Maybe I’m using the wrong words here…the music I listen to (metal/hardcore, NIN) requires sharper highs than I was getting from the ZMF headphones. Not razer sharp, but I found that distorted guitars especially lacked the bite they should have. I found that I greatly preferred the ATH-M50x through my laptop jack to the Verite C through the HP-4. The presentation just sounded so much more correct. And no amount of tube rolling the HP-4 (I spent so much money on “NOS” 6SL7s on eBay before ultimately greatly preferring the current-production Sophia clear bottles in every way) or pad rolling on the ZMFs got me close enough to the M50x’s presentation (V-shape notwithstanding). I realized I was using this $5700 amp and $2700 headphones, trying desperately to get them to sound CLOSE to what I was getting out of my $150 headphones plugged directly into my laptop and using Spotify vs. Roon, and it was pointless. Just because stuff is expensive doesn’t mean it’s the sound I want and I’d been chasing something I’d had all along but shunned because it was “cheap.”
I purchased the Magni Heresy and it only improved the performance of the M50x, making me prefer them even more. Going back to the ZMF headphones (either) was like putting my head under water. Everything sounded so distant and dark. I have treble sensitivity and that’s one of the reasons I had to ultimately ditch the BF2…the oversampling + supercomboburritofilter was just too much. My custom Adcom GDA-600 has 8x OS on the PCM63s inside, but it’s nowhere near as bright as the BF2 got, so I’m not looking for overly bright stuff by any means, but both the Atticus and Verite C put cymbals and higher-pitched synths way back/low in the mix. Guitars sounded rounded and lacked the bite/aggression they should have.
Anyway, I purchased the MDR-7506 and they kept that crispness from the 50x, but brought the mids way up and lessened the bass (but kept the punch). The comfort was brutal, though, so I looked into the SRH1840 and while the overall sound signature is second to the MDR-7506, it’s like 92% there and the comfort is amazing.
These are the same issues I have with the HD6XX: highs are too subdued. I guess I don’t need perfect neutral and I definitely don’t need ear-piercing treble of Beyer, but I seem to gravitate more toward that clean, neutralish studio sound with headphones…I arrived here naturally after going through so many iterations and stacks and technologies. I’m pretty sure I had around 30 sets of headphones over the last few years as trying is the only way to know. The only ones I really ever think back to are the Focal Clear which I loved, but also hated because of the issue with bass pops at even moderate volumes. They were neutral, but they had the deepest-reaching and most textured bass I’ve ever heard (Enter Shikari’s song “The Appeal & The Mindsweep I” has a bass drop about 1:48 into the song and the Focals are the only ones to ever present it right. The first time I heard it, I thought the headphones were broken because it went so deep and had such a pronounced texture. I’ve never, ever heard it on any other headphone before and my speakers only do half of what the Clears did, if that.
So maybe I don’t prefer studio sound necessarily, but I’m finding as I’m rambling once again that I place clarity and purity extremely high on my priorities list (with headphones especially) and the mid-fi studio stuff gets me that far better than any high-end, boutique amps/headphones ever have.
I know my 2-channel system isn’t neutral or all that close to it, but I’ve tried so many amps, preamps, and DACs over the last 18 months, all in pursuit of clarity/purity, getting me as close as possible within a colored and imperfect system. I guess with speakers, it’s different because I can’t control the room much aside from treating it with damping materials so I accept it, but headphones are much more intimate and allow for much more specific tailoring of the sound?
I’m not trying to be a contradiction. I’m kind of processing all this stuff as I’m typing it out here. I really appreciate this place already and apologize if I’m coming across as a longwinded know-it-all. It’s just nice to be able to share my journey and experiences with others without ASR bullshit, without all the n00bness of Head-Fi, and without the crushing pretentiousness of SBAF.
Sorry I snagged that Mojo away from you, too. 
