I get that IEMs are a great option under a 150 bucks and also convenient for traveling, I own two pairs myself and they are decent. But I’ve tried two open back headphones now and they both eclipse the IEMs in a way that can definitely not be replicated by IEMs. The sound is really “outside your head” and airy, whereas IEMs sound exactly like you’d expect them to sound. Often they can’t even get omnidirectional imaging right and have blobs, and soundstage is very constrained.
So, why are there people spending tons of money on ©hifi IEMs when they only listen to them at home anyways?
My i4 sounds better and more open than most headphone I tried.
But then I use speaker at home anyway when I want the actual “outside my head” experience, so really no place for headphone for me.
Did purchased grado though for office, mostly just for call meetings.