Basically I am looking for help sanity checking a purchase before I make a potentially “bad” choice. So if you see this and think I am making a bad choice please let me know and please respond with the headphone you think is just better.
You should be able to audition the Audeze’s and Focal’s in most places, so you can make an informed decision. Though if your buying as a whole you should be auditioning with the same amps and dacs your looking at.
With the flagships you will find people who will prefer one over another, in some cases just for some types of music, there really isn’t a better answer here it’s far more about preference. It’s why I wouldn’t usually buy one new, I’m willing to take a bath in the used market if I don’t like them to hear ones I’m interested in.
I own a D8000 Pro and a ZMF Verite, they are incredibly different headphones, I’m not even sure which one I’d pick given the choice in a lot of ways they just aren’t directly comparable. Which is why I’ll continue to own both.
IMO the Clear (if you like the signature) is probably the best choice for you right now, it’s pickier about sources than the <$700 headphones, but not to the point, you can’t find a lot of reasonably priced amps/dacs to pair it with. You can pick up an open box Clear for ~$1000.
You really don’t lose a huge amount of quality at that level vs TOTL, my secondary listening setup is a Bifrost2 ($600) -> SW51+ ($350) -> ZMF Eikon ($1500), it sounds great and not a huge step down from my office setup which is Lampizator Amber 3 ($3800) -> DNA Stratus ($3000) -> ZMF Verite ($2500) or D8000 Pro ($4200)
Yes I prefer the sound in my office, but I couldn’t have justified that expenditure as a single outlay, and I don’t think most people could justify the price/performance proposition.
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I meant to also add that those are not the only headphones I use in my office, I’ll also occasionally use my Kennerton Gjallarhorn (~$1000) and HD6XX (~$200).