I have had high hopes for the Mest Mkii for a long time for a few reasons. I love CIEMs. The fit is better, the isolation is better and usually I find the sound to be more consistent over listening sessions. For a CIEM, the price of the Mest Mkii (from here referred to as mkii) is honestly a pretty good deal. Sadly, I don't have the CIEM so I will be reviewing this unit as the universal I currently own. This was my audition to buy the CIEM and I will detail below why it will not be my next choice. (Please enjoy whoopie's face in the background as I was watching rat race when I photographed lol)
There is a lot of good to say about this IEM. It has a very natural timbre, with nice treble extension and bass quantity. Part of the reason I was so interested in this IEM was for the bone conduction driver. I will get this out of the way early. I have demoed a lot of IEMs and I have barely ever been able to pick out the driver style blind listening. The best bass I have heard in an IEM is an all BA set. Driver count or type does not mean much if not implemented correctly.
With this said, I have no idea what the bone conduction driver is supposed to be doing here. According to Unique Melody's website
"Finally, the freshly upgraded dBC-S Dual Sides Bone Conduction System carries out a full-range refinement. The frequency range of MEST MKII can reach as high as 70kHz."
They say the quality of bone conduction depends on the contact with skin, which makes sense, but overall it is hard to tell what it's doing or if it's actually doing anything. Whether or not the BC driver is doing anything, the Mest sounds good. It's an amazing all rounder with great control for all genres and is worthwhile for any collection.
It's a beautiful package with a very nice looking IEM inside. This IEMs looks and feels as premium as the price tag. The accessories feel well built and the case is a bit ostentatious, but feels nice.
Inside the box you have the IEMs, the case, foam tips, xelastic tips and stock silicone tips. The tips for me had a very noticeable effect on the IEM and my experience with it. Personally, the Xelastics got the closest to a CIEM fit, but made the MKii unbearably sibilant. The foam tips damped the treble a bit and made them much more enjoyable. With the foam tips I couldn't get good contact with my skin so possibly the bone conduction driver was doing something to make them sibilant with the xelastics? The stock silicone tips were too stiff and I couldn't wear them for too long. I ultimately came down to use the CP100s that I have lying around. I can get good skin contact and very good all day comfort. The rest of the reviews and impressions will be done using CP100 as my tip of choice!
I graphed the Mest using all of the tips at my disposal.
My Squig Link. For comparison, I will be using the Symphonium Meteor as it is my current daily driver and top dawg.
I think I am going to start first with the good!
Soundstage: I think this was the most noticeable first impression I had when I put this in. The stage is much wider than the Meteor, closer to how I felt with the A12t/ U12t and the Campfire Andromeda 2019. Soundstage is not something that I look for in an IEM. It is a bonus if achievable, but I am looking for a portable music experience with detail retrieval and isolation. Soundstage in an IEM is a very hard thing to achieve and 90% fail. The Mkii does an amazing job creating a wide open stage. On The Grateful Dead's Friend of the Devil, Jerry's voice is front and center while the mandolin is heard clearly on the left side of the stage and the guitar on the right. The percussion is layered behind on the left and the bass bounced along the whole stage. All of the instruments are clear, precise and natural. If soundstage is your top priority in your search for IEMs, this is an option to keep on the radar. 8/10
Treble: I never considered myself a treble head, but hearing the Helios and the Meteor changed my opinion pretty quickly. Extending well into the treble adds air and clarity and I think the Mkii is very sufficient in the treble. Banjos bounce along clearly on Billy Strings "Dust in a Baggie" or Bela Fleck's "Vertigo." I have noticed throughout my listening that Dave Matthews Band albums are typically super sibilant. Carter is really hitting the cymbals and high percussion. I find this mostly unbearable on IEMs that are too V shaped or follow the harman curve too closely. I would say the Boosted top end of the Mkii isn't as pronounced as the graph shows, but it is hitting spicy. I would give the treble a 6.5/10.
