[DavidA]

For those that enjoy metal with softer segments you really should give these a try. These have been in my top rated for years.

I can see why u prefer the 660s with those tunes, unlistenable for me on anything else. Doesn't help that metal along with rap are genres that I never listen to.

I think the genre of music that one listens to has a large influence on the preferred headphones.

 

[Ichos]

I agree with the last sentence but I have to add that a truly good headphone like a good 2ch system should be able to play with ease everything.

 

[Mhog55]

I can see why u prefer the 660s with those tunes, unlistenable for me on anything else. Doesn't help that metal along with rap are genres that I never listen to.

I think the genre of music that one listens to has a large influence on the preferred headphones.

I completely agree, which makes finding the right cans that much more difficult.

 

[Deftone]

I can see why u prefer the 660s with those tunes, unlistenable for me on anything else. Doesn't help that metal along with rap are genres that I never listen to.

I think the genre of music that one listens to has a large influence on the preferred headphones.

Yeah definitely I have to work around the music I love so the 660S adds warmth and smoothness to compressed rock and metal music but keeps things well separated so it's not a wall of mush.

I've listened to a fair bit of audiophile quality recordings of jazz and classical and it sounds exceptional, I don't enjoy it musically. For me it would be the equivalent to watching a bad movie just because it's in 4K resolution but I'd rather watch a great movie on VHS tape.

 

[donlin]

Yeah definitely I have to work around the music I love so the 660S adds warmth and smoothness to compressed rock and metal music but keeps things well separated so it's not a wall of mush.

I've listened to a fair bit of audiophile quality recordings of jazz and classical and it sounds exceptional, I don't enjoy it musically. For me it would be the equivalent to watching a bad movie just because it's in 4K resolution but I'd rather watch a great movie on VHS tape.

I’ve always been very thankful that the kinds of music I like also happen to be generally well recorded.

 

[Sonic Defender]

Yeah definitely I have to work around the music I love so the 660S adds warmth and smoothness to compressed rock and metal music but keeps things well separated so it's not a wall of mush.

I've listened to a fair bit of audiophile quality recordings of jazz and classical and it sounds exceptional, I don't enjoy it musically. For me it would be the equivalent to watching a bad movie just because it's in 4K resolution but I'd rather watch a great movie on VHS tape.

As you get older, very likely a great deal of the "bad music" will start to appeal to you as the other music fades out of relevance. Not for sure, but quite possibly. I grew up on Black sabbath, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Tool, Disturbed, Sevendust, Judas Priest, Megadeth etc. Now when I listen to that stuff I can enjoy the energy and power of the music, but I'm not an angry young man who identifies with that way of critiquing society. Eventually for me, and I am only speaking for me, I began to move my social critique needs out of music as the main vehicle and I can now listen to music simply for the joy it brings as an art form, I no longer require a message that it is putting out there. I know all music does, but at one time if it wasn't metal, or some kind of genre that showed the world I was different and didn't conform to what was expected, I thought it was for wimps who just didn't see the world for what it was.

Now I can hear that Steely Dan produced records that were just as socially critical in their own way, but the musical style did not need to be obviously opposing the norm. A hammer in a velvet glove hits as hard, but it sneaks up on you per say.

 

[Sonic Defender]

@DavidA, hope you're doing well! My ex spouse's father was quite the musician, amazing pianist who grew up in the big band era and man could he play. We talked music many times of course, but on the subject of being able to appreciate a diversity of styles he once told me that he believed there was good and bad music in every genre, it just takes an open mind. I completely agree, but as a younger person, that would have been a tougher sell. Now I am so happy that my musical repertoire has expanded in step with my age. The older I get, the more styles of music I seem to be open to.

 

[DavidA]

Yeah definitely I have to work around the music I love so the 660S adds warmth and smoothness to compressed rock and metal music but keeps things well separated so it's not a wall of mush.

I've listened to a fair bit of audiophile quality recordings of jazz and classical and it sounds exceptional, I don't enjoy it musically. For me it would be the equivalent to watching a bad movie just because it's in 4K resolution but I'd rather watch a great movie on VHS tape.

I grew up listening to mostly classical and jazz and played in a youth orchestra from middle school until I graduated high school so I think its also fair to say that what music one was exposed to along with life experiences has an influence on ones preferred genre and like @Sonic Defender noted as one ages taste may change and even the reasons for listening to music can change. I was also exposed to music from Japan at a young age since my grand parents (mother side) came over to Hawaii as a young couple and all of the children and grandchildren learned Japanese and back in the late 60's and 70's much of the better recording were from japan IIRC so I think its why I never did care for metal or similar genres since most recording were lacking compared to what I was listening to at the time.

