Some very nice suggestions so far thanks everyone, I will be doing some due diligence to dial it in on the perfect binding for my setup.
Mr Tidbit your def right bindings def are a personal preference, although my choice of board rite now is the ride highlife there currently isnt a binding in the ride line that would suit my preference. I'm an intermediate free rider thats looking for comfort and control in a sleek lite weight package (no frills or fancy color ways if preferable) to replace my mid flex burton cartel which is more of a freestyle/all mountain binding.
I was at REI hoping to check out the Burtion Diode but they were solds out ggop. They did have the burton malavita in stock, burton rates it a 6/10 on stiffness but i think its def stiffer than (id say 7/10) other bindings in the same bracket such as the mission and cartels. The malavita it feels like a very solid binding. The base plate is covered with a cushy eva pad and has bubble pockets in them, kinda reminds me of them ol skool nike and reeboks from back in the early 80's. I would imagine this would be a really comfortable ride and will cut down on a lot of chatter. The highback are not as high as the cartels but was noticeably stiffer. I also checked out the Union Contact Pro (designed by gigi ruff), was not as impressed with the build quality and although rated 7/10 by Union they were not as stiff as imagined.
The quest continues :eusa_clap: