I've never mixed tramadol with methadone.
I do think there a possibility of serotonin syndrome mixing both. But there are also people who are able to mix SSRIs/SNRIs with methadone just fine. So I'm not really sure.
The way you describe tramadol is exactly how it worked for me (at least from the age of 19-31). Tramadol just made me feel so amazing & it gave me this urge to listen to music, make music, be creative, made me wanna walk around & exercise a lot. Just this over all feeling of total contentedness. Heroin gives me a similar effect but not as quite stimulating or creativity-inducing as tramadol did.
I haven't had many chances to use tramadol anymore in the past few years. And when I did, it was only ever a few at a time. And it didn't seem to have that same magic anymore for some reason. But I think it's because I've been on bupe for 8 years now & I really think bupe alters your receptors or alters the way you experience other opioids. I don't know how or why. And I don't just mean it's blocking properties. I can feel as little as 10mg of hydrocodone on Subs, but it never feels totally euphoric or creativity-inducing anymore.
You're actually the 2nd person I've come across in the past 6 months who said they prefer bupe to methadone, which is interesting. You would think most people would prefer methadone since it's a full agonist. I actually don't have much experience with methadone unfortunately.

I've had a few one-off experiences with methadone in the past & I thought it felt alright. It was a little more hollow feeling than heroin or tramadol, but I remember it made me feel really sedated but content & comfy.
Bupe is a weird one. Some days I actually enjoy the mild effects from it, but other days it just makes me really tired & makes my emotions & mind feel flat, which I hate. I would absolutely prefer to be on 400mg of tramadol a day. I was so much more energetic & ate less on tramadol. But with bupe, I get hardcore food cravings & end up feeling like I have to pop a bunch of other drugs (caffeine, epehedrine, benzos, gabapentin, etc...etc..) just to make up for the lack of content & mood lift that subs don't give. Not that popping the other shit every truly works or helps anyway.
I've also done so much DXM in my life time. And now I'm terrified of taking DXM for whatever reason. lol I had some incredibly magical, mystical experiences on DXM just back in like 2015-2018. But now it fucks me up in a way that just makes me freaked out & anxious. Even just a little bit of DXM changes my perceptions. it also fucks with my stomach pretty bad.
Sounds like we have a bit in common my friend!