[NexusOne]

It seems to be the Emu Teak is like a subwoofer, the clear is like a speaker and both are endgames in their genres. It is very difficult to decide between these headphones. The Emu teak comes from far away so it is not easy to compare them. Does anyone have both of them? This decision makes me crazy.

 

[frozenOx]

I finally got the Believe IEMs. I gotta say, after listening to the Hemps for a week, the Believe sounds dull and average at first.

After a few minutes my ears adjusted and i was enjoying them. They are refined, detailed, and have nice treble. They definitely lack that higher end clarity and holographic quality that you can hear on good live recordings, but I think the imaging and stage for an IEM is excellent.

Metal is hit or miss on them and poor recordings are still enjoyable, only complaint is the bass could be tighter. Sub bass extends well. Unlike many people over in the KBear thread, i found rolling silicone tips had little effect. Large or small openings sounded very similar. Only the foam tips sound very different to me, and made the bass more controlled, but I'm not sure if i like it more.

These aren't great for death metal in my opinion. The mid bass is over powering. These really aren't even that much better than the KZ ZAX I own. The bass overpowers any refinements in the treble or mids. Black metal is pretty good on them, Vehemance sounds great, which can been be thin and harsh.

Not really that blown away here at all

 

[monkey4054]

It seems to be the Emu Teak is like a subwoofer, the clear is like a speaker and both are endgames in their genres. It is very difficult to decide between these headphones. The Emu teak comes from far away so it is not easy to compare them. Does anyone have both of them? This decision makes me crazy.

For purely metal listening, the Foster variants are ideal, so the E-MU Teak would be the go. However, the Clear is superior in many areas (resolution, detail, FR) and is the better all-rounder if you listen to a wide range of genres.

 

[NexusOne]

But for thrash and faster subgenres the Teak could be a bit to slow? And the Audioquest Carbon Nighthawk is also realy good for This genre? The Clear is the better allrounder but for this genre maybe the nighthawk?

 

[magicscreen]

But for thrash and faster subgenres the Teak could be a bit to slow? And the Audioquest Carbon Nighthawk is also realy good for This genre? The Clear is the better allrounder but for this genre maybe the nighthawk?

There is only one headphone for thrash: Grado

 

[YtseJamer]

There is only one headphone for thrash: Grado

I already told him to go with the Grado Hemp.

 

[sdwater]

New to the forum, scene, and everything audio really. Used to struggle to find a "good" gaming headset, and realized that the best solution was a standalone mic and a "good" headphone.

Anyway, I use HiFi-Man Sundara's for metal. Good low-end, not the best, but everything is crystal clear without being neutral. Definitely open-back, and so you can't use them around non-metalheads if you want to keep your friends. They kick my HD6XX's ass in the highs, and are really easy to drive so they sound great on just about anything. A lot of NWOBHM, classic hard rock and heavy metal, and first/second generation black metal. Really pulls the drums and vocals to the forefront without getting rid of the guitar. It's weird to listen to Immortal and actually understand what Abbath is saying through the music.

I'm also testing out a pair of MXX-300 Gen 2 by Beyerdynamic because I wanted a good closed-back option. These have great highs too, but also a lot more bass in the low end, so what were snappy kicks/toms are now incredibly powerful. Guitar still isn't drowned out, and vocals are pretty clear. Haven't been as thorough with them yet so if anyone wants to weigh in I welcome any opinions. I've heard that Dekoni Choice Leather pads change the sound for the better, and I'll have some of those next weekend to see for myself.

Geshelli Labs JNOG, THX-AAA-789, HiFiMan Sundara, Beyerdynamic MXX-300 II, Sennheiser HD6XX

 

[MatW]

I am usually not a big fan of live albums, but for anyone who misses live metal music, check out Infernus Sinfonica MMXIX by Septicflesh. Great recording. With good headphones it is like being in the crowd! Thoroughly recommended.

Slightly off-topic ... sorry. Carry on.

 

[shuto77]

I already told him to go with the Grado Hemp.

Looks like it's going to happen. More details tomorrow.

