Ok, i cant wait for next week. Im ready to post all my impressions!
Im not good at writing reviews, but this is best i can do. This is what im feeling. I apologise for lack of better descriptions, but english isnt my main language and it shows.
Ok, remember, all is very subjective and matter of taste thing.
Metal.
I started with some Power Metal, cuz emericanchaos asked me about DT880's perfomance in that type of music. Dark Moor - The Hall Of The Olden Dreams album. Started with DT880. Guitars come with nice energy and drums have very good kick. Bass is as strong as it is in the recording, or so it seems with these headphones. Soundstage is big, yet not laid back luckily. Female vocals (not good example of "feminine" vocals as Elisa bas slight boyish tone in his voice. Suitable for this epic music) and choirs have natural color. Sound is overall airy enough and i dont get the same feeling of chokedness as i did with HD595.
Now, to the SR225. Errr... Where are the lower mids? They are seriously recessed, i notice after DT880. But guitars have good bite and energy. Drums have again very nice kick. Soundstage is really small, extreme left and right imaging mainly. But now the worst problem, overall tone of sound is bit metallic sounding: Bright and thin. It kinda annoys me now that i have something i really like to compare against.
But SR225 did manage to surprise me once. At the beginning of the song "Somewhere In Dreams" when vocs begin, there is some keyboard on extreme left. With when i putted Grados on, they where shoved down my ear clear as day. With DT880 i didnt notice it at first. DT880 is more detailed, but SR225 pronounced it for some reason.
Overall, i preferred DT880 in this.
Anyway, onwards to my fav music. Death and Black Metal.
Ookay, first Black Metal. This genre is difficult to review cuz every band has bit different aims in sound.
Production quality rarely represents real instrument due to intentional "low-production sound" and such that is common in this music, so i stay in reproduction of atmosphere and energy, and "buzz".
Played songs Darkthrone - Kathaarian Lifecode and Negura Bunget - Inarborat. Started with Darkthrone. Music is thin, layered and almost nonexistent bass. DT880 has solid and distant presentation. Guitars that are very overdriven and thin buzz, well, sound buzzy. Atmosphere is there.
SR225. Well, the metallic sound and recessed low-mids strike me here again. Guitars sound more buzzy than DT880. Presentation is solid here aswell, but is seriously closer. Not as atmospheric because of that.
Draw. Different presentation of same stuff.
To song Negura Bunget - Inarborat. I just !skipped! the ambient-drumming part of the beginning. This blackmetal is less buzzy, and more layered wall-of-sound. Keyboards in the background, guitars following the melody producing harmonic presentation. Again, with DT880's deeper soundstage the music is whole. Atmosphere is top notch. Cannot say anything else, cuz i would be repeating myself.
SR225. Metallic sounding again. SR225 breaks the wall-of-sound effect. I feel it separates the instruments much. There is something missing between them, no atmosphere.
DT880 wins clearly.
Death Metal and Grindcore.
Now, we talk about pure energy and aggression. Headbanging! I wont go into details, cuz everything i can describe about sound of these headphones are said already. Rotten Sound - Burden representing Grindcore, and Malevolent Creation - Sacrificial Annihilation for Death Metal.
Rotten Sound. Guitars are overdriven multiple times, very distorted and bassily reverbing. DT880 has energy and is feet tapping. Sound doesnt blur under the mayhem of this music.
SR225. Helluva lot more aggressive than DT880. Intimate and headbanging. Bass is kicking and sound is clear. Hard on ears, but i like it.
SR225 wins with fun factor, but DT880 fares well.
Malevolent Creation. Pretty much same rules apply as with Rotten Sound. But guitars are more fuller and flowing distortion than rottensounds violent sharp crushing and grinding. DT880 follows guitars as its recorded in album. Nothing to complain.
SR225. Again, way more aggressive. Guitars sound really sharp. Not how it is recorded (noticeably less full sounding), but fun! Low mids are missing, but they arent really needed this time.
SR225 wins in fun factor again.
I dont bother to compare in classical and ambient. DT880 pretty much crushes SR225 there.
*EDIT* Oh, i completely forgot final words. There are times SR225 shines, but there is nothing DT880 cannot do atleast satisfyinly. Really, i guess SR225 will gather dust now. In those songs where they shine, they dont sound THAT good compared to DT880 that headphone swapping would be necessary.
I also did some bass testing on Gorelord - Norwegian Chainsaw Massacre album. DT880 was noticeably fuller and more extended in bass. And there is one slow part in song Man Of Sh**, with VERY low bass. SR225 sounded bit choked and weak, where DT880 was strong (not in boomy way, just strong) and deep. DT880 weak in bass my ass!!!