Mid timbre: The mids are where the music lives. The band lies somewhere between 300-2000hz and is what I would consider the most important frequencies in music. I would say the mids is a strength of the IEM, but it also loses me for a few reasons. To my ears, the Mkii feels disjointed. The vocal clarity is stunning as are string instruments in rhythm, but I can't help but feel like it's a bit disjointed. The rise from the mids to the bass starts too late making it feel like it's just mids and sub bass, but the mid bass lacks punch. Stefan Lessard's bass lines on Too Much or What Would You Say feel lost in the sub bass kick drums and high treble of Carter's drums. If you are a sub bass purist who doesn't care about mid bass, then this will be a good IEM for you. If you look at the Meteor graph you can see the much more aggressive midrange rise which creates a balanced, albeit bassy, mid range timbre. This feels much more enjoyable to me. The vocal clarity of the Mkii is better than most, but I think the Meteor and the A12t have the Mest beat while the Mest crushes Helios. We are splitting hairs in a TOTL IEM, but if I had to choose an IEM for mids and mid bass, the Meteor is the IEM for me. It feels more natural and presents the music the way I like. 6/10
Fit: The fit here is great, or terrible. I think this will be a polarizing one for many. The shell is massive and the nozzles are long. For me this creates a pretty good situation. I have a fairly large concha so the IEM sit's almost as snug as my CIEMs. I have pretty small canals so I can get a pretty deep fit with the CP100 small and I can wear them for hours on end. If large shells are uncomfortable for you, avoid them. If deep fit is problematic, also avoid. Overall, I like the fit a lot and would give it a strong rating for comfort. I enjoy a Deep fit and smoothed edges so 8/10. This is one of the most comfortable UIEMs I have tried.
Now I think I need to get to the negative.
Mid Bass: I have mentioned it before and I will mention it again. I am a bass player. This means I want bass to be both present and punchy between 20-250ishhz. I would honestly take more. The bass punch on this IEM is almost non-existent. I tried EQing, but that messed with the timbre of the whole unit. On songs like "Jeremy" by Pearl Jam or "Sabrosa" by the Beastie Boys, I just didn't get the mid bass punch I wanted. The vocals were so clear and so crisp at the cost of my mid bass and I think this is a deal breaker for me. When I switched to bass driven jazz. Like "Detroit" by Marcus Miller I found more of what I wanted, but once the mids came in the mid bass fell too far behind in the mix and I was left wanting more. 5/10
Aesthetic: While many may like the stylings of the Mkii, I think it's super tacky. The gold leaf looks a bit too gaudy for me and if the shells stick out (which the probably will) it looks like glitter in the sun. I really don't like the way it looks. 4/10
Cable and Tips: I'm not a cable guy. I think cables do nothing audible to change the sound of the music. I want a cable to be both comfortable and lightweight. This is not light weight. I have the 4.4mm termination and it's just a big mess. It's bulky and heavy. I switched it for my cable that came with Meteor and enjoyed it much more. The stock tips were just not great. Xelastics were sibilant and unbearable and the silicone was stuff and uncomoftable. The foams were ok, but I had to tip roll a lot to get the tip that fit right for me. I think this is something that should not be overlooked, but isn't a deal breaker. Most people buying the Mkii probably have a full box of tips somewhere.
Conclusion: The Mkii is a great IEM for many people. It performs well for genres with a lot of subbass or tons of vocals. The clarity and separation are way above what is typical in an IEM. In a busy song with 6-8 instruments you can hear all of them being conveyed clearly on a stage in space. The treble extension is very good as is the timbre and texture. The high spectrum instruments sound clear and natural without grain or sibilance (unless using Xelastics for me). The pass bunch was really lacking oomph. I was sad about this, but it is a deal breaker for me. I need my IEM to be punchy and dynamic so I can hear what the rhythm players are doing.
Overall, this is an amazing IEM, but at $1799 I find it hard to recommend when the Moondrop Variations, Symphonium Meteor or the Symphonium Helios exist. Each of those IEMs are cheaper and can do things the Mkii can do for cheaper. The Helios soundstage and treble extension match blow for blow and the subbass focus with controlled rise in the treble leads to astounding vocal clarity. The Meteor gives a much more natural timbre for 1/3 the price and for even less than the Meteor, the Variations come around as what I think is the best value in the IEM market next to the Meteor. Unless you get a great price used or on discount, I think there are better options for the money.