[AnotherAirGuitarist]

Hi everyone! I`m new to this forum and I`m looking for a headphone for metal music. Maybe some metalheads on this forum could help me out? I`m considering the following headphones:

Sennheiser HD25
Beyerdynamic T 51i or DT 1350
Grado sr 80 e
V moda XS

The headphones should be fun and energetic and offer good amounts of detail without being overly analytical. They should draw me into the music and make me feel like rocking out. They should not be too bright and not too warm. Sibilant, harsh and fatiguing is a no and muffled, veiled and overly smooth is also a no.

I`m aware that the DT 1350 and HD25 has higher impedances than the rest and that they may not be the best for use with my iphone or ipad. I have a hi fi setup and my current plan is to use my integrated stereo amp (Rotel RA 1570) if I go for one of these two and possibly upgrade with a small portable DAC/amp combo in the future. Actually all of the headphones would be used mainly at home. I`m not really the kind of person that carries headphones with me everywhere (not that there`s anything wrong with that of course) I just prefer being able to hear what`s going on around me when walking down the streets and would probably stick to in ears for short bus rides because of their convenience. These would be used at home and for longer travels and holidays. I`m also aware that the Grados are open backed and would of course not take them with me on the bus or on a flight if I went for them.

I`m interested in hearing from metalheads that have heard the different headphones listed. Metal has so many sub genres. Which sub genres do you think the different headphones did best and which genres didn`t they do quite as well?

To make it easier to get some proper advice on my search for metal headphones I can say that I listen a lot to melodic death-doom and doom-goth bands like Swallow the sun, Novembers doom, Amorphis, Trees of eternity, Theatre of tragedy, Tiamat, Paradise lost and Type O negative to mention some. I tend to prefer melodic doom and death metal bands over less melodic styles. I also tend to prefer the atmospheric and melodic bands in the black metal category over the old school «True Norwegian Black Metal» bands. I like folk oriented ones with viking themes like Windir, Myrkgrav and Maanegarm. I also like to rock out to some some fun heavy metal like Iron Maiden and Megadeth now and then and sometimes I need some really agressive Slayer to headbang to. I also enjoy listening to grunge rock. So of course it would be cool if the headphones could do it all ;-P

If you`ve heard other awesome headphones for metal don`t hesitate to recommend them!

Thanks for taking the time to read my post! I very much appreciate your guidance!

 

[Stillhart]

If you haven't yet, I'd recommend reading through this thread and asking in there:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/headphones-for-metal-music-ultimate-solution.715478/

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I`m aware that the DT 1350 and HD25 has higher impedances than the rest and that they may not be the best for use with my iphone or ipad. I have a hi fi setup and my current plan is to use my integrated stereo amp (Rotel RA 1570) if I go for one of these two and possibly upgrade with a small portable DAC/amp combo in the future.

Their impedance isn't high enough to be a problem for the iPhone and iPad. You have more of a problem with how their impedance can be too low for the high output impedance on the Rotel, which has 138ohms or so. That can potentially alter how the headphones move when reproducing low frequencies - either they boost or trim the bass but either way the notes just meld into each other instead of more precise movement due to the lowered damping factor. If you're listning to metal, that translates to the thudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthudthud of the double pedals sounding more like either THWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUDD!!! or THWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUTHWUUMMM.

Actually all of the headphones would be used mainly at home. I`m not really the kind of person that carries headphones with me everywhere (not that there`s anything wrong with that of course) I just prefer being able to hear what`s going on around me when walking down the streets and would probably stick to in ears for short bus rides because of their convenience. These would be used at home and for longer travels and holidays. I`m also aware that the Grados are open backed and would of course not take them with me on the bus or on a flight if I went for them.

You can just get an open back, high impedance headphone (if you're going to stick with using the Rotel, and it kinda looks like there's really no other choice either as it doesn't have any Tape Outs where you can hook up a headphone amp to get a signal pass through from your source. Although you can check with the manual or email Rotel and ask if the PreOuts up top that doesn't have the jumpers going into the amp circuit are controlled by the preamp. If it isn't, and can pass any signal including from the RA1570's DAC, then you can easily integrate a headphone amp through there.

Then for use outside maybe just get cheap IEMs especially if you're rarely use them anyway since you won't listen while walking around, and just use them for long trips. If you're on a plane the IEMs will also block off more of the engine noise and crying babies.

I`m interested in hearing from metalheads that have heard the different headphones listed. Metal has so many sub genres. Which sub genres do you think the different headphones did best and which genres didn`t they do quite as well?

