Isn't every headphone "flawed" and correctable via EQ? Imagine if every headphone shipped with a DSP cable to improve the tuning or provide different profiles. It would be more or less the same story that the headphone sounds better with the DSP cable than without.
This is going to be controversial for sure !!!
First, some “flaws” cannot be corrected—distortion, resonances, for example…
Moondrop (Quarks DSP, The Droplet, Jiu, May, Chu-II DSP, Dusk) and Tanchjim (Zero, One, Tanya) are definitely on this DSP path…
There are two ways to see it IMO:
- Correcting an entry level IEM. When a manufacturer can’t achieve the desired signature (the “target”) with acceptable distortion, within the cost constraints they have, a DSP cable is not a bad option…
- Offering different “profiles” as you said. Even an IEM offers 4 micro switches and 3 interchangeable nozzle filters, it pales in comparison to the range of adjustments you get from the 9x PEQ filters of a FreeDSP cable. A manufacturer can propose different “presets” of what they want you to hear/discover… and you still have the choice of doing your own EQ to your liking.
The flip side: these integrated DSP/DAC/Amp cables are not SOTA, and some audiophiles are gonna scream at how bad they are… My opinion: something like CDSP is fine for an entry-level IEM, and FreeDSP is fine… for almost any IEM.
And then, there is the USB-C topic: IMO, it is actually a lot more ubiquitous now than a 3.5mm or 4.4mm plug…
So, this is my “workflow” (a big word, I know…): first, I listen to my new IEMs “as-is”, or with the DSP (Qudelix, DAP) at zero (no correction), I then start to mess around—AutoEQ, exploring this & that, whatever…. When I get something I like, or something interesting (not necessarily flawless!), I load it into a CDSP or FreeDSP cable and I’m done! That IEM stays with the DSP cable attached to it, usable with any phone, PC, pretty much any DAP… until I decide to try something else.
This is a completely different mindset IMO !!!