Trust what everyone says. DT-770 are among the best you can buy for less than 200 USD. Hearing someone say the DT-770 are not confortable is a first for me, maybe try moving the sliders up and down a bit? Make sure they have the same extension on each side, otherwise you will get uneven pressure and get that sore left ear; happened to me as well.
I have "upgraded" from DT-770 several times and they are still part of my collection, total workhorses. My first upgrade was the DT-1990, clarity was up a level from the DT-770, bass was less pronounced than on the DT-770 but they had kind of the same extension. I eventually traded my DT-1990 for a T1, high serial number, first generation.
The reason for trading my DT-1990 was simple. First, I've been wanting a T1 since the early years on my university, it was kind of a dream. Second, even being a Beyerdynamic fan, the DT-1990 searing treble was too much for me, it went beyond clarity and stepped on painful terrain. Mostly because my ears seem to resonate at the exact frequency the DT-1990 has its treble peak.
Comparing the T1 to the DT-770 and the DT-1990. The T1 had the best treble presentation of all three, the T1 peak wasn't near my ear resonance, thus I really enjoyed its clarity without feeling assaulted by treble. Bass on the T1 was less present than on the DT-1990 and less so than on the DT-770; but refined. I used ZMF Auteur pads on the T1 for a good while, they really warmed up the headphone just right and improved confort by a LOT!
I no longer have the T1. I traded it for the Sendyaudio Aiva. The reason for trading it, was that I found the detail retrieval of the T1 lacking; despite its reputation, I wanted more detail. I also never got used to; what I consider, the tame bass presentation of the T1. I have the Aiva with ZMF Universe pads, and some other mods.
The Aiva has a hell lot more detail than the T1, it makes them sound muffled at times and a much more present "planar" bass that I really enjoy, at least with the mods I have on it. Zeos said about the Aiva, he has not heard that much detail since he heard the Sennheiser HE1, I also heard the HE1 and although the HE1 has MORE detail than the Aiva, the Aiva is around...60-70% there, it's not a fair comparison, but the Aiva did give me the detail I wanted.
Going back to DT-770, compared to the Aiva and my Audioquest Nightowl (which is my closed can at the moment). The DT-770 bass is less refined than on the Aiva, it sounds distorted at times. Compared to the Nightowl...I'd say the Nightowl is a better tuned, more confortable DT-770. The bass is better, in the sense it's not distorted and the treble more contained, but still detailed enough. In fact, sometimes the Nightowl makes some details more prominent than the DT-770 and sometimes more than the Aiva too, but not often. The Nightowls do need a different cable, at first it was kind of megh, but with a different cable it was more pleasing.
Long story short, the DT-770 will serve you well for many years and can stand next to the big boys, considering everything else. I also paid like 28 USD to have that same plastic slider replaced. You may not realize it, but the DT-770 serviceability is a boon. My ATH-M50 fell apart, and I couldn't find any replacement parts for it. You could try getting some pads from ZMF before retiring the DT-770. There are some very similar (same) pads as ZMF on Amazon, look around.
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