I would imagine most that enter this hobby would would naturally start with highly rec’d products, which tend to be safe in their tunings, then you get bored and want something more and more special in its presentation. Ever since getting a qudelix 5k, i have effectively done the opposite.

I used to think i wanted more bass and was obsessed with soundstage, which would naturally lead me products that were U or V shaped. Once i got my dream iem, the audeze LCDi4, i was confident that i would tweak upon tweak multiple target curves, in a endless quest to get that WOW factor. But its done the exact opposite. I have “regressed” as close to what i perceive as neutral without any special sauce or euphoric presentation to speak of.

Everytime i go back to a older EQ file, i think that it sounds better, because of its more engaging spacial and bass presentation, but when i turn back to something like IEF2023N, I realise that i can’t deal with the colouration compared to neutral. It feels like im listening to the headphones play more of their own version of the album, which i cant get over anymore despite missing the engagement of even a slight bass boost.

Every time i progress my EQ file, its only to get less and less colouration out of my music. Granted even crinacles or super reviews neutral reference targets are more coloured than DF. But I suspect neither of them would subjectively prefer to listen a product that has exact adherence to such a tuning. Even they need some kind of differentiating factor from their playback.

Do you think im wrong and favouring neutrality at almost all cost its a standard progression in audio maturity? Did this happen to you? Or did get into this hobby to have more exotic experiences from your music?