It's a doubling down on traits I don't like and I fatigue fast. that combo is just as obnoxious as I remember. I followed this up with a trial run of the EdXX & Lyr2 just to make sure the new DAC wasn't the deciding factor. The HFM still glares but it's not as bad as I remember from the Atom. Strange as it may be the EdXX on the Heresy immediately reminded me of the LCD2C-Closed on the Lyr2, it's a warm, rounded, and sparkly headphone which never sounds clean, fast, or slammin'. I pulled the Edition XX out of its box today to see if I could enjoy it with the Heresy. I like it but I'm not sure I'll be able to adapt to it, I'm going to give it time. Yet I'm doubting already the only way I can explain why is a thought I had with it last night 'Am I willing to take enough caffeine to keep up with this thing?' And that's it, it doesn't match my mood, it's an explicit & wide awake sound. Its more resonant/punchy with atonal cello solos, has that same propulsive crisp sound you get in a movie theater with cinematic dark ambient, it keeps up with my fastest black metal recordings. Treble calls more attention to itself but has less sparkle. I'm not getting the glare/mid-fatigue I had from the Atom(Likely was the fault of my other headphones, will test later.) Describing the Heresy in one word: Explicit! Bass drums hit harder than the Lyr 2 but its not as overall bassy. It's everything I wanted but I'm not sure how I feel about it now that its here.

Only having the Heresy here since Saturday my thoughts will be incomplete. The later issue is what left me unsatisfied with my Lyr 2 along with my inability to wrap my head around tube staging. I tend to ping-pong between electronics as I grow fatigued by harsh sound or annoyed with slow transients. My tastes are contradictory in that I tend to chase ultimate speed & crispness, am fatigued by strong midrange, and listen to hot garbage recordings which beg for forgiveness. I talked myself into buying a Heresy after saying I wouldn't, reasoning being that I finally settled on a nice V-shaped pair of headphones I like(Audeze LCD2C-Closed) and wanted to retry the neutral/clinical approach to amps.

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