99 Classics (2nd Gen)

Your criteria need to be... \- Dynamic drivers \- No battery \- Wired with a removable cable \- Sturdy construction \- No pleather \- Designed for repairability, with easy disassembly Maybe consider the Meze 99 Classics V2? Great headphone, affordable, should last forever if you take care of it. Only thing it's missing is that the headphone does use pleather, which does wear down over time. But I don't know of any in this price bracket that do use genuine leather and the pleather is replacable on the 99 classics. If wireless is a must consider the Steelseries Arctis Pro Wireless. While they do not fit many of the criteria above, you can swap out the pads and headband as needed, and most importantly the battery is replacable, so you can make them last forever by swapping out the batteries if you ever experience any issues.

I can vouch for these, too. The 99s are really comfortable, and very well constructed. If you go with the M4s, be careful of where you purchase from. There are tons of counterfeit ones on Fleabay. If it looks too good to be true, it usually is.

The XV is worth the jump up. I'm still finishing up my review (mostly editing and doing the product photography this evening), but it's one of the VERY few headphones that I think is fairly priced at MSRP. It's really exceptional. Here's what I wrote in my comparison to Sundara: "While I do still really enjoy Sundara (and I prefer its midrange to a substantial degree, particularly for guitar tones), the Edition XV has substantially better bass, similar treble, and better detail resolution and comfort on my head. I'm going to keep the Sundara around (they cost me $80, after all) for guitar heavy listening, but I'm going to guess that the vast majority of the time I'm going to grab the Edition XV for most kinds of listening. A quick glance at the graph: **Verdict**: Edition XV is a better headphone. It's also a lot more expensive; if you have less than $200 to spend the Sundara is a great option and you don't NEED to wait and save up for the Edition XV if you want a headphone now. That said, if you can afford the difference, the Edition XV is just better." Came to similar opinion on the Edition XS and FT1 Pro; the XV is just better than both, though the FT1 Pro has a place in my collection because it's just so dang fun to listen to. Haven't heard the Kithara yet though, and I really didn't like the Ananda Nano when I auditioned it.

I would say the Bathys hold up pretty well against a lot of wired headphones, though in situations where I don't need ANC I am more likely to grab a good closed back like the Focal Elegia or Celestee or the Meze 99 Classics v2. \[Worth noting that the Bathys have an excellent DAC mode, if you don't mind tethering them to a source device via USB-C; you get all of the sound benefits of the active headphone + lossless, and in a quiet environment that \*might\* matter for you.\] A good, \*well-tuned\* closed back in a similar price category will outperform the Bathys, but there just aren't that many well-tuned closed backs. The advantage of an active headphone like the Bathys is that it can use DSP (basically EQ) to correct the passive sound of the headphone, whereas a traditional, passive closed back is stuck with whatever physical characteristics the manufacturer decided on. And most design them poorly. Now, if you're looking at the open back market like the Ananda Nano, you can get a lot more value for the same money. I could list a dozen headphones under $500 that I'd rather listen to than the Bathys in a quiet environment, though the Nano probably wouldn't make that list (it's too treble-y for me). I'd point you primarily to the Sennheiser HD 490 Pro, the Meze 105 AER, or the Hifiman Edition XV. All will perform solidly better than the Bathys in a quiet environment.

Do you want wireless (Bluetooth) ANC headphones, or are you OK with wired headphones? If it’s the former, there are a few options to consider. You say you’re willing to sacrifice sound quality for good noise cancellation- if so, then Sony XM6 or Bose QC Ultra v2 are excellent. But I would strongly suggest looking at a Sennheiser Momentum 4 - way better sound quality, and double the battery life (literally), very rugged - at a fraction of the price of a Sony or Bose. If it’s the latter, you should shop around. There’s no one size fits all answer; people have very different preferences in sound profiles and use case. Some like Audeze and Hifiman are “bright” headphones, Sennheisers are neutral, and Meze or DCA are “relaxed” or “dark.” Audeze’s Maxwell and Sennheiser HD___ series are amazing closed backs for gaming. I love Meze’s 99 Classics v2, or if you want to splurge $800, their new Strada headphones look and sound great. Dan Clark Audio’s Aeon Noire are probably the most comfortable closed backs in the sub 500 range. Hifiman makes amazing open-back headphones but their closed backs are a bit iffy. So if you’re getting into wired headphones, come with a mindset of exploring and trading to find your “endgame” set.

If you wanna save a little money, the best closed back under 500 us dollars is the fiio ft1. Hands down. The only one I'll recommend realistically. Other contenders at that price are the akg k361 and k371. You can also look into the sennheiser hd620 but I've heard it's rather underwhelming. If you want to spend more, I'd look at the meze 99 classic V2. Try to demo something before hand because this is a lot of money you're talking about