I don’t disagree with you on that. I tip and source roll all the time. Fine tuning the set to bring the best attributes out of it.
I’ve learned that sources are way more important this year. That was my big revelation for 2024. Sources mean a lot. That was my goal at the end of 23, I was going to focus on the amps and DACs and I’m glad I did 
Yup, sources can matter a lot. Depends on the transducer for how much the source impacts the final playback, but I tend to hear even marginal differences with every IEM/headphone. Cables are similar, depends on the transducer.
Plus, the higher you go, and the more resolving your gear gets, the more synergy matters.
Ok I understand there is no point in owning stuff that you don´t like without eq, that makes sense, and I also do all of the above mentioned stuff like source,tip and cable matching but still there is an even further improvement with EQ.
I bet that most people would like their sets even more with EQ.
Why is finetuning with tips and sources ok for some but eq not?
This almost feels like a religious discussion but i am really trying to understand because most of us are chasing the optimum in sound quality aren´t we?
Why spend a lot of money for the last % in soundquality when you can achieve so much for free.
I quite enjoy DucBloke´s videos how he eqs even the most expensive sets to make them even better
But sorry I did not want to totally derail that thread 
Also not trying to offend anyone, it´s just out of genuine curiosity
No offense taken, brother!
Typically, with EQ, it detracts from the overall sound quality, but this isn’t as much of a problem anymore in todays world. The BTR17 for example can maintain the same SQ with PEQ enabled up to a certain sample/bit rate, so you make a fantastic point.
I guess it’s just a personal thing for me lol It just feels… wrong. It’s hard to explain, but I never talk down to anyone who uses EQ, if you enjoy your sets more with EQ, who’s to tell you you’re wrong? No one! Audio is a very personal hobby after all 
Ps. In my experience, EQ isn’t everything though. You can EQ a budget set to a TOTL set and they could sound completely different in terms of tonality and techs. The hardware makes a very big difference too!
Same here - I can name a few great examples with the sets that I own going from source to source. It makes a meaningful enough impact to me personally to warrant spending the cash on new sources rather than chasing new transducers every week. I have enough sets that I’m happy with, and now I can safely say I have enough sources that I’m very happy with too.
3 different desktop amps, 2 different DACs, 3 BT dongles, 4 or 5 wired dongles… I have enough, that’s for sure 
I am just to lazy to EQ😂. I dont have a specific sound curve I try to hit, I enjoy a lot of different sets, so EQ’ing just never gets me anywhere I feel. But I don’t have a problem with EQ per se. Ifi’s X bass and space is plenty for me😅
@Ohmboy Can you maybe make this a separate thread beginning with my question “do you use EQ?”
@domq422 I can totally relate to that “It just feels wrong” as I had the same way of thinking and it really bothered me a lot.
Especially when i bought a set as expensive as Legend EVO only to find out later that I am missing something…it felt wrong having to eq it and gave me a bad feeling but after a while the positive effects just overweighed this feeling and I am still very happy with my eq´d EVO and barely use it without.
I can also relate to the source topic lol, I had way too many already and still have plenty.
But i guess that´s also part of this hobby…purchasing stuff, let´s be honest we just love spending money on audio gear and trying out new things and that´s fine.
@ErKil X-Bass and X-Space is great and was also how i first dipped my toe into eq territory
There’s been a fair few EQ threads over the years lol.
Sorry, did not check to be honest
Hi guys,
Just as a teaser - I compiled playlist on spotify with your tracks of 2024 (not necessarily tracks made in 2024). Someone with Tidal account can soundiiz that to Tidal as well
I can tell you - it must have been a wild year when I hear the song progression like Klartraum → Miley Cyrus → Tool → Gucci Mane
ahahha same man I feel its too much effort for what is supposed to be a relaxing venture xD
and you put it right EQ works best for those to have an intended target to hit…I dont, i just enjoy what I buy the way it is most of the time. Hence why I dont buy too many sets in the first place. xD
Thank you so much for putting the effort into this!
Just a quick sumup as my job is killing me!
Number of votes: 43 - WE MADE IT LAST MINUTE, it is close to 5% improvement over the last year 41 votes!
Again, I want to thank every single person that spend couple of minutes of their precious time for absolutely no direct gain
Demographics - Another win against last year! We have a girl in between us!
