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Just registered to say thanks for sharing this one. I'm in a similar boat and have recently picked up a decent set of cans (AiAiAi TMA-1 Studio), an HRT Microstreamer USB DAC and started using Audirvance in iTunes integrate mode.
The separation was amazing but ultimately fatiguing. This plugin makes the headphone experience much nicer - there is stil separation and clarity but not extreme.
It's made me realise that most music is designed for speakers and not headphones and so this isn't "cheating" to create a false sound, it's just a way of bringing the sound back to how it was intended.