[YtseJamer]

What amp and dac would you recommend with the Caldera? Been trying to find a pairing that’s $1.5K or under for my Calderas that arrive next week. The only suggestions I’ve been given have been $3K or more

Zach recommends the Cayin iHA-6, and it's priced at $630. @Raidersfan8118 is using this amp with his Caldera.

 

[MillionAntz]

Zach recommends the Cayin iHA-6, and it's priced at $630. @Raidersfan8118 is using this amp with his Caldera.

Thank you sir! What dac does he use with the Cayin?

 

[MillionAntz]

Yep. The thick pads really fill out the crunch and heft of guitars. LCD-4’s a a shade warmer still, but the Calderas are technically more capable so…

I’m not the best person to ask for amps, I haven’t tried too many and I’m hopelessly enslaved by tubes. But I’m a big fan of Cayin and Ampsansound as companies. If you can find a ZMF Pendant used it’s my go to for metal, even over my more expensive amp (and any more expensive amps I’ve heard). It should be in that price range.

DACs I won’t even speak about. I only know Schiit But I will say if your budget is 1.5k combined, it’s hard to beat Schiit in that price range.

Thank you! I will keep an eye out on the used market. Very much appreciate this info. I’m still new and learning in all of this. I was lucky to be able to test a Caldera before purchasing.

 

[YtseJamer]

Thank you sir! What dac does he use with the Cayin?

Paging @Raidersfan8118

 

[Raidersfan8118]

I use the matrix Sabre pro dac with the iha6

 

[Mardrommar]

I'm curious, but what is the consensus about the Meze Empyrean (OG) for metal? I'm more so asking about people's thoughts rather than confirmation that it will be suitable for metal as I bought one during the sale prior to the Empyrean II release.

Also as a random aside, I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised with the Sennheiser HD660S2 for metal. I've always enjoyed the HD6xx line for metal, but I was not expecting the 660S2 to hit as hard as it does.

 

[Garney]

I'm curious, but what is the consensus about the Meze Empyrean (OG) for metal? I'm more so asking about people's thoughts rather than confirmation that it will be suitable for metal as I bought one during the sale prior to the Empyrean II release.

Also as a random aside, I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised with the Sennheiser HD660S2 for metal. I've always enjoyed the HD6xx line for metal, but I was not expecting the 660S2 to hit as hard as it does.

I find the Empyrean quite good with metal but they are on the warmer, bassier side of the spectrum. Thankfully the driver is quite fast and can keep up with even the speediest of tech death in my experience. They are fairly malleable with EQ should you want to attenuate some of the bass shelf and/or add more air up top. Their signature also changes quite drastically across the various pads types that are available. For any genres outside of stoner, doom or sludge, the Angled Alcantara pads are my go-to. They really open things up and add clarity across the low end which in turn allows guitars to cut through nicely. The pads are obnoxiously expensive but they do make a marked difference over the stock leather and alcantara pads.

 

[Kimmeri]

I'm curious, but what is the consensus about the Meze Empyrean (OG) for metal? I'm more so asking about people's thoughts rather than confirmation that it will be suitable for metal as I bought one during the sale prior to the Empyrean II release.

Also as a random aside, I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised with the Sennheiser HD660S2 for metal. I've always enjoyed the HD6xx line for metal, but I was not expecting the 660S2 to hit as hard as it does.

Highly respected Finnish headphone reviewer Roderick (has the same name on this forum I think) writes like this on his Empyrean review: ''If Empyrean could reproduce fast bass patterns a little more accurately, I think it could be the best headphone I've heard for listening to just metal music. It is still close to this title, despite the clumsy bass reproduction.''
https://kuulokenurkka.com/arvostelu-meze-empyrean/

So you mentioned those Senns. I managed to buy those in mint condition for 200 euro (unless I got ripped off) Picking up Monday from postal office. I have seen other people on reddit praise them for metal music. Interested to see if they are any good, never heard any 600 series ever. Prob way different to OG HE-6 Im currently rocking with.

 

[spittis]

I'm curious, but what is the consensus about the Meze Empyrean (OG) for metal? I'm more so asking about people's thoughts rather than confirmation that it will be suitable for metal as I bought one during the sale prior to the Empyrean II release.

Also as a random aside, I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised with the Sennheiser HD660S2 for metal. I've always enjoyed the HD6xx line for metal, but I was not expecting the 660S2 to hit as hard as it does.

