The following list contains our Top Reader-Voted Custom IEMs as ranked by the reader. Each ranking position is drawn from a review’s Reader’s Score and applies only to all reviews where an interactive slider voting system exists. If you are looking for universal IEMs only then click here.
Please note the list will change dynamically as readers continue to vote. Higher-scoring Custom IEMs will automatically replace lower-scoring Custom IEMs. They will also continue to change as we progressively work our way through historical reviews and activate a voting system.
These lists are not to be confused with our Award Scores which are the top gear reviewed and scored by our review team. Those scores will form the basis of our Awards at the end of the year. Once the year is completed the Award scores will be deleted and the ‘annual awards race’ will start over again.
Our latest guidelines for scoring can be found here.
Top 30 Reader-Voted Custom IEMs
The hybrid Vision Ears VE ZEN custom monitor is possibly one of the most complete 'vocal-lover' performers out there, and what a joy it is now to have the VE10 sound on steroids, and in a perfectly fitting and attractive-looking custom shell.
9.3
Reader's Score
€3,000.00
The JH Audio Jolene is a heck of an update to the line-up and a worthy flagship hybrid monitor for the JH Audio house sound. It all about natural tones, gritty and interesting texture, and tons of power on tap when you feel like upping that bass module adjuster.
9.2
Reader's Score
Starts from $1799 (Review Sample Design is $2349)
If ever there is a BA custom monitor that will give die-hard high-end dynamic driver fans pause for thought then the Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor is likely the one that will come the closest to doing that.
9.1
Reader's Score
$4999
The JH Audio Sharona is a custom monitor designed for pleasurable listening. It delivers a beautifully smooth and detailed performance with a tremendous sense of space to suck you right into a non-fatiguing but engaging sound signature.
9
Reader's Score
$2299
The JH Audio Layla is perhaps my most sub-bass potent CIEM out of the 23 received to date. It delivers awesome power and a thick note reminiscent of a quality dynamic driver never mind multi-BA.
9
Reader's Score
$3725
The Unique Melody Mest Jet Black has the company's most mature tuning to date in the long-running Mest series. It delivers a balanced sound signature across the board with improved dynamic range and a very expansive, holographic soundstage.
9
Reader's Score
$1999
The Vision Ears XCON CIEM retains all the hallmarks of the Vision Ears smooth 'house' sound, but splits it beautifully between two distinct sound signatures: unabashed enjoyment or studied and involved listening.
9
Reader's Score
€2,000
The FiR Audio Krypton 5 is one seriously impressive custom monitor with perhaps the most exciting or 'driven' tuning profiles I have heard this year in an IEM.
That Kinetic bass drops bombs left right and center without sounding fuzzy or overly bloomy. This is not a soft enveloping pillowy low-end, it's firm, defined, and breathtaking in its execution.
9
Reader's Score
$2999
Granted I have personal preferences and I love a good mids tuning but still, the Vision Ears Elysium is a masterpiece and one of the best electrostatic custom monitors I have heard to date.
9
Reader's Score
€2900
The Unique Melody MEST MKIII CF is the most mature tuning in the MEST series to date. It is less bombastic or exaggerated than what has come before with a balanced, smooth, and very agreeable sound that gives vocals a much better platform to shine.
8.9
Reader's Score
$2359
The Unique Melody MEST MKII is an excellent smooth-sounding custom monitor with plenty of complex technology stuffed inside. You also get a quality design, some notable improvements externally such as the flat pocket 2-pin connectors, and that solid cable upgrade with the M2.
8.9
Reader's Score
$1799
Do you want something with fantastic bass extension, detail, and weight with super smooth treble and a balanced midrange with beautifully controlled vocals? That's the A12. Want a deep, 3-dimensional soundstage? That's the A12. Want something that just exudes a natural flowing tonality with no unnerving peaks? That's the A12.
8.9
Reader's Score
$1999.00
The Unique Melody Maven Pro is a double-down on the tuning direction first taken by the MEST MKII and then the MEXT. This is a weighty, impactful, and full-bodied presentation designed to evoke rather than reveal. Something to get your toes tapping, with excellent dynamics and power for a BA low-end.
