I saw a little discussion of tech metal around page 170. What's the update on that? I own an HD800 and a Vérité Closed. I'm looking for something open-back to handle the genres the HD800 is crap at. For me, black- and death-metal (that's recorded well). Maybe a little more coloration than the VC, but still very accurate for stuff like Alkaloid, Blood Incantation, Gorguts, Death, Meshuggah, Car Bomb, Cattle Decapitation… I owned an LCD4 and it would be endgame for this if not for my anxiety over out of warranty drivers. I actually liked that dark treble with 10khz spike a lot since it let me crank the volume on those thick guitars without treble pain.
Sounds like Empy or Abyss Phi are the flagship contenders. I wonder how close something in the 1-2kish bracket like a ZMF Aeolus would get for these genres. Anyone into extreme metal held on to these for the last year?
I only own the Empy as a flagship, and currently spending some time with them on the leather pads versus velour and pleasantly surprised versus the first 2 times I tried it. Still definitely more closed in feeling in terms of sound stage, but feels less intense than the previous times I tried. Everything feels a bit more in your face and kinda more fun (especially after a bottle of wine).
Trying some songs right now on Spotify with the bands you mentioned and to me they sound great. No treble harshness in the guitars and very detailed. Slightly headbanging in my chair right now.