Thieaudio has delivered hit after hit, from their more budget friendly Hype series to the flagship Valhalla, but the Monarch series remains the king of the brand’s lineup. With the Monarch MK4, Thieaudio takes its flagship tribrid into bolder territory, with an updated tuning, dual-mode tuning switch, and a new metal chassis. At $1149 is this the best Monarch yet?
Build & Design
One of the first things you’ll notice with Monarch MK4’s design is the move from a classic resin shell to a full CNC-machined aluminum chassis. The new design has a more premium feel and was a better fit in my ears. The faceplate is also a departure from the classic IEM look, with two main options with a neon sort of aesthetic, but for an additional charge, you can get faceplate designs that are closer to previous iterations.
On the inside, Monarch MK4 is a 10 driver tribrid like the previous generation: Monarch MK3. You get:
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2 Dynamic Drivers
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6 Balanced Armatures
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2 EST
And there’s an accompanying tuning switch which allows you to switch between Standard and Rumble modes, with the Rumble mode adding a notable bass boost.
The included accessories are a selection of eartips, a case, and a modular cable. The cable is the new “Chocolate” design with a matte brown wrapping and 3.5mm and 4.4mm terminations available. The design and modular features are nice, but the cable itself lacks the premium feel of past iterations.
Overall, Monarch MK4 feels like a step closer to a truly flagship build and design. The cable is the weakest point of the package, and doesn’t really match the other aspects aesthetically, but is still solid from a purely functional standpoint.
Sound
At its core, MK4 is a target tuned IEM that fits in line with previous iterations of the series. What’s new is that with two tuning options, you can have either something slightly brighter and airier, with stronger separation and definition than previous iterations of Monarch, or you can have something with a lot of extra kick in the low-end that moves Monarch MK3’s excellent bass into true basshead territory.
In Standard mode, Monarch MK4 hits like a faster, more technical take on Monarch MK3, with just a little less warmth in the low end, but flip the tuning switch to Rumble, and you get thick, hard hitting bass with a great combination of rumble, texture, and punch.
The midrange is well-defined with great timbre and layering in Standard, but the switch adds a touch more warmth in Rumble mode. Even with the added bass and warmth, the general delivery is very clean and avoids getting muddy, but there’s some degree of definition lost in the warmer low mids.
In the treble, you get a little extra top end sparkle and air, with a very fast, resolving feeling. There’s both a great delivery of technical elements in the treble, and good presentation of emotion as well.
The soundstage is wide and deep – though not extraordinarily – and the imaging offers nice separation and positioning, but errs a little bit on the side of “diffuse” over thick and weighty. There’s definitely sufficient weight and body to individual instruments, but the overall sense in the imaging is more spacious and airy than full-bodied.
The deep organic bass and airy vocals of Tame Impala makes for near perfect listening with Monarch MK4. On “The Less I Know the Better” you get clearly textured bass guitar bolstered by deep synth on the bottom with a chimey electric piano and swirling vocals on top. The low end smacks the beat into your head with every cohesive hit of the kick drum and bass guitar, while the top end leaves you spinning with vocals that simultaneously cut through the fix while feeling like they’re a thousand feet in the air. Switch the Rumble mode off, and you get a clearer view on the guitars and the upper end of the drums.
With a classic jazz album like Charles Mingus The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady, Standard mode feels more like the right call, and it delivers clear rings of the ride cymbal and lifelike trumpets, along with amazing layering of the almost orchestral arrangements of the jazz ensemble. Flip on rumble and the smooth, textured upright bass becomes a monster, syncing with the hard hitting kick and delivering a power thump in your ears. Here’s the thing though – I didn’t feel like I lost an ounce of detail in the piano or horns for the sake of that extra thump, meaning that it really just comes down to exactly how you like your sonic balance.
As well loved as she is, I’ve always found Kate Bush’s vocals to be a little shrill, so they make for a good test of how an IEM handles female vocals. With Standard mode, the blend of electronic, band, and folk instruments on “The Fog” is masterfully layered, but the vocals hit just a little bit too in your face. Flipping the Rumble on brings the vocals back ever so slightly and adds a hint of warm and mellow-ness that really dials in the vocals nicely, and helps me appreciate the performance with the new balance.
Comparisons: Thieaudio Monarch MK3 and Campfire Audio Alien Brain
For comparisons, we brought in the previous entry in the Monarch series, Monarch MK3, and a similarly priced contender from another popular IEM brand: Campfire Alien Brain. Each has a generally similar tuning, but each also has different ways that they demonstrate their own personality.
As far as the Monarch MK3, the MK4 is clearly based on the MK3 blueprint, but the switchable tuning makes it more versatile. MK3 is a little warmer and slightly smoother in the treble, while MK4 in Standard mode feels quicker, more detailed, and just a tad more aggressive. In Rumble mode, MK4 pushes the bass beyond previous incarnations of the Monarch, and delivers the sort of low end that’s sure to satisfy fans of hip-hop and electronic music. In the imaging, MK3 is perhaps a little more weighty, while MK4 is wider and more expansive.
Alien Brain starts with the same Harman In-Ear target some of tuning as Monarch, but sticks closer to the reference curve, offering fuller mids and a sound that’s closer to neutral. Alien Brain is perhaps the most natural and balanced of the three, but it’s not quite as fun or engaging as Monarch MK3 or MK4. For those desiring a cleaner, more neutral tuning, Alien Brain delivers a picture perfect reference on the target tuning, while Monarch MK4 bends it into a slightly more v-shaped bit of fun.
The Bottom Line
While previous versions of the Monarch stuck pretty close to the target reference curves, Monarch MK4 uses tuning switches to preserve that more target driven side, while providing the option for a more bold, energetic tuning. While the Standard tuning and performance doesn’t give you a huge reason to upgrade, the addition of tuning switches, and its hard-hitting Rumble option bring a whole new dimension to the Monarch series.