To make it easier to get some proper advice on my search for metal headphones I can say that I listen a lot to melodic death-doom and doom-goth bands like Swallow the sun, Novembers doom, Amorphis, Trees of eternity, Theatre of tragedy, Tiamat, Paradise lost and Type O negative to mention some. I tend to prefer melodic doom and death metal bands over less melodic styles. I also tend to prefer the atmospheric and melodic bands in the black metal category over the old school «True Norwegian Black Metal» bands. I like folk oriented ones with viking themes like Windir, Myrkgrav and Maanegarm. I also like to rock out to some some fun heavy metal like Iron Maiden and Megadeth now and then and sometimes I need some really agressive Slayer to headbang to. I also enjoy listening to grunge rock. So of course it would be cool if the headphones could do it all ;-P

If you`ve heard other awesome headphones for metal don`t hesitate to recommend them!

Contrary to popular opinion, I wouldn't recommend Grados for some metal subgenres. On power metal they sound like everything is being thrown at you. If you play console/arcade games, make Street Fighter first person perspective in VR and fight E.Honda or Chun-Li (if you were a NeoGeo guy, think Ukyo and Charlotte from Samurai Showdown). The way the slaps and kicks (or their equivalent katana cuts or fencing thrusts) would look at the receiving end is how power metal sounds like when there's no attempt to recreate a soundstage and everything is too far forward.

I use an HD600 with angled Brainwavs HM5 pads mounted on the stock plastic mounts (moves some instruments back, boosts low bass). Note though that the Cantate.2 is a deceptively low noise, low distortion amplifier that I sometimes end up listening far louder than is safe for too long, since it takes a lot more before the sound starts getting screwed up. Some amps would already have distorted low end or grating top end but this one keeps going. Upside with this kind of amp is these headphones don't sound lazy next to Grados, even with the same amp (ie it's total overkill for Grados).

 

[AnotherAirGuitarist]

ProtegeManiac: Thanks for your reply! I`ve seen a couple of reviews for the big brother of my amp, the Rotel RA 1592 where headphones with lower impedance than the DT 1350 and Sennheiser HD 25 were tested and they said the headphones sounded very good through it, except for some 20 ohm ones that sounded slightly veiled and less dynamic than ideal. 1592 is very similar to the 1570. Thought the amp would be a good option with 70 and 80 ohm headphones. I`ve not seen a lot of high impedance headphones in the price range I`m looking at. Would an open back headphone necessarily be better for metal than a closed back one?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

ProtegeManiac: Thanks for your reply! I`ve seen a couple of reviews for the big brother of my amp, the Rotel RA 1592 where headphones with lower impedance than the DT 1350 and Sennheiser HD 25 were tested and they said the headphones sounded very good through it, except for some 20 ohm ones that sounded slightly veiled and less dynamic than ideal. 1592 is very similar to the 1570. Thought the amp would be a good option with 70 and 80 ohm headphones

Unless I see the actual output impedance spec I'd take that with a grain of salt. It's probably just that the amp section is properly wired to the headphone output (unlike other amps with some kind of crap output stage on the headphones; unlike Marantz that has been using the Philips chips that were still used by Fiio in the E9 and E09K), considering people with speakers somehow never noticed that their back up nighttime listening Grados sound like tin cans on most amplifiers (and on the ones that don't just liked how the output impedance boosted the low end that is practically non-existent on Grados).

I`ve not seen a lot of high impedance headphones in the price range I`m looking at.

Join Massdrop and wait for the HD58X. It's basically a 150ohm version of the HD580J that got repainted into the HD600. There's the Beyerdynamic DT880 but I'd rather get the HD58X.

Would an open back headphone necessarily be better for metal than a closed back one?

Not necessarily but considering it's hard to find a high impedance closed back headphone (even Sennheiser is lowering the impedance on newer headphones since headphone amps with low output impedance are a thing now), a closed back high impedance headphone would be even harder to find.

Jut check with Rotel if the PreOut at the top near the inputs are controlled by the built in preamp. If it's a fixed level line out and all source inputs - analogue and digital - can be routed there then you can get a lower impedance headphone and just hook up a headphone amp in case the integrated amp screws it up. If you get the 22ohm HiFiMan HE400S, it's less susceptible to lowered damping factor, but in case you want to try a headphone amp with it, it's got a slightly higher sensitivity than the HD600 but at a 22ohm impedance (that also barely swings out of that range) it's easier to find a relatively low cost, very low distortion, low noise headphone amp with low output impedance, like the O2 or the Meier Corda Rock.

 

[AnotherAirGuitarist]

The headphones don`t need to be high impedance. I also have both an iphone and an ipad. Could be upgraded in the future with something like the Dragonfly black/red if I felt the need for it.

