Yep, for me the to-do on this front is find out what is the most piercing 2-tone IMD I could use to have it hit me right in the audio-feels, and test with my ears at different IMD levels vs. the signal, and maybe at different SPLs that correspond to my real listening levels (I do fiddle with the volume, I often start louder but tone it down after 3-4 songs, and then only turn it back up for tracks I really really like). Basically a proper version of the Klippel thing.
So, results.
First, measuring with a Monacor Schallpegelmesser SM-3 I got from the used market about a decade ago, that looks something like this:
⌠I get about 50 dBA for most of the song I picked, with occasional excursions to 60 dBA when Hunter Elizabeth gets louder during the chorus for the All Star cover.
So OK, maybe this old thing isnât quite calibrated, if it ever was. Letâs pull up my phone app i.e. com.pjw.noisemeter (not on Google Play anymore, sadly, though it has quite a host of configurable options, including the ITU-468 curve which the dude implemented at my request, after which he also added the possibility to put in your own curve)⌠aaand it shows the same thing because I calibrated it based on the Schallpegelmesser. 
Fine, so letâs just assume my room at night isnât as quiet as I thought it was, and bias the app manually so it shows 30 dBA when nothing is moving or buzzing in this room. Music stays at 60 dBA now for the most part, with occasional shots up to 70 dBA during loud passages. The app also shows a calculated LAeq value which is about the same thing as an A-weighted RMS: nailed in place at 60.1 dB for the whole song.
So there we go, if we assume the correction for headphones is +6 dB, I really do like to listen mostly at 66-ish dB, with occasional ventures higher toward 75 if I really like the song (but itâs usually not a very busy song, so not a highly populated spectrum, not a high RMS to begin with).
I donât understand how this is surprising considering all the intuitive dB scale infographics available all over the place showing 60 dB as âloud conversationâ and 75 dB as âbusy city streetâ. Why would I routinely listen to music in the quiet of my home at busy-street loudness instead of stopping at loud-conversation loudness? 
Whelp it wasnât an easy decision by any means but I decided to sell my Tungsten DS V2. My initial enthusiasm for the V1 was based mainly on hearing them on a very (very) expensive tube amp. While waiting for my order to ship I purchased the Meze Empyrean II (and subsequently sold my Audeze LCD-5). By the time the Tungsten arrived, I had the Empyrean II very well tuned through PEQ. And that is the problem. While the Tungsten have the best sound out-of-the-box, due to their power demands I will never listen to them on a system where PEQ isnât available. And if I tuned them, I would probably end up making them sound like my Empyrean II w/PEQ anyway. What would be the point?
True the Tungsten slam improves when powered by a tube amp while the Empyrean II seems indifferent. However I donât own a tube amp that also preserves their clarity and excellent timbre when powered from a solid state amp. And I estimate it will be several thousand dollars to obtain one. Maybe some day but itâs just not the direction I want to go right now.
So the Empyrean II wins on looks, build, and comfort. And edges out the Tungsten on sound if I use PEQ. The FOMO is strong, but I think selling the Tungsten is the right decision for me right now.
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I should add that maybe some of the perceived additional slam when running the Tungsten off of a tube amp is due to an increase in overall volume. Both the amp that powered the V1 that impressed me as well as my Cayin HA-1A Mk2 are speaker amps. That causes the volume knob to be very sensitive, usually hovering around only 10 oâclock.
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I feel you brother, it is really hard to justify building an entire system around 1 headphone, though it certainly happens with Utopia, Susvara, Immanis, and others.
I kind of did that when I bought my Violectric V550 mostly for Tungsten, even though I knew it was kind of dumb at the time. My Nitsch DSHA-3FN will power literally every other headphone I own, and I prefer it to the Violectric (by an admittedly fairly small margin).
The fact that the Cayin tube amp I have (HA-3A) powers Tungsten quite adequately tipped the scales to sell the Vio, though the Violectric has more ultimate âauthorityâ powering Tungsten. Which makes me question how smart it is to keep them, though I donât have an Empyrean. But I do have a Rosson RAD-0 and now ZMF Ori 3, both excellent planars. Which begs the question (and my sanity)!
I do really like the sound of the Tungsten though⌠(V1 DS)
I can only conclude Iâm nuts, as are many of us here! 
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Seems like our preferences line up a lot. I have the Empyrean 2 and love them (w/stock tuning). And listen to a bunch of Tool. But recently got to hear the Mod House Tungsten V1 and V2 at Canjam Dallas and was impressed by their vocal clarity and punch- and have been considering purchasing. I would be interested in your EQ settings for the Empyrean 2. Maybe you can save me some money haha.
