[Trance_Gott]

It makes most headphones sound broken.

And you realized that there is a live after T2 + SR009.
009 + Carbon is amazing in speed, detail, highs, mids but the bass is nowhere near Abyss.

 

[paradoxper]

And you realized that there is a live after T2 + SR009.
009 + Carbon is amazing in speed, detail, highs, mids but the bass is nowhere near Abyss.

The T2/009 pairing will live on. The mids presence and treble extension is something.

Nothing matches the Abyss physical tactility that forms real presence. And it has all the speed, detail and resolution of any TOTL.

 

[Trance_Gott]

When you like metal you have to test the RAD0. It's awesome! Pm me when you are interesting I know one located in US who sells it for a very good price.

But yes the visceral impact of the Abyss is unmatched.

 

[paradoxper]

When you like metal you have to test the RAD0. It's awesome! Pm me when you are interesting I know one located in US who sells it for a very good price.

But yes the visceral impact of the Abyss is unmatched.

Between mostly listening to my Martin Logan Neolith speakers or the Abyss, I'm rather satisfied.

 

[vonBaron]

I'm now listening 5'th time new Plini album with LCD-4 and i cannot stop!
They are amazing HP!

 

[Fastnbulbous]

When you like metal you have to test the RAD0. It's awesome! Pm me when you are interesting I know one located in US who sells it for a very good price.

But yes the visceral impact of the Abyss is unmatched.

The call of the Abyss continues to pull on me, but good used deals are few and far between. Meanwhile, anyone heard the HiFiMan HE-R10 or Denon AH-D9200?

 

[dilupus]

The call of the Abyss continues to pull on me, but good used deals are few and far between. Meanwhile, anyone heard the HiFiMan HE-R10 or Denon AH-D9200?

Denon AH-D7200 is usually considered better than the 9200. That said, the drivers on the old Denon AH-D7000 are marginally better, and they're the same ones in the Fostex TH-600 and the E-MU Teak, which are EXCELLENT headphones, both for metal and other genres.

 

[spittis]

The call of the Abyss continues to pull on me, but good used deals are few and far between. Meanwhile, anyone heard the HiFiMan HE-R10 or Denon AH-D9200?

I demoed 9200 and the 7200 a couple of years ago, went home with the 7200 and still got them today, like 98% of what I listen to is metal. I like them a lot out of the box, and they respond well to EQ if you want to adjust the sound. Stock sound is pretty intimate and powerful but with good clarity and imaging. Some find the midrange a bit weird, and I can agree to that especially if you listen to it EQ'd and go back to stock, but like I said I like it either way.

 

[EternityInParis]

Denons seem to be very expensive and hard to find in Canada. Focal is another story. You could walk outside and have a dealer's open box Utopia fall from the sky on to your head.

 

[matteof93]

Hello, total newbie here. First and foremost, please excuse any errors, English is not my native language.
I do not know anything about music from a technical point of view, I have always listened to music using very cheap (20€) in-ear headphones, never caring about quality.
Then, few weeks ago, I discovered Nightwish. For me it was like discovering a whole new world, probably because it is sort of a mix of what I have always liked: rock, classical music, film scores. So I have decided that it is worth spending some money to listen to Nightwish "properly", and by this I mean using decent quality headphones.
My budget is about 120-150€ ($ conversion is almost 1:1). I know this is a low budget, but this is not my primary hobby and I do not want to spend the same amount of money that I would spend to book a flight and buy a ticket for a Nightwish show.

So, to summarize, I am looking for the best headphones according to the following criteria:

• 120-150€ budget
• Nightwish (and symphonic metal in general, but nothing heavy, I also like folk metal)
• wired headphones are ok
• reasonably durable
• to be used with PC or smartphone
• audio sources: online (Spotify, YouTube) and offline (CDs, DVDs of live shows, etc.)
• portability is not an issue, I will use them 99% of the time at home

Thanks

 

[monkey4054]

Hi everyone, I went to a headphone store today and tried a bunch of different headphones, made some notes and comparisons below:

Equipment used: Simaudio Moon HPA 430 and Tidal

Final Audio D8000 – Natural timbre and tone, fantastic powerful bass (think TH-900 level), non-fatiguing treble, dynamic/impactful/fast, fairly forgiving to poor recordings, makes you want to head-bang, a convincing upgrade to the Fostex TH600/900 (my benchmark headphones for metal listening), pads are ok but not amazing, resolution/detail could be better for the price, over-priced

