My wife started complaining about open backs so I have had to stick with closed back for now. The Aeons are great and super comfortable for me. I posted this in the Noire thread last night too but I can literally put them on for hours and just get lost in my music. I like the "mid-fi' price point. Am reserving the higher dollars for my music room I told my wife the next house has to have. Been pretty happy in the sub 1k range in general in this hobby and don't really have the urge to spend more than that for a pair of headphones.Nice collection. I am running the Aeon X Closed from Massdrop and love them. Have been thinking about the Open X version as well. I personally find the midfi ($500 ish) the sweet spot for full size cans. Like you, I prefer over ears to IEMs. I can tolerate most TWS because they have a shallow fit. Traditional IEMs with deep fit don't work for me for a variety of reasons. My only question for you is why baby the PI7? They can probably handle workouts and "beater" duty unless it's a fit issue. I've started using the more expensive stuff in all settings because life is short and I'll probably move on from them in 6 months anyway so why bother listening to sub par stuff even for exercise etc. Off track a bit but has anyone seen the new Yamaha ANC headphones? They offer some spatial audio features. I wonder how they might compare to the Aonic, Panda, APM? I'm intrigued but not $500 intrigued.
Back to your question:
1. IPX rating - I sweat a lot and am being cautious in case I drop them in water while cleaning the patio or car or watering my garden, which has happened. You are probably right and I am most likely being overly cautious. My MW07 Go are on their last legs anyway (recently had to get a rocket science degree just to reconnect the left and right earbuds).
2. Habit (obviously have had the MW07 Gos for much longer since I bought them at launch) so they have been my workout buds for the last 2 years or so. I also don't mind their more v shaped sound for working out.
The way this tech is advancing, my PI7s will likely replace my MW07 Go as the workout buds in the next year and I will be babying something else.