Beyerdynamic - DT 880 PRO (250 Ohm)

My headphones, the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro, are somewhere around a decade old, still working great, and I use them with a Samsung GoMic and the setup has lasted for years very reliably with good performance. I hate headsets.

I use these: Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro 250-ohm Semi-open Reference Studio Headphones They sound amazing and if he does any producing he'll want studio headphones so they work for both. They are your max budget though

I tried a few headset last month (PC gaming) SteelSeries Nova 7P, Audiotechnica M50X, Benedynamic DT880 Pro, and HyperX cloud 2. These are my opinion as day-to-day game and music enjoyer. Not an audiophile. I’m using EQ with Steel series GG - Sonar. Nova 7 and hyperX are wireless and closed back. M50X (closed back) and DT 880 pro (semi-open-back) are wired. I settled down for HyperX cloud 2 (upgraded with wicked cushion) for wireless and DT 880 pro for wired with DAC. Nova 7 is awesome, but it falls short on 2 pain points - too small for my head and plastic hinges. I fear I’ll break it in months from my daily usage/abuse. Otherwise they are terrific. M50X is also good with crystal clear sounds… but I prefer open back of the DT880 Pro more. DT880 Pro also has bigger ear cushion, more comfortable long gaming session. Purely personal preference. HyperX cloud 2 works wonders for me. Good sound and bass. Even better when used with EQ. When compared to Nova 7, it has better omph bass in wireless mode (nova 7 is a beast when plugged in). DT 880 pro is my spare for when the hyperX ran out of battery or when I need a better sound for movie immersive-ness. It just works. As your partner wanting wireless, give HyperX and SteelSeries a try. They are both closed back with good reviews. YMMW. These are under $150. If you can spend $200+ then there are other tier of headset that’s outside of my budget range.

Try DT 880 Pro and K702 And buy a good DAC Welcome in the rabbit hole ;)

Audeze Maxwell's 100%. You have to physically try them every day for at least a week to adjust to fit (they were comfy and not fatiguing for me personally), but if you want sound that is on another league of its own in that price range (handles EQ's like a champ), then its a no brainer IMHO. I've tried them all, went down the spending rabbit hole to find "the one" pair that gives me that "wow" factor and fits my use case the best and I always end up going right back to the Maxwells after all the comparisons! Products tested: A50X, Arctis Nova Pro / Elite, HD 490 Pro, DT 880 Pro, several IEMs (recently tried the Kiwi Ears Astral and found them too bright for me), HyperX Cloud III, etc. etc. Get the PS5 version ($30 cheaper; USD) or wait for a sale. Audeze main website had a B stock sale for amazing discounts but they're selling out fast. Just grabbed a pair of Maxwell's for $199, so be on the lookout! Worst case scenario, the sound quality doesn't outweigh its flaws for your taste and you go back to square one after returning them.

DT 880 pro's. They are perfect.

Don't disregard the DT 880's. In my opinion the best of the lot. Closed backs give negative pressure when wearing them and can really tire your hearing out. Open backs piss everyone else off in the space and you can hear way too much. But the 880s are semi open backed, you get better clarity than open backed, less noise, and they dont feel like you head is in a vice like the closed backs.

sennheiser hd650 or beyerdynamic dt880 are solid for mixing, if you want cheaper the sony 7506 or ath m50x work fine too, just always check your mix on some regular earbuds after

DT 880 Pro is a good pick if you want more neutral tone, but mixing with monitors or other reference systems will help you catch bass issues.

