[sludgeogre]

  High end Grados are still as harsh and unlistenable for most genres as the lower end ones (Funny that I used a 325e as a daily driver just a year ago; although that was also before I had listened to planar magnetic headphones

 )

Good to know. I have grown to dislike my 325is that was my daily driver a couple of years ago, that is very funny. Once I bought my LCD-2, I also put away my Grado.

 

[VintageFlanker]

I got my pair of Meze 99 today and so far I'm really impressed by the sound quality.  A steal for $300!

Glad to see such a topic. As far I'm concerned, Meze 99 Classics are the best headphones to listen extreme metal I listened to (second is Shure SRH1540). Epic with Black, Death, Sludge, Doom, Thrash. Very fast, impactfull bass with non agressive highs and mids, all come with a fairly deep and open soundstage. Can't recommend better!

Another good idea is to pair these with Cayin N5: Warm and powerful sound!

 

[Hansotek]

Great impressions! Thanks for sharing.....I've been sitting on the fence for what feels like forever, but I think I'll probably pick up an LCD-2 toward the end of the summer to complement my Dharma. I'd loved to hear the Questyle amps. Although I don't like the "pressure" of lusting for two of them to use as monoblocks. I'm wondering how good they sound as a solo piece of gear?

They sound great solo too. You don have to run them as monos. The CMA800i and CMA600i DAC/amp combos rock as well, offering a very similar flavor in an all-in-one package.

 

[Fink24]

@Hansotek
I think you mentioned, that you also listened to the IFI iCan Pro and the Questyle monoblocks. How do they compare to your Liquid Crimson?
I know they are sold out, but there is so much hype around Cavalli amps that I am still very curious about them.

 

[markm1]

They sound great solo too. You don have to run them as monos. The CMA800i and CMA600i DAC/amp combos rock as well, offering a very similar flavor in an all-in-one package.

They don't seem to have much of a U.S. east coast presence. The CMA800I looks like a tremendous value. It pretty much does the same thing as my Nuprime DAC-10H-all in one hub for HP/speakers kind of thing-but later down the line, I might consider running a more "endgame/reference" balanced HP amp out of my Nuprime DAC if I thought it was an improvement. For now the Nuprime HP amp sounds pretty darn good. I would like to hear the Questyle sound at some point though-lot of good press for sure.

 

[YtseJamer]

Glad to see such a topic. As far I'm concerned, Meze 99 Classics are the best headphones to listen extreme metal I listened to (second is Shure SRH1540). Epic with Black, Death, Sludge, Doom, Thrash. Very fast, impactfull bass with non agressive highs and mids, all come with a fairly deep and open soundstage. Can't recommend better!

Another good idea is to pair these with Cayin N5: Warm and powerful sound!

 
The Meze 99 sound great with everything that I have tried so far.
 
I will add more comments later this week but I think that the Meze will dethrone the SINE as my prefered headphones for the office and traveling..

 

[phrozenspite]

How do the thx00, audeze sine, and meze 99 fare for non metal listening?. I see that theyre all fairly well liked around here but i'd be most interested in if someone could offer an opinion on how they do with oldschool prog like king crimson and camel, as well as dark ambient stuff like lustmord and bohren & der club of gore. My listening is 85% metal but the other 15% is stuff like that along with classical, so i'm just curious if one of those 3 is a better general use but great metal can. Currently using the mrspeakers maddogs that i love, but am intrigued by what people are saying about those 3

 

[shuto77]

The Meze 99 sound great with everything that I have tried so far.

I will add more comments later this week but I think that the Meze will dethrone the SINE as my prefered headphones for the office and traveling..

Very interesting observation.

Do you like the Meze 99's presentation overall? From what I read, it seemed that they were a bit bassier than the Sines.

 

[Angelbelow]

Definitely planning to comb through the thread, but any initial/quick thoughts on the HD 800 for metal? I have the he 6 and love them but with the HD 800 being priced at $999,im kind of tempted to get them. At least I know they would be great for soundtrack, classical, etc.