Final Audio D8000 Pro – Better clarity/resolution/detail than D8000 and better pads, , but weaker and less satisfying bass, combine the bass of the D8000 with everything else from the Pro and that would be damn near perfect for metal listening! Over-priced as well

Sennheiser HD800S – great overall sound, very wide-soundstage, too similar to the Focal Clear which I already own, well-priced, best headphone on the market up to 2k along with the Focal Clear

Sony MDR-Z1R – Warm and lush sound but still detailed, decent bass, non-fatiguing except for a treble spike, comfortable, great closed-back, lacks in technical abilities compared to the others, should be cheaper

Grado G1000e – Excellent top-tier clarity, detail and resolution, a bit too bright and sibilant though and will be fatiguing to a lot of people, beautiful, sweet, and full mid-range, probably the best overall mid-range of all the headphones I tried, I'd like more bass quantity and dynamics/slam though, the earpads are a bad joke, I mean truly awful, why do you use the cheapest foam possible Grado?

Hifiman HE-6SE – Superb mid-bass and overall bass detail/texture, excellent clarity, detail, and resolution, best dynamics/slam in the Hifiman line, a little bright and probably fatiguing over a long listening session, a beast to drive

Hifiman Arya – The BEST imaging that I have EVER heard on any headphone, superb overall sound, great value, a little more bass quantity, dynamics and slam and these would probably be my favourite! If you have been eyeing-up the Arya then my only question would be "Why haven't you bought it yet!?"

Hifiman HE1000se - great overall tone and balance. The resolution, clarity, and detail is top-tier, lacking in slam/impact/dynamic range, a bit too flat and lacking the ‘balls’ for metal, should be good for most other genres I would imagine though,

Hifiman Susvara – Get the Arya or HE6 instead unless you are a millionaire and MUST have it, even then I would buy it second-hand, it's a mix between the HE-1000SE and HE6-SE sound wise, calling it over-priced would be an immense understatement, a beast to drive

Audeze LCD-3 – Better clarity, detail, and resolution than the D8000, but has an off-sounding mid-range, good planar bass, good speed and impact, dynamics/impact not as good as D8000 and others

Audeze LCD-4 – A more resolving/detailed version of the LCD-3 sound with the same mid-range tonality issues, could be end-game, I’d like a little more bass quantity and slam but that’s more of a nit-pick, would get heavy and uncomfortable after a few hours, EXTREMELY over-priced

Fostex TH-909 – A more balanced version of the TH-900 with less treble and bass but maintaining a similar tone and timbre, excellent overall sound, not sure if it’s worth it if you already own a TH-900 though, great for all genres, especially vocals

Focal Radiance – gorgeous design aesthetic, sound quality wise it sits somewhere between the Elegia and Clear, not worth the price considering they are only slightly cheaper than the Clear and the Clear is significantly better sounding IMO (unless you MUST have closed-back)

TL;DR:

Overall Preference based on sound quality:

D8000 > D8000 Pro* > HE-6SE = Arya > TH-909 > Susvara > LCD-4** > LCD-3 > HE1000SE > HD800S > G1000e > Radiance > MDR-Z1R

*D8000 Pro is the best sounding overall, but the increased bass on the D8000 is incredible!
** Would probably be the best overall once they fix the f**ked mid-range!

Best bass: D8000

Best mid-range: G1000e and Arya

Best Treble: D8000 Pro and Arya

Best overall sound: D8000 Pro, second Hifiman Arya and third LCD4 (except for the wonky mid-range)

Best value overall: Hifiman Arya

Most comfortable: HD800s

Best aesthetics: Focal Radiance

Hope this was of some value to you guys!

 

[MatW]

Hi everyone, I went to a headphone store today and tried a bunch of different headphones, made some notes and comparisons below:

Equipment used: Simaudio Moon HPA 430 and Tidal

Final Audio D8000 – Natural timbre and tone, fantastic powerful bass (think TH-900 level), non-fatiguing treble, dynamic/impactful/fast, fairly forgiving to poor recordings, makes you want to head-bang, a convincing upgrade to the Fostex TH600/900 (my benchmark headphones for metal listening), pads are ok but not amazing, resolution/detail could be better for the price, over-priced

