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
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.
9.2
Reader's Score
$4999
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.
9.1
Reader's Score
Starts from $1799 (Review Sample Design is $2349)
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.Â
9.1
Reader's Score
$2359
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
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.
9
Reader's Score
$1999.00
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.
9
Reader's Score
$999
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.Â
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 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.
8.9
Reader's Score
From €1,500
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
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.
8.9
Reader's Score
$1899
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 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.
8.9
Reader's Score
€2330
The Custom Art FIBAE 5 is a tribrid driver monitor that hits a bit differently. We are talking about excellent physical planar tweeter highs, a surprisingly spacious midrange, and a low-end that digs deep but is not overbearing or full of bloom.
8.9
Reader's Score
€1100
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
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
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.Â
8.9
Reader's Score
From €1590
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 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.
8.8
Reader's Score
$2999
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 Alpha Omega Omegon MK2 is one of those rare BA/EST hybrid custom monitors that delivers a credible level of sub-bass weight and mid-bass punch without sounding overly bloated or polite.
8.8
Reader's Score
RM5,700.00
The Empire Ears Phantom has a very unique and at times beguiling tone and presentation. I absolutely love its smooth but voluptuous low-end and stronger lower-mids presence.
8.7
Reader's Score
From $1799
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 Unique Melody MEXT is the company's most confident and complete use of its bone conduction technology to date. This is a full-blooded tasty bass-centric performer with enough balance in the mids and vocals to please those who like their music to be beefy yet inviting.Â
8.7
Reader's Score
$1399
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
I can understand now why the Aether was so widely acclaimed and loved by many an audiophile. Granted I have yet to hear the original but that sweet timbre, musical but nicely balanced sound signature, and excellent vocal performance can be addictive at times.
8.6
Reader's Score
€1,200
If you enjoy your mids, love a forward vocal image, and value clarity and articulation above all else the Bellos Audio X2 will give you that with a degree of confidence.Â
8.6
Reader's Score
$499
