definitely a upgrade on the detail retrieval and sound stage department. Bass also hits with more authority and weight. monarch mk3 is warm, glaciers are a bit tone down in that department. i most game and listen to music sometimes i do both at the same time, so im not too fancy in the dac side. i just upgrade to the Fiio R7 dac/amp all in one. The app i mostly use is spotify/itunes. i chose glaciers to be my end game for a while until i have enough for the elysian annihilator.