Px8

I love my B&O PX8 units. They don’t hold a candle to  as far as seamless integration and transfer from device to device, no Spatial Audio or head tracking, but the tonal quality is better

We have the Focal Bathys, Bose QC Ultra II, Sony XM6, Bowers & Wilkins Px8 (not the new version) and the Apple AirPod Max (wife). Son has the Sennheiser Momentum 4. Of these, the best sounding is the Focal Bathys which is very responsive, detailed and not boomy at all. I use these most of the time. With proper EQ, I actually like the B&W which have very good ANC and a stock sound that is way too bass forward/muddy but for me cleans up with EQ. Of the rest, there are parts of each we really like. The ANC is best on the Sony and Bose and for me I can't tell a real difference although I like the comfort of the Bose better. AirPod Max is heavy, has surprising decent sound and ANC and is a decent but not optimal choice for folks committed to the Apple ecosystem. Our next choice after Focal and B&W with EQ is the Sennheiser which is a pretty decent all around headphone.

I'm going to say no based on the following selection of headphones that I own: Dynamic: Verite Open, Focal Elegia, Beyerdynamic T5/3rd generation and HD650, Planar: DCA E3, DCA Noire, Hifiman HE1000 Stealth, Audeze LCD-2f. IEMs: FiiO FH7s, Westone Mach 40; earbuds: Galaxy Buds Pro 2, Galaxy Buds Pro 3, Jabra Elite Active 8, Sennheiser True Momentum 4, Bose QC II, Bose QC Ultra and ANC headphones Bose NC700, Bose QC Ultra, Sony XM5 and B&W Px8.

I have the OG Bathys and the B&W Px8. I like both a lot especially when using EQ. I've not used the others. And the Bathys are quite quiet for me in terms of sound leakage but I don't wear glasses. I think my dad's headphones on par or a bit better than the Bathys but not $1000 better.

Try the B7W Px7s3. It currently is a bit more than you are trying to spend but is a great ANC headphone. I have the Px8 and it fits snugger than my QC Ultra V1 or 2. It doesn't have a touch pad but buttons which I like more than the touch pad approach of the NC700 (just traded mine in after 6.5 yrs with it).

I also have B&W Px8 and love them for travel but you wont' find them or other B&W headphones that I would get (Px7s3, Px8 Px8 ii) for < $400. For ANC you really can't go wrong with Bose or Sony. Both have really good ANC and microphones. Bose are pretty close to the build of the B&W Px series they just don't use premium leather on the headband and have much more plastic in the build. Sony is their utilitarian look, which I happen to not be a huge fan of as the earcups are quite shallow and the headband is less comfortable than the B&W or Bose. Aventho have a very strange upper range that I would stay away from. Momentum 4 has very good (not top in class like Bose and Sony) ANC with a very good App and a very nice commercially forward sound. I've never used AKG so can't comment on those.

Bose QC line and B&W Px line for me are the most comfortable headphones and they have pretty similar architecture and just differ in build quality. I don't find the Sony line very comfortable as the headbands are not extremely well padded and the earcups are really shallow.

I haven’t listened to all of the ones you’ve listed, so not sure I can say with 100% accuracy, but I do like them and chose them over the Bose due to sound quality. (The Bose probably has a smidge better noise cancelling.) I think the Px8 is more about “luxury” build quality, so if that isn’t important the Px7 is a fair bit cheaper and will still be very high quality.

I’ve got a pair of B&W Px series that I use for air travel that I like. I gave my wife my Bose ones after I got them. Good sound quality, good noise cancelling, comfortable, come with a nice case for travel. Can find them on sale or used in your range if that is an option.

It's preference. You give one headphone to a thousand people, you get a thousand different opinions. The px8s2 is a really good pair of BT headset, nice resolutions, good imaging and slightly improved soundstage compared to the original px8, but like the person in this video said, there's so much spices added into the mix that px8s2 is probably very far away from what you would call "professional mixing gear", and more closs to "musical presentation media". That said, px8s2 probably suits someone who likes very V shaped tuning, at the same time who enjoys exciting highs that could sound sibilant, sharp, or even ear-piercing to others. So yes, according to this video, most of the comments are true, the headphone leans towards a very exciting sound, and exciting can be fatiguing, fatiguing means opinion towards the headset can be extremely polarized. That's why many users are recommended to test and listen to what they are trying to buy before the choices are made.

Get the Bowers & Wilkins PX8 or PXS2/S3. This brand is amazing and much better than many headphones. Even better that the always recommended Sony XM4 or 5. I was always a fan of Sony's headphones until I tried the B&W.