Here's my "out-of-left-field" answer: forget overthinking about steels, HRC, and all that. The fastest way to learn what YOU like is just to get your hands on something different and use it a lot.
If you're coming from cheap German, then pick any larger Japanese brand name - Suisin, Misono, Sakai Takayuki, etc. Grab their entry level Inox or molybdenum, or Aus8 or whatever stainless cheap offering they have. It'll run you around ~$90 - $100. Use the other $60 to get a nice #1000 grit stone and cheap flattener.
Use and abuse it. I think of these as the inbetweeners for Japanese knives and German. They'll feel like significantly better cutters than what you're used to and you won't have to worry about the fragility of more expensive Japanese knives. You'll learn so much about what works for you just by keeping it sharp and using it. Use and sharpen your current knives too. Go back and forth between everything you have. Soon you'll know what works for you and not just what people on the internet tell you.