My beliefs
I believe that a product aimed at everyday use should be comfortable & durable, and that’s exactly why I pay attention to the choice of materials, design, engineering, fit, comfort, and usability of headphones & in-ear monitors (IEM)
I think that sources (DAC/AMP/DAP) are important. Still, their impact on the sound is minor, unless you are dealing with a situation when your source doesn’t have enough power to drive your headphones or has problems delivering a clean audio signal.
I don’t believe burn-in significantly influences headphones and IEM sound, so I mostly attribute any perceived changes to my brain and ears getting used to the new sound. More burn-in time, in my experience, just means more time to become familiar with a particular headphone sound and critically evaluate it.
I also don’t believe that cables significantly influence headphones and IEM sound. However, I believe that the quality cables positively impact the comfort and usability of headphones and in-ear monitors (IEM).
My listening methodology
I typically spend around 10 hours with the headphones, DACs, or amplifiers to make my initial impressions. During this period, besides the sound, I also pay close attention to packaging, accessories, product design, build, and comfort. Then I go anywhere between 20 to 50 additional hours of listening and evaluating the product.
I also make sure to use the stock cable and stock ear pads (or ear tips) when possible. In the case of IEMs, if I can’t achieve a proper fit & seal with stock ear tips, I’m using replacement silicon ear tips from Spinfit and DUNU.
To conduct my listening sessions, I use lossless files and lossless streaming (Apple Music and Tidal).
Portable sources
- FiiO X7 MK2 DAP with AM3A module
- Samsung Galaxy S10 with Moondrop MoonRiver 2
- iPhone 12 Pro Max with iFi hip dac 3
- Bluetooth sources: Qudelix 5K and iFi Go Blu
Desktop sources
- S.M.S.L. SU-6 DAC + SMSL SH8s amplifier
- S.M.S.L. MDA-RAW1 DAC/AMP
- Topping E50 DAC + Topping L50 amplifier
- Motu M2 Audio interface
I also tend to avoid listening at very high volumes, rarely going above 80 dB, so keep that in mind if you prefer listening louder. Whenever possible, I strive to conduct direct A/B comparisons between different products that I have at hand.
Last but not least, my musical tastes are very diverse. I’m listening to a lot of genres of music from different eras varying from jazz, classical, and acoustic music and ending with EDM, alternative and metal music.