I have previously written them down on head-fi but I figured I would combine and condense the two here for greater visibility.
Disclaimer: I did use grok for assistance in the task of combing and condensing my reviews.
All text was manually reviewed before publishing.

Build, Design & Comfort

Both models:

• Outstanding and rigid build quality with flawless finishing.
• Beautiful aesthetics for both. I like the art deco style of the Founders Open.
• Highest possible quality leather used in the Closed is a big bonus for some.

Founders Edition Closed:

• Tighter clamp for better passive isolation.
• Very compact/small earcups.
• Can compress larger ears (sometimes needs readjustment).
• Fix: Stretching the headband helps significantly.

Founders Edition Open:

• Much lighter clamp (almost too light for some).
• More comfortable for long sessions, fits well for most head sizes.
• Comes with luxurious wooden box, multiple cables, carrying case, and a classical music CD. (The founders closed comes in a metal box.)

Sound Impressions

Bass:

• Closed: Tight, elastic, controlled with mild mid-bass emphasis. Big speaker-like physicality, excellent separation, no bleed. Planar-like speed and neutrality. Big upgrade over Edition 15.
• Open: Neutral, reference-grade, extremely fast. Stays out of the way, very clean. Less sub-bass weight and thickness than Edition 11. Planar-like speed and control. More "Grado-style" tight bass with extra warmth.

Mids:

• Closed: Slightly recessed but smooth, natural, and spacious. Prioritises clarity and bass definition.
• Open: Warm but more linear than previous models. Transparent, natural and sweet.

Highs:

• Closed: Not sibilant for me at all. Excellent extension and air. Outstanding detail retrieval. Maybe could seem a little sharp for treble sensitive people.
• Open: Very present, revealing, and ultra detailed (true Ultrasone treble). Sibilant in the 6k reigon and is merciless to poor recordings. However emphasised. It retains a smooth, planar like quality with zero peaks. Just a lot of emphasis. Some will love it.

Presentation & Dynamics:

• Closed: Feels like wearing giant iem's on your head. Exceptionally natural imaging for a closed back of this size. Smooth stereo panning. S logic helps here. Outstanding dynamics for sure. Excels at electronic music with huge dynamic swings with a high degree of track complexity. It never trips up on anything.
• Open: Very airy, high-end monitor-like, holographic, and spacious. Extremely transparent. Professional, reference tuning with excellent timbre. Very emotional and engaging.

Source & Cable Sensitivity

They are both very chain sensitive. I dont recommend tubes for these.

Conclusion

Founders Edition Closed:
A striking, compact closed-back with powerful, physical bass, reference level detail, and outstanding dynamics. Delivers a big speaker experience in a small package. Best for those who want strong isolation and impact. Just make sure your ears will fit.

Founders Edition Open:
A refined, luxurious open-back tribute to classic Ultrasone sound (Edition 8/10 vibe) but executed at a much higher level of control and fidelity. Neutral-reference, highly revealing, airy, and quite addictive. Excellent for critical listening and long sessions.

The Duo

Just curious.

https://preview.redd.it/xr8h4yhg7izg1.jpg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5091122894bced2e4740831d3b30a0cd55254227

The best thing about this stack is the number of options I have in customising my audio.

I can go r2r or 1-bit, i can have tubes or not. This grants me insane versatility with any headphone depending on use case. Some definitely do not like tubes. Case in point my headphone shown here. Ether way, the speed and precision of this stack is excellent.

Im interested to see how iBasso tops themselves this time.

(sry about the dirt on the desk)

Has anyone in the headphone community tried tinkering with this software? I have done a lot of research on the configurations that can be made, which i do in order to generate the best sounding hrtf BRIR wavs i can. It can be super fun when you get it right. I definitely recommend SS2 on the B&K 1 preset.

i think the results are slept on a little, with how much better it can sound than most proprietary options. (in my experience)

Recently I have come to the realisation that most headphone communities on discord are toxic.

I had a run in with an especially toxic group of such people today on crinacle's discord.

Strike one, I had previously, a history apparently with someone a mod knew from another server. It was stated that I have previously been "problematic" this behaviour had occurred several years ago. How they are keeping such close and detailed information on people with no real presence is concerning and very ... strange?

I don't like the fact that the discord headphone communities have devolved into a clicky in-group of toxic, know-it-alls. Frankly, despite my best efforts to apologise and just be a positive influence to the server, I had unfortunately met with the aforementioned especially toxic individuals.

-Story time-

I was getting along perfectly. Talking, engaging, etc. Was suddenly ganged up on by several individuals for stating that not all iems take to eq perfectly due to resonances, driver setups, etc. I had mentioned that you cannot eq your way to perfect, undistorted bass on a single ba driver iem, like you an with a single dd iem.

This was met with a completely disproportionate reaction from these individuals. Nothing short of harassment. I was given a "dunce hat", banned instantly from the "audio-help" channel and was told "we dont need people like you misinforming noobs". I tried to explain my situation but it rapidly went downhill as I was trying to engage with several individuals at once engaging in a teenage-girl-drama type pathetic display of click in-group gate-keeping.

I dont recall the exact quote but I mentioned that the response was outright hostile.

Someone mentioned "good, we should be hostile to misinformation".

So I stated "dont take yourself so seriously".

This statement was met with an instant perma ban, no warnings, no communication.

I also have clear memories that this had indeed happened before on the headphones . com discord channel. I have spoken with a lovely girl on discord who i do not wish to name but she used to be more well known. She spoke to me of how certain mods are actual scumbags who ban for no good reason.

it is with this complete picture of things that I have come to the realisation that the headphone community in the west, for places like discord are completely beyond any sense of civility and should not be considered places for serious discussion, ever.

It hurts more than I wish it did, since discord is kind of a long running joke anyway, but when you actually try to engage, network and connect with the communities any way you can but routinely get shut out due a small gate-keeping network of people who hold power (who really shouldnt) well... all i can say is. I have little hopes that anything of value will ever come from those discords unless that value is in how much of a laugh you can get from the immature punks running those sites. I hope I never have to see any of them when I attend the next canjam. As i am sure none of them are the types who will display such behaviour in public. Honestly. im disgusted at them, how they treated my friend, and how they treated me.

End of post.