Hi M, glad to see you a bit more active on the threads, your ex father in law must have been an interesting person to talk to about music. My dad and his friends were usually the entertainment for most parties since they were all quite good at playing and singing, until they had a bit too much to drink but by then it was usually time to go home.

 

[OrganMonster]

It is leads a pleasure reading of other folks music experiences. Mine was a little more complicated than most. I had the most unbelievable experience of being a student of Lenard Berstien for two semesters at Princeton. He was a true genius if music and I wrote 3 symphonies under his direction. Being so deep into music can have many disadvantages when it comes to duplicating the sound by means of a stereo system or a pair of headphones, I have been cursed by knowing what real instruments sound like by being able to play them. I have not really found many headphones that do justice to listening to a symphony although some come fairly close but maybe unattainable for mere mortals.

I do really enjoy reading other folks describe how they hear and what they hear through a pair of headphones and we are all different with individual needs.

 

[Sonic Defender]

I grew up listening to mostly classical and jazz and played in a youth orchestra from middle school until I graduated high school so I think its also fair to say that what music one was exposed to along with life experiences has an influence on ones preferred genre and like @Sonic Defender noted as one ages taste may change and even the reasons for listening to music can change. I was also exposed to music from Japan at a young age since my grand parents (mother side) came over to Hawaii as a young couple and all of the children and grandchildren learned Japanese and back in the late 60's and 70's much of the better recording were from japan IIRC so I think its why I never did care for metal or similar genres since most recording were lacking compared to what I was listening to at the time.

Hi M, glad to see you a bit more active on the threads, your ex father in law must have been an interesting person to talk to about music. My dad and his friends were usually the entertainment for most parties since they were all quite good at playing and singing, until they had a bit too much to drink but by then it was usually time to go home.

Great background experiences, and thanks, I am trying to remain active but my program at school is so damn intense that it makes it difficult. I laughed out loud when I read this line "My dad and his friends were usually the entertainment for most parties since they were all quite good at playing and singing, until they had a bit too much to drink but by then it was usually time to go home." I could totally feel that and have had similar experiences. My ex came from a pretty musical family, the father on the piano, one of the sons the flute, another son the trumpet, my ex was the violinist and yet another son was also a pianist who could work in comedy and visual performance art while playing. Three of them liked their alcohol so many a musical "engagement" ended pretty much as you described your family gatherings. Appreciate the memory that you triggered mate. Keep care.

 

[Sonic Defender]

It is leads a pleasure reading of other folks music experiences. Mine was a little more complicated than most. I had the most unbelievable experience of being a student of Lenard Berstien for two semesters at Princeton. He was a true genius if music and I wrote 3 symphonies under his direction. Being so deep into music can have many disadvantages when it comes to duplicating the sound by means of a stereo system or a pair of headphones, I have been cursed by knowing what real instruments sound like by being able to play them. I have not really found many headphones that do justice to listening to a symphony although some come fairly close but maybe unattainable for mere mortals.

I do really enjoy reading other folks describe how they hear and what they hear through a pair of headphones and we are all different with individual needs.

What an uncommon and privileged experience, quite amazing really. May I make a suggestion, if I could be so bold. You will never find headphones that recreate the scale and emotionality of the spaces that you have heard these instruments soar in, it is an impossibility. Even great speaker systems would be compromised trying, but in a good room they would get you closer.

I always approach headphones from the perspective that they are a unique way of interacting with music, a very special experience that isn't, for me anyway, meant to be something else. They are headphones and that will come with good and bad aspects, but for me anyway the very powerful immersion into the music that they can facilitate is essential. I love live music and I love speaker systems, but I equally have a place for the headphone experience. It started for me in the 1980s with a pair of Sony headphones and great music. I would put one a record like Supertramp Crime of The Century, or Black Sabbath Mob Rules or any other number of works of art (I do consider them works of art in their own right) and listen to the music, often in very low light rocking in a great Lazy Boy recliner. Those headphone experiences were so unique, so different than anything else that I have always had a place for the headphone experience, but I always knew that headphones were meant to be headphones. They can't replace live instruments in a grand hall, but they can still allow me to connect with the art in a very special way.

 

[Mike F]

What an uncommon and privileged experience, quite amazing really. May I make a suggestion, if I could be so bold. You will never find headphones that recreate the scale and emotionality of the spaces that you have heard these instruments soar in, it is an impossibility. Even great speaker systems would be compromised trying, but in a good room they would get you closer.

I always approach headphones from the perspective that they are a unique way of interacting with music, a very special experience that aren't, for me anyway, meant to be something else. They are headphones and that will come with good and bad aspects, but for me anyway the very powerful immersion into the music that they can facilitate is essential for me. I love live music and I love speaker systems, but I equally have a place for the headphone experience. It started for me in the 1980s with a pair of Sony headphones and great music. I would put one a record like Supertramp Crime of The Century, or Black Sabbath Mob Rules or any other number of works of art (I do consider them works of art in their own right) and listen to the music, often in very low light rocking in a great Lazy Boy recliner. Those headphone experiences were so unique, so different than anything else that I have always had a place for the headphone experience, but I always knew that headphones were meant to be headphones. They can't replace live instruments in a grand hall, but they can still allow me to connect with the art in a very special way.

