[bavinck]

He's sending me both for review. We'll see which one I like better with my gear at home.

Maybe he wants to start tour....

 

[Halazzi]

Some quick thoughts from RMAF:
 
The displays with amp for dual headphones were great for comparison and produced a few great moments when someone else picked up the second headphone and did not get the sort of music they were expecting.
 
The Meze 99 is very good for its price point. With so many TOTL headphones at hand that can lost in the background but the Mezes definitely stood out.
 
At the Beyer table I thought the T1 2nd gen and DT 1990 Pro were pretty close except that drums were far better on the 1990 Pro. Going by staff reaction when they asked how I liked the two it seems like they had heard that comment or similar a few times.
 
The HD800S at the Sennheiser table sounded better for metal than any base HD800 or modded HD800 I have heard. Still not something I would buy for the genre but getting closer.
 
At the Focal table I thought the Elear very good and to me significantly better than the Utopia. Given the price discrepancy that was rather surprising but unless there was an issue with my source for one amp and not the other everything I enjoyed with the Elear was gone in the Utopia.
 
I look forward to buying a used HFM HE1000 V2 off someone in a few years.
 
The Mr. Speakers electrostat, at least in the pre-production tuning, was very enjoyable. I liked it much better than the Dharma electrostat which despite the product notes discussing their fixes for bass extension and impact issues just did not have it to my ears. A side note for anyone with Mad Dogs (I still enjoy the 3.2), Dan mentioned that they will be doing an end of life announcement soon on Mad Dog Pro upgrades.
 
For ZMF I personally liked Atticus > Eikon = Omni. Unfortunately his Tidal account was not working very well so I am making judgments off a few Black Sabbath tracks he happened to have.
 
The Audeze setup was not friendly with using an alternate source and the playlist available was mostly Michael Jackson and jazz so it was hard to have any useful thoughts on their headphones. If I ever need to go back to listening to IEMs on a regular basis I would definitely be buying one of the iSINE models.
 
The Jotunheim was solid but I was not as sold on it as some here. I lean towards tube amps so some bias there but while there was nothing wrong with it there was nothing that particularly grabbed or impressed me. Part of that may have been that . . .
 
The Cavalli Liquid Carbon is just as good as advertised. I had my AQ Nighthawk with me and it was just on a different level out of the Carbon vs. other amps I have tried it with.
 
The room format for the home audio portion is probably required for speakers, etc., but kind of awkward. Unfortunately most of the vendors there were not terribly interested in selling me on their lower-level turntables.
 
Technics had some restored vintage reel to reel tape systems going up on the 11th floor that sounded incredible. To me it reinforced the edge well-done analog still has over digital audio.

 

[Hansotek]

[COLOR=222222]Some quick thoughts from RMAF:[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]The displays with amp for dual headphones were great for comparison and produced a few great moments when someone else picked up the second headphone and did not get the sort of music they were expecting.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]The Meze 99 is very good for its price point. With so many TOTL headphones at hand that can lost in the background but the Mezes definitely stood out.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]At the Beyer table I thought the T1 2nd gen and DT 1990 Pro were pretty close except that drums were far better on the 1990 Pro. Going by staff reaction when they asked how I liked the two it seems like they had heard that comment or similar a few times.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]The HD800S at the Sennheiser table sounded better for metal than any base HD800 or modded HD800 I have heard. Still not something I would buy for the genre but getting closer.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]At the Focal table I thought the Elear very good and to me significantly better than the Utopia. Given the price discrepancy that was rather surprising but unless there was an issue with my source for one amp and not the other everything I enjoyed with the Elear was gone in the Utopia.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]I look forward to buying a used HFM HE1000 V2 off someone in a few years.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]The Mr. Speakers electrostat, at least in the pre-production tuning, was very enjoyable. I liked it much better than the Dharma electrostat which despite the product notes discussing their fixes for bass extension and impact issues just did not have it to my ears. A side note for anyone with Mad Dogs (I still enjoy the 3.2), Dan mentioned that they will be doing an end of life announcement soon on Mad Dog Pro upgrades.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]For ZMF I personally liked Atticus > Eikon = Omni. Unfortunately his Tidal account was not working very well so I am making judgments off a few Black Sabbath tracks he happened to have.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]The Audeze setup was not friendly with using an alternate source and the playlist available was mostly Michael Jackson and jazz so it was hard to have any useful thoughts on their headphones. If I ever need to go back to listening to IEMs on a regular basis I would definitely be buying one of the iSINE models.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]The Jotunheim was solid but I was not as sold on it as some here. I lean towards tube amps so some bias there but while there was nothing wrong with it there was nothing that particularly grabbed or impressed me. Part of that may have been that . . .[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]The Cavalli Liquid Carbon is just as good as advertised. I had my AQ Nighthawk with me and it was just on a different level out of the Carbon vs. other amps I have tried it with.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]The room format for the home audio portion is probably required for speakers, etc., but kind of awkward. Unfortunately most of the vendors there were not terribly interested in selling me on their lower-level turntables.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222] [/COLOR]
[COLOR=222222]Technics had some restored vintage reel to reel tape systems going up on the 11th floor that sounded incredible. To me it reinforced the edge well-done analog still has over digital audio.[/COLOR]

Fantastic impressions! I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet. I agree, the Carbon definitely blows the Jotunheim out of the water. I think the version 2 might just sound even better than the original. I still do like the Jotunheim though, it is extremely competitive at its price point.

I also agree on the 1990. It's damn good.

 

[emptymt]

These are super tip-dependent. The Spinfits, for example, have a narrower bore than the Spiral Dots, for example, and greatly mitigate this. With the Spinfits, the Titan 5 sounds quite similar to the Titan 3: More linear and neutral. Then, you have the option of switching the tips if you want to bring the thunder with the Titan 5's big bass.

