HE-6

For the price my OG HE-6 pretty much beat out anything a normal human can afford. Even now, 10+ years later and looking at headphones up to triple the price, I haven’t found a pair I actually prefer. Sadly, you cannot get them new and only rarely do you see them pop up on auction sites. The subsequent iterations, while they’ve improved on some aspects, cannot match the sound quality.

I’ll stick with my OG HE-6, as they’re my daily drivers and I still can’t find anything better.

I've noticed that a lot of audiophiles are so used to a lack of bass (hd600 etc), that anything that is neutral has a lot. Like my he6 for example. Praised for it's bass. While i agree the bass is super clean and fast, it's really not that loud. I've found myself increasing it with a +4 shelf. Tdlr: audiophiles overestimate "a lot of bass/slam/punch etc"

I've noticed that a lot of audiophiles are so used to a lack of bass (hd600 etc), that anything that is neutral has a lot. Like my he6 for example. Praised for it's bass. While i agree the bass is super clean and fast, it's really not that loud. I've found myself increasing it with a +4 shelf. Tdlr: audiophiles overestimate "a lot of bass/slam/punch etc"

If mid timbre and no EDM is your thing: Senn HD-600, OTL amp, Schiit R2R DAC (all used saves money) If you want some dynamics/bass/all around: Refurbed HFM HE-6 SE, amp with at least 2 wpc@50 ohms (if lots of bass EQ make it 6 wpc), same DAC as above, really needs some PEQ to max those.

hifiman open backs, EQ correction to harman, happy days. All these sennheiser and beyer headphones lack the sub bass frequencies you need to hear in techno. yes, I agree, if you learn your headphones, any will do. But if you want to hear everything, for me, you can't beat a decent set of planars