Final Audio D8000 Pro – Better clarity/resolution/detail than D8000 and better pads, , but weaker and less satisfying bass, combine the bass of the D8000 with everything else from the Pro and that would be damn near perfect for metal listening! Over-priced as well

Sennheiser HD800S – great overall sound, very wide-soundstage, too similar to the Focal Clear which I already own, well-priced, best headphone on the market up to 2k along with the Focal Clear

Sony MDR-Z1R – Warm and lush sound but still detailed, decent bass, non-fatiguing except for a treble spike, comfortable, great closed-back, lacks in technical abilities compared to the others, should be cheaper

Grado G1000e – Excellent top-tier clarity, detail and resolution, a bit too bright and sibilant though and will be fatiguing to a lot of people, beautiful, sweet, and full mid-range, probably the best overall mid-range of all the headphones I tried, I'd like more bass quantity and dynamics/slam though, the earpads are a bad joke, I mean truly awful, why do you use the cheapest foam possible Grado?

Hifiman HE-6SE – Superb mid-bass and overall bass detail/texture, excellent clarity, detail, and resolution, best dynamics/slam in the Hifiman line, a little bright and probably fatiguing over a long listening session, a beast to drive

Hifiman Arya – The BEST imaging that I have EVER heard on any headphone, superb overall sound, great value, a little more bass quantity, dynamics and slam and these would probably be my favourite! If you have been eyeing-up the Arya then my only question would be "Why haven't you bought it yet!?"

Hifiman HE1000se - great overall tone and balance. The resolution, clarity, and detail is top-tier, lacking in slam/impact/dynamic range, a bit too flat and lacking the ‘balls’ for metal, should be good for most other genres I would imagine though,

Hifiman Susvara – Get the Arya or HE6 instead unless you are a millionaire and MUST have it, even then I would buy it second-hand, it's a mix between the HE-1000SE and HE6-SE sound wise, calling it over-priced would be an immense understatement, a beast to drive

Audeze LCD-3 – Better clarity, detail, and resolution than the D8000, but has an off-sounding mid-range, good planar bass, good speed and impact, dynamics/impact not as good as D8000 and others

Audeze LCD-4 – A more resolving/detailed version of the LCD-3 sound with the same mid-range tonality issues, could be end-game, I’d like a little more bass quantity and slam but that’s more of a nit-pick, would get heavy and uncomfortable after a few hours, EXTREMELY over-priced

Fostex TH-909 – A more balanced version of the TH-900 with less treble and bass but maintaining a similar tone and timbre, excellent overall sound, not sure if it’s worth it if you already own a TH-900 though, great for all genres, especially vocals

Focal Radiance – gorgeous design aesthetic, sound quality wise it sits somewhere between the Elegia and Clear, not worth the price considering they are only slightly cheaper than the Clear and the Clear is significantly better sounding IMO (unless you MUST have closed-back)

TL;DR:

Overall Preference based on sound quality:

D8000 > D8000 Pro* > HE-6SE = Arya > TH-909 > Susvara > LCD-4** > LCD-3 > HE1000SE > HD800S > G1000e > Radiance > MDR-Z1R

*D8000 Pro is the best sounding overall, but the increased bass on the D8000 is incredible!
** Would probably be the best overall once they fix the f**ked mid-range!

Best bass: D8000

Best mid-range: G1000e and Arya

Best Treble: D8000 Pro and Arya

Best overall sound: D8000 Pro, second Hifiman Arya and third LCD4 (except for the wonky mid-range)

Best value overall: Hifiman Arya

Most comfortable: HD800s

Best aesthetics: Focal Radiance

Hope this was of some value to you guys!

Interesting read!
I guess one could boost the bass on the D8000 Pro with some EQ? Personally, I have no problems with the LCD-4's mid-range, using the Audeze EQ profile in Roon.

 

[vonBaron]

Lcd-4 midrange is great for me.

 

[monkey4054]

Interesting read!
I guess one could boost the bass on the D8000 Pro with some EQ? Personally, I have no problems with the LCD-4's mid-range, using the Audeze EQ profile in Roon.

Yes absolutely! I wasn't able to EQ during this demo and generally don't like to. But yes, if you are willing to EQ and can stand the weight long-term, the LCD-4 would definitely be the best with detail and resolution slightly edging out the D8000 Pro.

Lcd-4 midrange is great for me.

Yes, it's definitely not awful, it's just missing some upper mid-range and it gives it a hollow/honky unnatural sound to vocals, I just think that at its price, such tonality issues are unacceptable. Every single Audeze I have tried has the exact same issue. Do you use EQ on it?