 

[Mhog55]

Just get the HD 25s and be done with it. I haven't found a better can yet, and I've been searching, buying and auditioning. I don't listen to metal (does Judas Priest still count), but I only listen to rock from the 70s and 80s. I don't know how well they will do straight from your phone. I have a V30, and it lights them up really nice. Not much there for Soundstage, but I'm beginning to think that Soundstage is low priority with rock. The HD 25s do instrument separation like slicing through butter, handle guitar distortion better than anything else I've tried. Aggressive, yet not overly, but still super clear. Kick and snare drums are dynamite (love listening to the drum solo at the end of Delivering the goods). Vocals are fantastic. Nothing bleeds into anything else or ever sounds congested. I turn these suckers up way louder than I should, and they don't get distorted, rather keep getting better and better.
A fun open back option is the Hifiman Edition S. Little less low end impact, and the treble can get somewhat bright, but never sibilant. They are WAY more comfortable than the HD 25, and maybe built a tad better, but both are definitely not the best in that regard compared to pretty much all my other cans.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

The headphones don`t need to be high impedance. I also have both an iphone and an ipad. Could be upgraded in the future with something like the Dragonfly black/red if I felt the need for it.

You can look into the HE400S if you'll just use it at home, then get a cheap IEM to use on the go.

 

[AnotherAirGuitarist]

Just get the HD 25s and be done with it. I haven't found a better can yet, and I've been searching, buying and auditioning. I don't listen to metal (does Judas Priest still count), but I only listen to rock from the 70s and 80s. I don't know how well they will do straight from your phone. I have a V30, and it lights them up really nice. Not much there for Soundstage, but I'm beginning to think that Soundstage is low priority with rock. The HD 25s do instrument separation like slicing through butter, handle guitar distortion better than anything else I've tried. Aggressive, yet not overly, but still super clear. Kick and snare drums are dynamite (love listening to the drum solo at the end of Delivering the goods). Vocals are fantastic. Nothing bleeds into anything else or ever sounds congested. I turn these suckers up way louder than I should, and they don't get distorted, rather keep getting better and better.
A fun open back option is the Hifiman Edition S. Little less low end impact, and the treble can get somewhat bright, but never sibilant. They are WAY more comfortable than the HD 25, and maybe built a tad better, but both are definitely not the best in that regard compared to pretty much all my other cans.

Hi! Thanks for sharing your experience with the Sennheiser HD 25! This headphone is one of the easiest to try out of the ones on my list. Several webshops sell it. Some of them offer free shipping and at least one of them has a free return policy. I don`t have a computer at the moment, but will get one really soon. It probably wouldn`t hurt much to order one and see if the iphone, ipad, computer or integrated amp would work with it.

I know there is both a basic version and a plus version available. Do you think the plus version is worth the extra money? Have you tried the headphone with the velour pads? Did it improve comfort noticably? Have you tried them with both the coiled and the straight cable? In that case, which did you prefer?

 

[AnotherAirGuitarist]

You can look into the HE400S if you'll just use it at home, then get a cheap IEM to use on the go.

I think that one is a little too expensive, at least here it is. And it looks HUGE! I guess it must be heavy for a small person...

 

[Stillhart]

They're actually pretty light relative to other full size planars.

 

[Mhog55]

Hi! Thanks for sharing your experience with the Sennheiser HD 25! This headphone is one of the easiest to try out of the ones on my list. Several webshops sell it. Some of them offer free shipping and at least one of them has a free return policy. I don`t have a computer at the moment, but will get one really soon. It probably wouldn`t hurt much to order one and see if the iphone, ipad, computer or integrated amp would work with it.

I know there is both a basic version and a plus version available. Do you think the plus version is worth the extra money? Have you tried the headphone with the velour pads? Did it improve comfort noticably? Have you tried them with both the coiled and the straight cable? In that case, which did you prefer?

You bet. I have the basic version, so I didn't get the extra set of pads. Also only came with the 5 ft straight cable. If you do go with these, they can feel tight. Especially after an hour or so. I wear mine to the gym, and I like how much they clamp for 2 reasons.
They don't fall off
It pisses me off a little. This, combined with a solid pre workout, along with just how much these headphones rock.... Equals a pretty killer workout. At any rate, you might feel the need to stretch them a little. DON'T DO IT. It won't kill the sound, but it does take away. The tighter clamping force is important with on ears, especially these. I stretched my 1st pair and had to exchange them

 

[Mhog55]

I think that one is a little too expensive, at least here it is. And it looks HUGE! I guess it must be heavy for a small person...

I had these as well

You can look into the HE400S if you'll just use it at home, then get a cheap IEM to use on the go.

I had the HE400S as well. I have to admit, I really liked them with rock. Quite a bit actually. The reason they look huge is because of how the metal on the headband sticks out. The cans are kinda large, but I dig it. My V30 got them close to full potential, but not all the way there to take rock music where it needs to be. I would definitely recommend an amp, even though they are efficient.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

I think that one is a little too expensive, at least here it is. And it looks HUGE! I guess it must be heavy for a small person...

They're on sale now for $100 less than their original price though. Used to be $299, now they're just $199. Sensitivity is just slightly lower than the SR80e, but has more potential for improved imaging (if you use Crossfeed; or for gamers, Virtual Surround). Not that heavy either, but of course I'm practically comparing it to the Audeze LCD series.

 

[buke9]

Could not agree more with the 400S for rock . They are very comfortable and not as heavy as the HE-400 and 500’s which are not LCD heavy either.