It depends on what headphone you buy more than it's price.

I would recommend getting a biodynamic closed back like the E-mu teak, Fostex th610, Denon d5200 or if you want and have the money a Fostex th900(with eq).

For anything electronic, the lack of correct timbre is no concern, but clarity and punch are priority and in my experience any of those headphones are perfect for such tastes. An open headphone can sound more realistic, but that comes with worse bass and lesser clarity due to closed backs having the advantage off cutting off outside sounds.

Understandable, that's why I love headphones. The usability and audio quality are a nice in-between speakers and IEMs.

Doesn't address the lack of soundstage, also speakers just sound more natural as they don't need any compensation curve to sound correct. I tried EQing by ear, but no headphone sounds quite as neutral as a speaker can, atleast to me.

The bass produced by subwoofers also sounds better than headphone bass(has better separation from the rest of the music).

This is all just my opinion as with anything relating to preference. More power to you if you enjoy your setup.

It's all preference really, a speaker with a sub that is half way decent beats any headphone for me as feeling the bass with your whole body and having an actual soundstage are things I can't get with IEM and headphones.

If I didn't care about soundstage or bass and just tonality, IEM are endgame even at lower prices.

I found speakers with a basic subwoofer to sound better than any of my headphones.

It's a different beast entirely, headphones don't have true soundstage, the bass you can feel from your entire body is always better than just hearing and feeling with the ears.

The biggest reason I love headphones is the comfort and accuracy. With a speaker even turning my head changes the sound to a point where I'd rather use a headphone.

This could also be the case of you having headphones I would in no way describe as good.

I wanted to ask, have you ever heard any of the Foster bio cellulose drivers? Or a modded version of it like the ones in the newer Denon headphones?

I've noticed that for clarity and intimacy I prefer closed headphones like those and as an HD800 owner you might appreciate the more fun yet fairly neutral presentation of something like the Denon D5200 or Fostex th610.

Haven't seen the graph for this particular model.

I'd like to hear one someday, would be nice to get some frequency measurements to see how it measures and then compare how it sounds subjectively.

People kept telling me hd800 is bright and unnatural and I expected it to be an issue and it turned out that its kind of tunning was very agreeable to me and way less of a problem than I thought looking at graphs.

You would probably like the unique melody mest, but that's endgame territory.

Is there anything specific you're looking for with your purchases?

I buy headphones for their unique drivers and have an interest in hearing subtle differences in each, so I don't regret it as the amusement comes from learning.

I don't buy top tier headphones as they will still be just another headphone, but I could've gotten multiple for the price of that one unit.

From trying many, I've learned that for sheer music enjoyment and accurate reproduction headphones are limited by their very nature, speakers are more complete sounding and IEM's have better tonality than headphones.

All in all I don't think expensive headphones are worth it, for just sound enjoyment.

I find XS to be great with stuff like rap/lofi or other types of music with bass focus, but without eq it's horrible for electric guitars in my opinion.

Have an HD600 and a Moondrop kato(sounds better stock), if the blessing sounds worse than the sennheiser then that's very disappointing.

My current fave is the Dunu est112, it has a little warmth to the upper bass.

Metal and rock not sounding good on it is what I feared most. Guess it was the right decision to avoid it, I'm guessing the thieaudio monarch would also be bad for those genres.

Abyss headphones don't measure well, so if your definition of HiFi is accurate sound reproduction then avoid the company without looking back.

At it's price point the idea of needing to do ANYTHING to like it is absurd.

As someone who owned them for many years I can say that it's a headphone with 2 downfalls, one being in the sub bass as seen in any graph and the second being the infamous sennheiser veil and that is a dip in the treble. It's not a completely flat headphone, it's mid forward.

What you think of the headphone is music library dependant, if you want exciting then it is not the perfect headphone as its smooth treble isn't nearly as exciting as a metallic treble of a planar headphone, it's bass cant compete with a good closed backs bass.

It's a certain presentation, it's safe, it's sub-bass deficient with a slight bump in the mids and slight woolliness in the treble.

You most certainly can find headphones that prioritize exciting over being even, I highly recommend trying a denon d5200 if you're keen on using some eq.

The reason it's repeatedly stated it's all about frequency at the ear drum is because blind listening tests showed that to be the major if not only factor in what determines what people perceive as different about a given sound setup.

Everything else audiophiles talk about is currently completely subjective and "some" hear these differences and some don't.

The reason people don't think it's just frequency is because they can't eq one headphone to sound like another and assume that is proof it's not just that. Ignoring the fact that they most certainly did not achieve the same frequency at the ear drum.

There are some actual differences, such as the feeling of bass with your body from a subwoofer.

it's not necessarily something you hear, but feeling air being pushed at you is a real feeling and some headphones with bigger drivers and thicker pads can give you the feeling of more bass presence and that physical feeling cannot be eq'd.

I buy headphones for their drivers and see if there is any difference is sound, turns out there are slight differences.

I would not recommend anyone buying different driver headphones if they are simply looking for the best sound.

Every headphone I've heard is a far cry from even a basic speaker with the most basic sub. Feeling the bass with your body while having true soundstage is the hight of enjoyment for me.

So to answer the question, yes I've found my endgame long ago(any decent speaker with a sub). If I buy anything in the future it is simply to expand a collection and not as an upgrade to anything as I don't see my enjoyment increasing by having better fidelity.