So, I had the BEs for a few days now. It's still in the process of burn-in(i know Dan doesn't believe in it) but I still hear differences. out of the box, it sounds neutral in a natural. The right amount of bass, midrange warmth, and treble. After few days, the treble seems to reduce and midrange darkens a little. Bass is a bit too much for me in its current state. The detail in the midrange is phenomenal though. I had the Isine 10 and Shure se846 a few months ago and I can tell right away that the BE is way more detailed with much better layering. What really stood out for me is that vocals have amazing depth and separation. There are just layers of detail in the midrange area. There is no question that these are the best in its class. The real question is, just how many >$1000 earphone is this slaying. I can tell that the SE846 is out. SE846 doesn't have any big weakness except that it doesn't have the micro detailing of a 'high-end' product. It's an upper-midrange product to me.
As good as the midrange and treble is, the bass doesn't shout 'high end' to me. It's an upper mid-fi kind of bass. Fairly quick, detailed and excellent extension but it is not super fast. A headphone analogy would be the BEs are like Nighthawk's bass rather than hi-fi bass of Focal Elear. Design wise, earphones are very light but i wish the cable was just a little thicker. it's too thin for it to be durable. They do come with 5 year warranty so I'm not too worried about it. Those with small ear canals might want to try these first as well as they come with large bores. Lack of cable slider is the biggest issue for me. I had to DIY one myself.
Overall, this is a giant slayer product. It does have some quirks (no cable slider, thin cables) but the SQ is multiples classes above its price class. The relative slowness of the bass means that this is not the best for fast music like modern pop. They shine best with music with lots of vocals, deep soundstage, and has heaps of details.
This is coming from the direct output of the lightning adapter of iPhone. I'm currently waiting for Mytek Clef to be out so i'll update my impression with those as well.