Last month I made a post about a headphone show I visited and my quick impressions of some of the stuff I tried. People seemed to have liked it a lot so since there was another meeting I'm doing it again. Similar disclaimer to before, these first impressions were done quickly and on the fly, I didn't have much more than a couple of minutes with each product before I went to the next one and a noisy room isn't the best place for objective listening, so take all of these with a grain of salt. These are in no particular order beyond my trying them like that. I'm happy to answer any questions about anything you guys would like to ask. All that said here it goes:

Fatfreq grand maestro: awful form factor, exceptional sound, I prefer them switch down, the bass is excellent.

Fatfreq quantum: ugliest iems I've ever seen, and it's not even close, they look like unfinished design prototypes. I have yet to find a single full range single planar iem I don't heavily dislike, this one doesn't buck the trend, treble is brittle and sharp, the stage modules are magic, they sound crazy wide for iems.

Empire ears raven: insane driver flex, very gutural bass and sparkling treble, lovely, nice, and fun v shaped end game set.

Softears enigma: these are comfort incarnate, they melt into my ears, the bass is nice and punchy while the treble is subdued but not too pushed back, the price is absolutely insane on them, way overpriced.

Empire ears Odin MK2: has pressure relief holes, still somehow pretty bad driver flex, extremely clear sound, by no means neutral but very fun, a worthy endgame set, quite detailed in spite of the large bass.

Hisenior caño crytales: way too aggressive for me, too much bass and too much treble, it feels like it's trying to drill into my skull, someone will really like these, but that someone ain't me.

Hisenior mega5est bass+: messes with the balance of a perfectly balanced iem, its more fun but I like it less than the og, the bass covers up some of it's luster.

Hisenior mega7est: its like the inverse mega5est bass plus, it's got more treble than the og, which I like, but it's not as good as the original, which I don't, if you like the original I wouldn't recommend the upgrade but it's still not a bad iem.

Kbear rosefinch: bass cannons, genuinely insane for the price, not my preference tuning wise but for like 20 dollars it's difficult not to recommend at least trying them, mids are eaten up and the treble is a bit crunchy tho.

Ziigaat horizons: one of the less offensive ziigaats but I'm still not a fan of how they do treble, it feels metallic and zingy, not sparkling but sharp, the mids are very nice.

Ziigaat Odyssey 2: the only ziigaat I would ever recommend, they fixed the treble issues I have with everything else I've tried from the brand, leaving a pleasant and fun iem with very solid build quality, it wouldn't be my pick at the price but it's very solid.

Moondrop para 2: the form factor just doesn't work for me, even on the smallest setting they don't clamp down well, the sound is pretty solid but they don't beat the hifimans at the equivalent price, they have some of the same problems I hand in the treble with the Cosmo.

Sennheiser hbd630: I see why the hype, they are very neutral and they sound good not for a Bluetooth set, but for a set of close back headphones, the anc is also pretty cool, the earcups are very small and it's a bit cramped on the head.

Ambient acoustics mad24: if I didn't know these were pure ba I never would have guessed, the bass has insane slam, these are warm and surprisingly relaxing, has too much bass and vocal energy for me but it's absolutely endgame for some people

Tang zu Zhu bajie: honestly I'm surprised these didn't become a hit, they are clean, fun, engaging and very technically solid for the price, they also come with a incredible accessories package, honestly I think if you can get a set in the secondary market at a good price you really should.

Letshour s12 ultra: probably the full range planar I like the most but that's still not very much, the darkness of it covers some of the treble issues I have with it, it's not unpleasant but with what's around it in price I wouldn't recommend it.

Crinear daybreak: still the undefeated, undisputed under 200 recommendation, the sound is several steps above most things in the price range, you won't get anything better until 100 dollars above it.

RHA cl2: hearing damage simulator, one of the worst yet funniest things I've ever heard.

Heddaudio D1: I see what all the hype is about, butter smooth, very neutral but not boring, quite detailed. Not a single bad thing I can say about them. They wouldn't be my daily set because I like my headphones with a bit more bite but I can't imagine a person I couldn't recommend these too

Canpur 622: very good dynamics both in the bass and the treble, the price is insane on them but they are pretty solid. The kids are a little buried in the mix but given the tuning style it's to be expected.

Raal immanis: I used to like these more than I currently do, very exciting tuning but definitely colored in a way that makes them relatively particular, I used to say these were my favorite headphones but today id take others over these.

Intoaura wood note: very smooth tonality, quite neutral and coherent, nothing exciting but nothing to complain about, might be an ok buy once it goes down in price.

Thieaudio monarch mark 4: truly the under 1k benchmark, in everything, the build, the sound, it's excellence.