It’s been fun, guys. Years of purchasing and testing. Over and over comparisons. Law of diminishing returns proving to me that the price to performance limits in the thousands vs in the hundreds doesn’t prove to be worth it, to my subjective experiences with headphones and DAC/Amps. I could have gone cheaper than this set-up, but this set-up matches what I was looking for, complements the sounds of the R2R chip in the 499 and the 109 strengths, and stops around that $1000 limit. I also wanted something I could pass on to my children and that could be taken apart easily if any fixing was needed in the future( headphone wise).
Key points: The Wood and golden tones, Comfort, Build, Natural/warm tones, and yet details in the top end and revealing mids being retained. Balance, Headroom in power, Cool to the touch surface during long hours of use, and history,heritage, or reliablity of both companies.
Reason: At 50 years of age, I have less in front of me than I have behind me. Life is just getting more and more in short supply and I’m tired to wasting my life chasing the 5%-10% differences and being kicked by the the Diminshing Returns of hobby when getting a $2000 Iem or Headphone doesn’t truly sound better than a $700 one. Time to focus on more of the enjoyment of music than analyzing it and compariing it looking for which product sounds better when the triangle is tapped:). Its been fun and frustrating all the same, just like life I guess.