neptune134
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- Joined
- Jul 4, 2022
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I recently got the Monolith from Monoprice THX Portable, and wanted to compare how it sounded using two of the most reputable IEM's of the last several years, the ALO Campfire Andromeda (pre 2018 version) and the Shure 846.
As i just recently got my Andromeda about 2 weeks ago, ive been mostly listening to those with my FiiO M15, my iPod 5th Gen paired with the Fiio Andes DAC of yesteryear, and my iphone with the dongle.
I was super excited to hear the magic of the Andromeda come through the Monolith THX portable.
Right away as I heard a hiss, I recall reading how the Andro's were particularly sensitive, and though they are considered by some as the creame of the crop, they can be very finicky when paired with certain devices.
My defacto audiophile test track these days is Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" since the instrument separation on it is pretty much amazing across all my devices and over the ear headphones, particularly my Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro.
I messed with the Monolith options like the DRC, DIRAC, and PEQ EQ settings, but at the end of the day settled on just disabling all those effects. With the Andro's the DIRAC surround sound just didnt sound natural at all, and after a few listens to other tracks like Blue Angel's "Maybe He'll Know" (this was Cyndi Laupers first band, and her vocals are especially tasty to me), and even threw David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" into the mix, but the Andro's just seems a tad bit out of place, even neutral without all the setting on the Monolith. The mids sounded recessed and the highs were really sensitive, with the feeling that sibilance would break acceptable levels any moment. It wasnt a horrible expereince, but at least with those tracks, the Andro's and the Monolith did not seem to get on too well. I even played with the EQ PEQ settings for a few hours, but gave up on the effects all together since none of them sounded liquid enough to be natural; its like you knew the effect was on, and it sounded as artificial as you can get without outright describing it as such.
Now we switch over to the the old man, the decade old Shure 846 which it can be argued paved the way for what all all IEM's took inspiration from. It had been at least a couple months since I had heard the 846's, but when connected to the Monolith using the same songs, the difference was night and day. This is surprising as its been all but universally accepted that the Andro's killed the 846's in most peoples minds, but not in this set up.
The 846's really excelled with the monolith, the majesty and gradiousity of the songs was pronounced and obvious; the soundstage was wide in all directions, but still tamed enough within the confines of the 846's most attractive qualities. Even the DIRAC feature was fun, as I listened to some rare really bad recordings from the 50's where no better quality samples are know to exist, mostly early 60's white group sound doo wop, and the DRC, DIRAC along with the 846's made these songs Ive just learned to love as being unfixable all the sudden had a new life and angle from which I could admire the intricacies of the tunes again. "Answer to my Prayers" by the Pretenders (not the 80's band, an obscure doo wop band) was the highlight for me as i'd never heard it with this version of clairty.
That DIRAC DRC stuff is no gimmick; at least for me, I had to listen to these bad recording all over again to see by how my set up was able to improve upon them; and i smiled at the unexpected but long awaited dream of hearing these songs in higher res than Id ever heard them in 30 years.
On any other DAP, such as FiiO M15, Astell and Kern @ Norma25, and the like, my Andro's will always be my go to as they are the best IEM's ive ever heard. But with the monolith, they just dont mesh well.
Im so glad that my 846's have been revived in a sense, as I wouldnt listen to this Monolith with anything else, except maybe the HiFi Man 400i.
Im looking forward to the next outing of this product, an improved Monolith that is smaller, has balanced 2.5 and 4.4 inputs, they can leave the LCD display as I like it simple as it is, and maybe implementing the newest AKM chips.
I REALLY hope they dont go with ESS Sabre DAC if they make a sequel to the Monolith. Im not saying the ESS is a bad DAC, but imo compared to the AKM's its a no contest. And as we've all come to find out, Flagships will almost always have AKM, like the SP2000, SP1000, M15, M9, M11 Plus LTD, Shanling M9 etc. The ESS have now been known to be used because they are supposedly less expensive than AKM, and take less power to drive those chips, which is why they choose the ESS for the Kann Alpha amongst others, including the newer M17.
