[Rarn]

should I even bother with great headphones? Is that antithetical to the spirit of the thing?

I mean more accurately hearing assorted feedback and distortion recorded in an artists bedroom that they clearly didnt even give a **** about seems pointless. at the very least its certainly not "punk"

this is really just a hypothetical thing since I listen to plenty of other sorts of music too.

 

[MrGreen]

you could look at a forgiving headphone.
From what i recall the DT531 is forgiving of bad records.

 

[scytheavatar]

Please realize that a lot of these distortion, hum, background noise, or limited frequency response aren't there because the artists didnt even give a ****, they are often intentional and meant to create a raw and unprocessed feeling to the music. Anything that amplifies these low-fi sound is often desirable.