Sound Impressions: Bass / Genre Matching
Mest Fortune has a nicely-balanced, w-shaped sound signature, having low/mid/high all adequately highlighted. Let’s start with the bass – lows on Mest Fortune offer tactile, spatial vibration. The holographic nature of the lows allows detailed layer separation for the low-ends, though lows don’t get out of hand in control, keeping the quantity and vibrations tightened and orderly. The Mest Fortune focuses on the vibration of the bass, and how to layer them gracefully and clearly for a nice, atmospheric feel. Lush and buttery without coloration.
Bass quantity is equivalent to those that are slightly v-shaped – an adequate, appropriate amount that is more nuanced than flat but doesn’t tip over to the basshead zone. However, the bass dives deep in extension with a clear tonal hue; the prominent low-end detail allows Mest Fortune to shed light on the bass while keeping the sub-bass quantity reference-like. The bass leans towards calm, neat, orderly, hence those who are seeking bass that are large, bombastic, and thick may find Mest Fortune’s bass a bit too gentle (especially if you listen to hardcore hip-hop, rock, etc). However, if your primary musical focus is on vocals, clarity, and micro details, and you listen to pop, ballad, jazz, and such, you’ll find Mest Fortune’s bass to be very pleasant.
Sound Impressions: Mids / Timbre
Mest Fortune’s primary focus is on the upper frequencies, and it executes it in a musical, well-balanced manner. Mids are tuned for airiness, transparency, and expansive refreshness – a type of sound trace you’d find from an open-back headphone. Mids are neutral in thickness with a cheerful, neutral-bright timbre. They don’t sound light or thin, however, as vocals nonetheless carry great weight/depth in both tone and texture. A timbre with enough tonal density and maturity allows Mest Fortune to carry out this neutral, open-back-like sound without sounding weak in musical presence.
Tonal brilliance, speed, liveliness, and clear ambiance are what Mest Fortune’s vocals primarily dig for; those who are keen on dark, warm, easy-listening sounds may find the vocals a tad bright. But if you’re into micro-details and unveiled vocal clarity, Mest Fortune provides one of the finest vocal performances within the $2-3k TOTL IEMs. Another key charm of Mest Fortune is that vocals show a reference-like neutrality and analyticity, yet it doesn’t keep the sound “two-dimensional” as many reference or reference-style IEMs do; for example, Canpur CP622B and Faith Audio Labs E1000 have rather reference-styled vocals, and don’t boost mid-range to sound extra surround, for accuracy purposes.
Mest Fortune, on the other hand, did a fine job incorporating holographic vocals while keeping the phasing accuracy well intact. UM cured the mids to maximize transparency while subduing shoutiness and sibilance. There’s a slight gain in brightness and textural highlight on the upper mids – which, again, may be bright for the trebhe-shy listeners, though otherwise, this will sound very creamy and shiny-lush.
Sound Impressions: Highs / Headroom
One thing that I consistently appreciate from Unique Melody IEMs is how tasteful the trebles sound, and Mest Fortune is a great example to experience this charm thanks to its reference-like sound signature. Highs have a very creamy, tasteful timbre that isn’t colored, and with a buttery-smooth texture, treble instruments splashes gracefully and gradually. Compared to the mids, brightness and treble quantity are slightly toned down for balance and comfort, yet the cool, refreshing openness is abundant across the upper headroom.
The Mest Fortune gives a full, enriching body for trebles and upper headroom. This prevents trebles from sounding tingly and shrill, instead sounding rich in tone and mature. Trebles don’t pierce linear and lifelessly, but with natural, musical ambiance, which creates this upper headroom richness. In fact, this is a rare trait to find even within high-end IEMs, as it’s an extremely delicate work of balancing between spatialness and resolution; in other words, to sound accurate and crystal-clear, while also being holographic and comfortable to listen to. For this reason, Mest Fortune also creates a surround-like separation for the instruments, where sound doesn’t simply swing between left/right but spherically, also accompanied by perception of distance.
Next Page: Flagship IEM Comparisons (Palavox Dark Knight / Faith Audio Labs E1000 / Campfire Audio Andromeda 10 Gold) & Verdicts