Best Headphones for Metal?
Dec 16, 2008 at 7:37 PM Post #16 of 42
K701 is rather uninspiring for metal. Distant and "grey" sounding. Personally not my first choice for metal.
 
Dec 16, 2008 at 7:59 PM Post #17 of 42
Been there, done that.

More than 90% of my massive music collection consists of metal of all flavors.

Of all of the many headphones / rigs I have owned (check my profile), the best phones IMO are:

AKG K-1000s. These are beasts for any genre of music, really - and they transcend all other headphones I have ever heard or owned to date. But they aren't very practical, so I don't use them nearly as often as my every day "Go-To" phones, which are:

Markl Moded Denon D5000s. Don't sound quite as amazing as the K-1000s, but are by far my second most favorite pair of headphones of all time, and are the phones that get the most "head time". These are a great compliment to the K-1000s.

Followed by:

Grado RS-1s. I have to give credit where credit is due. A properly amped pair of RS-1s (think Mapletree Ear+ Purist HD or the like) make electric guitars sound ethereal.

Those are my top three picks, and you can't go wrong with any of them, especially with the genre of music you are interested in.

P.S. It is interesting how wildly different each individual's hearing and tastes can be. Reading through this thread I saw the SA-5000s mentioned. I owned the SA-5000s for a while and spent a lot of time with them, and they are probably the absolute LAST pair of headphones I would suggest for Metal.

The bottom line is, you are going to have to use your own ears and judge for yourself, but just about any flavor of Grado headphone would be a safe place to start, and would be a very nice contrast when compared to your Sennheisers.

I say that if you are already thrilled with what you are currently hearing with your Sennheisers (also not the best "Metal" cans IMO), then keep them and be happy. Why try to fix what isn't broken?
 
Dec 16, 2008 at 8:13 PM Post #18 of 42
Ah nuts
frown.gif


So Grado is the metal can huh? Hmm.. now to figure out if its worth doing an exchange.

The 225 looks so uncomfortable though.

Edit: Just saw lmilhan's post.. maybe the K702's of mine can be turned into a decent pair with the 3MOVE and after the 300hr (minimum?? :s) burn in.
 
Dec 16, 2008 at 8:37 PM Post #19 of 42
Quote:

Originally Posted by lmilhan /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Been there, done that.

More than 90% of my massive music collection consists of metal of all flavors.

Of all of the many headphones / rigs I have owned (check my profile), the best phones IMO are:

AKG K-1000s. These are beasts for any genre of music, really - and they transcend all other headphones I have ever heard or owned to date. But they aren't very practical, so I don't use them nearly as often as my every day "Go-To" phones, which are:

Markl Moded Denon D5000s. Don't sound quite as amazing as the K-1000s, but are by far my second most favorite pair of headphones of all time, and are the phones that get the most "head time". These are a great compliment to the K-1000s.

Followed by:

Grado RS-1s. I have to give credit where credit is due. A properly amped pair of RS-1s (think Mapletree Ear+ Purist HD or the like) make electric guitars sound ethereal.

Those are my top three picks, and you can't go wrong with any of them, especially with the genre of music you are interested in.

P.S. It is interesting how wildly different each individual's hearing and tastes can be. Reading through this thread I saw the SA-5000s mentioned. I owned the SA-5000s for a while and spent a lot of time with them, and they are probably the absolute LAST pair of headphones I would suggest for Metal.

The bottom line is, you are going to have to use your own ears and judge for yourself, but just about any flavor of Grado headphone would be a safe place to start, and would be a very nice contrast when compared to your Sennheisers.

I say that if you are already thrilled with what you are currently hearing with your Sennheisers (also not the best "Metal" cans IMO), then keep them and be happy. Why try to fix what isn't broken?


I agree. It's the metallic electric guitar projection, they sound so real, like having them played in front of your face at a concert.
 
Dec 16, 2008 at 9:14 PM Post #20 of 42
I have to agree with the SA5000 suggestion. The bass doesn't pound quite as hard as my DT770 Pro/80, but the SA5000 was wicked fast and mated very well with metal. Of course, at the time, my system was a meager Emu 0404 running to a vintage Yamaha stereo preamp.

As far as the RS1 goes I can't comment personally, as I've never heard them. But from everything I've ever seen written about them, they seem like winners for heavy metal.

Of course, if you're a basshead (like me) there's always the DT770 Pro/80. Definitely slower than the other two and not nearly as refined, but damned if that bass doesn't get your blood pumping.
 
Dec 16, 2008 at 10:23 PM Post #22 of 42
I feel that my 650s do surprisingly well for metal, especially prog. I can also attest that the K701s put you asleep after about 10 mins on studio recordings but interestingly, have a very stimulating sound on live recordings. I listened to Opeth's Roundhouse Tapes yesterday on my K701s and did not feel that it was lacking energy at all.

I still have a desire to listen to some ATs or Grados with metal. I think that the polite nature of the 650s and K701s isn't an exact match for aggressive music styles.
 
Dec 16, 2008 at 11:29 PM Post #26 of 42
Its a good choice. Though be prepared for slightly sharp treble SR325i is known for. Also, its metal housings are bit heavy, making them rather uncomfortable. Remember to bend the headband looser so the cups wont squeeze your ears, it helps quite a bit in comfort problems with Grados.
 
Dec 17, 2008 at 12:15 AM Post #28 of 42
man.. I'm like an ADD kid.. actually in the process of changing my new placed order from 325 to 225. Mike (technical manager from HeadRoom) had this to say when I told him I was exchaning 702's for 325s

"If you are into metal, I can definitely see the 702 is not for you. The 325i may work, but I do want to warn you that the 325i is probably the brightest headphone I have ever heard. The metal enclosure they use really enhances the highs so much that they can be pretty harsh. Honestly you might want to try the 225 instead. I really like the 225 and for metal it's damn near perfect. Great detailed highs, good mids, and the bass goes deep, but not too deep.
smily_headphones1.gif
I think the 225 is closer to the RS-1 sound than the 325i so you may want to give them a shot instead"
 
Dec 17, 2008 at 3:08 AM Post #30 of 42
I'm no expert, but personally I would not recommend any of the Grado80-225 series for metal. Haven't tried anything like the RS-1, but my experience with the Grados was they had one of the best sounds I've heard but they lacked the bass punch needed for things like metal. Downright anemic in just that one category.

I'm listening to some Denon D2000s that just came in the mail and they have oh so much more bass punch, but just a little less detail so far. You might give the D5000s a look...
 
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