 

[SoundGuru]

Grado SR225e with good quality tracks (Tidal Master) Iron Maiden sounds great! Bass is not heavy though but more natural and fast. You can really hear the bass playing quite clearly. Guitars cant be beat. These headphones are not neutral, but it makes the music more exciting, just be careful with the volumes. They sound really good loud, but the treble peaks are much higher relative to other frequencies and it can damage your ears. If you want to venture deeper down the rabbit hole try the Grados with tubes..

 

[frozenOx]

I'm kind of done: Grado Hemps, DT770 with dekoni elites, ER2SE, PortaPros.

IEMs were tricky. They're all midbass hell.

Still want planars but my wife has gotten suspicious of packages.

 

[YtseJamer]

Still want planars but my wife has gotten suspicious of packages.

Hahaha, I have told my wife that all the packages that I have received in the last 2 months are for my job.

 

[kRed]

Hello everyone, it’’s my first post here!

First of all thanks for this thread and all your comments, i really enjoy reading this.That said, i would like to ask for some advices.
I recently got into this world after a couple years with just a Fiio K3 and a pair of Focal Listen. I Bought a JDS Labs EL 2 Amp and the very neutral and pretty bright 560S, which are very enjoyable for Classical music and, i may say, very well produced and recorded classic rock (The Beatles came to life with these). The problem is Metal, even high quality ones like Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree.
As for now i’m EQing them with a lessened version of Oratory1990 and they works, but it’s not ideal.

I’ve read about Hemps, which doesn’t exhist in my country (Italy, even the AMP was a nightmare to find), and Sundara, which are available. What do you think? I Don’t listen to speed, death or black... maybe just some Dark Tranquillity here and then.

 

[YtseJamer]

Hello everyone, it’’s my first post here!

First of all thanks for this thread and all your comments, i really enjoy reading this.That said, i would like to ask for some advices.
I recently got into this world after a couple years with just a Fiio K3 and a pair of Focal Listen. I Bought a JDS Labs EL 2 Amp and the very neutral and pretty bright 560S, which are very enjoyable for Classical music and, i may say, very well produced and recorded classic rock (The Beatles came to life with these). The problem is Metal, even high quality ones like Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree.
As for now i’m EQing them with a lessened version of Oratory1990 and they works, but it’s not ideal.

I’ve read about Hemps, which doesn’t exhist in my country (Italy, even the AMP was a nightmare to find), and Sundara, which are available. What do you think? I Don’t listen to speed, death or black... maybe just some Dark Tranquillity here and then.

Welcome KRed,

I will probably start to sound like a broken record, but my recommendation for you is the Grado Hemp. I have owned the HE-560 back in the days and now I have the HE-6SE (I have a love and hate relationship with them so far), but I can tell you that I prefer the Hemp over the HE-560 for Prog-Rock/Metal (PT, DT, Riverside, SX, etc). Don't get me wrong, technically the HE-560 are probably slightly better, but for pure musical enjoyment I would go with the Hemp versus the HE-560.

You should contact the guys at Bay Bloor Radio in Toronto to see if the would be willing to ship to Italy. The Hemp are on sale until the 14th. ($50 off)

https://baybloorradio.com/grado-the-hemp-headphone-limited-edition

 

[kRed]

Welcome KRed,

I will probably start to sound like a broken record, but my recommendation for you is the Grado Hemp. I have owned the HE-560 back in the days (I now have the HE-6SE but I'm selling them) and I prefer the Hemp versus both of these headphones for Prog-Rock/Metal (PT, DT, Riverside, SX, etc). Don't get me wrong, technically the HE-560 and the HE-6SE are probably slightly better, but for pure musical enjoyment I will always go with the Hemp versus the HiFiMANs.

You should contact the guys at Bay Bloor Radio in Toronto to see if the would be willing to ship to Italy. The Hemp are on sale until the 14th. ($50 off)

https://baybloorradio.com/grado-the-hemp-headphone-limited-edition

Thanks so much for your Reply!
I’ll look closely to see if they are available somewhere, tho the price goes really high to get something shipped that way. The jds amp here costs the equivalent of 400 dollars or more, while it is actually 250. I fear they will become over 500 dollars, which is too much for me. The sundara goes by 350 euros on amazon.

Coming back to the subject, do you feel like describing a bit your feelings about it?One of the things i look into is the kick slam, cause with the senn. 560s you just get this very thight and fast bass that sucks so bad with the double pedal tracks. I love their breathable imaging tho.