1. The DAC/Amp. I wouldn't spend more than $300 on an DAC/Amp. The Topping Dx5 ii has everything one could need. 6.4W output (more than enough for every Headphones, measures flat, has Bluetooth and has built in peq. 2. There are so many Headphones out there, to buy the perfect one is not the easiest thing to do. My go to recommendation for a high-end pair of Headphones is the Hifiman Arya stealth (as refurb on hifiman webstore for $480 with the coupon) as it delivers a rather big soundstage, with a lot of details and overall good tuning (as long as you have no issues with a bit more treble but you've tested the Beyer's, therefore the Arya shouldn't be an issue) and with a basshelf (which you can add on the DAC/amp with the built in PEQ feature filter: lsq 130hz, 5db q 0.71) it sounds great. * Sennheiser HD 820 (Closed-Back) ($2,199.95 + $500-2,000 DAC/Amp = $4,199.95) (6-48,000 Hz) Not worth it at that price tag especially as you have to fix a couple of issues with EQ) * Sennheiser HD 800 S (Open-Back) ($1,999.95 + $500-2,000 DAC/Amp = $3,999.95) (4-51,000 Hz) Not worth it imo at that price range. There are better and cheaper options. I had the hd800. * Audio-Technica ADX5000 (Open-Back) ($2,199 + $300-1,000 DAC/Amp = $3,199) (5-50,000 Hz) No idea * Sony MDR-Z1R (Closed-Back) (~~$2,099.99~~ $1,899.99 + $200-500 DAC/Amp = ~~$2,599.99~~ $2,399.99) (4-120,000 Hz) Sounds great but the price is too high) * Beyerdynamic T1 (Open-Back) ($999.99 + $500-1,500 DAC/Amp = $2,499.99) (5-50,000 Hz) Not worth it * Audio-Technica ADX3000 (Open-Back) ($1,099 + $200-500 DAC/Amp = $1,599) (5-45,000 Hz) No idea * Beyerdynamic T5 (Closed-Back) ($999.99 + $150-300 DAC/Amp = $1,299.99) (5-50,000 Hz) No worth it * Beyerdynamic DT 1990 PRO MKII (Open-Back) ($699.99 + $200-500 DAC/Amp = $1,199.99) (5-40,000 Hz) Good Headphone, does a lot of things right but it's not a big upgrade compared to the mk1. Quite comfortable and well built. * Beyerdynamic DT 1770 PRO MKII (Closed-Back) (~~$699.99~~ $599.99 + $200-500 DAC/Amp = ~~$1,199.99~~ $1,099.99) (5-40,000 Hz) Do not like this Headphone. * Sennheiser HD 660S2 (Open-Back) (~~$679.95~~ $479.95 + $200-500 DAC/Amp = ~~$1,179.95~~ $979.95) (8-41,500 Hz) Not worth it. It's not a substantial upgrade over the og 600 series even though they ask 2-3x more. Get the 6xx over the 660s2 and add a bit of bass) * Audio-Technica ATH-R70xa (Open-Back) ($379 + $300-800 DAC/Amp = $1,179) (5-40,000 Hz) Haven't listened to it. * Sennheiser HD 650 (Open-Back) (~~$579.95~~ $349.95 + $200-500 DAC/Amp = ~~$1,079.95~~ $849.95) (10-39,500 Hz) (Artist Favorite) Warmer 6xx. * Sennheiser HD 600 (Open-Back) (~~$499.95~~ $299.95 + $200-500 DAC/Amp = ~~$999.95~~ $799.95) (12-39,500 Hz) Good Natural sounding Headphone but not exciting. Not for me. * Beyerdynamic DT 880 PRO (Semi-Open-Back) (~~$219.99~~ $209.99 + $200-500 DAC/Amp = ~~$719.99~~ $709.99) (5-35,000 Hz) The best Beyer out of the 700,800 and 900 series imo. The most balanced and still fun * Sennheiser HD 620S (Closed-Back) ($399.95 + $100-300 DAC/Amp = $699.95) (6-30,000 Hz) Decent closedback HP. In many ways better than the hd820 but not as resolving. * Audio-Technica ATH-WP900 (Closed-Back) ($699) (5-50,000 Hz) No idea * Sennheiser HD 490 PRO (Open-Back) ($399 + $100-200 DAC/Amp = $599) (5-36,000 Hz) The best Sennheiser Headphone at the moment. Great comfort and well tuned. Good Allrounder. * Sennheiser HD 560S (Open-Back) ($279.95 + $100-300 DAC/Amp = $579.95) (6-38,000 Hz) As refurbished available for $130 on their outlet. Good value. Does a lot of things right. Not the most comfortable (the 490 pro is a straight upgrade) but really good at that price tag. * Beyerdynamic DT 990 PRO X (Open-Back) ($229.99 + $100-200 DAC/Amp = $429.99) (5-40,000 Hz) Not great. I would pick the 900 pro x over the 990 pro x. * Sony MDR-MV1 (Open-Back) ($419.99) (5-80,000 Hz) Haven't listened to it. * Sennheiser HD 505 Copper (Open-Back) ($329.95) (12-38,500 Hz) Seems to be liked by a lot of people but havent listenes to it. * Audio-Technica ATH-M70x (Closed-Back) ($329) (5-40,000 Hz) No idea * Beyerdynamic DT 700 PRO X (Closed-Back) ($319.99) (5-40,000 Hz) Great comfort, not that well tuned. Better than the 770 though. * Sony MDR-M1 (Closed-Back) ($269.99) (5-80,000 Hz) Haven't listened to them * Beyerdynamic DT 900 PRO X (Open-Back) (~~$319.99~~ $239) (5-40,000 Hz) Second best 700,800,900 tuned Headphone imo. * Sennheiser HD 599 (Open-Back) ($239.95) (12-38,500 Hz) Not good at that price tag. For und 100 it's okay. * Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO X (Closed-Back) ($229.99) (5-40,000 Hz) (Descendent of Artist Favorite DT 770) Terrible imo. Especially the og. Didn't like it. * Sennheiser HD 300 PRO (Closed-Back) ($199.95) (6-25,000 Hz) No idea * Sennheiser HD 569 (Closed-Back) ($179.95) (10-45,000 Hz) Not worth it * Audio-Technica ATH-R50x (Open-Back) ($169) (5-40,000 Hz) Haven't listened to it. * Audio-Technica ATH-M50x (Closed-Back) ($159) (15-28,000 Hz) (Artist Favorite) It's meh. * Audio-Technica ATH-M40x (Closed-Back) ($109) (15-24,000 Hz) It's meh Some other Headphones you can look in to Sub $300: Aune ar5000, fiio ft1 (pro) and Sennheiser HD6xx Sub $600: Hifiman Arya stealth, Hifiman Ananda unveiled, Hifiman XV and DCA aoen x closed, Audeze ls20 Sub $1000: Hifiman He600, Arya organic, Meze 109 Pro and Hifiman Stealth He1000Se I wouldn't recommend spending more than 1k on a Headphone. That my opinion.

For me it’s the DT880 PRO. Excellent Sound, super comfy, all parts servicable and still available. Last but not least it doesn’t cost a fortune.

I live in a country where none of the audiophile brand exist. None. Therefore I didn't have the luxury of testing headphones before buying them. I had to ask a family member to buy them and then send them over to my country. Therefore for someone like me who didn't have the option to try them, I think it was good to focus on not only the sound but the other characteristics as well. I initially went with the Beyerdynamics 880 and it was the worst purchase of my life. Gave me tinnitus with it's abysmal treble. Then I learned to actually research in depth and make my purchasing decisions around weight, comfort, durability, user serviceability and seeing what the pros already use. Bought the good old HD600. It's my endgame for mixing until I'm ready to spend over £2500 for a headphone. Which is not anytime soon.