I’d avoid Variations/Dusk/Monarch tuning for your library. You need mid-bass (150-200hz) and balanced signature. I’d say you also need a DD as bass. Tribids seem a no brainer for what you looking.
what u think about the Xenns Up? i mean like we r already at 600… 100+ wouldn’t hurt
i know u don’t hear to electronic at all but can you give me a taste of how the EJ07M sounds in these songs?
Raavan | Dussehra Song | Amit Trivedi feat. Shilpa Rao, Anand Bhaskar (for bass)
An old French tune (by Georges Brassens) | Pomplamoose ft. John Schroeder (voice and soundstage)
Yosi Horikawa - Bubbles (soundstage and imaging) < well, the classic, in my aria it feels very left-right, the separation is not layered as i wanted it to be, and i think im missing some details when the bubbles start to drop because the lack of resolution, although it might be a lack of source (amp/dac)
Mendelssohn: Songs Without Words, Op 67, No 2 (to check if the warmness is there 
)
Howl’s Moving Castle - Merry go round of Life cover by Grissini Project (dynamics)
TES V Skyrim Soundtrack - From Past to Present i just love this song (try to search a better quality in your streaming app pls ^ this is shit)
HAIYANI SPAIN WE ARE THE ORE - Maximum The Hormone (treble fatigue test)
NIGHTWISH - The Phantom Of The Opera (vocals, harmonics, separation)
and lastly Lost In Space - Riding The Ayahuasca (Original Mix)
to check if it can be energetic and envolving as i would like
i guess this is all haha
and please if someone else have any tribids and want to give a opinion on those songs, comment!! it will be very helpful!
im sorry if this is really far from your taste, you don’t need to hear all… sorry again…
don’t know what your amp/dac situation is but i’d keep the hifiman edition xs on your list. colossal soundstage, amazing detail, $430. reviews should be rolling out for them soon.
i’m indeed keeping my eyes on those! guess how they compare to sundara’s and ananda’s, waiting for reviews
they’re drastically better than anandas and sundaras. like by a mile. i’d expect them to cost $1000 or maybe more for what they accomplish. only downside is i wish that hifiman would sell the adapter rings for oval pads.
didn’t know about that… but a downside that i hear about it is the headband that i see many ppl having trouble with those in past models
i totally get that people don’t like that headband (i’m one of those people) but on the oval pad hifimans the clamp force and grip you get from having so much more pad surface touching your head lets you loosen up the top quite a bit and they stay put just fine. i haven’t had a problem with the headband at all despite hating them on every circle can i’ve used them on.
i saw you have HE6se V2, u think it’s a good alternative in this price range? what is the amp requirement for those?
i think the he6 is a lot more picky than most people think and it absolutely needs a bassy amp or some eq to be what people want out of it. it’s very revealing to the quality of the source. the edition xs is a lot more forgiving and more naturally bassy while having a much larger soundstage than the he6 and to me seems more agreeable in it’s tuning. he6 scales way better but you can get some incredible results from the edition xs a lot easier.
u think a dx3 pro+ would be sufficient?
should be fine.
I have read on several places that dollar per dollar when talking same price you get better performance from an iem, meaning $500 dollars iem tends to be “better” than a $500 dollar headphone, but as many have mentioned here it comes down to preference, I do use mostly iems mainly because with iems I don’t bother the family as when I use headphones (I like open back headphones), so with iems I can be at the living room listening to music without bothering those around me.
It really depends on what you want. For example: I would take the timeles IEM over a long list of planars right up to the arya. Because it’s tuning is far more appealing than any of them. So a $200 IEM basically wipes the floor with many far more expensive headphones to me.
I have a similar experience with my Dunu Zen. Fantastic.
But, then my favorite headphone is the LSA HP-2 Ultra. This does things that no IEM will ever be able to match. Because physics.
I do think, that if you aren’t trying to avoid the weaknesses of IEMs, you get an overall better bang for your buck with them. I had to clear $700 before I found headphones I really genuinely liked. Timeless, dusk, tea all clear that bar easily at less than half that price. But my sound preferences play to IEM strengths.
This makes me want to hear the edition xs now. The ananda is in my top 6 (#6) because it is a generically “good” headphone. Shines at nothing. Messes nothing up. My biggest gripe is the neutrality and flat bass. But for less money, having something better seems worth it.
My main genre is techno bro…
Regarding xenhs up:
Xenns UP is a different tribid from everything I’ve heard. I love it, it’s so much fun.
EJ will play all songs you listed (I use know some of them and use it) since it’s an all rounder.
Let me know if you need more help, here on in PM.
now my adhd is playing its role: i totally didnt notice your profile pictures LOL
well you have some baggage to say with propertie, nice review and comparation mate, will get in touch with u
You serious? I just got my Anandas
They’re pretty damn good. I honestly didn’t expect to like them this much. Strong contender for a spot on my wall.
I would let it largely depend on how much you listen to classical music to be honest. If that’s really a lot then you may prefer tonality, coherence, timbre, and staging above anything else. However, if that’s a minority share then you may want to favour the “fun factor” over all of those.
drftr
i listen to classical quite often but other genres aswell, honestly i didn’t understand you completely, you mean if i do listen to classical i take the fullsize headphones instead?
My concern was that someone who listens to a lot of classical music and possibly visits quite some live performances in general tends to like the tonality and timbre of acoustic instruments being reproduced similar to what he or she is used to during those live events.
That’s quite the challenge for most IEMs (and headphones) that are largely tuned for listening to amplified or electronic instruments. For acoustic instruments it’s easier to tell whether they sound “correct” or not. Unless you happen to know how an electric guitar using distortion pedals and tremeloes should sound when not amplified. So when an IEM can sound fantastic reproducing amplified music by no means it’s a given that acoustic instruments used for classical music reproduction sound correct as well.
Long story short: If you value classical music being reproduced pretty similar to a live performance then you may want to value tonality, coherence, timbre, and staging over, say, deep and powerful bass, upfront female vocals, an early treble roll-off, etcetera.
If you want to have both then you may want to think how you’d prefer to compromise in a for you and your library optimal way.
drftr