Hello there head-fi'ers.
I'm fairly new to the audio world and came here because there are so many people with envaluable experience to correspond with. I have used the search button and successfully narrowed down my choices for a set of headphones that best fits my needs.

I know that among all of the headphone knowledge on this forum, here are a lot of music lovers and genre experts. I find people who address which headphones are the best for "rock" or "metal" in general and they all tend to inevitably end with a million people saying grado. I would consider buying grados after headphones that are more fitting to my needs as a whole. For now it would be nice to also find a set that compliments Grado's sound signature with something different.

Being that I will occasionally use my headphones for gaming, decent sound staging is of importance and comfort is very important to me as well.

My budget for just headphones is about $300 and I have heard at least a few testimonies of the following headphones to be good with "rock" or "metal" :

-AKG K601's
-Denon AH-D2000's
-Beyerdynamic DT880's
-other suggestions welcomed

More specifically, I listen to a lot of :

-Down Tempo/Sludge/Progressive/Hypnotic
(Deftones, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, Mastodon, Gojira, Acid Bath, Electric Wizard, Godspeed! You Black Emperorer, Isis, etc)

-Some Hip hop here and there (Sage Francis, Sole, B.Dolan, Aesop Rock, Atmosphere)

-Techno/trance/EBM

I would like to have something that isn't too boring but is fairly neutral so no one area of sound drowns out the others. Something warm and fairly analytical but articulate would be ideal. I would love to feel like I am surrounded while listening to Tool or Team Sleep.

My source is a Hitachi SR-604 Stereo Reciever and I will probably want the option of hooking it up to my laptop or ipod at a later time. I'm open to buying a nice amp because for the most part portability is of little importance.

And once again my budget is about $300.

Your correspondence would be GREATLY appreciated and it would be
especially nice to hear from people with an expertise in that type of music who could advise me with a good match.

Thank you so much in advance!

No one knows anything on this topic? I know that can't be true... I'd really appreciate some responses on what would best suit me besides Grado's (which I will purchase also at a later time).

I would pick a pair of the Denon's since they are pretty thick in the bass department but could get boomy at point's (breaking should fix this) since you do listend to techno and hip hop.

Cole

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True, breaking the Denons would make them pretty silent and thus would fix the problem.

I think the HD600 fits what you want very well and can be had for much less than $300 used, especially if your receiver is pretty neutral and if you're going to get a dedicated amp somewhere down the line.

I have my eyes on some k601s myself (similar musical tastes save for the techno and also using a receiver for the most part.)

The only thing holding me back fear that I would want the 70x at a later point and both are under $300.

Looking forward to the advice you get.

I listen to everything you have listed there , i LOVE my denon's but they dont do most of the bands you listed justice. They are great for electronic and have awesome bass but they dont carry the guitar sound well. I didnt like the AKG's either didnt have enough weight. Grado would be the best bet... Oh and i hated my DT770's while listening to isis and electric wizard

Wow thank you all for the feedback! I definitely got the impression that Denon's were fairly well rounded and could handle the most amount of genres without butchering them.

Cole - Same question about breaking applies to you. I'm newer to the world of headphones, what exactly is that? And techno/hip hop is something I listen to the least but since I will eventually buy grados for the other duties, its nice to hear that the denons would cover the other end of my spectrum. Very helpful! Any idea what does the other genres really well other than grados?

Mypasswordis - Thank you for your response. Please excuse my naivety but what is breaking? I have researched lots of the modifications done to headphones but haven't come across this one. Can you explain for a n00b? =] And I originally looked into sennheiser and heard lots of good things but heard from a lot of people that they are "laid back" and "boring". Though i've heard that more about the 650 and heard that the 580/600 is less this way and gives the best of both worlds. What do you think?

D Strasse - Looks like we are in the same boat! I really hope to get some reinforcement towards buying these. They are wonderfully styled and look like amazing quality. I just don't want to buy them if they don't optimize any significant chunk of the music that I listen to. Glad that my thread will be helpful to you as well!

Wangtox - your input is very helpful. I've gotten the impression that the beyers are below average for the genres that I'm targeting. I will definitely be picking up some grados (probably some rs1's) I just wanted to know what other brands handle the music I like fairly well. It's good to hear that you love your Denon's still though even though they aren't completely IDEAL for my music.

Thank you everyone who commented. Anyone else? The more information the better!

I second the HD580/HD600 recommendation.

They are laid back and boring in some ways... not very bright.

But they also have a really nice midrange, and what I would say it just enough bass.
They are pretty much exactly what you want for that type of music.

They need a nice amp, so you should consider getting one of those sooner rather than later.


However, they are definitely going to Suffer in the face of synth heavy music (Techo, trance, etc.), and are probably not going to the best with hip hop (Honestly, I don't listen to -any- hip hop, so I don't really know).

What you're probably going to end up doing is buying another set for Hip Hop and Techno (Probably Denons or Beyers)

The Senn house sound does wonders with Isis. Oceania sounds just that much more epic out of the HD650 compared to my k701. It also does well with electronica for the extra bass it has although I do prefer the bigger sound stage of the AKG.

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It was a joke, Cole forgot to add 'in' after 'breaking' so I went along with it.

The 580/600 is not boring to me, and is neutral and resolving with a hint of warmth to help make sure nothing sounds harsh. I listen to a bit of hip hop and techno and think the 580/600 will do fine when paired with a good amp. It will do great with rock/metal like Tool and Gojira. Apparently there is some variation in sound among the HD650 where some are brighter sounding than others, but if you want to be safe, just go with a 580/600.

I missed that one. Lolz were had.

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LMAO... wow I'm dumb. That was a pretty funny joke though. lolz were indeed had.

It sounds like a lot of people are in agreement about the hd600. I know that senn has a pretty good soundstage which would help with gaming (which i would like to use it for sometimes). It is also my understanding that sennheisers are very comfortable as well. Now being that I will buy Grado's too, does anyone think that the sound signatures between senns and grados will clash and one of these sets will be sitting around, never used? Or do you think that they compliment each other and have enough strengths and weaknesses that overlap that I will find myself picking them both up? It seems that senns and grados are far enough away on the spectrum that I can get the most out of all of my music with that combination. What do you all think? It sounds like I would leave a significant hole in the hip hop/techno department though...

You can try some Ultrasones, or the GMP 435/8.35.

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I had forgotten to mention that i feel like my Ultrasone's are my all around can. Denons for electronic and some rock/metal, Grado's for anything with strings. Ultrasone's have a nice overall warm sound to me with a very large sound stage.

Yeah, but the 601s are <$200 while the HD600s are just over $300.