My POV: Historically, I've garnered mediocre measurements in public school audiometric testing, starting with the following in junior high, and continuing on to the literal short bus in high school evaluations: However, my father managed to maintain a generally above-average gear selection (amongst my peers’ progenitors), so decent speakers and headphones were on offer throughout my formative years: Vector Research VRX-9000 receiver w/270 Ohm H/P outputs, AR91 speakers, Koss HV/1A headphones. My first personal earphone purchase was the Koss Porta...

I've had mine since 2017-08-31, and I'll pony up my subjective ratings. They're not based on instrumented measurement, and the ratings are normalized for price range; at this price, the F9 pins the needle for me. I'm including comparative lower/upper ranges of ratings based on other IEMs I've owned. The comparative ratings take into account their "historical" status, so I'm treating them as equal in price range. You can witness my IEM journey in those selections. I've had the F9s long enough that burn-in shouldn't be a factor, as I've been using...

I’m in accord with the observations in the other 3 reviews. I bought the HD 545s at Best Buy [edit: Good Guys] for $189 back in 1998. Since then, I replaced the ear pads, headband cushion, and cable (1/4” HD 600/650 version) with OEM parts over the years. The old 1/8” jack stock cables always had a flaky connection (frequent drop-outs), but the replacement 1/4” cable 2-pin connection is, for some reason, much more robust. I find thes cans are my go-to for movie watching, due to their superior comfort (and I have big ears), good neutrality, and...

Disclosure: my hearing is not the greatest. I find myself tweaking equalization to around +3 dB starting at 8 kHz, and up to +8 dB at 10 kHz. I still have somewhat critical tastes, but not what I'd consider "audiophile-level". That said, I'm looking for realism, and a good match with my ears, spectrally and ergonomically, for long listening sessions. I listen to a wide range of music, but wanted a new set of IEMs for jazz/classical critical use, without spending too far into diminishing returns, considering my short-bus audiometric deficits.  ...