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Overall Tonality
It’s always a bit of a gamble to review new players in the IEM scene. Moondrop, ThieAudio, ZiiGaat, and other established manufacturers have their own house sound and generally tend to stick to popular tuning curves.
While I was, no doubt, thrilled to have my first custom IEMs made, there was always the niggling feeling, what to do if they end up sucking?
I have no problem tearing apart a bad product if it means making sure that my readers don’t get burned, but getting a bad pair of custom IEMs would disappoint me greatly. Alas, with Maytak M6, this wasn’t the case! Big phew!
The basic tuning of the Maytak M6 can be described as neutral-warm. In target curve terms, it’s somewhere between Harman and JM-1. I’d almost go as far as to say that the M6 remind me of Sennheiser HD650 in IEM form, only with better bass and imaging.
Some might call the tuning safe, but I love how ear-friendly it is and how it easily allows for full-day listening without ear fatigue.
Bass
These days, I’m used to having my balanced armature bass reservations pretty much shattered. Despite not having significant acoustic porting, the bass on the Maytak is very impactful and, in many respects, matches the physicality of good dynamic driver implementations.
At the same time, there’s minimal overhang, which I’m used to hearing from dynamic drivers in bassier tunings. There’s an appropriate BA-driver speed and some trademark dryness as well.
Overall, I’m very happy with how Gene has tuned the low end, and I can attest that it works wonders for musical enjoyment. The fact that M6 are custom IEMs also means that they’re pretty much free from insertion depth and fit variability that often plagues universal IEMs.
Balanced armature drivers are notorious for their acoustic output impedance, which means that they’re susceptible to load variation and will change sound greatly if the fit isn’t exactly as simulated by the designer.
Midrange
Can you remember the last time you heard bad midrange from an IEM? I certainly can’t. The mids on the M6 are generally very linear, with some warmth added. They work wonders for vocals, strings, winds, and just about every other instrument that has fundamental tones in this critical region.
Jazz, classic rock, soul, and even more extreme genres like industrial and death metal work very well with this tuning.
There is a bit of lower-mid bloom from the low-end boost, but it’s only noticeable when direct comparisons are made with IEMs and headphones that have less bass and thus provide a more introspective listening experience.
These tuning have their place, but generally, I regard the M6 to have a more approachable midrange that will be appreciated by more listeners.
Treble
The Maytak Audio M6 uses two balanced-armature drivers for high-frequency playback. They overtake from the mid-armatures and play all the way up to high treble with no help from super tweeters that are becoming more common in multi-driver IEMs.
Despite the more unassuming approach, the M6 achieves great extension with no overtones gone missing.
The advantage of sticking to an all-BA setup is that there are no coherence problems, and nothing sticks out as timbrally different throughout the audible band.
In some scenarios, I managed to detect some minuscule sharpness in the 5kHz range with the Maytak M6, but it was extremely setup and, most importantly, content-dependent. 99% of the time, the M6 was a joy to listen to with all kinds of music.
Owners of colder and clinical setups might be in danger of what I described above, but the chances are that they’re used to it, depending on what headphones or IEMs they’re coming from.
Soundstage and Imaging
Another benefit of custom IEMs is that the super consistent insertion benefits imaging.
This, combined with the high insertion depth, allows the Maytak M6 to excel in side-to-side imaging and generally throw a very adaptable soundstage. Wide recordings sound wide, and more intimate songs retain their character.
There are headphones and IEMs that sound very spacious but achieve it by subduing the upper-mid region, so everything sounds distant. The M6 doesn’t need to add coloration to render space.
Comparisons
VS Thieaudio Monarch MK1
The venerable tribrid from ThieAudio combines a dynamic driver for bass, balanced armatures for mids and lower treble, and electrets that handle the air range.
All of the Monarch iterations use chunky 3D-printed acrylic shells with rather striking faceplate designs.
Compared to the Maytak M6, the Monarch MK1 immediately sounds more technically impressive; however, the impression doesn’t last for long.
With all of the Monarch implementations, I can hear when the dynamic driver, the armatures, or the electret super tweeter are playing.
The Maytak M6 is more coherent, even if it isn’t as immediately striking. The M6 just sounds more like music rather than playback.
VS Letshuoer Mystic 8
Letshuoer’s latest all-BA IEM, the Mystic 8, marries impressive aesthetics to a 3-way, 8-driver acoustic formula.
I think the look of the Mystic 8 is needlessly polarizing because sonically, it brings a unique tuning that puts critical midrange under the spotlight.
Check out my review for more insight on it, but I very much adore the Mystic 8!
The main difference between the two all-armature sets is the tuning. What sets the Letshuoer Mystic 8 apart from its peers is the mid-centric sound, which trades low-end bombast for supreme insight. In comparison, the Maytak M6 is easier to like, even if it doesn’t have the same magical midrange.
I’d happily have the M6 as my first or only IEMs. The Mystic 8 works best as a second specialist set.
VS Yanyin Carmen
Yanyin are specialists in achieving ridiculously fun tunings with their IEMs, and the Carmen is no exception. Equipped with 10 balanced-armature drivers per side, the Yanyin Carmen pretty much left me dumbfounded with bass dynamics I’ve never encountered in all-BA IEMs.
The overall tuning does favor the low end, but the rest of the range is played back with great technical prowess.
Both the Carmen and the Maytak M6 are a blast to listen to, but the Yanyin IEMs are noticeably more colored.
In terms of technical prowess, they’re roughly on a level playing field, but the boosted bass on the Carmen incurs a more audible masking of the low mids.
Again, the Maytak M6 ends up being the more omnivorous set due to its more neutral tuning.
Conclusion
It’s always a gamble to take a chance on industry newcomers. I’ve been in audio for more than 15 years, and I’ve seen my share of “secret masters” who claim to know how things ought to sound better than everyone else.
Sometimes, they end up doing something interesting, but more often than not, it’s due to hyper focusing on one aspect and neglecting others.
Maytak Audio has created an unusually mature product with the M6. I can tell that Gene has listened to a lot of competition and gained enough know-how to take a good swing at them.
There is no real reason why the Maytak Audio M6 shouldn’t be considered as an option when looking for IEMs in the $1000 range.
It comfortably trades punches with the best I’ve heard, and the custom fit means that there’s less fiddling with fit and eartips.
What seals the deal for me is the overall tactile and sonic package the M6 offer, so I’m giving them the “Headfonia – Recommended” award.
With the current trade war going on, these USA-made custom IEMs are an even better deal to Americans compared to imported options, but choosing Maytak Audio makes sense even if you’re not all about “buying local”; they’re that good!
Summary
Pros
- Insightful yet punchy bass
- Transparent and slightly warm midrange
- Impressive soundstage width
- Great fit and finish
- A multitude of customization options
Cons
- The pro-oriented cable feels cheap
- The treble can sound a bit sharp in some setups
