So after Tin t2 and hd599 I went ahead and bought Campfire Andromeda 2020 and Senheiser IE600 and sort of skipped the whole mid fi stage.
I really like both of these but it seems from crinacle and everyone who reviews them the Airpods pro 2 and Samsung buds pro 2 both come pretty close and even do better in some aspects than these 2 I have.
Now I'm not rich or anything but music meant a lot to me last few years so I just went ahead and bought a couple of near endgame stuff knowing id end there eventually. I still wonder if I wasted a whole lot money for no reason.
I really like both the iems I have but they're obviously not without flaws, from thin bass on Andro to slightly sharp treble that needs to be eqd on ie600 and it's terrible cable. Maybe by next generation of products tws would start outclassing flagship iems.
As an aside, what's your favourite albums on Andros or ie600?
Yes, I certainly have faced the opposite of FOMO recently.
After trying the Focal Utopia 2022 earlier this year on tour, and comparing it to a bunch of my other headphones, I finally realized just how steep the diminishing returns roll off is past a certain price point in headphones. I experienced the opposite of FOMO when I compared the Utopia for two weeks to all my other under $500 headphones, and actually not hearing the substantial difference I was expecting. Hell, I even compared the Utopia to my IEMs under $200. The Utopias are more detailed and resolving, sure, but was it $4000 better? Absolutely not. I was able to get a similar sound with the Focal Clear MG I already owned. Also even more with the (now on sale) $129 JVC HA-FD01 IEMs, which have given me a super enjoyable, punchy and dynamic experience similar to that of the Clear MG and Utopia, at least when using a custom EQ profile for my ears.
If I had an extra few thousand dollars lying around right now, I probably would still get the Utopia 2022, it sounds incredible and is one of my favorites. But I’m honestly getting 95% of that ultra high end experience with things that cost a tenth of the price, and sometimes they can sound even better. Granted I haven’t heard many headphones above $1k, I still need to hear stuff like the LCD-4, Abyss, Susvara, etc. But I feel like most of these summit fi headphones are ultra detailed specialists, and I would rather go back to the trusty Sennheiser HD600, Hifiman HE-500, and Focal Clear MG for all rounder open back headphones. Or, dare I say it, the Koss KPH40.