Yeah I forgot to mention that. It won't play any songs you have downloaded off Tidal, it just directly streams them.

UAPP has a decent built-in PEQ and you can listen to Tidal through it, though it won't be through the actual Tidal app. But as far as I know the q5k is really the only dongle with features like that unfortunately.

Anything by Macroblank/Haircuts for Men. Very chill vaporwave and all of their albums are NYP as well.

Alfa Mist - amazing contemporary jazz, Structuralism is his best album imo.

DIM - Neo-classical/dungeon synth. Very beautiful and atmospheric music, check out Compendium II.

Hello Meteor - my personal favorite artist and criminally unknown. Coastal Obscure is a good starting point.

Brothertiger - upbeat and lush synth-pop. Self-titled or Out of Touch are phenomenal.

Vanilla - one of the best lofi hip hop producers, definitely check him out if you like Dilla or Nujabes. His trilogy (Origin, Moonlight, Into the Dream) is incredible.

Machine Girl - crazy internet brainmelt music. Definitely an acquired taste but I love them. WLFGRL is their most well known album.

Unfathomably based Hello Meteor listener. I cannot recommend his music enough to anyone interested.

This looks sick, gonna start looking for one I think.

Do you have a recommendation for a cheaper IEM for electronic music? I love my Mest Mk2 but I agree that it struggles with dnb and other similar genres (especially with poor mastering). I'd love to own the Z1R but I just don't have the budget for 2 kilobucks at the moment!

I've had my Mests for about 6 months now and they haven't stopped blowing me away. They aren't perfect tuning-wise for me either, but at the same time they've barely left my ears since I got them lol. I honestly love the smaller, immersive soundstage and slight veil they have but I completely understand why you have issues with it. I think the biggest issue I've found is that any EQ ends up destroying the really special imaging they have.

I haven't actually heard the B2D (I was going to buy it but decided I might as well just go to the top) but I know it has a fairly different tuning. I've seen its detractors describe it as cold/analytical, which is kinda what turned me off from buying it. I could be wrong but I believe the B2D is tuned close to the Harman target (which has pronounced mids) while the Mest has an unusual U-shaped tuning. You might just prefer more forward mids compared to the Mest, I definitely feel that they lack the body and warmth that I love from my HD 6XXs. I unfortunatly haven't heard the Diva either but it seems like I'd like it. I'd also love to hear the Traillii someday as I've heard its the king of mids but there's no way I'd ever pay that much lmao.

If I could give a suggestion, the Cayin RU-6 R2R dongle is absolutely magical with the Mest. I'm not the type of guy who's like bro you need a $1000 special DAC to properly enjoy stuff but the RU-6 made a noticable difference. It sounds more "open" while giving some more body to the mids, but it does take away some of the resolution. You absolutely don't need it but it really completed the Mests for me. Good luck with your search, always happy to see another Mestbro :)