You’re right 100%. It is going to be subjective per person based on HRTF, I agree. My main point with senn is the sound of the HD 6xx (600, 650) etc got so aligned with what “good treble” should sound like, that people seem to ignore the 10k dips (Or maybe just some mid/upper treble dips in general) in those headphones, which Volume S have as well. Filling that in with EQ just outright fixes it, IMO. Especially for things like female vocals.
I 100% agree with you on the treble, but the Meteor, which what I mentioned, doesn’t have any of those upper treble peaks from what I’ve seen. It’s very clean and I just think it’s just outright better than these for that characteristic regardless of hrtf (Maybe that is just me). It also does not have the overbearing subbass, which I 100% agree with in the review is a bit too much on the Mega5EST, etc. Like these are good, do not get me wrong (Never said this or that are “bad”), I just don’t see them being a “2024 best” IMO. I think many people would like other options. Might just be me, though.
Edit: I just checked and notice you have not measured the Meteor. For the record, the Meteor were the IEMs I tried JUST before receiving the Volume S (received both the same week), so the comparisons were fresh in my mind (They just sound substantially cleaner in practice and a bit more natural, IMO). But it is even less peaky than the volume S. Though I know some people with hearing loss like a 15k peak.
Here are Crinns measurements on them.
Anyway, thanks for your review, still appreciate it.