Grado - SR60x

actually I've found koss KSC75 to be pretty great for this, I personally have two pairs, one for steamdeck/on the go and another pair for VR because they are immersive with their "sound stage", lightweight, and the ear clips keep them comfortably and securely on my ears when moving about. They are also really cheap and i'd honestly recommend just getting some anyway for use as backups or portability regardless of what you end up picking. Also one that is kinda surprising is actually grado SR60x, will definitely need EQ to fix the ridiculous tuning they have from factory but afterwards they are great for positional audio queues. In fact they used to be my main headphones for games before getting HD600. Have to be really careful with them though, the build is just not durable, they will not survive abuse. Also you have to stretch the headband out until there is just barely any clamping force on your ears, at which point I found them to be very comfortable. Otherwise they are extremely painful out of the box with too much pressure on the ears. But you know, once you fix their biggest problems they are great headphones for gaming. If gaming on windows then use "equalizer APO" and grab an automatically generated parametric EQ to harmon target from "autoeq.app". Both of the above are friendly to your budget. But my absolute favorite about them is they are way more open than HD600. What I mean by that is with either the koss or grado I can speak like normal and hear myself through my ears not just through my bones almost exactly the same as if I weren't wearing headphones at all. Whereas with the HD600 I find myself speaking louder subconsciously and I hear myself kinda like if I had a few layers of a fluffy blanket over my ears. Only really matters if I'm in a voice chat and even then it's more of a "huh that's kinda interesting"

First of all, i don't think that your experience will be any better with a headphone that has a usb-c connector, since they will have the same exact type of DAC as the external ones. But you should try out the usb-C adapter by Apple. It's only 10 dollars and i have heard that it sounds just as good as audiophile adapters that cost 10 times as much. There are open back over ear headphones. I mainly use them indoors, since, i want to have as little noise as possible creeping in. When they are not playing any music, it almost feels like you are not wearing any headphones. But if you are hell bent on ear headphones, here are a few recommendations: My first pick would be Grado. They make on ear headphones that look super cool and have a very unique sound that is loved by many people. Their entry level 60x apparently sound almost identical to the more expensive 80x and 125x, so that would be a great option for the money (around 99 dollars). Then there are the Koss Porta Pro. They are one of the most legendary headphones and have received high praise for decades. They are pretty affordable at around 50 dollars (you can find them cheaper) and apparently sound pretty great for the money. The styling is a bit polarizing though, even if it is iconic.

Ahh my two favourites are definitely grado sr60x and hifiman sundaras. Idk why but that treble in the grados is just so nice for so much of my music, and I really enjoy the super light on-ear feel. Then the sundaras are absolutely my most used headphones, by far. They are always at my desk and these days even next to my bed. If I’m being honest my sundaras don’t do anything that is particularly mind-blowing but I just love the sound so much. The build quality is terrible and the cable they came with got swapped out immediately alongside the pads, but the sound is just right. Honorable mentions go to kph40s which are the single comfiest headphones ever, I usually forget in even wearing them and they sound so ridiculously good for 30$ headphones. Then to hd660s which I keep at my desk as well, and since they are so easy to drive compared to hd600 and to my sundaras, I even used them out of my phone for 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.

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

A long time ago Jacquire King mixed a song I produced.  We were in his room which was probably so acoustically accurate that I couldn’t figure out how the bass was sitting.  He offered me some Grados to try and they immediately made sense to me.  I’ve used them ever since.  Even the $99 SR60s are accurate and easy to listen to.  They are open so they’re not great for tracking but I always have a pair around when I need to hear what’s going on.  There’s lots of great options out there but for neutral cans that will show you where you’ve got issues I always recommend Grados.  To be fair the lower end sr60 and 80 aren’t going to punch much below 50hz but the rest of the spectrum will be both accurate and pleasing.  

i really can recommend my ie600 for this record, enjoying it with my Grados and Maxwell as well.

The headband on Grados are made from thin metal inside the faux leather exterior and you can bend it out of shape really easily to make it as tight or loose as you like. Mine pretty much sit over my ears and don't squeeze at all.

If you're looking for decent wireless noise cancelling in that price category you can always grab a pair of Soundcore Q30 (or 35 if you can get them used/on sale) For plain old wired headphones in the $30-40 range you can always snag the Koss Porta Pros, or the KPH30i. They sound much better than you'd expect, especially if you swap out the pads. Moving up the price range you'll find things like the Audio Technica ATH-M50x (Wired or Wireless), Grado SR60/80 (Wired), Beyer Dynamics DT770 (Wired). These all sound different, ATH being more bass, Grado lots of Treble, and Beyers are flat. If you like thumpy headphones you can absolutely enjoy Skullcandy Crushers, or Marley over ears. The latter have a pretty solid build quality whereas the other are more affordable. Everyone has a preference, so just enjoy what sounds good to you. I would probably shy away from unreviewed no name headphones like those you linked, though!

The nyczaj pads on those grado x drivers make them so good