i found most audezes shouty in the upper mids. thats why i sold all of them besides an LCD-i3. Specially the XC was so shouty i couldnt stand them for long. Also i found Audezes soundstages claustrophobic and 2d. maybe its my earshape, as many praise them for this. but even my lcd-i3 sound completely located inside my head.
Soundstage depth and layering are exceptional on the pro planars. the only planars i heard that do a better job in imaging are the T+A Solitair P for 10x the price. but they shrink instruments to toy size, which the avantone dont do.
As i found every single hifiman too bright and thin to be natural sounding, i never did any comparisons. Oppo PM1 and 2 are better in detail retrieval and overall have slightly more realistic timbre, but they´re claustrophic in comparison.
People looking for overdone treble (aka treble shimmer lovers) and/or friends of excessive upper mids (Kpop, Asian tuning or Audeze lovers) and finally bassheads might miss something unless they dont use eq. But everyone looking for natural sound without spikes and peaks should immediatly give the avatone a try.
Every once in a while i think i need an upgrade, but than i listen to them and couldnt imagine a single headphone that i would consider an upgrade. I am not into details, not into treble and not into big bold bass. i mostly listen to music that has no vocals, so there is that. most important to me is neutrality, soundstage depth and layering. I couldnt care less about soundstage width tho.
The only thing i might like better than stock would be about 3db louder from 60hz down to 30hz. Eq is not an option for me, so i came back to the thread for all the great modding ideas and it seems that perforated pads could do the trick. sadly there is no chance of getting the Acoustic Research AR-HA1 pads you suggested in germany. which pads would you suggest instead and more so how do you attach them?
Looking forward to your ideas.
