Which snippet do you like better?

[ionic crown]

.

1

2

for context, i'm mastering a track, and i'm trying a new technique and wanted unbias ears

[dry cloud]

I listened on a couple different pairs of headphones and I definitely felt like #2 was more pleasant to listen to, a lot less harsh in the upper freqs, but #1 definitely felt a lot more "in your face".

[pine rapids]

heres my opinion as the guy that can never tell any difference ever in mixing : i think 2 sounded nice

[solemn token]

They both have too much 10kHz compared to the mids imo

[ionic crown]

one of my biggest weaknesses as an engineer is reducing mids too much, i've been trying to get better at it

[shut hemlock]

For me it’s with highs, I always do too much or too little