SR80e

I didn't find AB testing useful. Listen to the new pair for a while and get familiar with the best parts of your favourite music. After a week, try your previous gear to hear the difference. EQ makes a huge difference to me so try messing with the dials to see you can hear more detail. I couldn't hear much difference between the Hifiman Arya £1000 and my Grado SR80's £100. I sent them back and got the Hifiman XS £300 which definitely sound better in the details, and especially the subbass. It's the law of diminishing returns. I used my Grados again the other day and the bass has more weight and slam but nowhere near as much detail. It's all apples and oranges. The biggest quality jump I had was a Qudelix 5K. I don't know if it sounds "better" but it does have an app that lets you tailor the sound, eq, real time output level showing the SPL. You can even EQ the left and right seperately. It's £100 and it and is packed to the brim with features. Once I had the Q5K I had to get rid of the MP3's for FLAC files.

A couple of Weeks ago i asked for recommendations on a Headphone for mainly Gaming and Music that would be comfy for long periods of time as i spent probably 6 hours a day with headphones on. After that i decided to wait a little more to get paid and up the budget of 250 USD to 450 USD so now im back to ask if everything is ok with my final decision. From that post i decided on the Beyerdynamic DT 770 pro 250ohm with that also came the interest on a portable DAC/AMP, and decided to settle for the Fiio K17, this combo would cost me around 385000 CLP (around 415 USD) i got a little bit more money to squeeze from the budget which would put me around 417000 clp (450 USD) so i come to ask if this combo of headphone + DAC/AMP would be good for my needs or if there is anything better if i decided to squeeze all the budget i got. the Headphone is gonna be used on 3 devices most of the time, on my desktop PC, my phone (galaxy Flip 7) and my DAP (Sony Walkman NW-A306), so the main things its gonna be used for are gaming, youtube videos and music Current gear is a Sony WH-1000mx4, previous gear from i had are Audiotechnica ATH M50x, and Grado SR80, i liked all of them so anything similar in sound to that is welcome, i do prefer tho a more bass preference. Also i live in Chile so if you recommend something more "niche" so to speak take into account shipping, most of the big brands are here (as in Sony, sennheiser, beyerdynamic, audiotechnica, fiio, Bose) but newer or more smaller brands usually don't have all the models reach here

I mostly listen to thrash metal, hardcore punk, and some sludge. Think fast drumming, distorted guitars that sound like a chainsaw, and vocals that are more screamed than sung. I keep reading that open back headphones are better for soundstage and instrument separation but I'm worried they might be too relaxed or polite for this kind of music. I don't want the sharp edges smoothed over. I want to feel the energy without my ears bleeding from harsh treble. I've looked at the HD 6XX but I've seen mixed opinions for metal. Some say they're too warm and slow. The Grado SR80x gets mentioned a lot for rock but I'm not sure about comfort or build quality. Budget is $300 USD but I could stretch a little if it's worth it. I don't have an amp yet but I can factor that in later if needed. What do you actually use for aggressive guitar driven music. I don't want endless detail retrieval at the cost of sounding flat and boring. Give me something that has some bite.

Yes that's pretty much it. Heck, I can say that the $30 Audio-Technica ATH-P100LV sounds 90% like the $1000 Grado GS1000. You're paying much more to hear "a bit more" clearer and "a bit more" details.

I had a Grado SR80X that I livre but the goddamn cable ruined, I hate the Grado family so Much for being this stubborn. Everybody complain about their shitty cables for at least 20 years and somehow they keep getting worse.