SR60e

Grado SR60e made me an open-ear headphone enthusiast, then gradually shifted to koss lineup and never looked back

Grado My sr60e survived so much abuse over the past 5 years I honestly don't get how. Now the sr325x is even tankier My friends one day showed up to work with his dad's sr60c (Yes c) And they still work like a charm. He has driving them daily for 3 years.

Sealed back headphones are going to be bad because they will have bass resonances, and are usually designed to do so in a way which exaggerates the low end. It's desireable for consumers but not great if you are trying to get a relatively flat mix. I find the AKG K240 open back headphones are very neutral. I'd also put the Grado SR60 in the same general category of neutral open back cans. The Beyer DT770 are really good for tracking, but they have a notch around 4k or so and another in the low mids that will trick you. Stuff I mixed on the road sounded pokey and harsh on good monitors. BTW K240s are about $80 most places. Much cheaper than most of the suggestions on here.

New? Ft1 pro, the regular Ft1 is good but not "big ass easy to drive planar magnetic that come with both 3.5 and 4.4 cables. For about 200 But year on year, used grado sr60, 80, 125, and 225's. Used pristine 125e's are like 50 bucks everywhere and they're just a fabulous set of cans, and durable as hell.. But new, its the Ft1 pro, no contest. Or iems. Moondrop kadenz are just astonishing for 200 bucks. But the simgot em6l are also amazing for 100.

If you’re looking for quality v price, I would be investigating wired headphones. - Grado SR60 (open back) - Sennheiser HD280 (closed back) Those are gonna be your best bet for sound quality and price. If you are looking for wireless and ANC, your choices under $100 are gonna be notably worse, audio quality-wise. Thats just the nature of that price point. The Anker headphones are fine for the price. A couple other good options: - JBL tune 670nc - Sony WH-CH270n

I just went shopping for a pair of wired closed back cans and stumbled on the Meze 99 Classics V2 and was super impressed with the gorgeous sound and build quality, especially for ~$350 and played with and without a separate DAC/AMP. My first serious headphones were Grado SR60 more than 20 years ago and Sennheiser HD-25 a few years later. I have no doubt the Meze will still be functional and repairable for a couple of decades, which adds a lot of bang in the long run. https://www.headfonia.com/meze-99-classics-v2-review/

if you like metal and jazz, give the grado sr-60 a shot. some think they are polarizing; i think they are fun. they were my first "serious" headphone that got me into headphones.