Quote: A friend of mine linked me to some sludge/doom metal (not really my kind of thing) and it sounded pretty good on them.    First track here for instance: http://dopethrone.bandcamp.com/album/demonsmoke

Quote: Define well. I find it pleasant to listen to these bands on the HD 598s similar to how I find it pleasant (in a different way) to listen to them on my HD25-IIs. Your mileage may very well vary. It also took about a week for my ears to adjust to the sound signature and for me to...

Quote: Yeah they're definitely Industrial but they always end up on my Metal playlists and nearly every metalhead I know has an album or two of theirs. :) 

Quote:   Depending on you definition some of these might not be metal to you:    Dream Theatre, Rage Against the Machine, Mastodon, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Machine Head, (a little) Trivium, Killswitch Engage, Deftones, Nine Inch Nails, Cynic, System of a Down, Evergrey, Opeth, Circus...

Quote:   Yeah mine sound grand too with a cheap amp/DAC. These headphones don't need an expensive amp to sound pleasant. Seconded on the metal point also, these have really grown on me for metal recordings (though I'm listening to nearly all classical these days). The bass isn't as...

Quote:   Sine wave test whether I can tell if a tone changes up or down 1dB (a different thing to whether a 1dB bump in the bass frequency response is noticeable but I was curious if I'd even notice such a change in a simple signal. If I can't identify it in a simple signal I probably...

Quote: Thanks for putting a number on it for me.          Comes down to how sensitive your hearing is no? I mean I'm pretty sure I wouldn't really notice 1db of bass boost given my hearing but some people might have far more sensitive ears.    Edit: Actually scratch...

Quote: 10 Ohms should be enough output impedance to colour the sound of the HD598s though, no? 

Quote: Not necessarily, no. Some people game better in stereo, some in surround.   

Quote: That's pretty much where I am. I'm relistening to a lot of my metal collection and hearing it in a new, but not unpleasant, light. Whether or not headphones are supposed to sound this way I don't know and don't really care. I'm getting a new listening experience that I'm enjoying...

Quote: I don't lose the kicks with Trivium/Killswitch/etc (I don't consider these very fast to be honest). They're just not that strong. Stuff like Mastodon sounds pretty good too. The drums aren't that "forward" but they're there alright. Soundstage, in my experience, depends hugely on...

Quote: It's a trade off between "better" bass and better soundstage and separation between the two cans I have. I can't have both with what I have. It comes down to preference, do you really want to *feel* those drum kicks or not or do you want the great separation that is there on a...

Quote: Just on this. Over the past two days my ears have been getting used to the sound signature of these 'phones and I've started to enjoy my metal collection more and more over that time. The overall sound hasn't really changed, the classical stuff sounds the same but again I'm just...

Quote: I think (and I could be very wrong) that it's an open can versus closed can thing here for bass combined with an open soundstage instead of a closed-in soundstage. It's more intimate and visceral with more reverberating bass and the music in on top of you with certain metal tracks...

Quote: Yeah I'd second this, what really struck me today was a multi-voice choir piece, the voices were so distinct, clear and separated and imaged very well for me. More so than any headphone I've listened to previously. It's not really in your face but it's there if you pay attention...

Quote: The E7/E9 combo would be a bad match with the HD598s, the output impedance of the headphone jack on the E9 is too high (10 Ohms) and could colour the sound you get in a way that might not please you (or you might like it, but either way it's altering the sound you get). The E10...

Quote: For me it came down to price, the HD598s were £177 and the HD600 was £300 (!!!) from the site I had a voucher for. I was having trouble justifying the extra £130 to myself to be honest. 

Quote: Just an E10.    Now just a caveat based on my ears and tastes.    Some metal loses its visceral impact compared to a decent pair of closed headphones because of different kind of bass response. More technical metal like Dream Theatre is very pleasant but more in your face...

Quote: Yeah even in their unburned in state they'll do very nicely for my main home headphones. I'm looking forward to seeing if burn in makes a difference for me. 

First impressions out of the box:    Choral/Classical/Opera: A nice airiness quality to the sound due to the soundstage. Very pleasant. Definitely an improvement over the HD25-IIs and what I was looking for in a new pair of headphones. Rock/Metal: More than acceptable. Doesn't handle bass...

Quote:   Ditto, sounds like a fairly meh metal version of an Irish jig or reel. The vocals sound muffled and odd on my HD25-IIs, for what it's worth.    Edit: Actually to be clear Enter Darkness, I think you're confusing "female vocals" with any female singing in any genre. Normally...

Quote: There's very divided opinion on whether you want Dolby Headphone and similar or whether stereo is better for FPS games. More that pretty much any audio topic I've read about. Unfortunately the only way you'll know for sure if you prefer one over the other is to try gaming with...

Quote:   It's the internet so anyone can claim to be a pro or semi-pro musician or vocalist. I don't necessarily doubt the either two previous posters but neither do I give their claims a lot of extra weight just because they say they are musicians. 

Quote: I only really find them uncomfortable if I've been wearing them for 4 hours+.      What music you listen to is crucial here when asking for advice on one headphone over another. Different headphones suit different tastes and different music genres generally speaking. E.g I...

Quote: I really like them for metal too but you need an amp to get a good volume out of them in my experience, pushing them a bit further out of budget.