I guess I should also mention what I usually listen to, if that means anything. I listen to a lot of metal mostly, where I notice with cheaper headphones instruments will often get all muddied together. I also listen to a lot of ambient music or soundtracks for studying, psytrance, rap, hyperpop, rock, and beyond that I listen to nearly anything (except modern country and most modern pop) but those are my main genres.
I suppose thatās true, even with the carry case, but probably similar to Elegia.
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The K371 hugs the Harman Curve, which most people like. But its build quality is shit compared to the Meze.
Avoid the Audio-Technica M40x like genital warts. V-shaped sound, grainy, hot treble. Complex passages like the metal you enjoy degrade into a mush of sound. Plus the A-Tās are easily the most uncomfortable headphones Iāve ever owned.
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I see. I think I may just order both and see which I like better and either sell or return the other one.
Ouch neither of those things sound fun at all. Good to know!
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The 99 Noir is a dark walnut 99 Classic from Drop, with a 99 Neo cable and case.
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I know, I was just curious if he had tried them because I heard there were some differences in sound from what I heard reviews say.
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Alright, so Iāve spent about a day with both the K371 and the 99 Neo. My thoughts are still a bit jumbled up but I will try to make some sense.
Meze 99 Neo:
Build quality: Overall they seem very well built and well-made, it feels like a premium product. Well done to the design team.
Comfort: Pretty good, very lightweight, felt like hardly anything was on my head. Clamping force is fine.
Isolation: Good enough. You can still hear the music enough to understand what is being listened to if you put it on a foam block (my test for sound leakage), but it is fairly quiet.
Portability: I am concerned a little bit about the portability of this in a more active use setting. They are very portable, but would they stand up to my use case? Iām not so sure. That is not a knock on the build quality, which is amazing. Perhaps because they look so nice I am afraid to break them. 
Sound: In short? If you could turn Beats into actually decent headphones.
Do I like them? Eeeeehā¦
The initial impression I get is a bit warm, with emphasis on high bass and lower mids. Not very much sub bass. The bass is very present, with decent impact. Highs are not bad, but there are actually some songs where I felt some harshness on my ears, especially when I was listening to metal or rock.
To me, the presentation feels a little bit soulless. I donāt know how to describe it. They would probably sound very inoffensive to most people, but I think thatās part of my problem with them. There just isnāt much life to them. Soundstage feels medium width, nothing crazy. The instrument separation is subpar to my ears. I donāt know if it has something to do with the sound signature, but things definitely get muddied on more complex tracks.
Overall I think with the case and all the accessories you get (which is very nice), as a very inoffensive pair of warm closed backs, they are just fine. And therein lies the problem for me.
Nothing really sounds bad on them necessarily, but nothing sounds great either. There just isnāt anything interesting happening at all with them that gets me into the music.
As far as different kinds of music and stuff goes, I would say the excel at tracks that are less complex. Some of the music where separation is really important to me was not good with these, such as trance like Infected Mushroom or metal like Shadow of Intent. They performed fine with most forms of rap, soundtrack, alternative, pop, etc. If you are into hearing lots of cool little details and intricacies in the music, these are not for that. I can see who these would appeal to, and they are fine for what they are, but to me personally they just sort of donāt excite or impress me in any way. I donāt think these are for me.
AKG K371:
Build quality: They feel a little bit plastic, but not in a cheap way. Decently built. The locking mechanisms are fine, and the cables are good.
Comfort: Good. They clamp a a tad bit tight but it isnāt that bad. I cannot wear them as long as the Meze, those are more comfortable.
Isolation: Ugh! This is my biggest problem with the headphones. If this was fixed I think it would probably solve some of the issues I have with the sound. They are not that great with isolation, but if I just push the cups gently into my head, it changes their sound and the bass a lot. More on this in sound.
Portability: Awesome. The ability to fold up is great, I feel like I could take these anywhere. Too bad they donāt come with a carrying case like the Meze (which is very nice, do better AKG!).
