I believe Meze's planar driver design addresses that issue. I suggest positioning the drivers in relation to the ear is a big issue, something in-ear devices don't have to deal with.

Another reason might be lack of QC. While you might be able to find great gear, you might be pressed to duplicate.

Thought about Questyle M15? The one I have is handling everything I throw at it.

Better in what way?

Audeze is great for aftermarket cables. Everything from inexpensive eBay, to really expensive. The Sennheiser's I've had also had replaceable cables.

I liked the LCD-2 sound. I found them heavy for long listening sessions. That said, I now have LCD-4z Audezes which are very close in weight and I don't have issues. I do think the LCD-2 series is a very good value.

To that add the Meze 109 Pro which can be had for a little over $500.00 used. I think I've seen them for sale on Head-Fi classified. I have owned Sennheiser HD-600 and, a HD-560 I think, and they would be great choices. I'm a fan of Audeze planars, but most choices will be over your price range...

Price Drop

Meze 109 Pro for sale. Purchased from another Head-Fi member. Has, box, case, 3 cables. 3.5 mm connecter OEM cables 1.5m and 3m. The 1.5 works fine, the 3m seems to have problems. I'm also including a 2m Audiophile Ninja cable with a 6.3mm plug. I selling because I bought a pair of Audeze and...

Excellent seller. The deal went very smoothly and the product was as described.

Sold?

Currently Meze 109 Pro driven by Ferrum Oor/Hypsos stack, driven by a Cambridge DACMagic200m. Planned changes. Likely to a set of Audeze planars. (Not sure which yet. Had LCD2C, LCDXC, LCD5, should not have sold the 5...) Maybe a early LCD3. Maybe get a Ferrum WANDLA and cables needed to drive...

Can someone tell me what brand equipment stands are being used in the pictures?

I'll make an assumption. We're talking about headphone amps (This is a head-phone forum...) That said, I've owned both solid state and tube gear. Currently settled on solid state (Ferrum stack OOR+Hypsos). I moved away from full tube gear (Cary 300 SEI) and tried a hybrid (LSA Hyperdrive 2)...

Thank you. I've never owned a pair of ZMF headphones. How are they comfort wise? Maybe another path to explore.

Thank you. I honestly hadn't thought about IEM's much so I haven't watched where the technology has gone over the last few years.

What do people like? Z1R? 820s? Meze Liric? Something else? I briefly had a pair of Audeze LCD-XCs which I didn't like. (Can't remember why, didn't have them long)

Sold?

The cable is the 1.5M with 6.3mm (1/4") connector?

https://snext-final.com/en/

Just headphones I've owned. I did have the HD650... I felt the Sennheiser HD800 and HD800s were better. I also like the Meze 109Pro, which I'm currently using.

pm

Looking at the paper referenced above, I noted several things that I might take issue with. It's dated 2011. I suspect material and design science has evolved a bit since this was published. The is no mention I saw of what the spiders were made of or the size. Other than speaker a and speaker b...

I'm curious how often the burn-in goes bad? The item being burned in gets worse. Or for that matter, if your target is always changing, how do you know when it's reached it's "sweet" spot. 10 hours, 100 hours, 120 hours? And what happens after? Nirvana? And for how long? Forever?

If this is a white rabbit hole (Alice in Wonderland) you feel you must go down, have fun. I have seen burn-in attributed to almost everything in this hobby, and not seen evidence to indicate reality. As I read it, the test you found says nope, and all I've seen agrees with that. That said...