[Kermeli]

what headphones would you suggest if i dont want to break the bank for bands such as wintersun, insomnium, amon amarth, etc more melodic metal bands. Current setup is He400i modi 2 uber Lyr 2 amp. I do like the 400i's but wondering what would be the next real step up from there?

I do like the mids on these, could have better, wider soundstage, more clarity. thanks :

 

[Dobrescu George]

what headphones would you suggest if i dont want to break the bank for bands such as wintersun, insomnium, amon amarth, etc more melodic metal bands. Current setup is He400i modi 2 uber Lyr 2 amp. I do like the 400i's but wondering what would be the next real step up from there?

I do like the mids on these, could have better, wider soundstage, more clarity. thanks :

I love iDSD BL + ie800 for windersun and amon amarth!

 

[swspiers]

what headphones would you suggest if i dont want to break the bank for bands such as wintersun, insomnium, amon amarth, etc more melodic metal bands. Current setup is He400i modi 2 uber Lyr 2 amp. I do like the 400i's but wondering what would be the next real step up from there?

I do like the mids on these, could have better, wider soundstage, more clarity. thanks :

I was just going to suggest sticking to the 400i. 2 years ago I think it would cost serious $$$ to step up from them. But, there are like a dozen headphones out right now that are probably a good step up, and less than $1000. I just haven't heard them yet...

 

[Hansotek]

what headphones would you suggest if i dont want to break the bank for bands such as wintersun, insomnium, amon amarth, etc more melodic metal bands. Current setup is He400i modi 2 uber Lyr 2 amp. I do like the 400i's but wondering what would be the next real step up from there?

I do like the mids on these, could have better, wider soundstage, more clarity. thanks :

What do you mean by "not break the bank"?

 

[Dobrescu George]

What do you mean by "not break the bank"?

Well, I don't think anybody's gonna break the bank with iDSD BL, but the sound is amazing nonetheless:

https://audiophile-heaven.blogspot.ro/2017/05/ifi-idsd-bl-pinnacle-of-dac-and-amp.html

 

[shuto77]

what headphones would you suggest if i dont want to break the bank for bands such as wintersun, insomnium, amon amarth, etc more melodic metal bands. Current setup is He400i modi 2 uber Lyr 2 amp. I do like the 400i's but wondering what would be the next real step up from there?

I do like the mids on these, could have better, wider soundstage, more clarity. thanks :

I'd upgrade the Modi to the Multibit before replacing the HE400i. Or replace the Schiit stack with a Mojo or iDSD Micro.

 

[Dobrescu George]

I'd upgrade the Modi to the Multibit before replacing the HE400i. Or replace the Schiit stack with a Mojo or iDSD Micro.

iDSD BL all the way if you ask me. The sound is too good to pass.

 

[drwlf]

what headphones would you suggest if i dont want to break the bank for bands such as wintersun, insomnium, amon amarth, etc more melodic metal bands. Current setup is He400i modi 2 uber Lyr 2 amp. I do like the 400i's but wondering what would be the next real step up from there?

I do like the mids on these, could have better, wider soundstage, more clarity. thanks :

Basically what @swspiers said So many new options nowadays!

You're, Finnish, right?
This probably isn't too helpful, but I'll chime in with some observations from my current stable, and regarding a very specific genre/sound:
Finnish melodeath is a particularly difficult genre imo to get right with headphones, and yeah, the 400i isn't the best one for that.
I wonder, do you actually want more "clarity" beyond the 400i. Too much resolution/clarity and you're faced with production/DR compression issues, which take away enjoyment, which I seem to be having with the LCD-X, which are otherwise quite splendid, cold (in the Audeze house sound scale, the other LCDs I've heard have been too warm for the genre), analytical enough, and with the wall of sound and the thickness required. But yeah, it'll probably break your bank.
For the sake of argument, the LCD-X could be more musical/euphoric at times.

I do think that the 400i does get congested due to its technicalities in overtly complex passages, if you're meaning that by "clarity", but tbh, I don't think the particular genre pushes those limits too much - it's actually quite more often due to production choices/preferences, which are issues in the genre.

General thinness of a can won't help at all either, which I think the 400i suffers from, its biggest flaw in the genre. Some issues with the guitar harmonics are evident as well, and perhaps the quickness of the driver/transients are a bit unnatural, too quick to be realistic. Actually, due to the production issues mentioned, some distortion/harmonics could be welcomed here, or at least to have a natural tone to the overall sound.

