Sennheiser - HD 559

The build quality feels so much better than the 5 series. It's a shame the HD550 didn't inherit the metal headband. I absolutely love the comfort and isolation with these. I use the 500BAM microphone for phone calls. Pretty good value as I got them brand new for $213 + $66 for the 500BAM.

I honestly really like the stock cable on the 620S and the 5 Series headphones. It's not a fancy braided cable, but it's smooth and the kinks loosen up fairly quickly. My only issue with the 620S' build is the glued-on headband cushion. Surely they could have come up with some other solution, like the velcro on the 490 Pro.

1. Audio is very subjective... listen to them in store to compare 2. Getting a separate headphones and microphone is in the end better value for your money. 3. Wireless vs. Wired.... I'd go wired any day of the week with the standard 3.5mm jack as that means I can basically connect it to anything, if you need it to be USB you can even get a cheap 5 dollar USB soundstick... Wireless usually is more expensive and usually has more delay. 4. Over-ear, on-ear or IED, that's all up to you, over ear has better sound isolation 5. Open- vs Closed back, open has a wider soundstage making it so that it's easier to pinpoint the sound but has sound bleeding to the outside. Closed-back has less/no sound bleed but a narrower soundstage. just my 2 cents. (I bought myself a Sennheiser HD559 and am using my webcams microphone, which was slightly more expensive than your budget but sounds very good to my ears)

Powered headphones will not last forever. If you want forever, you need passive repairable headphones with easy parts availability. That means Senn HD5 or 6 series. They aren’t my favorites, but if I could only have one set of cans and had to keep them forever. I’d get some HD600s.

the least to start with open back that have good sounds quality would be $200 for some model of Senheisser with the HD 5 or 6 lines, hifiman stuffs. And beside, unless u enjoy listening with the gym crowd noises, don't even bother buying open back. One more things is u need a decent dacc/amp to drive those. Open back is def not versatile on most cases of daily use

I've listened to AC over the years on a few different sets of cans. The best experience in my opinion is a pair of open-back headphones. Specifically Sennheiser HD 5XX or 6XX. It allows the wide soundstage to really shine through the level of detail that is revealed is amazing.

Sennheiser 500eries goes on sale or refurb often cheap. They lasted me about 15 years, hella comfy as they use a velvet cup instead of fake leather shite

Sennheiser’s HD500 series models used

Is this actually true? My DT770s had the plastic parts break from dropping them just once. Meanwhile every 500 or 600 series Sennheiser I've had and dropped repeatedly have been as good as new, still are in fact. However, true, the headband itself is solid, if the adjustment plastic clips broke you can just tape them together or something.

Second this. Got my pair of Sennheiser open-back headphones a while ago now and I’ve never looked for another pair since. It takes a while to get used to it but it’s produces gorgeous sound quality.