Sound: These are not necessarily what I expected. They have a lot less bass than I expected. These are definitely much more of a studio headphone than I thought. Initial impression is very airy, a tiny bit hollow. The bass is okay, but it could be better if the darn seal was better! The sub bass is very good, and there isnāt much emphasis on the high bass. Mids are finicky, sometimes they sound present, sometimes they donāt. Highs are pretty good, but on some tracks they can get shouty.
Presentation feels fairly clinical, very much how you would want in a studio setting, a bit dry at times. Thatās why for some music they really donāt work well with it, they really reveal how shouty some tracks are in the vocals. Soundstage is a little bit narrow. Separation is not as good as the Meze from a technical standpoint, but I think the Harman tuning actually helps to make up for this and because of that ends up helping them to have better separation as a by-product.
The frustrating thing with these headphones is that they do actually catch my attention on a lot of music. If they sealed properly, they would be better. Again, if I just push the cups gently into my head, it changes them a lot. The bass comes to life, they warm up ever so slightly, mids are better, and they have more depth and body. They are actually more fun this way. I did order some replacement pads for them that will hopefully make the seal/isolation better.
I think these headphones are kind of picky with the kinds of music you play on them. Some music is amazing, such as soundtracks, classical, jazz, electronic (especially loved some psytrance on them), acoustic, etc.
Other music such as metal, rock, pop, rap, etc. was not as good, but still okay.
Except, even within this, they were very picky song by song for some reason. I could listen to one rap song such as So Fresh, So Clean by Outkast and that was great, but then almost any song from $uicideboy$ just tried to rape my ears with the vocals, they got sooo shouty. Which is unfortunate because I listen to a lot of tracks that can sound bad on these headphones.
If the replacement pads from Dekoni donāt fix the seal, then these may not work either. I think they have potential, itās just a couple things here and there that bother me.
I may try the Sony MDR-1AM2 and/or the beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X. Supposedly they are the next step up from the Meze 99 and the K371, respectively.
Or who knows, maybe I am just spoiled with how interesting the headphones I already own are (Nighthawk Cs, 1More, and KSC75) and I am expecting too much from closed-back headphones at this price point.
Well, those are my ramblings, hopefully something in there makes sense.
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Trying different headphones, will update with positive reviews hopefully, fingers crossedā¦
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I got some LSA HP-2 for sale if you would like to try them out.
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Highly recommended 
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Oh yeah I heard about those, they are very similar to the Gjallarhorn? Which is supposedly an upgrade to the Nighthawks, from what I have been told. They seem very interesting, although perhaps not the best for my use case of a portable for active daily use. Also a bit out of my budget range.
Thank you for the recommendation though!
I feel like you might like them and they seem to work for your use case. I think they are portable and they have a carrying case. I can power them with my phone so not hard to drive. They isolate well and quite comfy to me, not heavy. I have no issue cutting you a deal for $300. You are welcome to even try them out first if interested.
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Alright. I have been trying out some more stuff over the past week or two. I thought I should be more patient with these and give them some time. Here are my condensed thoughts on them. All headphones I try on my ifi Micro iDSD Black Label, using a mixture of native flac, mp3, DSD, and streaming services such as Spotify and YouTube:
Sony MDR-1AM2
Wow. These are fun! These are what I feel like the Meze 99 should have been trying to go for.
The build on these looks cheap or average, but it honestly feels sturdier than looks seem to show. It is mostly plastic but not in a way that feels like it would break easily. Not really anything to complain about here. They look like very basic headphones.
Isolation is not great as far as preventing noise from coming in and leaking sound as well. Itās okay, it probably would not bother people nearby, unless it was a very weird song or they hated the music.
EDIT: I stand corrected. Someone told me to turn them down.
Comfort is very good, more comfortable than the K371 and the Meze 99. My ears do touch the insides of the pads and stuff but they donāt feel pressure or anything. You do sweat a tiny bit on the pads, but I think that is going to happen with most closed-backs that have leather or leather-like textured pads anyways.
The sound on theseā¦ wow. These are so engaging. They absolutely bring music to life. The presentation feels very lively. Soundstage is about medium-width, and separation is quite good. Imaging is fairly good as well. They donāt force pinpoint accuracy on you, but if you play a track that has a lot of interesting placement stuff going on, they do put it on display.