 

[Hansotek]

Definitely planning to comb through the thread, but any initial/quick thoughts on the HD 800 for metal? I have the he 6 and love them but with the HD 800 being priced at $999,im kind of tempted to get them. At least I know they would be great for soundtrack, classical, etc.

HE-6 is one of the absolute kings of metal, IMO, but the HD800 is my favorite headphone overall. How well it performs with it is very dependent on the recording quality of your music and the quality of your associated equipment. But yes, it can absolutely rock with metal. Tons of speed an separation. It really lets you hear every little note. It is also quite good with stuff that has a lot of ambience and "mood" to it. Especially enjoyable with Insomnium, Opeth, etc.

 

[Fearless1]

Definitely planning to comb through the thread, but any initial/quick thoughts on the HD 800 for metal? I have the he 6 and love them but with the HD 800 being priced at $999,im kind of tempted to get them. At least I know they would be great for soundtrack, classical, etc.

I love having both, I go back and forth between the two more then anything else I own.

 

[Hansotek]

@Hansotek

I think you mentioned, that you also listened to the IFI iCan Pro and the Questyle monoblocks. How do they compare to your Liquid Crimson?
I know they are sold out, but there is so much hype around Cavalli amps that I am still very curious about them.

I apologize, I didn't see this question until now. I have had extended listening time with every product in the Cavalli lineup, so I can answer pretty much anything you want to know about them.

The three amps you've mentioned here are all absolutely terrific. The iCan Pro is a terrific value and will power anything you throw at it. It sounds fantastic with the HE-6, for example. It really shows it's stuff with a great DAC on the front end. Tons of versatility with the adjustable tube and stereo expander settings.

If I were to associate one word with the Questyles, it would be clean. I mean just super spacious, ultra squeaky clean sound. Really comes across as a true reference device. Almost zero THD. One of my favorites with the HE-6, HD800 and Dharma.

The Liquid Crimson is all about air, ambience, massive bass impact and gobs of rock n' roll soul. All of the Cavalli amps have a slightly different flavor and set of strengths. The Liquid Crimson really works best with slightly darkened orthos. It is the best amp, bar none, for the HE1000. People at Cavalli and Hifiman both seem to agree. It also does wonders with my modded HE500 and I'd be willing to bet it is absolutely stunning with the LCD-4. It is also stellar with the Beyerdynamic T1 - both V1 and V2 - I don't particularly like them on anything else. The Crimson is a little shy on power to really make the HE-6 and the Abyss shine, though. Those are really more well suited for the LAu. Same goes for the HD800, which benefits greatly from the warmer sound and the best-in-class treble control of the LAu. The 800 still sounds good on the Crimson and all, but the Liquid Gold is just so much better with them.

 

[shuto77]

   
The Meze 99 sound great with everything that I have tried so far.
 
I will add more comments later this week but I think that the Meze will dethrone the SINE as my prefered headphones for the office and traveling..

 
Can anyone else compare the Meze 99 to the SINEs? I like the idea of something with bigger ear cups and bigger pads, even if it's a little less portable for work duty. I assume the Meze 99 will probably be decent for gaming as well when I don't want to lug my Alpha Primes to my gf's house. 
 
It sounds like both headphones are great for metal and most everything else. 

 

[Angelbelow]

HE-6 is one of the absolute kings of metal, IMO, but the HD800 is my favorite headphone overall. How well it performs with it is very dependent on the recording quality of your music and the quality of your associated equipment. But yes, it can absolutely rock with metal. Tons of speed an separation. It really lets you hear every little note. It is also quite good with stuff that has a lot of ambience and "mood" to it. Especially enjoyable with Insomnium, Opeth, etc.

 
 

I love having both, I go back and forth between the two more then anything else I own.

 
Nice, thanks for the input! 

 

[520RanchBro]

Just from aggregating other people's impressions of the HD800, I think it'd probably sound excellent for some more atmospheric black metal.