I received mine few days ago. some first impressions:
-bass is a bit recessed but it snaps and wont distort if you alter your EQ. Also they maybe don't carry as much acoustic pressure as my previous monster turbine, but they are more detailed, it's not a boom in your ears, you can "fell" the texture kinda. I enjoy this trait when listening to Bach's organ plays. Also i put some cotton in the olive tips, it still helps.
-I only have the monster turbine to compare to and the pl 30 that i currently own (used to have the ultimate ears extended bass....yeah yeah basshead i know
but it was too long ago). But as soundstage goes I'm very happy with it. I own the cowon J3 and i found that using the stereo enhancement and 3d surround is much more satisfying than for these other twos (once again i know they're not exactly competitors). what you get with this EQ effect is that it broadens the sound stage evenly....BUT it just does extend it so that the sound is less full...i dont quite know how to explain but it's as if you hold a rubber string between your fingers, now you stretch it and it gets longer but thinner. Well this is less true with this one, which leads me to believe you get scalable results with amp. I have a direct EF1 for my hd 650 but i didn't try yet with these.
-all in all it's a perfect companion to rediscover your music. I found it amusing when i purchased my HD 650 to enjoy more bass based music, hence abandonning rock, vocal and enjoying instrumental, electro, progressive etc...now I go back to rock, classical, trance. true enough I'm not quite used to these highs (understandable when used to the hd 650's dark veil), for now i cheat and keep them on a leash with my EQ, maybe burn in helps with the sibilance.