I was actually worried about the source chain being the issue. Definitely the Schiit Jotunheim 1 is something I'd consider bright 9 times out of 10. In fact, I did go out of my way to buy a Lyr+ in desperate hopes it would improve things and to make sure I my ears aren't going crazy. It did end up improving things somewhat, but the sibilance and overall brightness and airy character were still there regardless of tubes I had tried. Maybe the Bifrost Multibit is more sibilant than I take it granted for, or maybe Schiit in general isn't a great pairing? To be clear, I should say the brightness wasn't piercing at all, just overall elevated, yet smoothed, throughout the frequency range. Maybe my 31 yo ears were more sensitive to the 10+ KHz range (though I can't hear beyond 16 KHz)? I've heard the Ananda Stealth V2, Stealth V3, and Nano, and less refined treble is something of a staple for them, whereas I could definitely tell there was way more refinement on the HekV2's end.
Unfortunately, I decided that either I wasn't ready for the HE1000V2 enough to appreciate it or that maybe I needed some kilobuck level source equipment to get the most out of it. Either way, I could see this being a rabbithole that I wasn't financially prepared without access to any audiophile friends with different equipment or ears. I've since returned them in fear that I was just going to sink more money than I was financially comfortable with. The HE1000V2 had been my dream headphones, mainly relying on the anecdotal experience of everyone else here, but blind buying bit me in the butt.
As an aside, I do know of the difference volume, even so much as 1 dB can make. I do my best I can to compare everything at as close to what I perceive to be the same volume as I can. I'm only human, so it's still possible that the volume differences were still enough to make the difference.
