Thanks B9.
The frustrating thing is that @Wiljen says the exact opposite: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/chi...phones-and-iems.820747/page-833#post-13802511
I know we all hear things differently, but conflicting impressions never make decisions any easier LOL.
I just read B9's remarks and I have to wonder if maybe that OEM isn't the same thing as the K3 HD. I read his notes on several others and they were all in line with my listening and then hit that one and it is just a polar opposite. I don't think either of us suddenly went tone deaf so I have to think something hardware wise is off.