Headphone recommendation

Hello, I am having trouble choosing my next pair of headphones, I have no experience other than Airpods pro and dt770 pro 250ohm. They are not as comfortable at least for me, I keep moving them around my ears, and the pads itch. I am unsure if leather or pleather pads would be more comfortable for me.
My next options were: he400se, sv021, x2hr, t50rp/t20rp. I can not decide between them and if they are going to suit my preferred style. I mainly listen to hip/hop, r&b, techno, pop, a mixture of songs. I think I am looking towards a more fun/exciting or smooth experience. Maybe IEMs would be better for me but I have no idea about them and how they differ to over ears. I have a budget of around 200 euros, I could also just save up for a better pair. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

What are you running the Beyers off of?
Are you interested in pad-swapping whatever headphones you get?

I currently have the btr5, but i have ordered the ifi zen can. Have considered it, for the dt either stock beyer pleather or dekoni choice leather. For x2hr definitely dekoni idk which one tho. For the other i do not know.

i would never suggest the x2r to anyone to be frank. its got a wonky tuning. and i dont find them very musical. to each their own though. there are others who love them.

i like the t20rp over the t50rp if your not going to mod them more then pad swaps. the 20’s dont have as much bass, but have better mids and a better over all response imo.

i would suggest the he400se or the sv021 out of your choices though. they are easier to drive then the fostex models and you will get the best results with your current and ordered gear. the fostex like a lot of juice on tap to sound their best even if your not listening to them at loud levels.

I considered the x2hr because of the praise zeos gave them and other people I know who have bought them. Same with t50 and t20. Another thing is that on some songs the highs on the dt770 are a bit higher than I would like, a bit piercing. Would the he400se have more piercing highs? Given that they are open back?

maybe just try pad swapping first, you can get a bunch of different options for super cheap on aliexpress

Yeah, probably what I’m gonna do first. But would those be lower quality than something a dekoni? I saw a thread where a guy had the same itchiness from velour and swapped it to the shure 840 pads which are still velour and his itch was gone. So probably also the quality of the material matters.

Dekoni is mostly just more consistent build quality wise, and in the elite series they have harder memory foam (which I hate), I’d say go for dekoni if you found measurements or a specific recommendation you know you’ll like cause they’re too overpriced to just experiment imo.

I don’t have the 770 rn I just have the 177x but at least these two options are pretty high quality imo, the velour one isolates a ton and is less scratchy than dekoni’s velour but idk about sound on the 770s, might be worth a try for the price tho:

do you have access to any of those headphones your friends have? if you do, i would recommend waiting to order any headphone until your zen can arives. then, if possible, try them with those headphones and pick which one sounds best to you

edit: i also listen to my t60rp’s on my ifi zen dac, which has less power then the can. i like the combo. but the bass is very sloppy compared to my lyr3 with 5 watts on tap. the soundstage is also a healthy chunk smaller.

the extra juice on the zen can may alleviate that a bit though.

Yeah. Thanks, will consider it!

Yeah, will try that.

also, if you have the $$ down the road, using a small chifi pre amp with bass and treble control can tweak those highs and lows a little and make your headphones a little more manageable.

edit: they less then 40$ on amazon here for some of the pre-amps.

Huh, did not know those things existed. Yeah down the road I also plan on a dedicated dac.

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just did a quick check, and like everything else, they have gone up in price some =(

they are more around 60$ now

something like this

edit: the stock tubes they come with are pretty much neutral and dont really add any tube sound. i own this specific model. its very neutral to start.

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Yeah:( Interesting, will check them out. Have to find them on European amazon. They don’t have the same products. Thanks for the help!

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np. and i stand corrected. i just noticed they changed the stock tubes to GE tubes. which is a nice change imo. adds a little bit of mid warmth

edit: and also explains and justifies the price increase by about 10$

Oh, yeah that should be a problem.

if you have any other questions let us know. sorry im not a reviewer, i don’t like telling people what to buy. i try to guide them to making their own decision. i dont have your ears and brain, i have mine. and they are different.

The company Zmf sells pads for the DT.
Would be an option to think about changing the pads.

The pads from Beyer, Sennheiser and sometimes Hifiman have a tendency to itch over time.
For beard wearers it is sometimes unpleasant.

Yeah I understand its fine. Have you tried the dt 770? If so how did you find the treble?