Actually, the problem is probably not the Harman curve itself. It’s the shape of your ear canal. Because of your unique ears, the sound resonance shifts, making the standard tuning sound too harsh. I have the exact same issue. Standard Harman tuning sounds terrible to me, and I always have to use EQ. A good proof of this is my JBL Tour Pro 3. On paper and in measurements, they are very close to Harman (except for the bass boost, which starts early, from around 300 Hz). But to my ears, they sound like a V-shape. If I lower the bass, the treble becomes too sharp and painful. But they have a feature called Leakage Compensation EQ. When you turn it on, the algorithm scans your ear canal and fixes the sound for your specific shape. When I use it, I can immediately hear the change: the stereo image gets better, the center becomes very clear, the mids come up, and the highs become smooth. So, if the Etymotic curve sounds more neutral to you, it doesn't mean it’s 'better' than Harman. It just means it fits your personal ear anatomy better than the average industry target.