But enough comparisons, let’s just talk about the Annihilator by itself.

The tone of the Annihilator is nowhere close to neutral, being one of the more coloured IEMs I’ve heard. It’s still decidedly V-shaped with an emphasis in bass and obviously treble, with the mids (lower mids in particular) taking a back seat.

The midrange tuning is not unnatural by any means, but it is certainly focused towards the upper midrange frequencies. Shoutiness is a potential concern, as is overly-thin notes, but all still within the bounds of reasonableness in my personal opinion.

The bass response is focused towards the mid-bass, a tuning choice that I don’t personally vibe with but isn’t inherently wrong by itself. The Annihilator’s bass is more punchy and impactful rather than deep and rumbly, so for those who prioritise percussive presentations this may be the bass for you.

And of course, the treble.

The Annihilator has its niche: trebleheads. And while I am not personally one to enjoy huge amounts of treble, I can at least put myself in the shoes of someone who does. The Annihilator has a lot of treble, perhaps far more than the average person may take, but I will say this: it is excellent treble.

Yes, there is a lot of high frequency energy and the the Annihilator leans into that signature with its entire being. It’s beyond bright and I would happily describe as a supernova, but here’s the interesting thing: I didn’t think it was piercing. It was certainly far beyond the bounds of my personal enjoyment, but not once did I find the treble of the Annihilator painful or strident. There was just… a lot.

I think I could partially explain it as being due to the lack of any huge, contrasting peaks or dips that usually made certain treble spikes sound much worse than they showed on the graph. Perhaps it was this lack of pain that I couldn’t stop listening to it despite my treble sensitivity, like some form of mild masochism. And the speed and texturing of the treble… it’s certainly no Stax, but it comes closer to the Shure KSE1X00 than any other IEM I’ve tried. And that’s a real electrostatic.

But of course, the other problem is the price. At $3,680, it blows past the Elysium and even the Wraith, though it’s arguably better than the both of them. Does it beat all the IEMs resting on my lauded “S tier”? I’d say that it’s a definite no, but say you switch up the question a little.

Is it worse than all my S-tier IEMs? That’s where my answer gets a little cloudy.

At any case, let’s look beyond the perceived value of the Annihilator because that’s a wholly subjective thing. For the achievement of proving to me that the Sonion ESTs can, in fact, be superior to traditional BA tweeters, I bestow upon the Annihilator the full ★★★. I look forward to more from this one-man team.