ranfan is a great resource. I appreciate his pragmatic levelheadedness in this hobby.
I think I'm the only one running as close to pro audio studio transportable as possible. DAPs, Sony and OEM cables are good for Youtube videos and entertainment portable Music purposes but for pure neutral accuracy you need a low latency real-time Music Server + a Chord DAC.
I agree with you on PW Audio cables. I don't understand why they are so popular besides the ergonomics. They are coloured and try to take you back to an era. Who wants their gear tainted and be taken back to the 50's and 60's? 80's, 90's, 00's and 10's should sound like their period not taken back to the 1950's. I don't like OEM cables at all. I only use non-OEM perfectly neutral reference CIEM cables via RCA OUT of a Chord DAC.
For IEMs, I only use Customs and IPX so that rules out the majority. I only trust IEM companies with a solid clientele and a solid professional reputation. For Black Friday, I'm considering the A18S at the transducer of choice. The past Black Fridays, discounts were 20%. I'm preoccupied with other Audio projects, but if the discount is higher than 20% then I will roll the dice. There's an reviewer that uses the A18S for mixing and that reviewer has an arsenal of IEMs in his inventory. I ruled out the A18T as the A18S seems more balanced, but still close to reference. Most likely, I will wait for the next iteration of A18 as I don't think my cable will be IPX ready this year and I need a my cable to do the A18 justice.
https://theheadphonelist.com/64-audio-a18s-the-quartermaster-a-custom-in-ear-monitor-review/
For more of a pro use, not consumer you need low latency real-time on the source along with a Chord DAC. There's nothing like pro audio quality bass that's close to bare metal as possible (super low milliOhms).
Also, only Chord can do 10/10 Resolution and 10/10 Transparency due to not implementing a headphone amplifier in it's design. My cable is the only one that can do 10/10 Resolution and 10/10 Transparency. So I'm the only one with 10/10 Resolution and 10/10 Transparency all the way up to the transducer.
If you willing to go further down the rabbit hole. I don't as I don't have the self-control to settle thus big money pit, so CIEMs and transportable are the sweet spot for my use case. But this is ray-dude's system if you are wondering how a low latency real-time like the Taiko Extreme + a Chord DAC is architected. He had open invites pre-COVID in San Diego but not sure about now.