As a long term audiophile who has spent way too much money on all kinds of headphones and amplifiers, I can only say that I no longer trust audiophile gear. I've also had fiio amps, but my point is that they're all overpriced for the marginal or non-existing improvement you're getting. I even returned the monolith amp that went for nearly thousand dollars and kept using a "Gamer" amp Sound Blaster G6 due to flexibility. Just use what you find good for you, not what the specification says.

This reminded me about the article I saw few days ago: https://www.headphonesty.com/2026/01/audiophiles-fail-copper-banana-mud-blind-test/