It is incredibly groundbreaking. It completely Destroyed the Chu and made it obsolete while the Chu already did that to the $20 price bracket.

And there is no such thing as the technical department. It's imagined by people who can't accept that a $20 IEM is the real deal.

You can EQ all of those things if you have no un-EQable flaws. For example the Quarks DSP and the Dusk are the only 2 IEMs I have heard that do not have a timbre killing treble spike somewhere after 10k.

As for EQing them to the same target, it doesn't matter. I would never get it perfectly right and they are already close enough that it comes down to a matter of preference which one I think is better for what music depending on the production (EG, if there is tons of sub bass already I will prefer the Dusk, if there is a lot of warmth in the lower mids I will prefer the Quarks) but mostly I can take either so by default it goes to the one that is 1/20th the price, fits more comfortably and is not fragile.

If I were actually able to EQ them exactly the same they would just be the same IEM and sound exactly the same.

Lol It's gonna happen a lot more. I was initially careful not to make too many hasty claims about the Quarks being as good as the Dusk but I've given it some time and have been comparing them recently and I'm just about ready to come out with it.

It is. The best frequency response in your ear wins. It doesn't matter if it's $2 or $2000.

Quarks DSP. I'm thinking of just ordering a pile of them and handing them out to anyone I know who could use them.

I'mma sell my Dusk cause of this thing.

Should be 6 pairs. 2 different shapes in 3 sizes.

They are very different headphones. The driver has almost nothing to do with the final sound compared to the enclosure and damping.

based

What makes a different material or thickness of pad more premium? Not trying to simp for the brand but the OEM pad was designed that way for a reason. Not saying that it sounds the best way possible with that pad and that it's sacrilegious to mess with it but other pads will sound different for better or worse depending on your taste. The OEM pad is how Sennheiser wanted it to sound/feel.

You can't change any frequency response into any other and you can't change a garbage one into a good one.

Wider soundstage doesn't help. You just train your reflexes to the narrower soundstage and 99% of it is game sense anyway. You know the options for where enemies could be coming from. You don't need to know within a fraction of an arc degree. They are either coming from the opening to the left of you in front or to the right etc....

based

There are no gaming headphones either. Just marketing. We don't need that BS in the IEM space too.

Yeah IMO IEM's just sound better in general because they are easier to tune and have fewer variables throwing everything off. And Dusk is already one of the best there is. I think the Dusk is good enough that if you EQ the last little bits to your liking then it is not possible to have something that sounds better but I am ready to change my mind when I hear it.

Almost any headphone (and certainly every pair i have personally heard) is a downgrade from the Dusk in any metric besides soundstage width.

For me piercing is an understatement. All cymbals and even speaking voices in youtube videos have extreme metallic ringing.

The Arias have a gigantic peak around 12k for me that needs a 15dB cut in order to sound decent. Maybe we are kindred spirits.

Like I already said it's irrelevant in the sense that you shouldn't buy it if you are looking to spend $20 and get the best you can.

Interesting. To me there is pretty much nothing there to make it any more or less uncomfortable than the tips you have on it.

Then why accuse me of always hyping the new thing? For me the Zero was irrelevant on arrival and the Chu actually is irrelevant for someone who wants to buy the best $20 IEM today.

False.

I hyped the Chu as the best at $20 (and just good at any price) because it was and I slagged off the Zero for being inferior.

Now I hype the Quarks DSP because it is better than the Chu. It doesn't mean the Chu is trash and you should throw it out. It does however mean that you shouldn't buy the Chu if you are just looking for the best sound for $20 and the USB-C connector works with your use case.

It also means that if you have the Chu already and want better sound and have $20 to spare and are ok with the USB-C connector then you should buy the Quarks as well.

What problem?

I wouldn't say it's because of tolerance. I "objectively" get a huge 12k spike in my ears with the Aria. If it behaved the same way in your ear canals I suspect you would hate it too but it probably doesn't.

Maybe just individual variation. How does the Aria sound to you? For me it's the most harsh and metallic audio device I have heard in my life no matter how it fits and no matter what tips I use due to an EXTREME 12k peak.

With the Chu I get a mild 12k peak and it still sounds pretty good. CRA, a moderate 10k peak and it sounds ok. Salnotes zero, moderate to large 11k peak and it sounds not great.