The SE215 is quite bass boosted and something i consider bloated compared to most IEMs and headphones in my collection. So if that's your daily driver, it's important to remember that your brain will automatically adjust and equalize to whatever headphones you listen to on the regular. So if you're used to the 215, anything that has less bass or is more neutral will sound anemic and like the lack of bass is exaggerated. It usually takes a few days of constant listening to reset your brain.

That said, I'm not saying you need to like them. I haven't used the Alice and can't comment on how it's sounds (although usually moondrop is somewhat of s Harman sound). To be honest, for wireless not a big fan of moondrop IEMs, but for wired they're one of my favorites

If there are other issues other than sound that you don't like, absolutely those are important criticisms. But if the main complaint is just the sound signature or tonal balance, I always recommend spending a few days straight using them first.

No you don't NEED an external amp. Unless the headphones are really low sensitivity, you can drive higher impedance headphones from a wide variety of sources. I ran 300ohm headphones from just a little mp3 player or my Nintendo switch. I've also done that with my 250ohm beyerdynamics fine

Either, but yes with the lights off and listening in a dark room does seem to improve my perception imaging in binaural tracks for me

8:1 is just the common middle ground that has been accepted, but oratory goes into it a little more in section 3 of this post https://www.reddit.com/r/oratory1990/comments/ugofb0/why_can_measurements_from_different_sources/

Tl;dr while 8 times is the generaly accepted ratio, there's no reason its specifically that, as even an 8:1 ratio can cause a 1dB difference in the frequency response of the headphones due to the damping factor. so a higher ratio can still be more desired for less of a change in FR

You generally want as low of an output impedance as possible to have a high damping factor ratio. If you use a higher output impedance with headphones that are too close in load impedance (usually any ratio closer than 1:8), than it may have an impact on the headphones frequency response and change how they sound. Some pairings use this for specific changes, but usually you want a generaly low output impedance, even if the load impedance is higher

The blue line is a fletcher Munson curve/equal loudness curve. It's an average measurment of human range of hearing for each frequency.

The curve isn't ideal for headphones or audio as a target, and also changes by listening volume and flattens quite a lot as the volume increases.

The only other person I've seen use the equal loudness curve as a target is nouvraught, although he would do it by first compensating the headphones FR to diffuse field first, and then comparing against the equal loudness curve... not that it's to be taken seriously anyway. As far as I know, it's mostly baseless methodology

I would be tempted... but I'm trying to manage my impulse spending habits better... also new pokemon just came out

At 96dB

Looking back, I could have been fully satisfied with Just a KSC75 and some modding. While I appreciate my more expensive gear and absolutely want to keep trying more, it's not so much of a drive to upgrade as it used to be. Just enjoy what you have

I mainly just use my galaxy buds pro and Blessing 2 Dusk. All my other IEMs are rarely used other than situational cases (ER4XR for isolation), so yeah I get ya.

There are some competitors, but in general most budget stuff, even things that sound good, just don't present themselves the same way the Blessing 2 does, but again it is down to preference. You may find something you like more

A lot is based on the recording itself. In the end, we only hear in left and right channels, but the shape of our ear and the timing of the sounds as it reaches our ears all works together to change the Frequency in a way that our brain understands as position.

If the audio has that frequency information and timing in the recording, our brains will decipher positioning as well in headphones

If you're happy, then there's no problem.

Different amp combos can slightly alter the sound and frequency response, but it's not necessarily a case of "this is better than that". Its more just what you prefer.

The main case crin was trying to make was, don't buy an amp expecting them to transform your headphones. Some claim that if Headphones sound bad to you, you just need to spend more on an amp and they'll sound good. This is a trap that is easy to fall into and if you're on a budget, it's totally fine to spend your money elsewhere and save where you can

The HD600 has quite high sensitivity, so they run well on a wide variety of sources.

Good marketing story for the general public, but yeah some things don't add up to me. Their page tries to explain IEMs with each frequency being it's own individual particle, and traditional IEMs ( speakers/headphones/normal hearing) scattering half of them while their design preserves it all.

I don't think that's quite how it works.

Then again, on their page they said they are treating sound waves the same as light waves, which is telling enough.

Your ear with an IEM is a pressure chamber type of environment, and sound waves with differing frequencies from a driver are generated more as a whole waveform. Their explanation seems flawed more you look at it

Gotta love their animation of how a traditional IEM has most of the soundwaves bouncing back and forth inside the chamber and only a few reach the eardrum https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1721/0649/files/Traditional-Earphones.gif?v=1662979573

The change to the Sennheiser build and boxes was a couple years before they sold to sonova though. Back in 2019

He retired 4 years ago and his website was pretty much wiped. Now he travels in a tiny home he built himself. But yeah, before most of the known reviewers that are around now, Tyll was making youtube reviews and posting measurments on his website

Tyll found what really matters and is living the dream

First of all the part that goes around the actual nozle itself is thin, which gives more room for the tips to flex. Then the tips themselves are quite thin silicone and shaped more like a cone rather than the thicker rounded tips that the mpondrop and Zero have. It makes them form a lot better to small ears. Spinfit tips also have a swivel design that allows the tips to bend and fit your ear shape better

Yeah I found both those IEMs don't fit my ears no patter which stock tips I use. I use spinfit CP155 tips with them and the fit is perfect now

For me it's just wanting to experience more and understand as much as possible.

It started as just a love for music, started from my dad and grandpa who always had large floor speakers playing rock throughout my childhood.

Once I got into headphones, the bug to try as many different sound signatures took over and I just wanted to experiment with headphones. Over time looking more into EQ, reading papers, experimenting with measurments.

It's a fun hobby that kept me occupied throughout covid, and the drive to learn and experience more is still there

Other than the Hifiman Sundara and probably some ZMF stuff, it's still pretty much the same, and Sennheiser 6X0 is still a default recommendation

Headphones can never be perfect, which means it will always be subjective. So yeah I guess we have reached a peak in a general sense, but there's always something unique that speaks to different people

don't take this serious, just having fun in conversation

Airpods Max are good compared to their direct competition, Sony XM5, Bose, but they're not amazing by any stretch. I think something like a $100 AKG K361 sounds better tuned, and the airpods max are all about the features and name.

The drivers themselves are just sort of crammed into the cup with minimal room, and DSP does all the work to tune the drivers to sound decent. But still they are missing a lot of upper mids.

I wouldn't pay full price for them