They put the much more expensive FH9s and their 7 drivers per monitor to shame, and I have a hard time believing that you can get a better auditory experience than the one these IEMs offer. They, of course, also put the much cheaper Zero:2s to shame, to the point of making me skeptical of the reductionist point of view.
The MP145s are perfect to me. I understand that people expecting more punch and a less ethereal sound may hate them, because they are very distinct compared to other ones I tried. But if you are after a huge soundstage and a laid-back presentation, these are exactly that. They are also very big, but I'm big myself and they fit me like a glove. If you are on the smaller side, they may be too much for you.
I'm quite infatuated with them and they have gained my unconditional "Great" despite the several annoyances they present.
Customary proof of ownership:
View attachment 354160
