Very interesting read benzoylmethyl. You made your point perfectly on many different levels in complete fairness so I don't see how anyone could be upset by the write up. I have not purchased any custom IEMs or any expensive IEMs for that matter as of yet. My experience of trying friends has never urged me into it yet. I do though understand your hearing preference into the land of color and non-perfect but fun sound signatures, as I have based my purchases the same way.
My point here is it would be interesting to get another review from you in six months as you continue to adjust to them. Also another review in two years as you try new equipment. Also, I write this only because I have found that if I only have one pair of headphones, I start to understand them as fun after a while no matter what the sound is. The breakdown you had on your first listen going from full size favorites and jumping into the new IEM sound was both a fair and unfair thing do do to your perception I think. Fair as I understand your overall goal and unfair as in time your 1964s may seem to get closer to that end goal but with some tweeks.
It would be cool to see you try them with some of the portable tube amps in the future. I know your final notes stated that you were able to get some new fun out of the sig with a change of tubes. The other point you have made is how much they do respond to different amp choices. The cool part is they are nice to use for long term, but as I sometime look at life, there could maybe be a real reason why your with the 1964s? Not only would I try different amps but also different full quality sound files and maybe even a different DAP front end change.What I am trying to say is your fun Band-Aid could come from testing new equipment and from the last place you look! Getting them 80% there may be a place you adapt to in time. You could really learn to love them when you get to the 80% marker place.
So much of my choices in headphones end up to be "in relation to" choices and the differences that you have with owning a couple sets. I use my AH-D7000s almost 100% of the time just for that fun color sound that makes our hobby all worth it. I understand your point when the fun just starts to seem watered down by a dull sound signature. People who misread your write up are not in full understanding of personal sound needs in headphones and could read it as an attack on the manufacturer. I also though learned that headphone and stereo systems are really the total sum of all the parts and the sound is never dependent on just one thing.
Of course one set of headphones is going to sound noticeably different at times and sometimes grand sounding upon first listen. I am a member of the camp that believes a person can know if they like a system or headphone in 5 minutes. I'm not one of these people who write that it takes months to fully understand what is going on. That said though, I also believe that this headphone thing is not all cut and dry and that there is still a middle ground where people can be 100% happy with a sound that is 80% there for them. The last 20% gets a lot more respect than it deserves only because of the adaptive hearing of humans and what does take place if you only have one headphone for months on end. The whole purpose of Head-Fi seems at times to be about folks endlessly searching for that missing 20%. Many would be happy if they didn't do system changes so fast and tried a work around as opposed to drastic sales one after another. Many, but not all here also understand the pure power of the source in the not so easy to hear final sound in a pair of headphones or speakers. We all have seen many go about big down stream change outs only to discover it was a messed up front end causing them to not to get to the place they wanted.
So when you have time, as I kinda know you will anyway, try and fill us in with your future equipment chang-ups and listening adaptations. It would be cool to read about.
