FR is a lot, the $10 earbuds would have atrocious FR. Either non existent or bloated AF bass with ridiculous peaky treble that you can't do anything to fix. Soundstage and some other things aren't modifiable at all really typically has to do with things like physical driver orientation in the housing etc.

I'm a huge fan of EQ. At this point it's readily available in things like the Qudelix5K for a very reasonable price allowing you to PEQ all the things. Why wouldn't one opt for making their headphones sound better given the chance. With auto EQ there's even a reasonably easy means of going to a neutral signature and making modifications from there.

That being said not every driver is created equal. Just because you've made modifications in an EQ does not mean the driver will be up to the task. Lower end cheap drivers will be too shitty to EQ and "fix" it'll just bleet and distort. Also just because a headphone is expensive does not necessarily mean it will EQ well.

Some headphones like Planar IEM's are well known for their ability to respond to EQ.

Qudelix5K and be done with it. Perfect little dac/amp and very reasonably priced. If you should feel compelled to learn about how to EQ it's also got a 10 band GEQ/20band PEQ.

I use mine as my desktop amp as well as portable with my phone via LDAC. I have no idea why you'd bother with something more expensive unless you've got some seriously hard to drive headphones. It measures fantastic and does everything you could want all while being tiny.

s12 pro

But I would assume the same experience with anything that's detailed and has decent imaging.

Not full sized but I use IEMs for gaming. Was really surprised at just how much better everything sounded as compared to my A50's.

Honestly I think it was a bit of a blessing, I'll sell the Sony's when they show up. I replaced them with some (unbelievably cheap) Liberty 3 pro's; which are really not bad sonically and have a better fit/control scheme (though I do miss the hold to listen function of the Sony's at times). Really impressed with these little things for what I paid.

I'm going back to wired IEM's for my serious listening. I only tried the TWS market out because my workhorse Shure's died and I figured why not-well I now know the answer to why not.

I forgot how great proper wired IEM's can sound; I think my shure's were dying for awhile and I had become really accustomed to their signature which is really dark (the IEM hobby was very different 15+ years ago).

Currently demo'ing the 7hz timeless with some s12's on the way, the value that exists in the wired IEM world with the explosion of ChiFi is unreal.

I'm a happy fella and these headphones with batteries can fuck off :)

Tiny bit is normal. You'll know if this affects you because one of your buds will die in about an hour.

If this does happen earlier than 3-4 years of use fight with Sony. The battery should last 2000+ charges, you're not pulling that shit off in a couple years

Those that have the issue can escalate with Sony and they will replace them with a new pair that has a 90 day warranty.

I know this because I and others have done it. Not that I'm defending Sony as when my new ones arrive I'm selling them. They way they've handled this is dogshit, expecting customers to fit the bill for their shit defective batteries. I loathe companies that force you to fight with them for proper service. I'll be selling my xm4's unopened when they show up.

Sony has lost me as a customer for awhile. I don't appreciate being advised to send out a flagship product, just outside of "warranty" because it's got a defective battery or they fucked their firmware up or w/e. Lithium ion battery that dies in just over a year = defective.

There's nothing a customer can do within reason to kill these batteries that quickly.