THIEAUDIO Monarch MKIII

Beautiful Technology

Worth every penny.

The Perfect Classical Partner.

The classical music genre is a very difficult one to design and make an earphone for. It demands a large dynamic range, a high level of resolution and a wide soundstage in order to accurately reproduce the complex sound structures produced by an orchestral assembly. I want to hear those trumpets blaring from the heavens and those violins soaring into the sky and the earth moving with the rumble of those bass drums. The Monarch MkIII performs all of these functions superbly. Thieaudio tuning engineers knew what they were doing and they did a fine job. I have discovered a fantastic pairing for the Monarch MkIII. I use the iFi Audio xDSD Gryphon DAC/AMP with the Bass AND Presence filters switched on which greatly enhances listening to classical orchestral music. It is as if you are in the middle of the Orchestra and the instruments are playing around you. And you can precisely locate every single instrument. It is truly a transformative experience when listening to Mahler's 5th Symphony to something quite ethereal. I know the Monarch MkIIIs are performing way above their price point. The MkIII Monarchs fill a special and unique place in my collection. I doubt if they will be matched by another iem any time soon. I am totally overwhelmed by them. Thank you ThieAudio!

Love these!

I had originally shortlisted the Mk IIs and right as I was planning to buy those, the Mk IIIs were announced and made available. The fact that these were being sold at the same price intrigued me and so I took a risk and bought it. The MK IIs were tried and true and got rave reviews but the fact that their sound signature was extremely neutral gave me pause. I wasn't sure if I would take to if immediately and accepted that it would need to grow on me. So when I saw that the tuning for the MK IIIs would be to boost certain aspects of the soundscape I really thought I might.prefer it over the MK IIs. With all that, I couldn't be happier with the results. This was my first IEM and well worth the price for the sound quality and clarity. It has warmth, vibrance, brightness, and just...character. All things I wasn't sure the MK IIs were going to have despite its audiophilic excellence. Keep in mind, I AM NOT recommending a blind buy, of this or any product. Especially not when the price is this high. Please do your own research and be sure that this is what you want, especially over the MK II, as what I listed as positives may be negatives for someone else. This particular purchase just happened to work out for me. The fact that I had no proper experience or expectations for how an IEM should sound definitely helped as well, I think. TLDR: I personally loved this product and would wholeheartedly recommend it to someone who doesn't want a "pure" audiophilic sound. If you do, go for the Mk II instead.