[Hansotek]

@Hansotek

Guess I'll also seek advice for new IEM. I'm someone who usually dabbles in expensive earbuds (not IEMs), but now require the need for isolation at work. I owned the Cypherus ZoomFred earbuds that had forward mids, a strong sub-bass with leaner mid-bass, and neutral to rolled off treble. Converge's latest album sounded amazing through them. The bass guitar rumbles in full while the kick drum sounded tighter with sufficient impact. Do you know of something similar?

To add, I've tried the Campfire Cascade and PA Beryllium, but didn't like either due to a prominent mid/upper bass. The kick drum and vocals would be too thick and over power the bass guitar. I guess I just prefer sub over those bass frequencies, else it sounds too muddy to my ears.

The iBasso IT01 had the bass signature I was looking for, but it's mids were too lean and treble a tiny bit harsh than I would prefer. I'm hoping their IT04 will be exactly what I'm looking for, but I'm interested in knowing what else is there.

Edit: Assume budget is under $1K, but preferably around $500-$750.

This is a tough one. If I come across anything that fits that signature, I’ll let you know.

 

[swspiers]

In all fairness--many of us needed interventions, even before discovering headphones.

Truer words have never been written on Head-Fi!

 

[Burgerbassist]

Speaking of needing an intervention... I went to Axpona in Chicago this weekend, and while it was not kind to my wallet, it was very kind to my ears! I ended up buying a show demo pair of zebrawood ZMF Atticus, and I can't say enough good things about these cans! There isn't anything I've played through them yet that sounds less than sublime. Zach was working the booth and it was awesome to spend some time talking to him, as well. If you have a chance to audition the Atticus, I highly recommend it.

 

[emptymt]

Finally tried the CA Cascade with metal, I do like it but I won't buy it, as others may have suggested, it is a really fun sounding headphone, guitars sounds big with some warm in it, the bass guitar is forward but vocals a little push back.
Treble sparkles is there, it is neither sharp or thin, so well done there.

I was comparing it against my Meze 99 classic and the CA Andromeda, the Andromeda resolve better for me and the sound stage is great for IEM, it is smaller than the cascade, but I like the tuning more, it sounds more natural to me as opposed to the cascade that sounds fun all the time, after a while it can feel a bit too exaggerated with the fun factor after a while and it does it to every recording I have.

The cascade also has that hot spot on the headband, I think the contact point is too thin, I feel the headband pressing down on my head, as for the clamp force, I actually have no problem there.

I found the ear pad to be a little on the small side, I'm totally fine with it but just barely I have normal sized ears so some people will definitely have problems there, the opening is just a little bit larger than the meze 99 classic (smaller pads)

All tried with Fiio X7 II in SE mode.

 

[kdell]

Cool. Yeah, I just re-listened to the 3X Pro today, and I’m feeling solid on that one as a recommendation. I think you’re going to like it a lot.

As far as a cheap stop-gap goes the Final E2000 has a really good all around signature that pretty much works with anything for $45 USD. It will be better with slightly warm mastering styles like Gojira, but is still pretty decent with brighter stuff like Maiden. That’s where you’re really going to feel the upgrade with the JH - it’s got a warmer tint that will make that stuff real nice and will make the warmer stuff sound more brutal.

So I nearly ordered the Final E2000 but there was one review on Amazon that made me hesitate, so I then started reading the reviews on the Periodic be. Sounded quite promising and I'd pretty much decided on those.....

But then flicking through past IEM reviews on Headfonics I discovered Flare Audio R2s, their rare score of 9.1 getting my attention and through those found out about their latest model the Flares Pro set. Packing beryllium drivers, thin bullet design, bluetooth or wired connectivity, very slight v-shaped signature fully extended, pioneering and unique technologies that apparently achieves similar speed, clarity and detail to electrostatic headphones (namely the Stax SR007!) Absolutely everything I was looking for and more for £349.

