Absolutely; as much as I am passionately in love with my Dawns, part of my reason for wanting to try open-back is that I do feel cut off wearing IEMs - I have no idea the wife wants me until I jump out of my skin when she taps me on the shoulder.

As the Dawn and XS aren't far off price-wise I would expect them to be equally good, just different, so I would be very interested in the thoughts of someone who has tried both but your experience is useful, thanks.