NH1 vs Valco VMK25 (Patreon)

Valco has pretty cheeky marketing: "The best headphones you can afford". I personally find them really crappy and completely overpriced as this model costs 199€ but in reality it is based on a cheap Chinese OEM model just with a custom backplate (I have requested some samples from the same manufacturer and have seen photos of their units being mass produced there). Nevertheless Valco seems to be quite successful with their scam, although the tuning of their "audio guru" Jasse Kesti is just horrid despite all the self-praise. This is the best example of bullshit marketing which makes people still buy that crap. Therefore I decided to not sell my self below that price, as it's just insolent which prices some companies ask for their junk (Sonos, Dyson, B&W...)

I have recorded the VMK25 with ANC off, I am not sure if it sounded better with ANC as the sound definitely changes between all modes, but none sounded really acceptable to me. That's also the reason why I passed on ANC for the NH1 and simply concentrated on the purest possible sound quality.