Audio-Technica ATH-M40x

Indeed - there's of course still plenty of exploitation in the world market that puts a damper on the awe for me, but it's starting to feel like science fiction such as Star Trek is becoming reality ahead of schedule. At this moment, I have around fifty distinct objects near me, each with at least one pin-prick-sized computer inside them, and I could probably purchase all of them again with no more than a days wage. As for audio quality, should anyone be interested: I had also bought a pair of those wired, ~$1 ones, and I'd say that the Xioami J18 have slightly better audio quality, but that's cancelled out by the occasional bluetooth glitches, and the deafening "CONNECTED" message when you turn them on. They also have better audio quality than the ~$25 Sony on-ear headphones by a considerable margin, but that completely pales in comparison with my Audio-Technica ATH-M40x over-ear headphones, which are like having a hi-fi strapped to your head!

Open back headphones, Hifiman HE400i (2020). It's really cool to discover more details in my favourite songs. I think I paid ~€200 for it. My previous headphones were the Audio-Technica ATH-M40x ~€100, and you can definitely hear the difference in quality, but I think it is probably past the point of diminishing returns. Synthesizer: Sequential Prophet REV 2 (8 voice). I have it for 1.5 years now and I still feel like there is a lot left to explore for me in the synth, cool sounds to discover/create, I think I'm gonna buy the expansion board (+8 voices) as a birthday gift to myself

I feel like a good set of headphones on that laptop will get you there for far less than the cost of a full speaker system. But emphasis on good headphones (i.e. intended for audio reproduction, and not a gamer-focussed headset). Even a cheap pair of something like the ATH-M40x will give you a drastically better soundscape than the average headset.