Bass is very impactful and strong. It hits hard and digs quite deep. The presence is always felt. It just feels so pleasing and fun, and there was not a single song where I thought bass was lacking. All my bass-heavy music and anything where bass was important came to life. Very happy with this.
Iām not super familiar personally with what is defined as midrange or how it all works, but I believe that the midrange is very nice with these. Guitars and vocals all sound very present and dynamic, and I can pick out a lot of details.
Treble isā¦ interesting. Iām not sure why I have heard some people describe these headphones as warm with less emphasis on treble or rolled off treble. Perhaps it is just my weirdly sensitive ears (I have some unusual hot spots with treble I think), but I feel that these have a lot of treble presence. In fact, unless I give them a good amp, I actually find the treble can be a bit harsh to my ears. I wouldnāt necessarily say it is extremely detailed treble, but it is moderately revealing and gives the overall sound a bit of sparkle and spices it up, for lack of a better term. I was expecting these to sound much more rolled-off than they are to my ears, so this was interesting.
These worked better than anything else I have tried so far for my metal music and other stuff that can sometimes get harsh with some of the previous gear. Guitars were separated very well and were not distorted or harsh.
These headphones are pretty easy to drive, but they love power. The more juice I give them, the more fun and detailed they are. Sometimes the treble can be a bit too aggressive though.
Overall I would say these are a very fun, engaging and detailed, energetic set of headphones. Lively. I know I keep using that word but thatās the best way I can describe them. They really do bring music to life, and I think thatās really what matters most to me when I am listening to music. Headphones that can get me engaged and connected with what I am listening to. To anyone who might think these are just lower-end budget closed-backs that have a more consumer sound, I would disagree heartily. These have very good detail while maintaining a fun sound signature, which I would say emphasizes bass a lot, a bit of midrange, and some parts of the treble. I donāt know if I would describe them as balanced because of how bass-focused they are, but something about them almost sounds that way. These were made for people to enjoy music in a way your average headphones just cannot, while also picking up on all the little details and things that make this hobby worth it.
Now for why I am hesitant to keep them.
That isolation. It just isnāt great at all for a closed-back. It isnāt horrific, but it is not good either. In looking for a portable closed-back for my use case, good isolation is important, which this headphones lacks. Having to travel a lot in loud vehicles to team matches, or trying to get work done in loud environments would be very difficult without annoying other people. That is quite unfortunate, because if it had good enough isolation I would have no doubt that this would be a great choice.
Another minor issue I have is the treble. I know, Iām being picky. But it can still be fatiguing to my ears over extended listening periods. Iām not exactly sure what area of treble I am sensitive to, it could be upper mid/lower treble, but sometimes it is just a bit bothersome.
Overall, I would say these are the best I have tried so far, so there still might be a chance I choose them, depending on what else happens.
Onto the next pairā¦
beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X
Interesting, not exactly what I was expecting. A good closed-back for monitoring or doing studio work with more of a reference sound than the DT 770 Pro. I will be referring back a lot to the 770 as I believe a lot of people who are familiar with beyer will have had experience with them, and it is as far as I can tell the closest thing to this that beyer has from the view of what both are made for.
The build is typical beyerdynamic. Strong, sturdy, lots of hard indestructible plastic and metal, with replaceable parts. These are clearly made to last. I also love the new addition to this generation of beyers of a DETACHABLE CABLE. This is awesome. Well done beyerdynamic. One thing I do not like though is how the pads have to be removed with these plastic rings that are stuck to them. This puts some limitations on trying different pads with them, but I doubt you would need to do that much with these anyways.
Isolation is pretty good, not quite as good as the old DT 770. Comfort is great. The pads are even more comfortable than the 770, and the clamping force is not quite as strong. I could probably wear these all day without hardly any discomfort or sweating. One minor gripe is that the tips of my ears ever so slightly touch the dampening fabric over the driver, which can be slightly irritating. A very minor annoyance though in comparison to the overall comfort. I cannot say how much I love silver velour beyer pads, it feels softer and more comfortable than anything else.
