I appreciate your input, preference is one thing. But instruments and vocals in real life sound a certain way. I am assuming then that no IEM or headphone can reproduce all instruments and vocals in natural and realistic way and there's always a compromise, am I right?Actually, it all depends on what you've been listening to or are used to. Also, ear training plays a big role. People from the production world like me who work on studio monitors in a studio space everyday and who like reference neutral signatures, be it Diffuse Field or Harman Target inspired, tend to like IEMs with good pinna gain/forward upper midrange. For me, those kinda IEMs have accurate and correct tonality of instruments and sound more natural to me, like real instruments do in real life. Also, the amount of pinna gain one likes and considers perfect is again a personal preference. On the other hand, IEMs like pre-2020 Andromeda which don't have much pinna gain, don't sound as natural in tonality to me. That doesn't mean they aren't fun or liked or have a massive fanbase, because they do! Not every IEM needs to be tuned close to reference and not every person is required to like reference signatures. The variety and flavours is what makes this hobby so interesting!
I've come across a couple of your posts and understood that you do not like a forward upper midrange presentation. That is completely fine because that is a preference you have and it is one that you should definitely consider when shortlisting IEMs. I'd recommend auditioning as many IEMs as you can and settle for the one you like most. If you're 100% happy and satisfied with one, it shouldn't matter what others think of your choice or how well or badly it was reviewed by reviewers.
Hope this helps.
I listen to a lot of different kind of music mostly with vocals , so obviously it's important for me. I just have never heard Michael Jackson, George Michael , Robert Plant or anyone else sound so high pitched on any audio system like on something like the Dusk, Clairvoyance or Thieaudio L3. I highly doubt they sound like this in real life , so dry and emotionless.