One thing that brings the most talk and debate is sound. Why? Because it’s the one subject that is completely subjectble and yet nobody on either side wants to view the lens through this fact even if they all agree that it is. They know if they look things through this lens, then they can’t ever say theirs “is better.” Then they can’t brag to their forms about how superior the sound from their $2000-$4000 IEm is so much better and justifies the money they spent. They can’t go into other people’s post who were proud of their $100 IEM choice to tell them that theirs is “a nice basic IEM” or “Mid tier IEM” and that they should get what they have because within their $kilobuck IEM lays even more and better real sound. Or my favorite is when they claim or hint their ears aren’t properly trained for real sound yet.
Now, on paper, these are some of the IEMs I’ve had over the course of years. And trust me, I’ve had many more. But this is a great example of why things don’t make sense. As shown above, lower oms “should mean easier to drive” … but it doesn’t rule these IEMs. While the Kato and the Variations have the lowest. In reality, in real-world use, the Dunu sa6 mk2 is by far the easiest to drive at the very minimal volume power. I can listen to the Dunu at 10-15% volume for hours and never have to turn it up to get very nice volume. But the Variations, omg, I need 45-50 volume on the same setup just to hear things. Even when you factor the Db’s, the Variations are supposed to be one of the best for higher volume, while the Dunu is supposed to be one of the weaker. And this is just not the case.
The Dunu Mk2 are the loudest and easiest to drive for details and dynamics over every single one of these IEMs. Followed by the Kato’s, then the U12T’s. The Variaitions, while great overall, were just missing the same level of power drive and bass dynamics and slam that come with the others. Some of this is connected to how hard they are to drive, I bet. But this is why things are so messed up. Not only do you have to deal with subjectivity issues, but numbers don’t tell the truth, and we are accustomed to listening to the numbers. They are supposed to be the thing you turn to that kills off Subjectivity debates, but they don’t because of factors like driver type and quality, acoustics effects on shells, and even the very fit of the unit plays roles.
At the end of the day, it still falls to the Law of Diminishing Returns, and even that can be argued, it’s a sort of subjectivity. I still stand that the difference doesn’t justify the money for any kilobuck IEM’s. That doesn’t mean the things like the Monarch mk2 and U12T that I had aren’t superior to every single lower cost IEM in “overall” sound. It just means the levels of superiority don’t support the cost difference. And if that difference isn’t that great, the price just isn’t worth it. For me, the Kato ran “balanced” is the best combo on earth for “performance-to-price” ratio at $140 followed by the Dunu sa6 mk2 being the best $470-$500 IEM performer that I’m willing to draw the line at. It is superior to the Kato but still not at the cost difference they have between themselves, but it’s still a far cry from the lack of difference of the U12t’s and Monarch mk2 cost difference vs the Kato’s cost and ability. So that’s where I draw the line. I would have drawn the line at the $380 Variations cost now, but the sound was worse than the Kato because of missing mid bass and drivability, and that can’t happen for me. I have to have amazing comfort, great drivability at low volumes, sub bass, mid bass, great treble resolution, with amazing mids that realistic vocals and timbre, and imaging. And things I don’t want are too large of a soundstage to remove me from the intimacy of the vocals or reach so far out that you lose layering and details.
The Muad’Dib AkA…Dunu sa6 Mk2 is the way and limit for sound that I will go. The sound is exactly what I want while presenting a look and accessories out the box that is excellent and even unique. Yes, it’s still not the complete perfect balance or price-to-performance that the kato’s are, but they deliver better sound and look at a price limit under $500 still and that’s about as far as I will go.
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