Now as to how they soundā¦
If you thought these were just an updated DT 770 Pro, you would be mostly wrong. They still sort of have that beyer flavor in their sound, but these are clearly made with a stronger focus on what they are designed to be used for. The presentation leans towards what I would expect monitoring headphones to be. Pretty uninteresting, except that they do a good job on presenting things in a revealing and accurate way. Soundstage is medium to slightly wide, noticeably more narrow than the 770. Separation is very good, better than the 770. Imaging is probably more accurate than the 770 as well, and things are placed in many different positions in an engaging way.
The sound signature on these that I immediately feel is much closer to neutral than the 770 ever were. Those were a strong V shape, but these are not. They might have a slight V shape, but it doesnāt sound like it to my ears.
Bass is only slightly emphasized compared to the strong kick of the 770. But the region that is focused on is pretty much the same. Itās definitely in the lower sub-bass region, the mid and high bass feels more rolled off. It is not aggressive at all. You do notice that it is there and you feel it slightly, but that is about it. I would say it sounds clinical and tight, not really colored in any way.
Midrange is much more emphasized with these than the 770 before. I would say you can absolutely pick out a lot of details in the midrange with accuracy. Vocals are definitely emphasized and sound very forward and airy. I am quite impressed.
Trebleā¦ this was a pleasant surprise. It is not harsh compared to the 770. I remember at times the 770 could get sibilant with its treble for my ears, especially the lower impedance versions (I could not stand the 80 ohm). There is so much that is being revealed here. There seems to be a lot of control over the treble. Clinical but also fairly pleasant, unless you have just a really poor recording. Which brings me to the overall thoughts on theseā¦
I think if you are looking for an upgrade to the 770 for studio monitors, these are an absolute win. Imagine taking the 770, retaining a bit of its overall slightly airy and hollow character, but making it more reference tuned and neutral, with toned back bass and treble, more midrange, and just better control over everything. It just does things better than the 770 would for its use. At this point I donāt think the 770 is good as a monitor anymore compared to this. The 770 is better for a fun V shaped headphone. These do exactly what you need them to do.
How do they work for my music though? Not as well as the Sony. They definitely lack the bass and life that the Sony have, and while they have wider soundstage and probably more accurate imaging and separation, the overall emphasis on treble more than low end makes them not very engaging or fun for metal or bass heavy music. They sound a tad bit hollow, airy, and clinical. This is not what I am looking for. If I had to compare them to something, the K371 come fairly close, but these do almost everything slightly better than those. Between these and the K371, I would take these. Portable, super comfy, not hard to drive, and good passive isolation, all while having the right sound for monitors, what more could you want if you need a closed-back for this?
Because of how much they have going for them, these would be my second choice so far of what I have tried.
ā¦
Iām not sure what else to say. I think I may buy some DT177x Go next, as I heard they are supposed to be one of the more fun and engaging beyers. I love the 700 Pro X in everything except the sound for my use. The Sony I love for their sound but the isolation is not there.
Hope this also helps anyone who might be interested in any of these headphones.
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Time for a resurrection of this thread.
So I finally ended up getting the DT177x Go last week from a seller on Audio Mart who tried them for a few hours. Iāve been listening to them for a while and I have some thoughts.
I really wanted to like these. They have great build quality, great isolation, very little leakage, and very comfortable, etc.
At first I thought these were a winner. Kind of bassy dark with medium soundstage and slightly boring presentation. I had the leather pads on at first. I was noticing a little bit of distortion though when lower frequencies were played (more on that later). I blew it off as probably just burn in.
I switched the pads after a couple days to the velour or whatever they are called. Unfortunately with how tough beyer pads are to get on, I ended up accidentally tearing one of them a bit. Itās noticeable visually, but doesnāt effect them sound-wise. With these pads, the presentation is a bit more interesting and engaging, but they have lost most of their bass, and they are much brighter and more hollow sounding. Due to these pads being a bit more revealing, I really am noticing the distortion a lot now. It sounds like whenever there is a lot of low end, all the frequencies start getting distorted and almost sound like they are traveling in frames. Kind of similar to how when push a woofer too hard and it vibrates just a bit too much. Out of curiosity I tried the bass boost on my ifi Micro iDSD Black Label to see if the low frequencies were what was causing it. Itās even worse with that. I have tried many different sources, my laptop, my phone, my laptop through the ifi, my phone through the ifi, my old audio player, even my iPod shuffle. They all have the same result.
