I started with a DT-990 Pro and then I went all in and tried most of the highly recommended things in Midfi: Edition XS, Ananda, Elex, Aeon Open X, HE6SE and ended up loving the difference so much that I had to know what the Arya was like. Jeez what a difference. Everything in that category was already a big step up and so I wanted to know but wondered what more there could be. For me personally, this was when I felt like I finally transcended. Everything in that midfi category sounded incredible but the Arya was the first time I fully disappeared into the music. I was in a new world. I don’t know if that is the same for everyone but it wasn’t until I broke that threshold that everything came alive.

From there I tried some IEMs and eventually got the Audeze iSine10. They destroyed every IEM I had heard and so I had to hear the Audeze sound and picked up a pair of LCD-3. It was intoxicating. Smooth and liquidy but also really detailed. Not as detailed as the Arya but I loved the warm/dark signature. I then traded my Arya for an LCD-24 and it was like another level again. More detail than the Arya but the warmth and impact I had to come to love from Audeze. I am now on an LCD-5 and woof. The detail is unparalleled and they just sound so natural. It was like transcending again. They are just insane.

It’s funny because I believe in diminishing returns but at the same time I personally have felt that at certain levels there are points where things just go to a different level. Are they 20x better as the price would indicate? Well no, but it is not the same experience at all so I don’t know where I sit lol.