My search for great thrash metal headphones - Page 9

Thanks for the kind words, xaval! I'm hoping I end up with a pair of Stax Omega II's, but since my car is determined to end its own miserable life, that's going to be on hold for a while.

Headbanger, eh, Bojamijams? I don't really do that, but I can see how it would be a problem. When pfillion gets those JH13 Pro's and has a chance to listen for a while, maybe we'll get the final word on in-ear greatness...

I'll have some more impressions on the hfi-450's soon. I don't want to rush it, since I've been modding my Valab DAC at the same time (although I just borrowed a stock Valab today), and I lent my balanced amp to a friend who didn't like the pairing of his HD800's with the Little Dot MKVI.

I can share a couple of points, though. These things isolate well, have punchy, tight bass, and don't have nearly as much of a "hole" in the mids as the Sony MDR-V6 does.

On the downside, after wearing them for 2 hours, they get HOT. Like sauna-hot. As in, I need to get these things off my head for a while! They're also very sensitive to correct placement over your ears. Probably have the S-Logic decentralized speakers to thank for that. Anybody know if the Ultrasone claim of 3-4 dB pressure decrease for the same sound level is actually true? I'm really interested in that point.

Overall, I'm impressed so far. They probably only have about 15-20 hours on them so far, so if they really do get better with age, I look forward to it!

Ultrasone HFI-450

OK, I bought these Ultrasone HFI-450's a week ago now, and I've had a decent amount of time to listen to them. To recap, I wanted to try something "inexpensive" and see how they sound with thrash metal, and given the Ultrasone's reputation for speed, I chose these. They MSRP for $99, but you might be able to find them for less.

Right now, Megadeth's "Rust in Peace" album is cranking away as I type this out. Give me alchemy, give me sorcery, or just give me more Ultrasone lovin' because these things kick ass.

Bass: Yeah, Ultrasone's have strong bass. It's detailed, punchy, and quick. Case in point: "Poison Was The Cure" has an opening bass riff that really plugs hard on the low notes with these cans. There is no bass bloom, and all of the plucks are very well separated. Good, good. Kick drums can sometimes hit like a Techno track with these headphones, too. How about "Dawn Patrol," an entirely drums-and-bass track? The bass guitar is hypnotic, and well separated from the drums. Dave's voice, low as it is on this particular song, still floats firmly above the continuous bass guitar. No distortion or bleeding between them. Transition into "Rust in Peace... Polaris" and there's the Techno-strength kick drum. Very impressive!

Speed: Here's a sticking point. Without good speed, thrash metal can't even be called music anymore. It goes from music to sonic jelly in extreme cases. I am happy to say that the HFI-450's are quite speedy. It's easy to get toe-tapping or head-bobbing with these headphones. Test track time: enter "Mechanix." Dave's solo is well resolved down to individual finger plucks. The only portion it struggles with is the extra-complicated bit from 4:03 to 4:05, but only the Stax Omega 2's and Ultrasone Edition 9's (that I have heard) passed this part flawlessly. The speed is almost up there with the SA5000 and HD800; just a bit lacking. But I can't expect that speed for this price.

Everything Else: I wish guitars were heavier and edgier. The mids are a bit recessed like the Sony MDR-V6, but not to the same extent. Still, I don't get the same visceral feeling from the guitar as I do with the SA5000's in balanced mode. Maybe balancing these HFI-450's would do good for the sound signature, but financially it doesn't make sense unless you do it yourself.

S-logic is nice because it really does push the soundstage towards the front of your spatial awareness, but I don't believe any of that "natural surround sound" spiel. I watched "Tropic Thunder" with them, and... no. Horrible marketing for that. What about lower sound pressure levels? I am not sure here. My ears usually do feel less fatigued from listening, but they are closed cans and isolate well, so lower volumes are more satisfying. If they really do reduce the SPL for a given perceived volume, then I'll give up all of my other headphones for a good pair of Ultrasones. I can live with shortcomings if it means safety. I think maybe I'll contact the Ultrasone sponsors here for more information on that claim. After all, I prefer to listen to metal at higher volumes than lower, and I doubt that I'm the only one!

In the end, yes, I think there IS something about Ultrasone. I can see that these wouldn't be for everyone. The pleather earpads get hot, the headphones are sensitive to correct placement on your head, and the headband rates a "meh." But I can't stop listening to them!

Soon, I should have a pair of Stax Lambda's in my possession, and I look forward to posting some impressions on them here!

Edit: I have no idea why I disliked the Ultrasone HFI-780's that I heard at CanJam. I really don't. Those and the Edition 8's convinced me to spend time listening to other things, and unfortunately I heard the Edition 9's very late on Sunday, so I didn't have time to make amends.

Honestly, I don't know. The HFI-780 I heard at CanJam was really hollow and honky sounding to me, but that could just be a result of listening to such high-resolution stuff beforehand (such as Stax, HD800's, PS1000s...)

There aren't any HFI-780's around here that I can easily listen to, unfortunately. I did like the Edition 9, and I've read that the PRO900 is quite similar, so I think those will be the next Ultrasones I will try. If I get a chance to hear someone's HFI-780's, though, I'll be sure to post about them here.

Stax Lamba!

Update! I have a nice little pair of Stax Lambda's in my possession (special thanks to doping panda!) and I've been getting used to them since about last Wednesday. They're the normal bias version, running through an "energizer" which is really just a big transformer. It's powered by a Sonic Impact T-amp, which is one of those funny switching speaker amps powered by a Tripath chip. So, my signal path looks like this:

Laptop -> Valab DAC -> T-Amp -> SRD-7 Adapter -> Stax Lambda

If you've never heard a set of Stax before, your first impression might be that the highs sound very different from dynamic driver-based headphones. Indeed, they are very crisp and realistic. Cymbols, high hats, and anything else with a bright, shimmery sound is portrayed with extra shine; you can hear some of that airy ambiance that you get from actually striking a cymbal. Even the Sennheiser HD800's don't quite have the same smooth response in the treble -- close, but not quite. It's really something else. To be honest, it's the kind of treble I used to only associate with vinyl. As a test, I listened to "Wake Up Dead," "The Conjuring," "Peace Sells..." and "Devil's Island" both through my DAC and on my turntable with these Stax. The highs on vinyl are a touch smoother, but I was amazed at how close the digital version is... when using the Stax, at least.

These Lambdas don't have a lot of bass, though. Certainly less than the Sony SA5000 single ended, but what's there is good.

I look forward to posting more impressions on these headphones later on!

Also -- DON'T FORGET! If you're interested, head over to Megadeth - Headcrusher to get a free download of Megadeth's new song "Headcrusher" from the new album. The download will only be up for 24 hours, I believe, starting at 11AM Eastern time tomorrow morning. Here's hoping that it's a good quality encode!

Yeah the art is something else for that new song... I don't think it'll be the cover art for Endgame though! Grab the song though, it's got a lot of energy! Death by the headcrusher!

Tyler, if you like older, heavier Megadeth, I'd have to recommend either So Far, So Good... So What! or the first album, Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! My current favorite Megadeth song is "Set The World Afire," which is on the SFSGSW album. Their guitars have a nasty, dirty, hollow, super-distorted sound on that album which I just love. None of the other albums have this sound. KIMB is great too, though. It's heavy and thrashy.

If you want more Megadeth but something less thrashy, my favorite is Cryptic Writings. It's an album that I mainly connect with the emotions of anger, helplessness, and vengefulness. Great for brooding after a particularly unjust day

-Chris