Ah OK. Well, they might be a bit heftier than the rest of the options but tbh not much worse than, say, 4-pin XLR when it comes to wiring up and handling. Once you connect them they stay there, right? ;-) I use HartAudio's cables and interconnects. Recently ordered the dual 3-pin XLR interconnect just out of curiosity and they seem to help open up the sound(stage), at least on my system. I haven't A/B'ed them but suddenly all my headphones sound more open and wide without losing detail. My HD660S now sounds better that they ever did before, and surprisingly open. I might be wrong and it all may be placebo effect, but what I can say with absolute confidence is that the volume knob on my Pro iCAN Sig. very rarely needs to go further than 9 o'clock these days. I did some research but couldn't find anything useful to understand what may be going on in terms of power delivery, etc. as compared to regular 4-pin XLR connections.

Yeah these little dongles sure sound good for the money, I'm definitely happy with mine! Only issue with the iBasso is it requires you to use the buttons to set the volume even when using it on a computer, since it doesn't support volume control through USB at all. Strange design decision, and with 100 volume steps it can be a little tedious, but it's pretty much my only complaint. It sounds great, so that's what matters most!

I just shared a very simple EQ profile in another comment, if you want to give it a try. I do like the Etymotics tonality with the treble boost, but oratory1990's preset also sounds good, just different. I haven't tried his Harman preset though, usually not a fan of these. But the Etys sound great to me now, I'm definitely keeping them, hopefully it will work for you too!

Edit: here's oratory1990's USOUND1V1 preset with some treble boost on top, it sounds a little bit different, but oh so good:

Preamp: -7.0 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 180 Hz Gain 3.0 dB Q 0.710
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 300 Hz Gain -0.8 dB Q 1.000
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 1000 Hz Gain 4.5 dB Q 1.300
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 1370 Hz Gain -7.2 dB Q 1.000
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 2500 Hz Gain -2.3 dB Q 2.000
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 8000 Hz Gain 7.5 dB Q 1.000
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 11000 Hz Gain -5.0 dB Q 5.000

Hope this helps!

The Skyrim of Audio

Ok time for a little update. After a lot of experimenting, and to the surprise of probably nobody but myself, my ER2XR aren't faulty, Etymotics are just massively darker than what I had anticipated. That's what reading reviews of audio gear on the Internet gives you, I guess...

Nothing an EQ can't fix though, so I tried oratory1990's USOUND1V1 EQ preset with promising results, despite the USOUND1V1 target throwing the Etymotics' tonality out the window. What really did it for me was the 8kHz boost, although 5dB just wasn't enough for my taste, so here's what I settled on for now:

Preamp: -7.2 dB
Filter 1: ON PK Fc 8000 Hz Gain 7.5 dB Q 1.000
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 11000 Hz Gain -5.0 dB Q 5.000

What it looks like. Usual disclaimer, this is what I like, for the music I listen to, and may not suit anybody but me. However I can finally listen to music without feeling the need to push the volume to unreasonable levels just to hear some treble. The Etymotics now sound great to me too! I can finally understand where the praise comes from, and just witnessed myself bobbing my head to some music while writing this.

Huge thank you to everyone who took the time to help! You saved the Etymotics for me. I might give the tuning kit a try in the future, but for now I'm perfectly happy with this simple EQ profile. Cheers!

BTR5 is very popular too.

IIRC, he said they were clunky and he had difficulty wiring it all up. Also, most headphones don't need balanced outputs, and I think Tyll was kinda ambivalent about whether he preferred single-ended or balanced.

Since the receptacle is friction fit, it will wear out and will be wobbly in a year of active use. It will hold itself with the latch and will not lose signal, but not very sturdy.

I have been using both neutrik and switchcraft connectors, 100% original. Thay may seem good for a long time at home, but when used in a studio environment, they wear out quite fast.

-shudders- 2.5 mm jacks are for the devil.

Username checks out.

Interesting, why?

xlr is clearly ss tier

Same, have been using 2.5 with my Qudelix 5k and never had any issues. I managed to get the 5k stuck while moving resulting in it falling off with high pressure on the connector and still no bends.

You must be using the wrong XLR plugs and receptacles then. High quality Neutrik XLRs are super durable and have a very satisfying click when latched and are not at all wobbly. I've definitely had some 1/4 inch jacks get finicky on me when you move the plug around

Balanced is automatic cringe. Marketing fad.

Shiit and JDS Labs are right

The vast majority of their stuff is awful but the andromeda 2020 is damn good. The bass is their weakest point but with a really good tip seal they’re decently punchy. Imaging is excellent and instruments feel like they float on the stage. Really hoping this new one isn’t terrible

6.35 reminds me of something I don't have.

I use my 2.5mm way more than my 3.5mm at this point.

It's cuz 3.5mm is used far more frequently than 2.5mm

For a constant resistance as voltage increases current also increases proportionally (Ohm's law, I=V/R).

As current also increases proportionally, the increase in power is the square of the voltage increase.

It's also the square of the current increase, you can use that either.

But you can't have voltage increase with no current increase, they are linked. Unless there is a proportionate change in resistance with increasing voltage, which there isn't in headphones.

The OG 2016 tuning for me is still relevant and competitive against the newer gens out there: https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/xylvoc/my_recent_canjam_socal_demo_has_made_me_sure_that/

never had an issue w/ 2.5mm putting iems in my pocket w/ the btr3k. had an animal ruin my 2.5mm balanced cable for my planars and ended up going w/ periapt's 4.4mm termination since the q3 has it, but don't see a huge issue with it. I've killed way more 3.5mm jacks than 2.5mm

Still loving my 2.5 connections for mobile use. lol

Where are binaural recordings though? Barely anything is binaural,

The same people also don't touch grass.