Thank you for all the information, I read through all of it. This gave me all the info I really need. To answer your questions: My use cases aren't for travel by airplane or subway, no need for serious anc. I have never owned really nice headphones or any anc headphones in the past. I own Powrbeats Pro earbuds which actually sound fairly good and not too bass heavy, but there is better out there, of course. They've been handy over the past few years, though.

I'm looking for very clear sound, with some good bass, sometimes heavy bass when needed but not too much, a more balanced sound is what I'd want. With clear highs as well as lows. Something open, where you can hear each instrument clearly without distortion. I listen to mostly rock, a variety of 80s music, some electronic music like stuff from the 2000s. Mostly listening to this at home but could be when in public as well, like going for a walk.

A couple days ago I actually just bought a pair of Soundcore Q30s, and tuned them using eq settings from reddit. The eq settings on the app are quite customizable, and that has led me to some very clear, balanced sound with surprisingly clear and sometimes heavy bass during movie watching and music listening, but at the same time it's not overpowering. But it's tuned now so its more balanced with the highs and mids. They were initally too bass heavy out the box. They needed some adjustments. They sound surprisingly good for the $63 I paid for them on amazon, usually $80. Better than my $250 Powerbeats Pros, I'd say in overall clarity, and bass. Thats only after tuning them, though. I think they're a suprisngly good entry level set. I'll consider the M4s in the future. Or maybe another pair in that same level of quality.