[delvance]

Hi all!
 
Awesome forum, been lurking for a little while just reading and searching through and trying to understand things better
 
Unfortunately with the rapid release of products and flavour of month etc, i'm having trouble tracking down some ideal cans for myself.
 
I'm looking for a pair of cans to try out and would like to get something that is excellent bang for buck. Price range, happy to spend several hundred if need be + a Fiio amp on top.
I listen to mostly heavy music (so heavy metal/metalcore/deathmetal/melodic death etc etc), but do occasionally enjoy some more chilled out stuff which could range anywhere from jazz to Radiohead. Primary concern however is the heavy music ahah
 
I have noticed I have a preference for clear mids + high and am definitely not a basshead. As an example, my mx880's are currently EQ'd to have less bass, a bit extra mid, and noticeably more highs. Also tend to prefer a more neautral sound.
 
I would like something that is easily accessible i.e. I can buy it easily over the internet.. I don't want to spend 3 months waiting for a sale/second hand wts etc. I live in Sydney Australia if that matters.
 
Don't mind if it's open or closed but would like the ones that go over your ears (sorry I forgot the term...supra-aural was it?)
Durability is not too much a concern, I will likely mostly use these at home.
 
Background - First foray into cans, I have traditionally been an avid earbud lover and am currently using some Senn MX880's, with a Samsung/Google Nexus source, poweramp+eq settings, mp3 160kbps (i'm kinda too lazy to re-rip my hundreds of CD's...).
I did buy a set of Senn HD202's yesterday which after some EQ fiddling sound excellent for the money but the mids and high are definitely not up to par for me, these will be my public transport/bag bashed set.
 
Sorry for the long post but hopefully this gives enough info for anyone wanting to help out a newb, thanks heaps.

 

[formula1]

Welcome!
 
The most usual recommendation for metal and such genres is Grado. I suggest starting with the SR80's, the only problem is that they are open backed headphones and they leak sound a lot. 

 

[delvance]

Hi!
 
Thanks heaps for the recommendation. I've already started looking into and am liking what i'm reading.
 
Any chance for a recommendation of a closed back one as well? At that price point, i might get a pair of closed and open
 
Thanks again.

 

[vanhiel]

Hey Delvance,
 
I actually listen to a lot of metal myself, though I prefer a different sounding headphone / speaker these days.  If you are looking for boosted upper mids a pair of Grados will give you that.  They also have a bit of an upper bass boost but it works quite well for metal.  I used a pair of 225i's for years myself.  The new version of the 225i even has the mini headphone adapter to you can plug right into a portable player.  Though Grado's do sit on top of the ear instead of over and around it.  But that's easy to fix with a set of the foams from the higher end cans that sit around and over the ear.
 
If you are going to be getting some nicer cans, I would suggest doing a re rip of the music for listening to at home.  Do something lossless like FLAC or ALAC so you don't get any compression funk going on.

 

[delvance]

Hey Vanhiel,
 
Thanks for the input, i'll be sure to check out the Grados now. Either the aforementioned 80 or the 225s that you had. Did a quick check on pricing and am happy to pay for the 225s  + amp.
 
I really really am too lazy to re-rip my music ahah... maybe i'll re-rip some favs and see if it gets any better. A lot of the stuff i have is from the 90's anyways so the quality isn't too crash hot plus were the band's earlier releases where they had a smaller budget (e.g. Opeth, Dark Tranquillity etc). Then there's always the stuff that will never be good no matter how i rip it (more underground bands for example).
 
Any recommendations for a closed can as well by any chance?
 
Thanks heaps!

 

[vanhiel]

No prob Delvance.  Yeah, a lot of the earlier albums from the 90's didn't sound all that great.  But I love them, a lot of the music was awesome and a number of the bands such as In Flames kinda went downhill after the early 2000's.
 
Any of the Grados will sound great, the 80's were awesome when I listened to them.  But I made the mistake of having more to spend and started listening my way up the line.  If you can find a store to listen to em at I'd suggest you give that a go and trust yer ears as to which to get.  I'd also very much suggest spending the cash to replace the foams with the over ear ones from the higher end cans.  It improves the comfort by a HUGE margin.  Moving the clamping force from on your ears to your head around em makes them go from 1 hour until smashed ears hurting to all day comfort.
 
Amp wise, I know there is an Aussy company that does headphone amps and such.  Burson or something like that I think?  Pretty sure it begins with a B...  Also Schiit Audio makes some killer stuff on the cheap but I'm not sure if they have any dealers over there.
 
Though my biggest complaint about the Grado line is the lack of true deep bass.  The mid-bass transition region boost makes them sound punchy and full but on recordings where the bass is deep and well defined the depth just isn't there.  But unless you have something that reproduces that now you won't miss it.
 
With mp3 vs lossless I find the worse the recording the worse it compresses.  It's like bad recordings bring out compression artifacts and such.
 
 
As for closed back, I've never gone that route myself.  Though if your looking to get a second set for at home use I'd suggest putting that into better cans or a better dac/amp than a 2nd set of cans.  But if you're looking for on the go use and wind up liking the Grado sound they do make some earbuds that have the house sound.

 

[jackwess]

Quote:

 
 
Any recommendations for a closed can as well by any chance?
 
Thanks heaps!

 
Closed back for metal, the HD-25 I II, but they are not exactly bang for the buck. 
 
The MDR-V6 are cheaper. 

 

[delvance]

Hey guys,
 
Just wanted to thank you guys for responding/helping me out and thought i'd share how i got on...
 
After this thread and some more research/lurking haha... i was pretty much set on skipping the amp for the moment and buying a pair of Grado SR80i and ATH-M50 for outside...
 
Couple of days ago was just casually demo'ing some headphones at a retail store when i noticed they had 1 NIB Senn Amperior's left...and at half price! Couldn't resist and bought them =D
They're still burning in right now but the few listens i've had with them with some Opeth, my head was definitely nodding and foot tapping.
 
I may still get the SR80's for home later down the track but for now am really happy.
 
Thanks again all =)