Full Sized, Metal/rock, Isolating, easy drivability, large soundstage and good imaging for movies...

Title says it all.

I have been pondering over this for a few days, its for a friend, I suspect and AT or Beyer is the solution, and I am not familiar enough with those brands.

Criteria:

• Circumaural - comfortable
• Atleast decent isolation (leakage not an issue) pretty much drowning out background noise will suffice
• Large soundstage and accurate imaging for movies (which is a bit of a challenge because of the isolation requirement)
• Genres: Metal/Rock and the odd dubstep
• Easy drivability, my friend has an E7, and thats really it.
• Budget $500 incl amp

Here is what I have thought of:

• Beyer DT880 Premium 250ohm (again, issues with drivability, the 80ohm version ain't exactly efficient)
• AKG K242HD - can be powered decently off of the E7, but does need its own amp, the issue is isolation - its not so good.
• Grado - great for metal/rock - lacking in soundstage and isolation
• Hifiman HE-400, Cost and isolation.

I Also looked at a bunch of others, but they didn't match the Sound signature requirements. The odds are I missed a fair few, so enlighten me.

Thanks :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by punks15 

I think K242 will be better for slower paced music, DT880 is nice but it's not easy to drive too, the Grado yes lacking in soundstage and isolation, i still think HE400 will be the best choice

Thanks

Having personal Experience with the K242hd, it suits fast music well. A crap ton better then my denons.

As for the DT880, he is considering just shelling out, and I think this is probably still the best option, with a good amp.

Or the HE-400.. That is the one I would get.

Ok so were ditching isolation as a requirement, if it can drown out the background then its all good. 

So for metal, rock and the odd dubstep, and movies what you suggest?

I still think its between the Beyer DT-880, HE-400 and possibly HD600.

Any opninions?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Negakinu 

DT880 doesn't go well with metal and rock, at least in my opinion. I own the the DT880, I listen mostly to metal, and it's treble spike around 9khz makes most metal and rock very sibilant and screechy. Problem with metal is that it's not the most well-produced genre. Most rock/metal recordings suffer from the loudness war and the DT880's treble is just merciless in this regard. 

 

I haven't heard your other options but all I can say is I sold my Grado SR225i and am using the Sennheiser HD590 for metal now. On the go I use the HD25-1 II. If I need isolation, I use my HM5/FA-003. 

Thanks for that. Very helpful. 

Thanks, thats interesting,

To change direction, The beyer is off of the list, upon further reading Negakinu was right. And it seems my friend is more into the power associated with a guitar riff versus the scream of a gibson. 

We have sort of focussed on the HE-400 for now. We want to avoid the Amp rolling associated with the HD600 and HD650.