Headphones for metal music - ultimate solution
Feb 9, 2018 at 10:59 PM Post #8,506 of 12,269
Isodynamic means planar magnetic or electrostatic. No idea what hybrid array means. Possibly multiple diaphragms... maybe a super tweeter like the dharma has... or it may have something to do with the magnet array.

I would bet my house that the guy in this video is the creator of the driver of the EMPYREAN.

 
Feb 10, 2018 at 7:45 AM Post #8,507 of 12,269
Hi. Big all round metal fan here. Just wondering what's the difference between meze 99 classics and neo?
 
Feb 10, 2018 at 8:15 PM Post #8,509 of 12,269
Hi. Big all round metal fan here. Just wondering what's the difference between meze 99 classics and neo?

The cups on the Neo are plastic. The classics are wood.
 
Feb 10, 2018 at 8:28 PM Post #8,510 of 12,269
I have a short list of albums I use for subgenere tasting (in first post of this thread). Hope this help at least to have some fun on good metal ))

Alternative
A Perfect Circle - Emotive
Diablo Swing Orchestra - Pandora's Pinata
Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I
Faith No More - King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime
Primus - Antipop
Propagandhi - Failed States
Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine
Serj Tankian - Elect The Dead
System Of A Down - Hypnotize
Vista Chino - Peace

Black
Alcest - Souvenirs d'un autre monde
Anaal Nathrakh - Vanitas
Bathory - The Return....
Burzum - Filosofem
Cobalt - Gin
Dimmu Borgir - Enthrone Darkness Triumphant
Immortal - Sons Of Northern Darkness
Oranssi Pazuzu - Valonielu
Rotting Christ - Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy
Satyricon - Now, Diabolical

Death
Cannibal Corpse - Vile
Carcass - Surgical Steel
Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery
Death - Scream Bloody Gore
Entombed - Left Hand Path
Morbid Angel - Blessed Are The Sick
Napalm Death - Utilitarian
The Modern Age Slavery - Obedience

Doom
Candlemass - Death Magic Doom
Cathedral - The Ethereal Mirror
Earthless - From The Ages
Electric Wizard - Electric Wizard
Monolord - Empress Rising
Orchid - Mouths Of Madness
Subrosa - More Constant Than The Gods
Blood Ceremony - Blood Ceremony
Witchcraft - The Alchemist

Goth
Moonspell - Irreligious
My Dying Bride - A Map of All Our Failures
Paradise Lost - Icon
Type O Negative - Dead Again
Woods Of Ypres - Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light

Grindcore
Cattle Decapitation - Monolith of Inhumanity
Liberteer - Better To Die On Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees
Nails - Abandon All Life
Napalm Death - Scum
Pig Destroyer - Book Burner
Vhol - Vhol

Heavy Metal
AC/DC - Back In Black
Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Grave Digger - Knights Of The Cross
Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
Judas Priest - British Steel
Saxon - Sacrifice
Scorpions - The Hot & Slow

Industrial
Die Krupps - Odyssey Of The Mind
Ministry - Dark Side of the Spoon
Rammstein - Mutter
Rob Zombie - Hellbilly Deluxe

Power
Blind Guardian - Tales From The Twilight World (2007 Remastered)
Children Of Bodom - Something Wild
Falconer - Falconer
Gamma Ray - Insanity & Genius (2002 Remastered)
Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 1
Iced Earth - The Dark Saga
Manowar - Hail To England
Running Wild - Death Or Glory
Sabaton - Carolus Rex
Wuthering Heights - Far from the Madding Crowd

Progressive
Agalloch - The Mantle
Anathema - Alternative 4
Animals As Leaders - Animals As Leaders
Mastodon - The Hunter
Opeth - Blackwater Park
Protest The Hero - Volition
Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused To Sing
The Ocean - Pelagial
Therion - Secret Of The Runes

Sludge/Stoner
Baroness - Blue Record
Isis - Wavering Radiant
Behold! The Monolith - Defender, Redeemist
Endless Boogie - Focus Level
Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley
Om - Advaitic Songs
Pallbearer - Sorrow and Extinction
Wiht - The Harrowing of the North

Symphonic
Apocalyptica - Plays Metallica By Four Cellos
Katatonia - Discouraged Ones
Moonspell - The Antidote
Nightwish - Oceanborn
Therion - Theli
Within Temptation - Mother Earth

Thrash
Evile - Enter the Grave
Holy Moses - Master of Disaster
Kreator - Phantom Antichrist
Metallica - Master Of Puppets
Testament - Dark Roots Of Earth


Lots of great stuff on this list!
 
Feb 11, 2018 at 6:54 PM Post #8,512 of 12,269
Feb 11, 2018 at 7:01 PM Post #8,513 of 12,269
Jude said that the new Meze Empyrean will cost more than $3000. I'm out!



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Feb 11, 2018 at 7:11 PM Post #8,514 of 12,269
Did you notice that over 2/3s (maybe even 3/4s) of all these headphones are $2,500 - $8,000? 3 grand seems to be the new 2 grand.

And electrostatic designs (the priciest, most technically challenging, least usable w/in the average human's existing headphone ecosystem) are EVERYWHERE.

Amps are only slightly less onerous. Lots of $1K-$2K designs, but all the sexy action seems in the >$3K range.

