DT 1770 PRO

I have Scarlett solo and that's how I record my bass. I had beyerdynamic dt770 pro 250phm for like $80, they were great but I wanted detachable cable so I got 1770pro 250ohm. There's not much of a difference in terms of the sound between those two pairs. I love the way they sounds I don't think I'll ever get any other pair of studio headphones different than dt1770. I tried two really expensive pairs of Sennheiser headphones and they sounded like toys compared to beyerdynamics.

Oh man, thanks for making me feel somewhat normal as have 5 different ones here. AirPods for travel and podcasts Beyer dt1990s for work Beyer dt1770 for home Logitech G Pro x2 for the mic and gaming Sony MDR 7506 for when I don’t want to bring out the big boys, or they might get damaged.

I just dipped my toes in to the audiophile hobby, my first purchase was a DT 770 Pro x, I also felt ‘meh’. I returned it and got the DT 1770 Pro instead, WAY better for me in my opinion. Clearer vocals and big sound stage for a close back.

Depends how loud your keyboard is tbh. Closed backs for gaming are a lot better on PC. I had 1770 Pros for gaming/mixing before but there was a huge discount on 1990 Pros and the 1770 Pros had way too much bass for mastering I so went for those and gave the 1770 pros to my wife. I had to buy new keyboard because I had MX blues and gaming was horrible on open backs and loud switches. I still kinda prefer the 1770 for gaming tbh as they isolate better. For mixing and mastering the 1990 pros are perfect and for gaming as well after getting silent switches. But for budget I would go with DT 770 Pro 250Ohm and pair them with ifi zen dac v2. I made testing with 1770 Pros and 770 Pros on ifi zen dac V2 and the difference wasnt that huge I was expecting (the 770 were decade old lol). https://youtu.be/5nQ4Za2Qd6U?si=xCDnnywE-Gdw9lgS When it comes to gaming they are really good. I used to play a lot of competitive fps before (OW1, Cod, CS) and all games I played I reached top 1% so no complaining.

There is no best, it's subjective. Though I would generally prefer open-backs over closed backs, especially when you're just using them in your chair and not a noisy environment. "Audiophile grade" is also not a clearly defined term. There are a lot of good options available for under 1000$, I would recommend ordering a few different pairs and comparing them. Like, as far as open-backs are concerned, get a Hifiman Arya, Sennheiser HD 6XX and maybe a Beyerdynamic DT1990 (note that there's two versions, you can get some great deals on the older MK1 but it has a very spicy treble). If you really need/want something closed, your options will be more limited, you could try a Senny HD620 and Beyer DT1770. Personally, I think the AKG K702 (open) for 180 USD is an incredible deal, but some don't like the mid-heavy sound. And there's no doubt there are better headphones to be had for three or four times the price, but they won't really sound three of four times better, and whether it's worth it spending so much is up to you.