As i just recently got my Andromeda about 2 weeks ago, ive been mostly listening to those with my FiiO M15, my iPod 5th Gen paired with the Fiio Andes DAC of yesteryear, and my iphone with the dongle.
I was super excited to hear the magic of the Andromeda come through the Monolith THX portable.
Right away as I heard a hiss, I recall reading how the Andro's were particularly sensitive, and though they are considered by some as the creame of the crop, they can be very finicky when paired with certain devices.
My defacto audiophile test track these days is Paul Simon's "Kodachrome" since the instrument separation on it is pretty much amazing across all my devices and over the ear headphones, particularly my Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro.
I messed with the Monolith options like the DRC, DIRAC, and PEQ EQ settings, but at the end of the day settled on just disabling all those effects. With the Andro's the DIRAC surround sound just didnt sound natural at all, and after a few listens to other tracks like Blue Angel's "Maybe He'll Know" (this was Cyndi Laupers first band, and her vocals are especially tasty to me), and even threw David Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" into the mix, but the Andro's just seems a tad bit out of place, even neutral without all the setting on the Monolith. The mids sounded recessed and the highs were really sensitive, with the feeling that sibilance would break acceptable levels any moment. It wasnt a horrible expereince, but at least with those tracks, the Andro's and the Monolith did not seem to get on too well. I even played with the EQ PEQ settings for a few hours, but gave up on the effects all together since none of them sounded liquid enough to be natural; its like you knew the effect was on, and it sounded as artificial as you can get without outright describing it as such.
Now we switch over to the the old man, the decade old Shure 846 which it can be argued paved the way for what all all IEM's took inspiration from. It had been at least a couple months since I had heard the 846's, but when connected to the Monolith using the same songs, the difference was night and day. This is surprising as its been all but universally accepted that the Andro's killed the 846's in most peoples minds, but not in this set up.
The 846's really excelled with the monolith, the majesty and gradiousity of the songs was pronounced and obvious; the soundstage was wide in all directions, but still tamed enough within the confines of the 846's most attractive qualities. Even the DIRAC feature was fun, as I listened to some rare really bad recordings from the 50's where no better quality samples are know to exist, mostly early 60's white group sound doo wop, and the DRC, DIRAC along with the 846's made these songs Ive just learned to love as being unfixable all the sudden had a new life and angle from which I could admire the intricacies of the tunes again. "Answer to my Prayers" by the Pretenders (not the 80's band, an obscure doo wop band) was the highlight for me as i'd never heard it with this version of clairty.
That DIRAC DRC stuff is no gimmick; at least for me, I had to listen to these bad recording all over again to see by how my set up was able to improve upon them; and i smiled at the unexpected but long awaited dream of hearing these songs in higher res than Id ever heard them in 30 years.
On any other DAP, such as FiiO M15, Astell and Kern @ Norma25, and the like, my Andro's will always be my go to as they are the best IEM's ive ever heard. But with the monolith, they just dont mesh well.
Im so glad that my 846's have been revived in a sense, as I wouldnt listen to this Monolith with anything else, except maybe the HiFi Man 400i.
Im looking forward to the next outing of this product, an improved Monolith that is smaller, has balanced 2.5 and 4.4 inputs, they can leave the LCD display as I like it simple as it is, and maybe implementing the newest AKM chips.
I REALLY hope they dont go with ESS Sabre DAC if they make a sequel to the Monolith. Im not saying the ESS is a bad DAC, but imo compared to the AKM's its a no contest. And as we've all come to find out, Flagships will almost always have AKM, like the SP2000, SP1000, M15, M9, M11 Plus LTD, Shanling M9 etc. The ESS have now been known to be used because they are supposedly less expensive than AKM, and take less power to drive those chips, which is why they choose the ESS for the Kann Alpha amongst others, including the newer M17.
