I sold my LCD-X due to lack of use, but I loved them. The bass response is just… so smooth and detailed

Your own preference > someone else’s preference. Also keep in mind. The more neutral a headphone is, the more boring and cold it sounds to most people who just want to enjoy their tunes

In the 200 range, I'd look at IEMs, most headphones won't really provide enough of an upgrade. As far as songs go, my usual benchmark/test is Untethered Angel by Dream Theater, it hammers both the treble and bass simultaneously with extremely fine detail, and it's got some S+ tier recording and mastering

There’s only specific headphones I’ve had bad experiences EQing with. One is the HD8XX, where imaging went to shit the minute I tried to fix the grand canyon in the mids. Another is the Bose QC35, where no amount of EQ could fix its mediocre ass bass response because even with a brutal bass reduction it was a muddy mess. In general, I say “trial and error is the best guide”

90% or so of the time, I'm doing something else and I have music on the background. I'm probably only active listening 10% of the time, where I just sit down and do nothing but enjoy the music

They don’t need an amp. They benefit from a good dac but it is not necessary

ANC is hardware reliant. Because you don’t just need a microphone. You need a properly positioned microphone, with a set pickup pattern, with almost immediate processing. In a nutshell, no

They used to. Software updates fixed it

Honestly, hard disagree. Sony’s have about comparable ANC and their sound signature is just slightly less bloated, to the point they can be EQ’d to be reasonable. And expensive as they might be, Airpods Max are also shockingly good

Ahh, a fellow chad IER-M9 enjoyer. Easily my favorite IEMs in the world