I can't believe I couldn't find these after all the Googling I've done, searching for the best bluetooth earphone, the most comfortable earphone, the best overall etc etc. They've not even been mentioned once in this entire thread until now but never mind I'll let you know how they do with metal in a few days time - I'm extremely optimistic!

 

[gazzington]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Ive bought some em-u teaks off ebay this morning for a good price. They have a tiny 1cm scratch on them but other than that new last August. Do these have good bass?

 

[Pharmaboy]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Ive bought some em-u teaks off ebay this morning for a good price. They have a tiny 1cm scratch on them but other than that new last August. Do these have good bass?

Does Godzilla have big legs? Hell, yes they have bass. Really good bass.

The Teaks aren't the most amp/source dependent design around...kind of in the middle that way. I wouldn't put them on a bright DAC, just because they have a pleasing little shimmer in the upper midrange that can be pushed into excess w/the wrong source. And a really strong/capable SS amp probably just improves that already impressive bass.

Oddly enough, I got the absolute best sound out of the Teaks on the one amp I least expected good results with: the relatively warm Liquid Carbon v2. That amp + Teaks locked in to an amazing degree...that sound was hypnotic.

I sold my Teaks but kinda miss them. IMO they had a rather unusual sound, combining great bass, decent midrange, that borderline sharp (but nice) upper range, not bad soundstaging, plus an overall organic, relaxed feel. An unusual mix of attributes there. If the stock pads weren't a PITA (and not very easy to remedy) I'd still have mine.

 

[Hoax86]

Hi guys,

Has anyone listened to the isine 20 via android without the cypher cable. I was wondering if the iem had the attack and qualities to match heavy metal. If not, any recommendations for a iem in the similar price bracket .
I currently had the rha T20i with fiio x3ii and e12a amp.

Thanks

 

[Crimvel]

Did anyone listened to the Audeze LCD2Classic? Are they as good as the LCD2?

 

[Hansotek]

Did anyone listened to the Audeze LCD2Classic? Are they as good as the LCD2?

Yep. And yep.

 

[heliosphann]

Did anyone listened to the Audeze LCD2Classic? Are they as good as the LCD2?

Depends on what variation of LCD-2. I've got several pre-fazor LCD-2's that I like better than the Classics.

 

[Viper2005]

Here's another headphone to consider, the Focal Elex!
Received mine today and found it is very good for metal. Nice smooth highs, and great dynamics. Slam is good (but a bit less than the Auteurs). Good amount of bass that does not bleed into mids.

 

[Baam]

Hey guys!

I want some over ear closed headphones so I can isolate myself in the office. I would plug them to an HP laptop. I'm listening mostly to prog, death, power and black lately, 200-250 euros budget and gotta be able to buy them from amazon.co.uk or amazon.es. I've been looking at V-Moda, ATH M40/M50, SRH840... But I do not know which one would fit me the best. As well, I was thinking about something with Active Noise Cancelling, like Bose QC35 or Sony 1000XM2, as they should totally isolate me from my peers when I need to (as well as while flying) but I'm afraid they might be crap when it comes to sound quality...

Oh well, please let me know what you find to be interesting for me, no need to stick to the models I used as example as I may be sleeping on some good ones hahaha. Thanks in advance!

 

[GamlngBacon]

Is it possible to find the Snorry's TDS-15/ТДС-15 as an American?

I'm looking for portable headphones (I currently have Mad Dogs... needless to say I'm stuck with earphones on the move ;P) and these seem to score the highest for my genres of choice without going over ~400, and also happen to be good for portable.

