Quintet

I am glad that you offered your suggestions since you listen to metal. I don't listen to metal. I do really like the Performer 7's clean and clear macro and micro details. I also like the Kiwi Ears Quintet for the same reason. Thank you for suggesting some IEMs which I have not listened to.

I went from the EM6L > Kiwi Ears Quintet > Orchestra Lite > Tea Pro > Monarch MK3. I head a difference with every step up. I prefer the Quintet over the Tea Pro because the Tea Pro treble is darker and smoother and sounds less detailed imo. The Monarch MK3 is just absolutely amazing imo. I hear details in songs I've never heard before. The detail in every aspect is just amazing, and they're fun to listen to. They also do some black magic with soundstage and imaging. The MK3 sounds bigger than some openback headphones I've owned.

Agreed, the Aether is this expressive and emotional sound. I would argue if money isn’t an issue try the Kiwi Ears septet as it’s my favourite out of the Kiwis I’ve tried (ranking in order from best to worst) Septet, Aether/Orchestra, Quintet, anything else, then the Etude as these were seriously muddy imo

Sound signature always makes up 90% of how good an IEM sounds. If the sound signature already isn't to your liking, chances are you wont like the rest of whatever the IEM has to offer. The quintet is an amazing IEM for the money, I owned one for a time, but it was a little too bright for me so I ended up not using it much. You probably just enjoy the heavier bass of the QKZ in this case, an IEM I also used to own but sold off to my friend because I didnt like how much bass it had. Notice the duality here? SInce you prefer more bassy sets, you may end up liking more expensive bass heavy IEMs like the kiwi ears x HBB punch, punch audio martillo or Thieaudio Origin. With that said, diminishing returns begin very early in this hobby. You may find any of the IEMs i mentioned above to be nicer than the QKZ but not by much. The chifi scene has been lowering the price barrier for high end audio and its only continue to get lower as time goes on

I've just picked up Kiwi Ears Quintets, I don't really have a reference to them other than some old as hell Mackie IEMs. As far as I know they're not a vocal powerhouse but they do have quite good clarity and separation. The mids aren't super bright but they're energetic. Individual of course but I find they're comfortable.

I've recently picked up Kiwi Ears Quintets and they've been great for games which need fidelity like Tarkov. No anime or cool designs on the box though

Unfortunately they don't protect against Chad's with kitted out vectors but at least you can hear them get closer in HD lol. Personally I find them comfortable for extended use but your ears may be different, I found they're more comfortable with foam tips also.

not under but only $50 over, kiwi ears quintet, imo one of the best bang for the buck in terms of audio quality if you’re looking for good and linear bass with good extension, with nice mids, slightly warm vocals, and clean treble with great sound staging

Ok, my bad. Try something like Kiwi Ears Quintet. They have a pretty good stock frequency response, good ergonomics, and can be improved with some EQ