So I started digging around on the internet. Turns out Iām not the only person that has had this issue, and it does not appear that there is a clear fix for it:
The user āIcebergsimpsonā in that thread especially seems to have a good description of the problem I am having: Massdrop x Beyerdynamic DT 177X GO Headphones Discussions | Drop | plugged them into...
So what I am wondering is, has anyone else experienced this kind of issue before with any pair of headphones in general, and if so, what did you do? Is it possible that they just are not very good and canāt handle low frequencies?
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I cant wear either Beyerdynamix DT 1770 or Mass x Beyer DT177x
These are the only headphones I have not been able to wear and get a proper seal ever, most bass is lost and sounds terrible.
I can wrap the headband with cloth or those thick ZMF pilot pads, no seal
I tried a dozen of pads from different brands, no seal
I change the whole ass headband for the classic beyer one, no seal
And all of the above combined.
Every other closed back ever seals properly except ath-wp900 if im wearing glasses and even then the bass loss is like 5%.
These beyer are not for me, and they might not be for you.
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That sucks! I do notice with the cloth/velour pads they lost tons of bass and they donāt seal well. The leather pads do seal well for me though, but the distortion of sound during bass heavy songs throughout the frequency range especially bass and mids (vocals especially become distorted) happens regardless of the pads or seal I am using. Maybe I just got a bad pair driver-wise.
I guess my concern now is that since I bought them off US Audio Mart, not from Drop originally, would the seller even be willing to look into it, or could I even contact Drop? Most people seem to say Beyerdynamic themselves cannot help out with the 177x Go since it is a Drop product and you have to go through Drop themselves. Maybe I can ask where they bought them from and if thereās anything they are willing to do? Otherwise I guess Iām just dead in the water with a defective pair of headphones.
I can imagine how frustrating that must have been! It definitely sounds like you tried everything you could and no matter what they just did not work for you. Iām sorry to hear! Thank you for sharing your experience and advice though. 
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Hear me out. The audeze maxwell. Big moderately portable due to them being wireless. Just take off the mic. And they sound great!
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I 100% agree with you on that one!
They really do sound pretty great, and punch way above their weight in terms of the high sound quality you get for the amount of $ spent. They are also quite comfortable, especially for the weight. I feel like tonally they are spot on, with very punchy, articulate bass, and very good resolution overall. I was pretty shocked at how great sounding they are for a wireless $300 headphone.
For some ANC might be a deal breaker, but they do isolate pretty well without.
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I have heard of these and some positive reviews on them. Iām just concerned that they wouldnāt be able to take a beating like say, Beyers can. Also the wireless option might be good for some people, but depending on how it goes it could end up being a nuisance to me if I have to charge them or canāt āscaleā them with portable amps or DAPs. The price is a bit high I think for my budget but perhaps they could work.
I donāt doubt the comfort, my concern would be more so with the weight. If you move your head around a bit would they fall off? Itās one reason I like the beyers with how well they clamp. ANC is not a big deal to me as long as they passively isolate good enough. Another reason I like beyers.
I think my plan at this point would be to get the new DT 770 Pro X Limited Edition and if those work out as an upgraded 770 then I would keep them. I considered getting some Creative Aurvana Live but those donāt look like good build quality.
Honestly, I think my favorite easily portable headphones are my KSC75. If there was some way to have the sound and presentation of those in a comfortable, portable, isolated closed back. I would pay good money for that. Yes they may not have much bass but their presentation and scaling are so killer for the price.
The seller for the 177x is helping me out with them thankfully, weāll see how that pans out.
I mean it took like 3 hours they lent both the 1770 and 177x at the same time I already had a heavy compatible pad collection and the spare accesories
It wasnt frustrating it was a valuable lesson in buying closed backs
It was weird because the 1990, t1 and t90 fit perfect and seal even being closed back
Oh boy do I have a solution for that
https://www.emu.com/walnut.html
Also I dont recommend the dt 770 pro x as its too dark for general usage, like gaming, monitoring, etcā¦
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