Most of us are in best age between 25 and 39 years (50%), but there are a lot of people with more life experience (30% in range 40-59) and some with the biggest amount of wisedom (3 people 60+ - shoutout to you for proving IEMs do not destroy hearing. At least not completely)
There were 2 votes for multiple IEMs like Storm, Twilight, Deuce Goldplanar AMT-16 and Kiwi Ears Punch. Interestingly there was some sets that were not so hyped like 643ears Miroak-II, AüR Audio Alita, CraftEars Omnium, Penon Fan 3 or on the other end of spectrum even BL-03. Or Glacier but it is universally hyped by one and only @SoundEater
What is your favourite release of the year? Releases dated at 2024 - This year we have 3 winners - surprise surprise - fan favourite AFUL Explorer, then Thieaudio Origin and FatFreq Deuce got 5 votes each! Tons of you (also 5), me included havent heard IEM released in this year though. Multiple selections were also present for Estrella and Simgot Supermix 4.
What is your biggest disappointment in the hobby in 2024? - Apart from most of you guys using tons of valium and being superpositive, the biggest disappointments were Deuce drama and so-called reviewers wars. No further comments apart from the fact that considering how many of you loved Deuce it is a shame it was handled like that
What is the best thing that happened to you in the hobby? - that is a better question, please find the answers unedited out of my respect. The common themes are finding the forum (<3), prices getting lower. Some of you came back - welcome 
I guess you may guess some of the names of people writing the words below without a problem
Meeting fellow Audiophiles in the real world
Just getting to know everyone in the hobby and seeing quality stuff at lower prices overall
ziigaat doscinco
Price to Performance improvements
buying the Woo Audio Tube mini
I discovered the hobby (IEMs).
Fatfreq x hbb deuce
More and more devices coming with PEQ
Having Hybrids with multiple types of drivers come down in price.
Further development in sound and decreased price for quality IEM’s
Bought a dap. Finally ditched dongles.
Hiby R4
Great got even cheaper (around 200$ is already enough for leave-the-hobby)
Settled down on buying anything and found my current source end game.
MEMS drivers
More things!
Ziigaat entrance to the market driving the prices down heavily
HiFiGuides Introduction
Zempire Audio launch
Got introduced to the online community with the likes of this forum and headfi aswell
Joined a tour group (AudioGeek EU)! Speedrunning the hobby with a great group of people 
came back.
Fiio R2R, cheapest R2R
I received a japanese version of the Walkman NW-ZX707
Affordability
Ziigaat cheap with good sound hybrid IEMs
Not sure
Getting rid of a lot of gear
Getting my custom CE Omnium
Built a 30TB FLAC library
Being Friends with the Canuck Audioholics Anomomous Review Group
Joining Hifi guides haha
Just the friend aspect, met some new folks
I get to chat about gear and music with a bunch of cool people.
Crazy price-to-performance ratio in IEMs
Discovering this community
Getting my hands on the MagicOne with the new pricing. That tied with getting my hands on a used IER-Z1R.
IEMs or Buds? (mark your preference on the scale) - not much have moved to the right so IEMs are still the ones you like the most. Actuallly it got even more heavy on the left side
2023
What types of audio gear do you actively use? - BT headphones are still extremely low! Less of you listen to earbuds as comparing to last year, which is a shame, but there is heavier use of TWS.
2023
What is your primary way of listening to the music? - stationary setups overtook DAPS as primary source, BT dongles are also a bit less prominent (which is surprising considering how convenient they are, but on the other hand there are just a few releases in this category), but standard USB dongles gained the most interest. Which is I belive in-line with the development in the field
2023
Where do you put the emphasize on more in the music you love? - I am voting this to be the stupidest question again, but here are the answers - 1 are vocals, 5 are instrumentals. As a vocal lover I am happy more of you voted vocals
2023
Album of the year - Ezra Collective and my favourite Adrianne Lenker both got 2 votes. Rest of you voted differently. I would try to gather the data and present it in future post in some nice looking way as well - it is the music we care about right? RIGHT?
Yet again! Love you guys
No thank you…
Great summary, i enjoyed reading your comments and seeing the results!
Thank you!
Wow these are some great insights! We seem to be a small but also tight community! Feels good to be a part of this.
and Thank you for putting in so much effort into this!
Thanks again for both coming up with this as well as putting all of the results together in such a fun way!
This is such an amazing Idea, it really does help bring the community together. Thanks for doing this every year, brother!
Interesting to see the shift in source gear. I tend to think of desktop DAC/amp set-ups are for headphone users, and IEM people go with DAPs or dongles. From reading posts on here and seeing this poll, it appears that more and more IEM users are experiencing (and liking) IEMs on desktop gear, hearing benefits.
I never thought I’d drive my IEMs with my desktop gear, even though I’m a headphone guy, but I barely pick up my DAP! My desktop rig really elevates all of my IEMs.