I demoed them when they were new(ish), so take this with bags of salt because I can't remember details anymore. They were really nice for harsh metal in the sense that they were probably one of the least fatiguing headphones I've tried, but overall I found the sound to be slightly too much on the warm and bassy side like others already mentioned. They were sold for 3000€ back then though, which IMO was too much, my opinion could be different if the price was less.

 

[Garney]

I think the Empyrean at their $3000 MSRP is a tough pill to swallow. IMO, the $1500 mark that seems to be the going rate on the secondhand market is much more in line with their technical competency. The build quality is fantastic though, as is comfort. I sold off a pair of Rosewood LCD-2 and hung onto the Empyrean. Comfort is night and day between the two. As is build quality in general.

I don't want to sound like a broken record but the Angled Alcantara pads have really fixed most (all?) of my complaints when it came to the Empyrean and how they handle metal. Swapping back to the leather pads and the bass overwhelms the midrange. The AA pads clean things up substantially across the range. There's still plenty of midbass punch for bass drum kicks and bass guitar has plenty of heft and weight but leads can now shine through and vocals are no longer lost or veiled. If you listen to faster metal genres, the AA pads are essential IMO.

 

[YtseJamer]

Also as a random aside, I have to say that I've been pleasantly surprised with the Sennheiser HD660S2 for metal. I've always enjoyed the HD6xx line for metal, but I was not expecting the 660S2 to hit as hard as it does.

So you mentioned those Senns. I managed to buy those in mint condition for 200 euro (unless I got ripped off) Picking up Monday from postal office. I have seen other people on reddit praise them for metal music. Interested to see if they are any good, never heard any 600 series ever. Prob way different to OG HE-6 Im currently rocking with.

I've had the HD660S2 for a while, and they handle metal quite well. They're likely my favorite Sennheisers for metal, but a bit of EQing is needed to get the sound just right for my taste. Out of the box, they miss a bit of punch in the lows, and I had to beef up the mids because they were a bit too polite for me. You can also remove the foam in front of the drivers for some extra clarity.

 

[Guts390]

I've had the HD660S2 for a while, and they handle metal quite well. They're likely my favorite Sennheisers for metal, but a bit of EQing is needed to get the sound just right for my taste. Out of the box, they miss a bit of punch in the lows, and I had to beef up the mids because they were a bit too polite for me. You can also remove the foam in front of the drivers for some extra clarity.

damn, I looked into it and the 660s2 seem like they would be much more up my alley than my 6XX. Don't know if I'd be willing to pay that price for a 600 series headphone tho. Looks like they got more treble. I'm a treble head. But yea, the politeness is both the super power and greatest weakness of these headphones simultaneously

 

[Kimmeri]

I've had the HD660S2 for a while, and they handle metal quite well. They're likely my favorite Sennheisers for metal, but a bit of EQing is needed to get the sound just right for my taste. Out of the box, they miss a bit of punch in the lows, and I had to beef up the mids because they were a bit too polite for me. You can also remove the foam in front of the drivers for some extra clarity.

Mind sharing your EQ presets or did you use one from AutoEQ?

 

[YtseJamer]

Mind sharing your EQ presets or did you use one from AutoEQ?

I usually pair them up with my Mojo 2 as a DAC, feeding into my Woo OTL tube amp. That way, I can take advantage of the built-in EQ with these settings: +2dB at 20Hz, +2dB at 125Hz, and +1 or 2dB at 3kHz.

You can also experiment with these settings in Equalizer APO and see how they work for you:

• Filter: ON PK Fc 25 Hz Gain 2 dB Q 1.2
• Filter: ON LSC Fc 70 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 0.7
• Filter: ON PK Fc 3000 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 2
• Filter: ON PK Fc 4600 Hz Gain 1.5 dB Q 4
• Filter: ON PK Fc 5350 Hz Gain -1 dB Q 5

 

[Rockin_Zombie]

Good to be back on this thread, I remember a few years ago when I was rocking HE6 with speaker amps for metal, good times .

If anyone is looking for a more portable option for metal, I highly recommend trying out the IO-12s. They are expensive, so of course auditioning first would be better. They did a good job with the new driver. Riffs sound really crunchy. A bit bassy but doesn't dull everything else.

Speaking of bass, I have come to the realization that open back planars just don't do it for me for metal, especially death metal. The kick drums don't hit right. Haven't tried the LCD series though so maybe I should do an audition.