8.9
Reader's Score
$2999
The Noble Audio 10 or K10 custom IEM is stunningly beautiful and turns heads everywhere I go, and each time I post an image of it, and it also sounds damned fantastic.
8.9
Award Score
From $1850
The Unique Melody Maven II towers over the previous Maven and MEST hybrid monitor variants with a firmer eye on accuracy, a stellar mix of bass control and power, and, for the custom variant, an exquisite design.
8.9
Reader's Score
$3299
Tonally the 64 Audio A18 hits its goals and then some. It is transparent, detailed but never boring, and sounds positively alive and never anything less than fully engaging.
8.9
Reader's Score
$2999
There is nothing dry or sterile about the VX tuning. It takes that musical, slightly euphonic, and vocal-centric tuning of the V6 and adds low-end power, mids richness, and much more detail throughout.
8.9
Reader's Score
From $2436
The VE7 performance is less 'bish bash' or hurried sounding and more nuanced with a very refined treble and just enough warmth and body on the low-end to create a very pleasing yet lively contrast.
8.9
Reader's Score
€1850
At almost two thousand dollars, the qdc Gemini is not a steal. But for that, you not only get a very good monitor, but also the whole high-end experience: beautiful design, perfect fit, flawless production, a nice case, superior cable, and adequate packaging.
8.8
Reader's Score
From $1715
The Custom Art FIBAE 7 Unlimited will correct any issues you had with the vocal forwardness of the original. At the same time, it will beef up those lows and balance out the highs to deliver a more expansive and potentially more emotive successor.
8.8
Reader's Score
From €1,500
The Empire Ears Valkyrie hybrid custom monitor has a very likable tuning right out of the box and should appeal to those who like a bit of power in their low-end as well as a vocal delivery that doesn't sound veiled or pushed back.
8.8
Reader's Score
$1599
The VE8 is about as musical and engaging as you can get from a CIEM and it does a masterful job of injecting some serious PRaT into rock and metal.
8.8
Reader's Score
€2330
The sweet combination of massive staging, detailed vocal presence, and switchability between a slight bass bias (X1) and a relatively linear audiophile presentation (X2) is the icing on the cake. The shell artistry and first-rate finish are very smooth and comfortable with a fantastic seal.
8.8
Reader's Score
From €1900.84
The Jomo Audio Salsa has a warmish tone, a euphonic vocal tuning, and a signature overall that comes across as rather more forgiving than exacting or analytical. I can easily see someone with these stuck in their ears for hours without an iota of fatigue.
8.7
Reader's Score
SG$1,399.00
The Soundz Avant sort of bucks the latest trends in IEM tuning a bit for me. Less of those in-vogue relaxed mids, and more of the classic top-tapping vibe with vibrant vocals and surprisingly great bass performance from those Sonion BA drivers.
8.7
Reader's Score
From €1590
The Bellos Audio X4 is smooth sounding and yet enjoyably rhythmic at the same time making it a very nice matchup for modern pop and soul vocal performances. Nothing is overly fatiguing in its delivery.
8.7
Reader's Score
$999
Ah, no doubt the FIBAE 7 is Custom Art's best creation to date. It is still quite the CA house sound but it is more complex sounding now, more mature and refined. The magical sauce is how the F7 images so well for a soundstage that is not hugely expensive. It keeps things very clear but also very smooth and engaging at the same time.
8.7
Reader's Score
€1,100
The M5's calling card is the excellent bass tuning combined with a really nice harmonic balance and energy through the upper mids and treble. It does not try to push too hard to what I would call an extreme tuning being neither V-shaped nor a detail-orientated reference monitor.
8.7
Reader's Score
$2799
The Empire Ears Zeus wasn’t designed to be as neutral of reference-tuned as possible. Zeus has a strong, and colored personality. Because of the forward midrange, Zeus sounds powerful and stimulating; tones carry weight, while treble sounds smooth and refined.
8.7
Reader's Score
$2099
The Westone ES80 is an impressive reference-level custom monitor. The level of coherency from top to bottom is very nicely balanced and the timbre is natural but detailed to a level that is both involving and satisfying. It pairs really well with just about anything you throw at it.
8.7
Reader's Score
$1899
