HD 630VB

I'd throw the Sennheiser HDB 630s into your shortlist. I think they're better than both the Bathys and the Px8. B&W has a really treble-focused signature and I had to EQ the crap out of them to not have cymbal hits or the "s" sounds in lyrics to not get fatiguing super quickly. I've not heard the Apollo but the 630s from sennheiser are fairly well regarded as the best sound for less than $800-1000. They're absolutely magical. Their parametric EQ is one of the best implementations of EQ customization I've ever seen. They have basically no faults other than looking fairly boring and having mediocre ANC. Sound quality, comfort, battery life are all incredible. I can't recommend them enough. I've tried to see if I'm just up in the night or if they're really that good and nothing I've directly compared them to in their segment has overtaken them for me.

I had the APM1 i had to trade them in which I was gutted about. I couldn’t get over the constant friction grinding sound cause by my metal frame glasses rubbing against the cushion. It’s the only headphone that did it and I have about 10 pairs of lots of kind. I’ll stick between APP2/ APP3 and my sennheiser hdb 630. I jump between APP2 and APP3 as the noise cancellation is great on 3 but the 2s are far more comfortable

I wish the app3 were as comfortable as the 2s. They would be my main commute headphones. The sennheiser hdb 630 with the dongle are incredible

I’d be interested to hear how they stack up to the HD630VB headphones that were released about 10 years ago. I have the HD630VB and I LOVE them but reviewers and audiophiles at the time completely ripped them apart. I think the “variable bass” aspect angered some purists but it’s actually really useful to be able to fine tune the bass response sometimes. The fixed cable was also a complaint, which obviously won’t be an issue with the HDB630. To me, the HD630VB sound better than AKG K701 and Airpods Max for what it’s worth. I still use them all the time because you can just chuck them about or fold them up and put them in your bag. They do look pretty tacky though, which might have contributed to the poor reviews.

What does bluetooth have to do w/ audio quality? It's been proven time & time again that modern codecs are transparent. The dsp compute of a Bluetooth headphone actually gives it some strength, one of the best sounding headphones on the market are the senny HDB630 for that reason, fantastic PEQ The HD560 is just painfully transparent. In studies listeners do prefer some sort of bass shelf. The Airpod Max outperforms that on the lows as much as that outperforms on the highs. APM2 is a fine headphone & you can wear them outside. Self-proclaimed audiophiles like you spreading misinformation will be the death of this community

Sennheiser hdb 630, no competition

I don’t think there is one “best” option. And the headphones with the best ANC are generally not going to sound as good, since ANC affects the frequency response. From what I’ve heard and tried, the best ANC is Sony’s XM6s. I like Sennheiser, and if money were no object, I’d get the HDB 630s. Money is an object, so I own their Momentum 4s (which are also very good, but not the best). Another popular wireless option is the Focal Bathys MG. They are very expensive, but apparently they sound so good you can hear angels crying or something. Wishing you luck!

Nah. I own a set of the M4s and they’re a fantastic pair of consumer headphones—but this guy is not going to like them. If someone is talking about phase separation, they probably want audiophile grade headphones. I’d recommend the Focal Bathys or the HDB 630s. Both will have a FR that OP will find more pleasing.

HDB 630 if sound quality is important, nothing else really comes close to it but I suppose the Bose QC Ultras sound decent if you EQ the ridiculous amount of bass away while also having excellent ANC.