Sonic Defender

Exactly! +1 to everything here - best post I’ve read for a while!

As we’re talking about our musical experience I’ll briefly add mine for the record. I’m lucky enough to be a professional musician. I went to Trinity College of Music in London and studied bassoon, saxophone and clarinet. I also play flute. I’ve been free-lance since leaving college in 1990 and have played in far too many bands and orchestras in the UK and since 2006 in Finland to mention, but I’ve done mostly show work (including a number of West End shows) and orchestral work (including the Kokkola Chamber Orchestra, http://www.kamariorkesteri.fi/front-page/) I’ve been playing musical instruments since I was 5 or 6 and of course did the usual youth orchestra and school bands. I consider myself to be enormously fortunate to have had the opportunities and experiences that I have. In addition to being a musician I’ve also had a lifelong (and financially unhealthy!) obsession with Hi- Fi. I spent most of my 20’s in debt building a two channel system, the final version of which I still have today!

For me also, headphones are a unique experience which in many ways simply doesn’t compare, let alone compete with, a good two channel system, much less live music. And, I too had an early experience with headphones that gave me a love for them. Mine was at my grandfathers house. He had an early ‘stereo system’ record player/radio and a pair of big chunky closed back headphones. I remember a record he had called ‘Stereo Special’ which was a studio jazz/dance orchestra/band playing popular tunes. I was just fascinated as a young boy by the experience of hearing intimate stereo sound in my head. That fascination has never gone away! The experience of hearing the sound in your head is something unique to headphones and it’s very appealing. I love that intimate connection to the music and with the imagination. There’s nothing quite like it!

 

[Sonic Defender]

Sonic Defender

Exactly! +1 to everything here - best post I’ve read for a while!

As we’re talking about our musical experience I’ll briefly add mine for the record. I’m lucky enough to be a professional musician. I went to Trinity College of Music in London and studied bassoon, saxophone and clarinet. I also play flute. I’ve been free-lance since leaving college in 1990 and have played in far too many bands and orchestras in the UK and since 2006 in Finland to mention, but I’ve done mostly show work (including a number of West End shows) and orchestral work (including the Kokkola Chamber Orchestra, http://www.kamariorkesteri.fi/front-page/) I’ve been playing musical instruments since I was 5 or 6 and of course did the usual youth orchestra and school bands. I consider myself to be enormously fortunate to have had the opportunities and experiences that I have. In addition to being a musician I’ve also had a lifelong (and financially unhealthy!) obsession with Hi- Fi. I spent most of my 20’s in debt building a two channel system, the final version of which I still have today!

For me also, headphones are a unique experience which in many ways simply doesn’t compare, let alone compete with, a good two channel system, much less live music. And, I too had an early experience with headphones that gave me a love for them. Mine was at my grandfathers house. He had an early ‘stereo system’ record player/radio and a pair of big chunky closed back headphones. I remember a record he had called ‘Stereo Special’ which was a studio jazz/dance orchestra/band playing popular tunes. I was just fascinated as a young boy by the experience of hearing intimate stereo sound in my head. That fascination has never gone away! The experience of hearing the sound in your head is something unique to headphones and it’s very appealing. I love that intimate connection to the music and with the imagination. There’s nothing quite like it!

Wow, quite the resume and story. See, this is why I love this community so much. When people ask me why I waste so much time here I tell them first-off, for me it isn't a waste, but I stay for the people that I meet, their company and great stories that coalesce around a shared love of music and the equipment that creates and reproduces it. Cheers.

 

[Mike F]

Wow, quite the resume and story. See, this is why I love this community so much. When people ask me why I waste so much time here I tell them first-off, for me it isn't a waste, but I stay for the people that I meet, their company and great stories that coalesce around a shared love of music and the equipment that creates and reproduces it. Cheers.

 

[Deftone]

I went for my regular ear check up because I have dry wax that tends to block up the canal every 4 years or so and the nurse pointed out how very unusualy straight my canals were like almost perfectly. She actually hurt my ear a little because she went up with the tool assuming I'd have a bend like everyone else.

It hasn't been mentioned to me before but kinda made me wonder what effect that could have on hearing certain high frequencies like the upper mid low treble on HD650. After a bit of research it turns out, depending on the size of the bend how big of peak and where you will get it in the1-7khz range. Well I have no bend so maybe it's creating a huge boost in that upper mid. I don't know just a thought.