Sennheiser - HD 6XX

I find it hard to believe that the comfort between a Sennheiser and the D1 would be similar. The thing that bothers me the most about the D1 is the price and the comfort, when compared to the HD6 line. If you wanted more subbass in those, you could surely get a zen dac to boost the bass up, or a pair of tubes to upgrade them even more. But the additional weight and build of the D1 concerns me. The weight is likely to cause discomfort in long listening sessions, and in terms of build - if anything breaks, I doubt its as user servicable as the HD6 line of open-back headphones. That coupled with the addional price increase of these headphones, is why I'd probably never recommend anyone these over the HD6 line of open backs. Plus the company doesn't have good rapport either based on the DMS video.

Understand where you're coming from. My point was price, comfort, ease of user serviceability, and company goodwill. (In that order of importance) I really appreciate you addressing the latter two to a certain degree. But to clarify, regarding the brand bit, I wasn't alluding to where they were located or their products, I was referring to dms video about how they try to snub critical user reviews by pressuring mods into removing user posts. The longer warranty is certainly nice. But i don't think that's a concern sennheiser wise, when we've seen them last decades already. Also the d1 certainly does not seem as easy to service as the sennheisers (and by that I don't mean partially like earpads or headband, but the rest of the chassis as well). You can open up the whole chassis of senns without any tool, I haven't seen any breakdowns of the D1, but it doesn't look as easy. Not to mention THE most important factor, the comfort. Good sound means nothing if you're constantly uncomfortable wearing them, I prefer lighter weight, a lot. So ultimately all I'm trying to get at, is that while your points about the longer warranty or the stock sound are valid, considering the d1 an all around upgrade is a stretch when you're compromising on comfort, and price. You said that the d1 needs juice because the mac wasn't powering it to sufficient levels, so the cost of a dac or amp I wouldn't consider additional costs for senn but rather something that you'd need to invest for d1 as well. Both have their advantages and tradeoffs. And personally for me, the tradeoffs of d1 are not worth it.

In that $ range, I would have to go with the Sennhesier HD6XX or a pair of reburb HD600 off the Sennheiser Outlet Store. FYI: I'm a huge Sennheiser fan just to let you know. I would also have to include the very solid Fiio FT3 in that group. I'm not really a big fan of ribbons yet so I won't even try. I also own a older pair of ATH AD900x and while it's really detailed, it lacks sub bass than modern music needs to have and also can have sibilance on some recordings. If you have a bass boost option, that might not be a problem. I've never heard a pair of the R70x, but I have never seen a bad review on one. \*\*\* As always, headphones are all about personal preferrence, get a demo or a return policy if at all possible.

Go to the Sennheiser Outlet website and get a pair of refurbished HD600 for $229 or a pair of HD650 for $279 a pair. Both of those are great enough to be your very last headphone purchase.

The drop HD6xx are a crowd favourite for a reason and only $200. Which Audio Technica are you moving away from though? Been considering moving to the ATH-R70x

The HD6xx I think is the best value in the price range really enjoyable to listen too and very easy on the ears. The R70x, hifiman edition Xs, Sony MDR-MV1 could also be considered depending on what your preferences are and equipment.

You need to be a bit more specific. Do you need/want ANC? Do you need/want microphones for calls? If not I'd get the Drop 6xx which is just a mass produced Sennheiser HD650. They are comfortable, light (a little too plasticky for me but that allows them to be cheaper and lighter) with very good resolution in the mid-range. Add a subbass low shelf filter by EQ and they are perfect. For ANC, I lean toward the Bose QC Ultra 1 or the B7W Px7s3 for comfort and decent but not great sound.

I'm going to say no based on the following selection of headphones that I own: Dynamic: Verite Open, Focal Elegia, Beyerdynamic T5/3rd generation and HD650, Planar: DCA E3, DCA Noire, Hifiman HE1000 Stealth, Audeze LCD-2f. IEMs: FiiO FH7s, Westone Mach 40; earbuds: Galaxy Buds Pro 2, Galaxy Buds Pro 3, Jabra Elite Active 8, Sennheiser True Momentum 4, Bose QC II, Bose QC Ultra and ANC headphones Bose NC700, Bose QC Ultra, Sony XM5 and B&W Px8.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. This is the answer.

hd550 is a fairly affordable and safe pick imo. If you don't mind eq the 560s is another good set. If you love vocals get something from the hd6-line. HD660S2 can be found anywhere near $400 these days

I got and returned the 109 Pro after few weeks. They are super comfortable, nice sounding and that is it. They are nice they didn't do much for me no complaints it just OK. I found my self going back more and more to my older Arya Stealth and 6xx. Obviously everyone is different but I think under $1000 there is much better at least objectively better headphones and you can listen to them first. Focal Clear, Arya Stealth, LCD-2C (used) I would even throw in 660S2. All these to me sounded better than 109 Pro.

I think best bet would probably be ZMF Bokeh they are super easy to drive have a 3.5mm straight to your laptop or even phone with a small dongle if needed. They will eat your $1000 budget through. Or you can get 6xx or 650 with a small dongle all will be under $500.

I think best bet would probably be ZMF Bokeh they are super easy to drive have a 3.5mm straight to your laptop or even phone with a small dongle if needed. They will eat your $1000 budget through. Or you can get 6xx or 650 with a small dongle all will be under $500.

Agreed on all this. I bought mine the first week and love them more than my M4s. I've tended to just leave them default neutral so far - HD6xx for home and HDB630 for work and everywhere else seems to be fairly consistent apart from sub-bass and the openness from the HD6xx. I don't need super strong ANC, so it's the right product for me.

I don't think this is true. If I handed someone a HD650 then handed them a set of Focal Clears I think they'd be able to immediately hear a huge difference in many ways outside detail. 

HD6xx is on sale for like $160 right now. It would pair well with the FT1. You could stop after that and have 2 of the best "bang for your buck" headphones out there. Covers all the bases, one open back and one closed back. One with strong bass, one with great mids/vocals. Only thing you're missing is soundstage but that's not a big deal.