Phil's Superpower of Enthusiasm

[ MSRP $180 , purchased on sale (which they regularly are on) and renewed for $109. These are the open-backed version of the DT 770 Pro (MSRP $160). Available in 80 and 250 Ohm versions.] [ Tl;dr: I really like these headphones. They’re not headphone I’ll carry around with me, but I’m pretty sure they’ve dethroned the Massdrop x. Sennheiser 6XX as my go-to/daily driver at my desk in my home office. They greatly benefit from external amplification, but they’re even pretty acceptable sounding with a cheap iPhone dongle. Color me impressed, especially at the price.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 8 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 10 out of 10 Denalis Intro. I picked up the DT770 Pro (the closed back version of these) when I started a new job that required me to be in the office a lot (mid-pandemic). I particularly wanted them to be able to block out a lot of office noise, and they worked pretty well and I mostly liked the sound. However, unless I’m in a super noisy environment or a comple...

[ MSRP $199 , purchased on sale (which they regularly are on) for $179. These are identical to the Meze 99 Classics , which retail for $309.] [ Tl;dr:  These headphones are really solid for their price range, though they are a little sensitive to DAC/amp fit. I think most audiophiles would rather spend a little more to get headphones that play more nicely with higher-end output devices, but they’re a really good upgrade option for consumer-grade headphones. I’ll definitely keep using them, and I’m curious to explore after-market cable options to see if they address the few shortcomings.] Scores: Cost-agnostic: 7 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 8 out of 10 Denalis Intro.  I bought these initially as a gift, only to find out that they were too large (something that has never been a problem for me!). I decided to hold on to them instead of returning them as I’d been eyeing this particular pair of headphones for a couple of years based off of reviews and how much I liked the way...

[Tl;dr: The Apple AirPods Max are a really good set of headphones with a rich feature set, broad utility, and all-around good sound. They do have a few flaws, and they’re REALLY expensive. I probably wouldn’t pay MSRP for them right now given the other options out there, but they’re still a really well-designed and built piece of hardware that are easy for people already in the Apple ecosystem. Scores: Cost-agnostic: 8 out of 10 Denalis Cost-sensitive: 6 out of 10 Denalis.] Sound. The sound is deep and rich, with really impressive bass and sub-bass response for a headphone. It’s still weird to hear the low bass rumble clearly without feeling it in my chest, but the response is nimble and crisp, with very little lagging or blurring even during sections with rapid movement (like Massive Attack’s “Paradise Circus”). It even does a pretty good job of reproducing some intentionally-mastered splatter (like in Robert Glasper’s “Treal” (ft. Yasiin Bey)). That said, the bass is a little punchy...