Foam has its place, but I prefer silicon tips almost all the time.

Coming from the S12, the Etymotics surely taught me a lesson on the difference between bright and neutral! Although bass sounds really nice to me with the XR. I'm definitely considering EQ too (I basically only use the T3+ "stock") but only once I'm confident I got the hang of the "Etymotic ear insertion" 😅 Not totally there yet... Thanks again!

My favorite will be ZMF Auteur, but if I could only keep one it will definitely be HD600. Lightweight, and good-sounding even if I plug it straight to my desktop.

airpods are better than the other headphones here?o

A lot of people who have never heard an Ety associate them with being bright and bass light. Some are definitely on the bass light side, but none are actually bright. Etys have a really good mid-range though, that’s what they should be known for.

You may be able to add some brightness with a little EQ.

When you do your research on bing 💀

I’ve just started downvoting every single chifi post. It’s time to put an end to the cheap nonsense.

Instead of all of those you only needed a kph30i and a Behringer uca202 (or apple dongle). If you want Bluetooth, you can keep AirPods and you will be as happy as you can be at this price range.

Well, at least I'm not crazy... I'll keep experimenting, thanks!

Makes sense, it took me a bit by surprise honestly... I'll keep experimenting with different tips / insertion techniques. Next is probably EQ and different filters... We'll see. Thanks for your insight!

I recently bought a handful tips from various brands to try them out. I've tried Spinfit W1, Azla SednaEarfitLight, Dunu s&s and Moondrop Spring tips. So far my favorite tips have been the Spinfits.

Is the Radiance better than the MDR-Z1R, in your opinion? I do eventually want to get a pair of closed back headphones. Part of me thinks it would make more sense to not have all my headphones the same brand, and the other thinks “if you found what you love, why change it”

But ya, i listen to a lot of like vocal songs and classic rock, opera, pop. I really enjoy the HD 600 and how they are but I know there can be so much more clarity. With knowing that, are the OG Clear a great option? They aren’t v or u shaped tuning are they?

Etys aren’t bright really. They are more mid-range focused.

I find the ER2XR very neutral but everyone perceives sound differently. I tried their filter kit just out of interest and it works very well, I discovered that I don't enjoy listening to music with the ER2XR and that neutral isn't my thing so it was worth the modest expense.

I usually go for the stock eartips, but the Truthear Zero nozzle size is so big that using the stock silicon tips hurt. Ended up going with Spinfit CP100 for that IEM only.

Trust I understand I tried a lot of phones. Finally, just got burnt out and realized I'm always gonna have FOMO. I listen to the noire I did like them, they just didn't sound better than my wife's radiance so I didn't keep them but very good phone at the price. I like the Sony MDR-Z1R, just grappling with the cost a little, but I like the sound and they are extremely comfortable.

I can understand spreading for different experiences like having a bt iem/tws for hand and wire free listening during work outs, open back for daily listening, closed back for late at night and you have people you don’t want to wake up, etc.

But these specifically? Id return the ones besides the AirPods. As much as I dont care to spend the money on them they do bring some decent things to the table. The other 3 however Id return for one decent headphone.

Define better?

For me, foam has better isolation. But foam expands and put a lot of pressure in the ear canal. So silicone is much more comfortable. I prefer silicone as comfort is more important to me.

It’ll probably be in a month and half; I start a new job this week and there’s a big gap between my last paycheck and my first full one, so it’ll be probably 3 paychecks before I get them. I’ll DM you so I can remember to let you know.

I want to eventually get the DCA Aeon 2 Noire to have a set of closed back headphones, in case I ever have kids or anything of that nature. Besides that, at a certain point I was told you basically are just picking what you want it to be the best at (HD 800s for soundstage) but something else will be a trade off. And someone else told me it’s very a massive drop in diminishing returns after the $1500 price. The Utopia’s will sound better than the Clear, without a doubt. It definitely won’t sound 3-4x better though.

Eventually I might make that jump, as time passes & I move up within my career path. But that will have to be in a very long time. Not just to have that kind of money, but I’m also going to upgrade my DAC next & same kind of thing. I want the RME-ADI 2, but it’s probably pointless to get something at that level. Something like $700 would be just fine with no real upgrade in sound, maybe just had more connection tires or something. That’s the kick in the dick of this hobby; FOMO and massive diminishing returns

oh yeah, I like the increased sound isolation and they stay in my ears better than silicone.

Let me know, seems like those with my preference prefer mg more so I'm a little curious, but the Clears just sound so good that if I did upgrade it would have to be utopia, but like you, I just can't imagine they sound 3-4x better than either clear to justify the price. Diminishing returns is very real pass 1k.

HifiMan He560 V2 - Sennheiser HD600 - Grados SR325X - Philips X2 - VModa M100 - Fostex t50rp mk3 - Koss Porta PRO - Sennheiser GSP 500

I will always keep HD600 because I love them

JVC spiral dots

For Arya you would probably consider a bit more powerful amp ...

Initially did. Looking at the FR, it feels like the s2 will be great for some genres, but not a jack of all trades like the S. It will take months or years to know how people truly feel about them, as initially everyone will be on the hype train (like most were for the 660s). So let’s see. If S3 comes out, I may get the s2 at $299. :)