Evangelion2014
New Head-Fier
So, for my closed back headphones I have the Beyerdynamic t5p.2. I love the aggressive presentation, sense of slam and spacious soundstage for a closed back as well as the infamous treble spike but sometimes I want the mids to be more present and the bass less so. I'm looking for an open back under $2k that has forward mids and neutral bass with neutral or brighter treble. I've tried my frienes's grado gs1000i and while the midrange and electric guitars for example are great to my ears the cut in bass makes everything sound kind of dry and thin even with stuff that isn't super bass heavy like dark side of the moon. The primary two headphones I'm considering are the Aurous Audio Boriealis and the original Focal Clear. My top 3 genres are Metal (power, death, viking black), Rap and Classical, but I really listen to everything from Electronic (less dance music and more electronica and krautrock/ambient type stuff) and Funk, to Jazz, Disco, Soul, Reggae, pop, classic rock, alternative rock and folk so I need a capable all rounder.
In particular I want electric guitars to have a bite and slam, and I listen to a lot of underground stuff that doesn't always have the best production whether it's some metal band nobody has heard of or a rapper on soundcloud. Dynamics are very important, and especially with listening to so much metal the guitars need a real bite to them, and my need for a strong punch isn't missing from a symphony or rap beat either. Soundstage isn't super important since I'm going to be gaining more soundstage going from a closed to an open, but since I listen to a lot of busy, complicated music whether it be something like Stockhausen, progressive/technical metal (ad nauseaum, sigh, gorguts, deathspell omega, blut aus nord) or Coleman great imaging is a must. Timbre is another needed quality since if I'm listening to genres that have acoustic instruments or at the very least not entirely synthesized I want things to sound natural. I don't need ZMF levels of timbre but I don't want the plasticy timbre of a bose QC35 or the just odd sound of an Audeze (they're also a bit too dark in tone and heavy on the head, with sucked out mids). I don't want to buy an energizer so electrostatics are out of the question.
So that brings me to the Clear and the Borealis. Ideally I want to a/b demo test them, but one being a very limited production run and the other going out of manufacture this might be hard. The clear's detail appeals to me, but I'm worried about the smaller stage and reports of a metallic timbre. The bori I'm worried about it being a bit less bright than I'm used to and the bass roll off is a bit of a concern for the as well. There's also clear MG but i've heard that's darker and bassier than the original, which isn't something I really want. If anyone knows any headhpones with an aggressive, mid forward sound that I haven't thought of in that price range let me know. Thanks in advance for the help!
In particular I want electric guitars to have a bite and slam, and I listen to a lot of underground stuff that doesn't always have the best production whether it's some metal band nobody has heard of or a rapper on soundcloud. Dynamics are very important, and especially with listening to so much metal the guitars need a real bite to them, and my need for a strong punch isn't missing from a symphony or rap beat either. Soundstage isn't super important since I'm going to be gaining more soundstage going from a closed to an open, but since I listen to a lot of busy, complicated music whether it be something like Stockhausen, progressive/technical metal (ad nauseaum, sigh, gorguts, deathspell omega, blut aus nord) or Coleman great imaging is a must. Timbre is another needed quality since if I'm listening to genres that have acoustic instruments or at the very least not entirely synthesized I want things to sound natural. I don't need ZMF levels of timbre but I don't want the plasticy timbre of a bose QC35 or the just odd sound of an Audeze (they're also a bit too dark in tone and heavy on the head, with sucked out mids). I don't want to buy an energizer so electrostatics are out of the question.
So that brings me to the Clear and the Borealis. Ideally I want to a/b demo test them, but one being a very limited production run and the other going out of manufacture this might be hard. The clear's detail appeals to me, but I'm worried about the smaller stage and reports of a metallic timbre. The bori I'm worried about it being a bit less bright than I'm used to and the bass roll off is a bit of a concern for the as well. There's also clear MG but i've heard that's darker and bassier than the original, which isn't something I really want. If anyone knows any headhpones with an aggressive, mid forward sound that I haven't thought of in that price range let me know. Thanks in advance for the help!
Last edited:
