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I think they work extremely well for rock. Four prime examples that sound great to me are Yes, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and Rush.
I just listened to their "
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2", "
Money", and "
The Great Gig in the Sky" for a test.
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2
The sound of the kids' chanting in Wall part 2 seem deeper than wide like what I've been saying. The SRH940 made their voices seem more spread out. I use this song in particular for soundstage testing. The LCD-2's soundstage was pretty congested in comparison to the M-100.
The bass guitar takes front stage in most of the song, taking away from the epicness of the guitar solo at 2:08.
Snare drums, cymbals, and more specifically cymbal crashes seem pretty quiet and I thought that was one of the more defining parts of this particular song, the easy-to-follow drumset (AKA "drummer mode" for me).
The main singer's voice seems oddly placed with the bass guitar, making him a few steps back from the guitar.
M-100: -1
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Money
Immediately I notice that the coins/change sounds are more diagonally right/left imaged in my head, as opposed to right/left. Adding the original paper towel mod helps with the L/R imaging a bit.
The drumset seems placed waaaaay behind the bass guitar. Snare drums seem far back on the stage and cymbal crashes are pretty much gone. The sparkle is there though.
Oddly enough, the bass guitar is in-line or slightly behind the singer. The singer's voice is well defined in this particular track. However when the saxophone comes into the song at 2:01, it seems behind the bass guitar again. When the guitar comes into the song at 3:01 it isn't in-your-face up-front, but it's slightly in front of the bass guitar.
M-100: +1 mostly
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The Great Gig in the Sky
Immediately I notice that the piano is pretty far back on the stage, even in the beginning when there are no instruments playing. The piano's low notes kind of veil the voice later on in the track.
The female vocal "screaming" seems pretty distant behind the bass guitar and is overshadowed by the bass guitar, making the vocals less clear/defined than it should be. Even in the "solo" part half-way though the song, the piano and female vocals seem pretty distant to my ears. and the bass guitar is still in front-stage.
Like other tracks, the drumset seems to be pretty far away from everything except for the sparkle.
M-100: -1
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Pink Floyd is more progressive rock though.
As
I've mentioned with Pearl Jam, the M-100's do an OK job with their music. I wouldn't really recommend the M-100 for that type of alternative rock. I've listened to their Binaural and Backspacer albums. The vocals and drumset are just too distant-sounding from the bass guitar and bass pedal most of the times that I think it takes away from a good "rock" experience.
M-100: -1
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Overall: -2 from my tests
Again, like I've been saying, the M-100 doesn't do these songs very well, but they don't sound terrible either. I just don't think the M-100 is an optimal headphone for rock music in general, and I even said this on the
first post upon receiving the M-100. It sounds OK for symphonic metal bands I listen to (Nightwish, Moi dix Mois, Malice Mizer), but it's not the best.
Even though I don't like the HD-25-i-ii for my overall musical tastes, I do think it does rock music very well.
Tyll himself said:
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The Amperior is a crisper headphone than the M-100, you might miss the treble of the Amperior if you like it.
I would also say the SRH940 would be better-suited for rock music if you apply a slight bass boosting EQ at around 150 Hz and treble-reducing EQ at around 9000 Hz. The cymbals and drums are much much much much easier to follow, and the vocals and guitars take front, front stage (in-your-face). I listened to all of the above tracks with the SRH940 and it was a
much more enjoyable "rock" experience for me than with the M-100. The SRH940 is fairly portable, being able to "fold-up"
, lie flat, has removable cables, and has velour pads which are large and spacious. They also go for around ~$250 USD nowadays.
In my
SRH940 review, I mention:
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Despite the highs being prominent, they handle sibilance quite well, though they might be fatiguing to some.
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Rock music sounds fantastic with the 940's with the prominent highs and forward vocals.
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However, some rock tracks may sound odd with the 940's due to their lack of sufficient mid-bass and emphasized highs.
Mid-bass is around 150 Hz, emphasized highs are mainly due to the peak at around 9000 Hz, the sibilance is definitely pretty much non-existant when compared directly to an HD-25-i-ii (doesn't have the annoying ssssssss ssssounds in vocalsss, and essspecially female vocalsss).