I mostly listen to black (e.g. Burzum, Windir, Samael), doom (e.g. Reverend Bizarre, Bell Witch, Come My Fanatics...), heavy (e.g. Iron Maiden, Cirith Ungol) and speed/thrash (e.g. Аспид, Poison, Deathhammer) metal. Also some folk (e.g. early Ensiferum, Metsatöll), sludge (e.g. Melvins, Fister, Ufomammut) and death metal (e.g. Rippikoulu, Beyond Creation, Hooded Menace, Repulsion) -- though most "death metal" I listen to is the death-influenced first wave black metal, like Samael, mentioned above, and most folk I listen to is not metal, e.g. Malicorne, Clancy Brothers, Moondog, etc. If it helps I also listen to some 70s prog, punk and hard rock and a lot of electronic (e.g. Coki, Perturbator, Arditi, Aphex Twin, Endoki Forest) ;D I listen to classical too, but I'm not worried about that for travel cans.

The last paragraph is mostly to show off my music tastes ;]

 

[Hansotek]

Is it possible to find the Snorry's TDS-15/ТДС-15 as an American?

I'm looking for portable headphones (I currently have Mad Dogs... needless to say I'm stuck with earphones on the move ;P) and these seem to score the highest for my genres of choice without going over ~400, and also happen to be good for portable.

I mostly listen to black (e.g. Burzum, Windir, Samael), doom (e.g. Reverend Bizarre, Bell Witch, Come My Fanatics...), heavy (e.g. Iron Maiden, Cirith Ungol) and speed/thrash (e.g. Аспид, Poison, Deathhammer) metal. Also some folk (e.g. early Ensiferum, Metsatöll), sludge (e.g. Melvins, Fister, Ufomammut) and death metal (e.g. Rippikoulu, Beyond Creation, Hooded Menace, Repulsion) -- though most "death metal" I listen to is the death-influenced first wave black metal, like Samael, mentioned above, and most folk I listen to is not metal, e.g. Malicorne, Clancy Brothers, Moondog, etc. If it helps I also listen to some 70s prog, punk and hard rock and a lot of electronic (e.g. Coki, Perturbator, Arditi, Aphex Twin, Endoki Forest) ;D I listen to classical too, but I'm not worried about that for travel cans.

The last paragraph is mostly to show off my music tastes ;]

First off, welcome to head-fi and sorry about your wallet.

I just came back from covering CanJam SoCal and AXPONA, and for your $400 budget and the music you listen to, I would recommend picking up the PSB M4U 8 or the NAD HP70 (pretty much the same headphone with slightly different fit and aesthetics - I prefer the fit of the M4U 8 slightly). Both are $399.

I know these headphones haven’t been mentioned on this thread before before, so I’ll give you the quick 411 on them. Both headphones were designed by Paul Barton. If you read Innerfidelity, you might already be familiar with him, but Paul (along with Sean Olive from Harman) has been spearheading the research on a target frequency response curve at the National Research Council in Canada. The HP70 and PSB M4U 8 are the fruits of years of work on that front. Both headphones are wireless aptX HD Bluetooth capable (up to 24/96, I believe), and feature a DSP (digital signal processing) correction curve that aligns the frequency response with the target curve. So what does that mean for you? It means they sound freaking great with practically anything and everything you throw at them, that's what!

They also have active noise cancellation - you can listen in passive mode, active mode or active mode with ANC (which sounds the same as active mode, due to the DSP - no sacrifices!), which is obviously nice to have all in one.

I'll have a full review of these in about a month, as I just started the evaluation about a week ago, but these are probably going to be my top recommendation for a sub $500 closed headphone going forward. You don't really hit something better until the AEON.

Not sure how much of this thread you've read, but I take recommendations pretty seriously. I've been listening to Samael, Maiden, Bell Witch, Windir, Burzum, etc. for the past 45 minutes or so just to verify these work with your tunes (and satisfy my own curiosity about how they perform with those subgenres), and they absolutely do! Note to self, I gotta listen to more Samael, they sound friggin great on these!

I wrote a little more about these on page 3 of my AXPONA show report, which you'll find in the latest issue of EtM here: http://enjoythemusic.com/AXPONA_2018/Hanson/