ThieAudio - Elixir

I sing the praises of the Thieaudio Elixir anywhere I go. The tuning is Hexa with more mid bass and slightly more sub, wider pinna gain (more accurate mids), smoother and less peaky treble with just as much detail. The mids growl and follow all the details of distortion quite well, the bass thumps and booms with texture, and the treble is very detailed for a single DD. Runner up is the KBEar KB02. Despite its physical resonance, I really enjoy the bone conduction bass. It separates itself so well from the mids. The mids are just shy of shouty in the upper registers. Gives great attitude to rock vocalists and guitars, and allows synths in harder electronic music to really growl and percolate. The dynamic driver is pretty impressive for its price point.

I've never had a chance to hear any Barefoots. I do miss mixing on my Genelecs, though. Yeah, that graph (ollo X1) looks dramatic. I dislike how they hump at 500 then just cliff-face up at 6K. 5K to 6K is my most hated frequency range lol and it's damned near the strongest representation in these cans. Recessed 1K - 4K (my favorite range) with the 500Hz hump being decidedly louder even than the meat of the best part of the mids is questionable, but that treble response legitimately worries me. I may try them if I can demo them somewhere. I doubt they would ever be added to my collection. They just look like they're both boxy and tinny at the same time. I got some Thieaudio Elixirs (my current favorite IEMs) on ebay for about $150, so you can definitely find some deals. Check r/avexchange, too.

The Thieaudio Elixir is one of the more neutral sets I've heard. Tuned similarly to the Hexa with a wider mid hump and less peaky treble. Single DD meams *cohesion*. I absolutely love mine.

I'm in the same boat, I tried Thieaudio Elixir and Tanchjim Origin against my Tangzu Wan'er but to hear the differences I have to listen at a higher volume and close my eyes to focus on the song which is something I'll never do 99% of the time.