I'll definitely have this setup before our Spring 2023 mini-meet. ;) Maybe the BHSE's will be cheaper by then. Any earlier and you might have to settle for listening to 009s's with a secondhand SRM-007... or maybe just some old (by then) chipped-up HD800s and an aging LAu with a new DAC...

Sign me up!   Bringing: Mr Speakers Alpha Prime Audeze LCD-2 Fazor w/ WyWires Red Fostex HP-A8C Schitt Lyr 2

I'm in! Missed the last one by a week. Also good with Aug 22nd.   Gear isn't much, but I can bring: Bottlehead Crack + varied 6AS7G/5998 tubes (WE 421a, Bendix 6080WB slotted graphite, etc) Portaphile 627x Bifrost Uber Senn HD650 Heir Audio 8.a CIEM (if I can find some universal tips to...

  +1 for M-100, and add XL pads if your ears are any larger than perfectly average.

Ah, welcome to the wacky ear canal headphone club. :) I have the opposite of what you described, where my right ear is the troublemaker. Probably not the answer you were looking for, but I ended up giving up on universal IEMs altogether. For whatever reason, my left ear was always perfectly...

I feel like I'm recommending out of guilt sometimes (since I bought a pair and ended up returning them) but the Mad Dogs or maybe even Alpha Dogs from Mr Speakers have some amazing mids and highs. I wouldn't necessarily describe them as "dark," but I feel like mellow would be a good way to...

If you can find some 32ohm anniversary DT770s, they're definitely worth it. It's a little harder to quantify the $50 difference on the regular 80ohm set, but they're definitely good.. Just not quite as good as the 32ohm AEs :)

I had the same issues with balancing iTunes Match and a big lossless collection. As long as I don't delete anything in iTunes after the match process completes, the lossless files stick around and will transfer to the iPod in their original lossless (ALAC) state. But! If I delete the files or...

I'm also a fan of the M100s. Reference cans they are not, but I don't find the mids to be drowned by bass like the Beats. Can't say I'd recommend them for classical, but they've been great for old/classic rock. With that and the portability they've become my go-to travel headphones, using a...

+1 for the DT770. I'm only occasionally a bass head, but they definitely deliver.

+1 for the Mad Dogs. Sound-wise they're fantastic (crisp and clear is exactly how I'd describe them), and even more comfortable than the DT770s.

I've got similar ear size issues! The K550s definitely have a lot of room and sound great. They fit my ears, but in the end I couldn't maintain a good seal (you might have better luck).   Over-the-ear closed Beyerdynamics are all pretty sizeable too, but most of those are also above the $100...

+1 for squallkiercosa's suggestion. I did something similar to a headphone jack on a laptop (accidentally yanked the headphone cable and bent the internal jack connections). It cost WAY too much to fix, so I just got an external DAC/AMP - which ended up sounding better than my original sound...

Not sure about Sennheisers, but I've also got a fairly large noggin (and similar tastes in music) and haven't had trouble with anything from Ultrasone or Beyerdynamic. Reviews had me worried about bass on the DT770s too, but after listening to them at a local shop, I was sold. I had Ultrasone...

I also had some of the old Bose Triports long ago, and they were a very close fit for my ears - and when I bought the Momentums, they sounded fantastic but I literally had to squeeze my earlobes into the cups (and promptly returned them). So I would agree, if you can fit into the Triports (or...