I started with Listenerâs preset and customized to my taste. Specifically I reduced Filter 3 to -2.5db to add some warmth, reduced Filter 6 to -2, and disabled Filter 10 to add a little impact. I ran them with no filters above #4 for some time too. I also experimented with various additional filters that I canât recall at the moment.
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Awesome! Thanks for this. I got a good place to start now.
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Does anyone use EQ on V2 DS? I am still waiting for hybrid pads with Deeptune rings, but so far, on perf pads, I find these headphones too flat. I am searching for some good presets. oratory1990 has only V1 presets that donât apply well to V2.
For techno music, the headphones are awesome out of the box, but for something like Nu-metal(Limp Bizkit), Industrial Rock(Nine Inch Nails), Sludge Metal(Chat Pile), there is NO slam at all, and to me, they are so screaming, unfortunately. I have Schiit Lokius, which doesnât help much, since I start losing details, or playing with bass just adds some âboomâ effect, not slam/punch. Still searching for a proper PEQ.
My stack is Pi2AES â Denafrips Ares II â Violectric V222. I also have Flux FA-12, which also drives them with no issue and has more warm sound, but the sound becomes muffled, so I prefer V222 with Tungs.
I did not have much luck EQing my DS V2 other than bumping up the sub-bass below 40hz. I have not seen any published measurement. I had a friend measure them on his 711 clone and then tried Listenerâs DF Tilt technique but I didnât like it. I also tried just applying a bit of tilt but didnât hear any improvement. Lastly I tried adding the difference between the DS V1 and DS v2 as measured on his 711 clone to oratoryâs preset. I didnât prefer that either.
If all you need is some more bass punch then Iâd play around with adding a PK filter around 60-80hz. Maybe 3db boost with a Q of 2-3.
I wish it were the bass issue only. Tungs sound to me very flat, like white noise, or some kind of flow of data, not music, where all the frequencies are at the same level.
Well you canât win 'em all. What heaphone(s) are you coming from? If you are used to a very V or U shaped FR then a more neutral FR can be difficult to get used to. And thatâs not a criticism because I myself prefer more of a V FR than the Tung2 has.
You can try just forcing yourself to listen to the Tung2 for a few extended sessions and see if your brain adjusts. Or sell 'em for what you paid.
Try adding a bit of tilt: High Shelf 500hz -3db to -6db 0.4Q
or adding bass and/or treble shelves: Low Shelf 100hz 3db 0.7Q, High Shelf 4khz -3db 0.7Q.
Iâve only demoed the Tungsten V1, and that was at an audio show. Still, the Modhouse team ran the setup so the product should have performed as intended. I listened to two pairs, and the first one sounded much like you describe: flat, dead, compressed, rough, and frankly not interesting.
I asked the staff about the treble and clarity. One of the developers took a listen and pulled that setup from public demos. I then tried a second pair and it was better. The first was running off a large Black Ice (formerly Jolinda) amp. The second was running off a prototype Modhouse amp without a case and sitting in a plastic tub.
Given the enormous electrical current draw of audio shows with hundreds of live systems in one building, the Black Ice amp may well have been suffering from a brownout. As such, your experience may follow from (1) your taste, (2) Modhouse unit-to-unit variation, or (3) poor synergy with your amp.
I am not sure that I am after the V shape. I still love my LCD-2C and GX. For some reason, when wearing them, I hear each instrument better for some reason. It is hard to explain. When someone strums guitar strings or hits the drums, I can hear it clearly, the sound wraps around me. But with the Tungs, those same instruments feel distant, and everything else sits at about the same loudness, so my ears just canât pick apart that whole mess of sound. Maybe I just donât have audiophile ears. I donât wanna say that I use 2C and GX without any EQ. AutoEQ presets make a perfect job for me, unlike oratory1990 for this specific case.
Iâve tried making the V shape, and that is definitely something different I am trying to achieve.
Yeah, that is a modified F35 version, which is a recommended solution, but it is pretty expensive (twice the price of headphones). There are cheaper options that should allow to understand what Tungs are.
Given your comments, Iâd not recommend Black Ice anyway. The BI speaker systems Iâve heard at shows were overdriven (dynamically compressed) and played way too loud. BI thereby landed on my âdonât botherâ to âactively avoidâ brand list.
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Sorry if I was not clear: those suggestions are just a starting point. You can feel free to change any of the numbers including inverting the gain. But even if you try them as I wrote them, they will not result in a more V shaped FR.
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My bad, I wasnât clear. I mean, Iâve tried playing with EQ (even though I am pretty bad at it). Also, I have Schiit Lokius, which makes it even easier, especially when I want to achieve a V-shape sound, but that didnât help.
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Have you tried adjusting the gain switches at the back of your V222? This may give it a bit more voltage. But overall sounds like V222 might not have the power to run the Tungsten to the fun levels, or the sound signature is just not your cup of tea.
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