This same thing happened years ago w/big 2-channel audio systems. When I got into it, $1,000 electronics were common, but not yet predominant; and $5,000 speakers systems were the about same. At that point, the priciest speaker anyone knew of was $35K. Within 10-15 years, electronics were mostly $5K and up, and many, many speakers were >$15K and climbing fast. Now you can't walk 10 ft at an audio show w/o tripping over $25K+ electronics and $50K+ speakers.

Disappointing to see a parallel price run-up in my 2 short years in this hobby.
 
Feb 11, 2018 at 7:19 PM Post #8,515 of 12,269
Did you notice that over 2/3s (maybe even 3/4s) of all these headphones are $2,500 - $8,000? 3 grand seems to be the new 2 grand.

And electrostatic designs (the priciest, most technically challenging, least usable w/in the average human's existing headphone ecosystem) are EVERYWHERE.

Amps are only slightly less onerous. Lots of $1K-$2K designs, but all the sexy action seems in the >$3K range.

This same thing happened years ago w/big 2-channel audio systems. When I got into it, $1,000 electronics were common, but not yet predominant; and $5,000 speakers systems were the about same. At that point, the priciest speaker anyone knew of was $35K. Within 10-15 years, electronics were mostly $5K and up, and many, many speakers were >$15K and climbing fast. Now you can't walk 10 ft at an audio show w/o tripping over $25K+ electronics and $50K+ speakers.

Disappointing to see a parallel price run-up in my 2 short years in this hobby.

Heck you can trip over $25K interconnects & power cables.
 
Feb 11, 2018 at 7:23 PM Post #8,516 of 12,269
Did you notice that over 2/3s (maybe even 3/4s) of all these headphones are $2,500 - $8,000? 3 grand seems to be the new 2 grand.

And electrostatic designs (the priciest, most technically challenging, least usable w/in the average human's existing headphone ecosystem) are EVERYWHERE.

Amps are only slightly less onerous. Lots of $1K-$2K designs, but all the sexy action seems in the >$3K range.

This same thing happened years ago w/big 2-channel audio systems. When I got into it, $1,000 electronics were common, but not yet predominant; and $5,000 speakers systems were the about same. At that point, the priciest speaker anyone knew of was $35K. Within 10-15 years, electronics were mostly $5K and up, and many, many speakers were >$15K and climbing fast. Now you can't walk 10 ft at an audio show w/o tripping over $25K+ electronics and $50K+ speakers.

Disappointing to see a parallel price run-up in my 2 short years in this hobby.

Crazy! But how can you go from a pair of $309 headphones to $3000?
 
Feb 11, 2018 at 7:38 PM Post #8,517 of 12,269
It's not that simple. $309 headphones don't turn into $3000 headphones (pigs, even wearing lipstick, don't become pretty). Instead, what happens is category creep:
  • The current bottom rung of headphones, say under $100, stays the bottom rung--but the overall quality goes down w/fewer real over-achievers
  • The current next rung up, say from $200 to $500 (quality mid-level headphones w/value) creeps up to say, $1000-1250
  • Then $1000 becomes $2000; $2500 becomes $3500 to $4000, and so on.
  • The higher you go, the wider the escalation. For example, $3000, which had been kind of an informal top level, escalates to $6000 to $8000--or more.
  • Sooner or later, we see $10,000 headphones.
Meanwhile, amps & DACs are doing pretty much the same thing, though just as in 2-channel speakers, transducers remain sexier/pricier/prettier than sources.

It's not just money that gets affected. The real design innovation migrates upward, too. Notice how many of the new designs getting launched (or early PR treatment) at CanJam are big-$$? The design talent & dollars will generally migrate to upper categories, not just for profitability, for also for prestige & bragging rights. It's especially easy for individuals or companies to collaborate on lengthy design timelines unless the end product is priced well up the list of categories.

Thanks to China and direct marketing, there will always be a pretty robust bottom/value-level in headphone audio (though it will be higher than now). The main difference is that the mid-level on up gets on the category creep escalator and never comes back down.
 
Feb 11, 2018 at 7:46 PM Post #8,519 of 12,269
Did you notice that over 2/3s (maybe even 3/4s) of all these headphones are $2,500 - $8,000? 3 grand seems to be the new 2 grand.

And electrostatic designs (the priciest, most technically challenging, least usable w/in the average human's existing headphone ecosystem) are EVERYWHERE.

Amps are only slightly less onerous. Lots of $1K-$2K designs, but all the sexy action seems in the >$3K range.

This same thing happened years ago w/big 2-channel audio systems. When I got into it, $1,000 electronics were common, but not yet predominant; and $5,000 speakers systems were the about same. At that point, the priciest speaker anyone knew of was $35K. Within 10-15 years, electronics were mostly $5K and up, and many, many speakers were >$15K and climbing fast. Now you can't walk 10 ft at an audio show w/o tripping over $25K+ electronics and $50K+ speakers.

Disappointing to see a parallel price run-up in my 2 short years in this hobby.

While it’s true that expensive flagships are more common these days, it ignores the fact that the prices of mid-level products of identical quality to their historical counterparts have dropped too.

A few years ago you were paying $399-$499 for the “big three” - HD650, DT880 and K701. Headphones of that quality are available in the $199 to $299 range now. Even more recently, the Hifiman HE560 & 400i were $899 & $499 - now the same headphones are regularly available new for $349 and $149-$199, respectively.

If one wants to be on the bleeding edge with technology, there has always been a premium. However, if you look at price-to-performance ratio in a category-wide analysis - not just the price tags of the biggest ticket items - you’re getting more for your money now than ever.
 

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