If you're still in the return window, I think you just described the Dusk's sound sig...I feel like it's been long enough to make this post.
A few weeks ago I posted here asking for recommendations for new iems. I was initially mainly worried about rain and looked into some cheaper iems that I could treat as more or less disposable. I ended up sticking with my Samsung Galaxy Buds+. My justification ended up being that I was probably more anxious as a placebo than actually likely to break the things with some light rain every now and then. Worst case, I could always pick up something like a pair of Tevi as a replacement if they do end up breaking, but it makes more sense to wait until/if that happens than to spend money I may not have to.
But I also picked up a pair of Blessing 2. I... initially had mixed feelings about them. On the technical end of things, they kick the crap out of just about everything I've ever listened to, including the 400i that I use at home. At their best, they're also tuned pretty close to my preferences. But at their worst, they can be bright to the point of being outright painful, clearly not usable for the longer sessions I tend toward. Their aggression out of the box seems ideal for genres like pop and edm, especially on the vocal end of things. But distorted guitars were a no-go for me, especially if they're already tuned toward the higher end.
Soundstage is a bit odd. Instrument separation is almost too good. Instead of getting a larger stage with different elements taking the forefront at different times, it's more of a set of smaller stages with a distinct space between them. Vocals are very distinctly centered and always present. Recording quirks are particularly revealing. When production is doing interesting things with their staging, it can sound tremendous. But anytime production thought it was a good idea to have entire instruments presented exclusively in a particular ear, things can get very awkward sounding very quickly. I usually notice these things with my other gear, but here the issue can be that I can't not notice them.
I wouldn't describe it as a problem with music specifically. I'm generally of the belief that there's no such thing as a 'natural' sound in music, at least not in a recording. There can be awkward sounding practices like mono instrument production. But that's still not really an issue of natural versus artificial. I wouldn't say that about movies though. I've only watched a couple of films with them so far but I would definitely say these are not the right fit for the medium so far. The smaller split staging actively harms immersion in cases where the camera is 'inside' a body and the world is sounding around them. You can relate to that in an intuitive manner, you know what it's supposed to sound like. The Blessing 2 doesn't sound like what it's supposed to sound like, even compared to much worse overall headphones.
Initially I was very worried about the whole here. I didn't really want to listen to certain types of music with them, which was a problem when you consider that I don't want to carry multiple sets of headphones on the go. Wind over 10 or so mph is a problem compared to the Galaxy Buds. While the Blessing 2 are comfortable overall, their competition here is almost perfect for my ears. And there's no way in hell I'm taking these things out in the rain. So I begun thinking of the Blessing 2 more as an alternative for my home 400i than for my portable headphones. This was a problem partly because I don't really feel like I need a replacement at this price range right now (a real 400i replacement is ideally higher end) and partly because it would only be a limited replacement due to the movie staging weirdness.
But there's good news! I took a chance and threw more money at the problem by buying a Fiio BTR5. It was really supposed to be more about regaining the track selection that I was missing more than I thought I'd miss. I had another more longshot feeling use in mind but it didn't work out, somewhat as expected. But this thing is a ****ing savior. Bluetooth when clipped to my waist has been literally perfect so far, at least as far as connection is concerned. My past experiences with Bluetooth are more what I would describe as tolerable. Track selection works perfectly and I even prefer the solid buttons to the touch control on my GBuds. Having finer control over volume is more work but probably better for my ears in the long run. By far the biggest change though has been how easy it was to EQ away the stock Blessing 2 brightness woes. Just a slight boost (2-4 db) in bass frequencies and an even slighter reduction (1-2 db) in the upper mids almost completely fixed my tuning concerns. I see now why people seem to like the Dusk version so much. Even just using the custom EQ setting at all (even if you don't change anything) does introduce a veil of sorts to the sound and I have no idea what's actually causing it. Ideally I would keep the more relaxed sound and get rid of the veil for additional clarity. If anyone knows how to deal with it, please let me know. But even with the veil the more relaxed sound is absolutely worth it. I went from feeling very mixed to being extremely happy with the added BTR5.
Otherwise, you can tip-roll some of that heat out if EQ still isn't cutting it. Give the Symbio W Hybrids a shot; I think they'll help. The B2 definitely has a gap. Really sweet and articulate midrange, but the lower mids are ducked just a little too much and I think it does something funky to the staging.
Running them balanced through the BTR5 might help with some of that as well. Shouldn't have to spend more than $15-20 on a cable from Amazon these days.
Oh and they're definitely more bass-heavy than the 400i. Otherwise would agree with how you feel about their similarities.
I used to smoke and that was my favorite brand lol
