HD 555 -> Help my Metal-CDs sound like crap now!

[EvilDwarf]

Hello everybody!

Since I recently got my HD 555 I've got a real problem. About 85% of my metal cds sound like total %§$&. Too hollow, not enough bass, to shrill... At first I thought something had to be wrong with my newly accquired cans. But then I popped in some "mainstream" cds from my girlfriend for a try. And what do you know: Joss Stone sounds totally transparent with nice bass. The same with Sarah Brigtman etc. etc.

So what am I gonna do? Change my muscial taste

.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilDwarf Hello everybody! Since I recently got my HD 555 I've got a real problem. About 85% of my metal cds sound like total %§$&. Too hollow, not enough bass, to shrill... At first I thought something had to be wrong with my newly accquired cans. But then I popped in some "mainstream" cds from my girlfriend for a try. And what do you know: Joss Stone sounds totally transparent with nice bass. The same with Sarah Brigtman etc. etc. So what am I gonna do? Change my muscial taste .

The problem is with your particular metal recordings themselves, not the genre. You see, most metal recordings are severely compressed and limited during the mastering stage.

 

[hentai]

You should try some grados

 

[EvilDwarf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hentai You should try some grados

Maybe you have a point there

. Many recordings already sound better on my Koss KSC 75m, I might add. Maybe that's the curse of better resolution headphones.

 

[Jigglybootch]

I had a similar experience when I recently upgraded to my DT880. Granted, I knew that a lot of my metal sounded like crap to begin, but the DT880 made it more obvious. It's just one of those things you have to learn to live with, or else you're going to need some new cans.

 

[hentai]

Maybe you should upgrade the source , its the source that makes the headphone shine , amp is just some enhancement effect. I play slipknot , cannibal corpse , tool and some european metals. They sound fine

 

[dknightd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilDwarf So what am I gonna do? Change my muscial taste .

That would be my suggestion

Seriously, are you listening to the metal music on the same CD player, or, from some other source? Some metal music is badly recorced, some of it is not as bad. I don't happen to listen to that genre much (my kids seem to like it though) so can't offhand give you specific examples of well recorded vs poorly recorded stuff. But I can tell you if you are not comparing from the same source, the source maybe your problem (i.e. comparing 128 mp3 on a computer to cd on cd player)

 

[EvilDwarf]

No the source is the some. Ok I'm using a crappy old Sound Blaster 5.1 but at least with Winamp + ASIO Output. I'll definitely upgrade soon to Soundblaster X-fi if it turns out to be good in reviews. But the old Soundblasters are said to have very powerful amplification.
I have to admit that recordings of newer date sound very well as for example the lastest KORN, Machine Head etc. Maybe it has something to do with the age of metal recordings and I now hear much more quality difference to older productions.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

IME the HD555's have a super-long burn in phase, at the beginning of which they sound like the most dull, boring, lifeless headphones I've ever heard. But if they sounded good with other music, hmmmm.

I listen to mostly metal, and have found great returns in getting better hi-fi gear to listen to it with. I generally only find that tiny-label, garage-like production jobs end up sounding worse, and perhaps an occational poorly produced bigger-label album. I guess if you are one of these guys who loves to feel cool by listening to stuff that nobody's ever heard of (generally for good reason) you might have a problem trying to make horribly mastered albums sound good. Otherwise, it's probably that your soundblaster card is choking on the complexity of metal, whereas it is not really challenged to reproduce simpler music. Try a real source/amp and report back, then we'll see where the problem lies.

 

[EvilDwarf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer IME the HD555's have a super-long burn in phase, at the beginning of which they sound like the most dull, boring, lifeless headphones I've ever heard. But if they sounded good with other music, hmmmm. I listen to mostly metal, and have found great returns in getting better hi-fi gear to listen to it with. I generally only find that tiny-label, garage-like production jobs end up sounding worse, and perhaps an occational poorly produced bigger-label album. I guess if you are one of these guys who loves to feel cool by listening to stuff that nobody's ever heard of (generally for good reason) you might have a problem trying to make horribly mastered albums sound good. Otherwise, it's probably that your soundblaster card is choking on the complexity of metal, whereas it is not really challenged to reproduce simpler music. Try a real source/amp and report back, then we'll see where the problem lies.

If that what you say is true, then there might still be hope for me

I really have the feeling that with really - as you put it - "complex" recordings everything sounds somehow blurred. That this could be the fault of the soundcard amp which handles simpler stuff better sounds somehow logical.
I'm not interested that much in "garage-like" productions but I like older stuff of better known bands. However I'm also not fully satisfied with the sound of more complex recordings of today.
I think I should really upgrade to a better amp. I thought the ASIO-plugin and 32bit calculation would improve things, but in the end it seems it is the sound blaster, which does the amplification.
Breaking-in time of my HD 555 has been approximately 100 hours so far.

 

[shplorgh]

If you want to try uprading your source, and don't feel like waiting until the X-Fi comes out, grab a Chaintech AV710 for about 25 bucks.

 

[EvilDwarf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hungrych If you want to try uprading your source, and don't feel like waiting until the X-Fi comes out, grab a Chaintech AV710 for about 25 bucks.

Does this thing actually work?? Sounds pretty cheap...

 

[TenaciousO]

Sell the HD555 and get the HD485. These are tuned better for your style of music.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilDwarf Does this thing actually work?? Sounds pretty cheap...

Yes, indeed it does, it's the best bargain source around, when used properly. If you resample to 96kHz, use kernel streaming to the card, and the hi-sample rate output jack, it sounds nicer that it has the right to for $25. You'll probably need an amp, because the output is straight from the DAC chip (i.e no built-in amp).

Metal is among the most demanding music to reproduce properly, because it is fast, dyanmic, has sounds spanning the frequency spectrum, and complex. I think you'll find your upgrades rewarding. Stay away from overly bright/sibilant or bass deficient headphones, and colored, thick-sounding sources or amps generally intended for "stereotypical" audiophiles. I get the best results from solid-state amplification, and equipment engineered to be flat in frequency response.

From your description of what you listen to it sounds like you'll be OK. Sound wise, Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" (old album by big band) is good enough, whereas say Testament's "The Legacy" or Dark Angel's "Darkness Descends" aren't the best sounding, and must just be tolerated in order to listen to the music.

 

[skyfire]

Definitely check out the Grado series. I feel that they work very well for metal. I listen to all types of metal (black, power, death, etc.) and my SR-60's never let me down. The straightforward sound allows for some serious headbanging