Quote:
I'm looking for a headphone that does well with metal/rock but it certainly doesn't have to excel at it. I also don't listen to any extreme metal so the headphone I'm looking for doesn't have to be any good for that type of metal. (So don't mistake regular metal for extreme metal in this case when making a recommendation!)
And I also want a headphone that can still serve as an all-rounder for other genres (some head-fiers say neutral is good for metal?). And since I need comfort and a full-sized headphone for my use I'm afraid I can't buy a grado which I see commonly recommended on this forum.
Most of my music collection are rock and metal* and I love the HD600s for them, however I'm somewhat picky with amps and sources. Any of those that add warmth, like tubes or an early roll-off on the treble, aren't going to cut it for me. I had a Marantz CD60 and a Little Dot MkII before and I preferred the CDPs headphone amp compared to the tube amp, as it had enough to drive the HD600 well enough without any obvious issues. Compared to how, say, the IBasso PB-1 drives it, there's no contest, and even the Burson Soloist buries that amp in terms of driving power, but even then, both add a little warmth by my ears. I tend to like Meier amps, and also the O2, and AudioGDs with them, but don't restrict the list to just these, as I'm basing it off what I've listened to so far.
For reference, I had an SR225 before the HD600, and the isolation was just horrible even at home (I can hear birds singing on my roof, the neighborhood cats fighting on the ceiling, the neighbor's cat attacking the birds, etc). Comfort gets progressively worse with more wear or headtime/session on the pads also, and the frequency response changes rapidly. At least with the HD600 even if the pad wear also greatly affects the sound it doesn't make my ears hurt, and stays on my head when I headbang. One caveat though - people who like "metal" and "HD600" together are a minority.
*To be more specific, check if these are what you listen to, although I also have stuff more "hardcore" than these:
Nightwish (especially Wishmaster and the EPs that were released around that time), After Forever (first two albums are a bit too dark tonally but I still like the HD600 overall), Epica, Therion
Kamelot (especially the Roy Khan albums up to Black Halo, also Silverthorn), Rhapsody of Fire, Dragonforce, Dream Theater,
Fuseboxx
Iron Maiden, Judas Priest
Metallica (all before St. Anger, yes that includes Load and Reload), Megadeth, Pantera
Motley Crue, Pink Panther, Hellcats, Hysterica
Greyhoundz,
Slapshock, Sevendust, Korn, Deftones
Quote:
When lurking on head-fi I also found that I didn't understand quite some things head-fiers said:
-Lots of people say a V-shaped signature doesn't clash well with metal, but some other people dislike headphones with forward mids and find them too polite for metal?
It's not so much forward mids, but more along with how imbalanced the sound is. As an extreme example, which is more prevalent with speakers,* some fullrange speakers in standmount enclosures and depending on the low-pass filter, can lose treble detail and can't produce the "kick" of the bass drum. Imagine Deftones without the latter, or Nightwish and Kamelot without the treble, or Dream Theater without both. Great for ambient listening if the midrange is really smooth and fast, but if you listen critically, you'd start complaining about what's not coming out.
A "v-shaped" sound curve on the other hand isn't up to my tastes either. Bass can get flabby or otherwise overwhelm the midrange, ditto the treble. As with any genre, balance is key. The recording already has the frequency response as the artist wants it anyway, if the system is transparent that will be audible. That said, I found the $20,000+ Focal Stella Utopia too polite for metal, and I love the treble of the Aurum Catnus Volla ($2,500 here) and the similar Sonus Faber (the one that goes for $20,000); for enough emphasis on the beats and lower freuencies (and overall balance) I'd say I prefer the Dynaudio Countour S5.4 ($7,000, I think), and while expensive that's still a fraction of the price of the Focal and Sonus Faber. And those price tags (plus room modes) are why I'm on headphones
(For realistic speaker choices, I'm most likely to go with the Focal Chorus 707V).
*headphone drivers being closer to the ears are not affected by airspace and room modes; pad wear (or as others call them around here, "burn-in"), however, is another matter
Quote:
-I've seen a lot of people talk about badly mastered metal recordings and how higher-end headphones tend to sound worse with these. And cheaper headphones fare better with metal because of that reason. How much of this is true?
See my list above? Most of those I still love listening to on the HD800. However, given there isn't enough spatial info on metal recordings,* I can't justify spending on it. Someone offered to sell me his HD800 for about $600 with a damaged cable, as he really didn't like it compared to the T1, but I was paying off a credit card debt I incurred when I got plastered at a friend's bachelor's party and when my cat needed surgery. For that price and the more even frequency response (I wouldn't know what it's like with worn pads though) I'd sell my HD600, and get the HD800 a new (stock) cable.
*at least compared to well-recorded jazz and classical; compared to pop music, some metal bands/genres do a heck of a lot better
Quote:
-People say headphones with accentuated treble will be too harsh with poorly recorded metal (most of the metal), yet Grado's seem to do just that. Are Grado's harsh and revealing or are they smooth?
See above - had an SR225, and if the pads are too new the sound is too thin (so I need to tighten the headband), made worse by the isolation (or lack thereof). I was hoping to mod it to use circumaural pads, but based on some reviews, it might not be any better than using the bowl pads. Sold it and got the HD600. My iPod driving it without an external amp was moot since I can't even hear the music well at home, good luck using it outside.
That said, if your home is quiet enough, I'd still say the SR225 is a good choice, but experiment with pads - HD414 pads or the stock SR60i pads, quarter mod, etc - if you need something easily driven by a portable device. Then again, maybe the SR60i would be good enough. RS1 is my favorite but it costs more than the HD600.
Quote:
My budget is all the way up to 450 dollars for an amp + headphone, but I guess spending that much doesn't necessarily make sense.
Can someone please shed some light on this and give me some recommendations?
Thanks in advance.
What's your source? If you have a decent CDP/TT, or soundcard/interface, refurb HD600+Schiit Magni or Asgard2 (a bit over budget) might be a good choice. Otherwise, the refurb HD600 can go with the Schiit Magni+Modi, or an AudioGD DAC+HPamp.
