And lastly, some impressions of owned/demoed gear: Abyss AB1266 TC (w/ woo audio wa33 stack) wide soundstage. overall warmer sound. Has clarity, transparency, and air. very natural. good comfort and great technicalities. This would be a very good complement to the lina susvara stack, and to be...

As I am leaving the hobby, I want to leave a few tips that I learned through the journey: 1. Buy used. A big part of this hobby is comparing gear to other gear, and you are likely to sell off most of your gear at one time. Save some money by buying used, and sell it on for minimum loss. 2...

226. hifiman arya organic vs focal utopia 2020 (W): Arya organic: leaner treble, airier, more neutral, sounds more as a whole, more sub-bass, tighter bass, better instrumental, overall leaner, comfier. Utopia 2020: more transparent, slightly wider soundstage, better imaging, more analog...

225. sennheiser hd660s2 vs focal utopia 2020 (W): Hd660s2: tighter bass, more natural, warmer mids, more forward mids. Utopia 2020: clearer, more transparent, leaner treble, more sub-bass, wider soundstage, better layering, better background detail, better instrument separation, airier.

224. sennheiser hd660s2 (W) vs hifiman arya stealth: Hd660s2: warmer mids, more sub-bass and bass, more forward mids, sounds more as a whole, more natural. Arya stealth: cleaner, leaner treble, wider soundstage, more transparent, better background detail, better instrument separation, better...

223. kef lsx 2 (W) vs naim mu-so: Lsx 2: clearer, much wider soundstage, leaner treble, clearer bass, more height, airier, better instrument separation, better imaging, sounds more as a whole. Mu-so: more sub-bass and bass, leaner treble, better layering, smoother mids, livelier. I actually...

222. chord poly vs no poly To be honest, I don't see the appeal of the poly. It's normally $400-500 used, and for the price of a mojo 2 + poly combo you could buy a dx320 or similar, which is sonically and functionally better. Also, the poly requires wifi for good audio (the bluetooth quality...

221. a&k rm01 vs no rm01 The rm01 is a really well-made bluetooth remote and the volume wheel is delightful to the touch, almost on par with naim wheels. However, it only has very basic functions (volume, play/pause, mute, fast forwards/backwards), and the buttons are touch-sensitive instead of...

220. questyle m15 (W) vs hiby fc3: M15: clearer, wider soundstage, slightly airier, tighter bass, better layering, better instrument separation, slightly leaner treble. Fc3: slightly more bass, warmer mids. Although the m15 excels in most thins, the difference between the two was smaller than...

focal bathys for $558 at abt.com https://www.abt.com/Focal-Black-Bathys-High-Fidelity-ANC-Over-Ear-Wireless-Headphones-FBATHYS/p/184002.html

219. tgxear desolation sound vs k's earphone bell-lbbs (W): Desolation sound: wider soundstage, more sub-bass and bass, fuller smoother notes, more natural, slightly more height, but bass can bleed into mids and it sounds veiled in comparison. Bell lbbs: tighter bass, more transparent...

It's a thing. I've seen drop do a sponsor listing of the ety erx when it was first launched (https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds/drop-etymotic-erx-in-ear-monitors.30389/) However, they did not claim it as the "Unrivaled King of IEM." ^^:

218. sony ier-m9 vs thieaudio monarch mk3 (W): M9: warmer mids, more forward mids, better bass/mids/treble balance, sounds more as a whole, smoother and easier listen, lighter, comfier. Monarch mk3: more sub-bass, wider soundstage, better background detail, airier, more height, clearer, more...

217. yincrow rw-3000 (W) vs tgxear desolation sound: Rw-3000: slightly leaner treble, airier, clearer, a little more transparent, wider soundstage, better layering, a little more bass. Desolation sound: smoother mids, more forward mids, more natural, better imaging.

216. unique melody multiverse mentor (W) vs tgxear desolation sound: Mentor: more bass and sub-bass, clearer, better imaging, better bass/mids/treble balance, more natural, more transparent, smoother mids, better layering, better background detail, more height, slightly wider soundstage...

pm'd

Great seller. Item as described, fast shipment, and painless transaction. Thanks!

215. unique melody multiverse mentor vs focal utopia 2020 (W): Mentor: more sub-bass and bass, slightly clearer, more natural, better background detail. Utopia: leaner treble, airier, wider soundstage, slightly more transparent, better layering, better instrument separation. Though I prefer...

True, its not iems per se ofc. Loudness is a big factor, but there are also others such as ear infections that arise from unclean eartips. I am a little concerned about bone conduction in regard to tinnitus also since tinnitus is known to be caused by damage to the bones in your middle ear. My...

For iems, I've heard theories about the pressure building up inside and also frequent infections, both of which I believe to a degree.

Unfortunately I have had a similar experience in the last few months, and that has totally made my tinnitus worse.

Yes, they told me that tinnitus is something that one doesn't recover from but only learn to push into the background. Basically they advocated that I have music or white noise in the background 24/7 (just not so close to the ear) so that I would break the habit of listening to the tinnitus. It...

I went to the largest tinnitus hospital in Korea (literally hundreds of patients per day) and the first thing they told me was to stop using iems and headphones. And coming from personal experience, ear damage from loud noises definitely makes it worse.

214. unique melody multiverse mentor (W) vs thieaudio monarch mk3: Mentor: better background detail, more natural, warmer mids, better bass/mids/treble balance, more bass, slightly clearer. Monarch mk3: leaner treble, slightly airier, better instrument separation, tighter bass. This was...

213. unique melody multiverse mentor (W) vs campfire audio trifecta: Mentor: clearer, more transparent, leaner treble, better background detail, better instrument separation, more natural, better layering, leaner mids. Trifecta: more bass, wider soundstage, airier, more sub-bass, sounds more...