For Mac SoundSource is the best option

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Why not U12t? They both should be similar in tuning, more like warm neutral with awesome technicalities

Actually comfort is also top notch, their hi-end headphones are one of the most comfortable

NewJeans songs are just too good, you will definitely get addicted to them with a bit of time

My King! Great music taste! I'm listening to IU songs with Variations and enjoying it very much

What is your EQ preset? Tried oratory1990 harman and it's so so, stock was better, while harman tuning is really great on my Variations, it didn't suite HD600

Great, thank you for your response. I'm only 1 year in this hobby and from day 1 I was thinking about Arya, due to Joshua Valour influence, because he was the first reviewer, that I started to watch and in that time he was loving AryaV2 and I am still dreaming about the day, when I will grab a pair for myself and will sunk into audio nirvana

Enjoy your Arya! For most people they are end game material

Hah, well it is normal flow in this hobby, I haven't owned any audio gear more than 6 months, maybe my Variations will break this record.

So what IEM are you using now, after selling Monarch? Or maybe looking for something to buy?

Also thanks for your input about LCD-XC, I decided that this would be my 'end game' closed back if I wanted one, but 670g of weight is indeed disappointing. I didn't feel at all my 410g Ananda on my head, this ear-shaped HiFimans are very comfortable with my head, 450g Elex was already heavy on my head, and then I understood that comfort for headphones are important.

Had you EQ your LCD-XC to Harman? How it compares with/without EQ to the Arya based purely on technical department (details, soundstage, imaging, separation) and who has better vocals/bass? As I have read, Arya are more technical than LCD-X, so it's closed version should lose even a bit more due to artificial soundstage due to closed back design?

Wow, you have a great setup, almost all my dream headphones, except maybe some HE1kV2 would better suit Arya place, but still excellent. What use cases you have for your LCD-XC? Do you need that passive noise isolation? Or you are using them in the same settings as your open-back headphones?

Also interested, what IEMs you heard before getting Monarch MkII?

Based

What about IEMs? They are I suppose free from this resonances, so it's much easier to recreate identical tuning between similar sized/shaped IEM?

By fenestrated sheepskins pads you meant original Utopia pads? Or it's from decony? Without eq, do you liked sound with these pads more than with Elex original pads? Or differences are subtle? Resolve says that Utopia pads significantly improved FR in Elear, but they cost half the price of my Elex, doesn't seem like a good deal

Understood, actually it's a pity, that you need still eq by your ears, having 2 headphones, I never have used any good EQ software, but I do want to try it(Qudelix 5K parametric EQ), I was thinking you just need to download some preset or press one button and get close to Clear sound with Elex, but now I understand the problem, because everyone's eardrum is different, so there will not be any universal preset that you can download for over-ear headphone and call it a day?

At least as I understand, after asking other people under this post, EQ with IEMs can be more effective to recreate close sound of another IEM

With headphones I have understood, that you really can't EQ 6xx to the Susvara sound, due to so much variables and differences between them, but still interested in Elex/Clear/Utopia case, because except pads, they all have same housing, and overall very very similar to each other

Also as I understand with IEMs it should be easier to recreate sound of one IEM to the other, even if one of them have 1 driver, and other 12 for example?

Understood, thank you for extensive response, what about EQ not HiFiman to Focal, but Focal to Focal, especially interested in Clear/Elex, because their similarities is already very large, Utopia do have a bit more physical differences, but still looks like they are times more insignificant that for example Sundara/Ananda. They definitely have different pads, and voice coil in Clear are copper, while Elex is copper/aluminum, so can pad swapping and digital EQ make both headphones close to the 'same' sound, that most people will not even recognize the tiny differences?

Thank you for explaining about IEMs, because there are some IEMs that I am interested in and would like to use EQ to try their frequency response with my Variations. I can do this easily by software on my Mac, or do I need Quedelix 5K with it's parametric EQ?

How do manufacturers make the tuning of their particular headphones? With 'physical' EQ, if digital is not ok? Like changing pads can easily change sound, so they are changing sound by pads/diaphragm/something more?

One more sincere question. What do you mean by saying that you can't EQ one headphone to sound like any other. I'm asking because I'm not an engineer and also not good at physics, but how do manufacturers make so many headphones(of one model) to sound the same or 99.9% the same? It because of what? Can we call this 'hardware' EQ and not digital, because digital EQ have it's limitations, while 'hardware' EQ doesn't?

Very interesting, 2 models of the same headphone have different FR, I heard about this, but isn't it so small, that one person can't distinguish by his ears? About pads and comfort I agree, all this affect Frequency Response, but for example we have Focal open-back headphones that already have so much similarities between each other, can you take Clear pads(housing is basically 99.9% the same) and use some EQ to get actually sound like Clear? With this I don't know <0.1% of difference that can be even between two models of the same headphone

Btw, what about IEMs? Here fit, comfort and eartips usually are very close to be the same

In US they should cost around 730-830$ Open-Box with 5-year warranty I believe, so you are fine with this, the only part that warranty didn't cover it's headband, but it's really rare for them to break