I don’t speak audiophile so bear with me while I try to describe this stuff. For the past year or so I have been using the Hifiman HE4XX as my daily driver and I thoroughly enjoy them. They have a very laid back sound and though I EQ all of my gear, this required the least tweaking and got closest to the sound I enjoy. No songs sound harsh, mixes that may not be super flattering are still perfectly listenable.
When I slapped the Verums on half of my library suddenly sounded harsh, sharp, and other unflattering words. It may very well be a fantastic headphone but the signature isn’t for me. I want to enjoy music, not analyze it, if that makes sense.
This experience may scare me off trying to upgrade for a bit. Or I may sell them and immediately try my luck with something else. So for future reference I’d know what headphones you all turn to when you just want to be hugged by your music.
I’m guessing you want to stay in a similar price range? The HD600 and HD6XX would also be worth looking at. The treble on both is nice and laid back. But since you already use EQ, why not EQ the Verum 1 to your liking?
I’ve tried but so far no luck. Closer to something I would be happy with, sure, but not quite there. I’m not an EQ mastermind though, I can’t pick out exactly which frequencies I need tuned just from listening. In the past all I have ever needed to adjust was the low end, the treble, and on rare occasions the dead center mid range. I never get any more specific than the really obvious frequencies, and I have intentionally avoided doing so because I’m the kind of person that could lose my mind chasing perfection if I had a really intense EQ program installed.
Yeah figuring out good EQ settings is often not easy for me either. What I do is start with someone else’s EQ (from autoEQ, see link below), and then tune that to my liking. I’d recommend giving that a try, but the Verum won’t have a pregenerated EQ since it’s too recent.