Related to my other lo/mid-fi cans vs. the 400i in the genre; out of curiositys sake; Q701, HD650, K240 MP: the amplification and synergy with the all of these cans is a real question mark, and getting it right might break your bank.
The age of the cans do show, and all of them have issues.
Just skip the Q701.
Depending on your preferences/source/amplification, the HD650 or the K240 MP might be a lot worse than the 400i, or a bit better - even defined as a "step up", but probably mostly just "different".
Ultimately I don't think they're worth exploring further, as they won't be definitive step ups from the 400i for the genre, (albeit the K240 MP surprisingly does the genre rather well, but due to its age it'll be a retro curiosity).

And back to what @swspiers said; perhaps some advice/research on the newer cans, eyeing @Hansotek's upcoming suggestions, after you get the price narrowed down
So much newer stuff, with the evident technological advances about. At least if you believe the impressions; not too many of the newer cans are available here in Finland, which I've had the chance to hear.

 

[Kermeli]

Wow, thanks for the replies. Yeah i typo'd, dont want more "clarity" ment more detail, i feel there is sometimes just too much going on.

For sure i keep my eyes open for any HD650 deals, shame they are not on sale too often, never heard a senn before.

No chance for me to change my amp & dac, just got em a week ago!! Maybe a bimby in the future.

 

[Hansotek]

Wow, thanks for the replies. Yeah i typo'd, dont want more "clarity" ment more detail, i feel there is sometimes just too much going on.

For sure i keep my eyes open for any HD650 deals, shame they are not on sale too often, never heard a senn before.

No chance for me to change my amp & dac, just got em a week ago!! Maybe a bimby in the future.

I'm trying to understand what you are looking for here, so let's clarify... as audiophile terminology can get confusing. Which of the following sounds like what you are looking for:

Articulation between instruments. Example: "Wow, I never noticed that bassline before!" That is separation.

Articulation of individual notes. Example: "Dang, I never noticed those ghost notes in that guitar lick before." That is clarity.

Inner resolution of notes. Example: "It sounds like he's playing a Rickenbacher bass through a Hartke stack." That's detail.

Insight into the recording. Example: "You can tell these vocals were recorded in a church or concert hall of some kind." That's microdetail.

Insight into the force with which individual notes are played. Example: "I love how you can really hear him pick up the energy in that high hat part in the bar right before the chorus." That is called microdynamics.

Hopefully that helps. With that being said, would you care to elaborate on the area or areas you're looking to improve?

 

[shuto77]

I'm trying to understand what you are looking for here, so let's clarify... as audiophile terminology can get confusing. Which of the following sounds like what you are looking for:

Articulation between instruments. Example: "Wow, I never noticed that bassline before!" That is separation.

Articulation of individual notes. Example: "Dang, I never noticed those ghost notes in that guitar lick before." That is clarity.

Inner resolution of notes. Example: "It sounds like he's playing a Rickenbacher bass through a Hartke stack." That's detail.

Insight into the recording. Example: "You can tell these vocals were recorded in a church or concert hall of some kind." That's microdetail.

Insight into the force with which individual notes are played. Example: "I love how you can really hear him pick up the energy in that high hat part in the bar right before the chorus." That is called microdynamics.

Hopefully that helps. With that being said, would you care to elaborate on the area or areas you're looking to improve?

This is super helpful for me. I always wondered how microdetail and microdynamics differed.

 

[Fastnbulbous]

That is a good post, Hansotek. For another planar, perhaps the Aeon would be a possibility?

 

[Fastnbulbous]

At Axpona I browsed some TEAC dacs and amps. They have a really nice solid weight and build. I don't see them mentioned much here, though they show up often in Massdrop, from the AI-101DA to the UD-501. Has anyone tried 'em?

 

[Hansotek]

That is a good post, Hansotek. For another planar, perhaps the Aeon would be a possibility?

If it's within budget, it probably outperforms the 400i pretty substantially in every one of the aforementioned aspects, so no need to worry about narrowing that down!

IMO, ÆON is probably the best all-in-one "I don't really need another headphone" solution out there right now that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

 

[Psalmanazar]

@Kermeli HD 600 might be what you want as it's under 300 bucks right now on Amazon. HD 650 is overdamped and slightly dark, which means the percussion in overly compressed recordings will just sound worse than usual but the staging will be way better than what you have. I'm playing Nokturnal Mortum's The Voice of Steel on them right now which is compressed digital heavy metal/black metal/prog rock and it sounds pretty good for what it is. There is no way to make such recordings sound spacious and dynamic with realistic levels (like pre 1992 or so metal) even if some of them have decent L-R staging like this and later Immolation.

HD 600 also has a naturalness of tone and timbre throughout the frequency spectrum that no other headphone really has; the Utopia comes close but the treble timbre is off and HD 650 treble timbre is weird even if you eq it or remove the speaker foam