Interesting timing talking about extended listening then a change, not a week in my situation but here goes.
And XERO1 also stated recently:
" The Piety definitely has a distinct audible coloration in it's upper-mids/lower-treble, which could be described as a slight 'roughness' or 'coarseness' (but I wouldn't say it crosses over into harshness). "
I listened with the Piety all working day yesterday with Dethonray Tender 1 planar IEM with ifI Gryphon doing DAC duties. Near the end of the day I plugged the Dethonray straight into the Gryphon and kept listening to the same album. I was immediately struck by how "clean" the Gryphon sounded by comparison, smooth and open, clear space between the sounds, better separation.
I have also recently commented, with no response, that my listening volume with the Piety is all over the place which is unusual. Today I listened with the same headphones that I was when I asked that question, DCA Aeon Noire, and my ifI Diablo and the same general type of albums, even chose those that I noted were the ones that were most notably quiet or loud with Piety. Very different experience with the Diablo and, as usual, the pot is glued between 12 - 1 regardless of the music and the music seems smoother and generally a nicer listen, no inclination to reach for the pot every 10 minutes.
I am thinking that the Piety's sound "colour" (read that as - sometimes pleasant distortion) is coming across as a bit harsh with the Noire which do have a slightly crispy treble and the perceived volume swings are actually just the harsh glare that some tracks create, possibly exacerbated by recording levels but that isn't the entire issue given the Diablo comparison ???
So I noticed that "roughness"/"coarseness"/"fuzziness" last night when listening to the Piety on high gain. Spent the day with it on low gain and I didn't get nearly as much of that quality.
Also finding myself all over the place on volume, listening louder than I typically might. I'm thinking it might be how the dynamics are conveyed in low gain vs. high gain or something, or just something about that knob. Maybe I should give it another good yanking.