 

[Vruksha]

Hi everyone, I went to a headphone store today and tried a bunch of different headphones, made some notes and comparisons below:

Equipment used: Simaudio Moon HPA 430 and Tidal

Final Audio D8000 – Natural timbre and tone, fantastic powerful bass (think TH-900 level), non-fatiguing treble, dynamic/impactful/fast, fairly forgiving to poor recordings, makes you want to head-bang, a convincing upgrade to the Fostex TH600/900 (my benchmark headphones for metal listening), pads are ok but not amazing, resolution/detail could be better for the price, over-priced

Final Audio D8000 Pro – Better clarity/resolution/detail than D8000 and better pads, , but weaker and less satisfying bass, combine the bass of the D8000 with everything else from the Pro and that would be damn near perfect for metal listening! Over-priced as well

Sennheiser HD800S – great overall sound, very wide-soundstage, too similar to the Focal Clear which I already own, well-priced, best headphone on the market up to 2k along with the Focal Clear

Sony MDR-Z1R – Warm and lush sound but still detailed, decent bass, non-fatiguing except for a treble spike, comfortable, great closed-back, lacks in technical abilities compared to the others, should be cheaper

Grado G1000e – Excellent top-tier clarity, detail and resolution, a bit too bright and sibilant though and will be fatiguing to a lot of people, beautiful, sweet, and full mid-range, probably the best overall mid-range of all the headphones I tried, I'd like more bass quantity and dynamics/slam though, the earpads are a bad joke, I mean truly awful, why do you use the cheapest foam possible Grado?

Hifiman HE-6SE – Superb mid-bass and overall bass detail/texture, excellent clarity, detail, and resolution, best dynamics/slam in the Hifiman line, a little bright and probably fatiguing over a long listening session, a beast to drive

Hifiman Arya – The BEST imaging that I have EVER heard on any headphone, superb overall sound, great value, a little more bass quantity, dynamics and slam and these would probably be my favourite! If you have been eyeing-up the Arya then my only question would be "Why haven't you bought it yet!?"

Hifiman HE1000se - great overall tone and balance. The resolution, clarity, and detail is top-tier, lacking in slam/impact/dynamic range, a bit too flat and lacking the ‘balls’ for metal, should be good for most other genres I would imagine though,

Hifiman Susvara – Get the Arya or HE6 instead unless you are a millionaire and MUST have it, even then I would buy it second-hand, it's a mix between the HE-1000SE and HE6-SE sound wise, calling it over-priced would be an immense understatement, a beast to drive

Audeze LCD-3 – Better clarity, detail, and resolution than the D8000, but has an off-sounding mid-range, good planar bass, good speed and impact, dynamics/impact not as good as D8000 and others

Audeze LCD-4 – A more resolving/detailed version of the LCD-3 sound with the same mid-range tonality issues, could be end-game, I’d like a little more bass quantity and slam but that’s more of a nit-pick, would get heavy and uncomfortable after a few hours, EXTREMELY over-priced

Fostex TH-909 – A more balanced version of the TH-900 with less treble and bass but maintaining a similar tone and timbre, excellent overall sound, not sure if it’s worth it if you already own a TH-900 though, great for all genres, especially vocals

Focal Radiance – gorgeous design aesthetic, sound quality wise it sits somewhere between the Elegia and Clear, not worth the price considering they are only slightly cheaper than the Clear and the Clear is significantly better sounding IMO (unless you MUST have closed-back)

TL;DR:

Overall Preference based on sound quality:

D8000 > D8000 Pro* > HE-6SE = Arya > TH-909 > Susvara > LCD-4** > LCD-3 > HE1000SE > HD800S > G1000e > Radiance > MDR-Z1R

*D8000 Pro is the best sounding overall, but the increased bass on the D8000 is incredible!
** Would probably be the best overall once they fix the f**ked mid-range!

Best bass: D8000

Best mid-range: G1000e and Arya

Best Treble: D8000 Pro and Arya

Best overall sound: D8000 Pro, second Hifiman Arya and third LCD4 (except for the wonky mid-range)

Best value overall: Hifiman Arya

Most comfortable: HD800s

Best aesthetics: Focal Radiance

Hope this was of some value to you guys!

Thankyou for the detailed impressions. Can you please share your test tracks to get a better idea?