Thank you for this timely list.
While I agree with most of these takes, if you are treble sensitive the Elex is an absolute NO. The Clear is far more tolerant of upstream issues (e.g., overly bright DACs, amps with treble issues, etc.). With the right pairing these two may be neck-and-neck, but they never came close to being neck-and-neck for me.
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I absolutely disagree vs. Hifiman in that price bracket. The trouble with the Elex is that its metallic drivers are extremely punchy, so they pierce and grate over time. I used to shudder at the thought of using the Elex, but not the Clear. Several years back I greatly preferred my HE-560 over the Elex (until the 560 died), and then upgraded to the Clear.
Meze’s issue for me in that price bracket is the tiny cups that put the drivers very close to the ear. Their closed models make it worse.
Thank you for the guide! I knew it was you when the Capra straps shilling came up 
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Any chance for you to review the FiiO FT1? I was very excited about this release as I was longing for decent and at least somewhat affordable closed-back over-ears. But after reading DIY Audio Heavens review my enthusiasm has shrunk. Looks like FiiO’s lack of experience in designing headphones leaves it’s mark to this day, even if they managed to more or less hit the spot with the tuning. There seems to be a number of issues that either don’t show or show less on models from more established and experienced brands like AKG (K371), Sennheiser (HD620S) and Austrian Audio (Hi-X60).
And excuse me for asking here, but should we expect a review for the new Sony closed-backs from the professional line-up (MDR-MV1’s sibling’s), by any chance?