[loopfreak]

Dont listen to atmospheric/symphonic metal , but I cant say you'll be thrilled with soundstage of hd 25 1 or any closed phone. If I compare  d2k with senns , denon has much more soundstage but offer little isolation, no portability at all and lacks that balanced slam of hd 25 1.

 

[129207]

It's either soundstage or isolation. There aren't any closed cans that offer the soundstage of an open can. Not that I know of anyway, although some people claim the Fischer Audio FA-003 has a good soundstage for a closed can. 
 
Don't focus too much on soundstage. My ATH-AD700 have a HUGE soundstage but I don't like them for metal AT ALL. Soundstage is more important when you listen to classical or jazz. Atmospheric metal like Dimmu Borgir is hugely compressed in the studio and doesn't contain that wide of a soundstage in it's recording anyway. Also, the HD25-1 II offer a lot of modding opportunities. You can switch the cable for a Sennheiser HD650's one to smooth out the sound even further and the housing is fully modular. 
 
What source are you using?

 

[dngkgk999]

Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll go give hd25-1 a runout tomorrow
 
and as for d2k or any denon series, maybe ill leave it for a potential upgrade when i can afford things like amps/chords/extra pads
 

 

[dngkgk999]

At the moment all I have is a cowon portable player, although by the end of the year I've got it scheduled to buy some nifty amps and sound chips for desktop. Yeah you're right. Why am I worrying about soundstage on Dimmu Borgir who has one of the worst sound recordings. lol

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
Quote:

 Well i'm not sure if I have enough credit for HD600 (arent they open tho? o_O)
 
argh choosing is so hard lol... so grados is a no-no for symphonic metal? :<

Not really, they sound great tonally. I just got the upgrade jones and I had to give up something to get something else. The SR225 had the nice tonality for music like this but couldn't really separate the instruments that well, but instead of modding that might get the same result, I got the HD600, which had less of the "impact" but after  de-foaming had a very "live" sound off it thanks to the more open treble, plus the instrument separation. Mods to the SR225 might have improved on it but the same compromises were probably going to happen so I jsut went for having two different headphones than transforming the sound on the only one I had. In any case, if you take symphonic metal and prog metal in very broad terms, only Epica and some Nightwish and After Forever among the discs I had could prominently show much improvement. Sirenia and Visions ofAtlantis still sounded better through the Grados, mainly because the highs though not grating may still be overwhelming on the de-foamed HD600. I had a friend listen to them and he still prefered the SR225 all the way, so, YMMV. Even Dream Theater sounded better on the Grados.
 
Oh, and as for being more forgiving of recordings...the SR225 is also better playing Iron Maiden through my iPod+NuForce Icon Mobile. 

 

[Azathoth]

My vote also goes to the Senn HD 25-1 II, or the Beyerdynamic DT 150 if you can stretch your budget. Yes, they are totally worth $200+, put velour pads on them and they're like the HD 25's sig taken to another level, mids have more weight to them, bass is taut and punchy, high end doesn't get sibilant, and for a closed-back they don't sound congested.
 
The DT 150 is the one headphone in my lineup that I will never sell or trade, it's perfect for how I want my metal to sound.