Thank you very much for the effort Erik!
I made a brighter version (just with raw processing) and it significantly improved the result. Still not great but more usable. I’ll try your settings next and see if that helps. I see your point and understand the explanation but I’m also not totally convinced, mostly due to what happens in the wood model and other areas that work well. I will do more testing and see if I can come up with something. 
What I find interesting is that sharpening/clarity is something that is suggested to be used. I always thought less is more when it comes to processing images.
I’m already shooting two versions, one for geo, one for texture, this is one of the earlier tests. In the meantime I was able to improve the results with different powders (yet the ears kept being a problem).