I've owned both, and and enjoyed the Titan 3s, but I think my inability to get a perfect seal weakened their bass impact a bit. On paper their sound signature was perfect for me, but because I couldn't get a perfect seal, I couldn't enjoy them as much.

You can't go wrong with either, but I'd say the 5s are more versatile, but the 3s are more neutral.

The housings stay in place just fine, it's a very well thought out design. Just find the right tips, as the stock tips (which are the same for both) just don't do it for me.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 
haha, thx man, but never mind the dunu, live is strange indeed, I sold my pm-3 because I think I want max portability on the go, I was on a train this morning and I was using a $5 earbud(VE monk plus) since I have no other earphones at home, not an IEM but soundstage is bigger than most IEM except those upper-class iems like Jupiter, k10, andromeda,etc and about o par on mid-fi iem,and I thought that I miss the soundstage of over-ear headphone, in the end, I decided to buy the meze99, so I decided to go back to full-size portable again, LOL.

Thoughts on the Focal Listen vs. the Meze - Meze seems to fit a little better with black metal and old thrash which are a bit thin a need a more forgiving signature.

The Focals seem to work better with faster, more aggressive stuff: death, prog metal, etc.

IMHO, YMMV

cool, I've been experimenting with black metals nowadays, but I still prefer death and it's sub-genres by a huge margin, the meze might change my mind though.

 

[NattyE]

I'm looking for a close back pair of over ears for work. I mostly listen to metalcore (Trivium, Killswitch Engage, etc.). Any suggestions?

I'm considering the Oppo PM-3

 

[Hansotek]

I'm looking for a close back pair of over ears for work. I mostly listen to metalcore (Trivium, Killswitch Engage, etc.). Any suggestions?

I'm considering the Oppo PM-3

For metalcore, I'd grab the Focal Listen over the PM-3. The PM-3 can work for metalcore with some EQ help, but the Listen will be a much better match with the genre straight out of the box.

 

[Hansotek]

Oh by the way, after months of waiting, the Focal Listen is finally available on Amazon. Great choice for progressive, metalcore, tech death, etc.

 

[NattyE]

For metalcore, I'd grab the Focal Listen over the PM-3. The PM-3 can work for metalcore with some EQ help, but the Listen will be a much better match with the genre straight out of the box.

Thanks. I should have mentioned that I already have an Oppo HA-2, does that make a difference?

 

[Hansotek]

Thanks. I should have mentioned that I already have an Oppo HA-2, does that make a difference?

 
Not at all. The Oppo HA-2 will pair superbly with either headphone. The Focal Listen even sounded great running out of an iPhone. The HA-2 should give it a little more fullness and control, which will really make it rock.

 

[Fastnbulbous]

  My low budget vote is for the Audio Technica ATH-M50x's. Metal recordings tend to lack low end and are very bright in general. A closed back headphone with a good amount of low end helps tremendously to offset this with metal recordings.

 
The M50s were definitely one of the most popular in that range ten years ago. I had a pair, but the clamping force made me sore within 40 minutes, and I think performance was blown away by the cheaper (130 street price) 

Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro. I've heard good things about the Koss Pro4S, which lists for $149 but available for just over half that.

 

[ScanSpeak HiFi]

The M50s were definitely one of the most popular in that range ten years ago. I had a pair, but the clamping force made me sore within 40 minutes, and I think performance was blown away by the cheaper (130 street price) [COLOR=333333]Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro. I've heard good things about the Koss Pro4S, which lists for $149 but available for just over half that.[/COLOR]

I'm really sratching my head with all the uncomfortable comments I hear about the M50x's. I'll go as far as saying that they're more comfortable than my HD650's. I believe it's just personal preference.

Of course, the midrange clarity, image focus, and soudstage width is in a whole other world with the HD650's though.

 

[darmanastartes]

I'm finding that I'm not using my HE-400S as much as I'd intended, in large part because my gf can't stand the sound leakage. Can anyone recommend a good pair of IEMs for metal (specifically groove metal, metalcore, and nu metal) under $300?
 
EDIT: Should I look at the Meze 99 Classics or another closed back headphone? They would have to be both considerably better sounding and more comfortable for long listening periods than the V-Moda M-80.

 

[shuto77]

I'm finding that I'm not using my HE-400S as much as I'd intended, in large part because my gf can't stand the sound leakage. Can anyone recommend a good pair of IEMs for metal (specifically groove metal, metalcore, and nu metal) under $300?

EDIT: Should I look at the Meze 99 Classics or another closed back headphone? They would have to be both considerably better sounding and more comfortable for long listening periods than the V-Moda M-80.

I can recommend the Meze 99 Classics. They isolate well and are more comfortable than any on-ear headphone I've heard. I have a slightly larger-than-average head.

 

[bavinck]

I'm finding that I'm not using my HE-400S as much as I'd intended, in large part because my gf can't stand the sound leakage. Can anyone recommend a good pair of IEMs for metal (specifically groove metal, metalcore, and nu metal) under $300?

EDIT: Should I look at the Meze 99 Classics or another closed back headphone? They would have to be both considerably better sounding and more comfortable for long listening periods than the V-Moda M-80.

Oriveti Primacy gave a nice smooth sound that works well for metal.

 

[Wortifer]

I'm really sratching my head with all the uncomfortable comments I hear about the M50x's. I'll go as far as saying that they're more comfortable than my HD650's. I believe it's just personal preference.

Of course, the midrange clarity, image focus, and soudstage width is in a whole other world with the HD650's though.

I've never had any uncomfortable listening experiences with my M50x's, even after hours of listening. But I have a really small head, I wear them all the way adjusted down/closed.