The Best Headphones for Metal Music: Tier List (Share your own!)
Jan 2, 2022 at 11:03 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 90

monkey4054

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As part of my never-ending search for the best headphones for metal music listening, I thought I would share a tier list of headphones to help anyone out there who might be looking for their next pair to headbang to!

My list is only what I have owned or heard. I still need to hear the LCD-5, HE-6 and many others!

Fellow Metal-heads, please share your own list below!


Tier 1 (the BEST, regardless of price):
  • Fostex TH-900 - V-shaped tuning makes for a very fun and exciting listen. Incredible slam, impact, and dynamic ability. Near TOTL resolution and detail. Punches above its price point IMO. One of my personal favourites. Negatives: leaner and colder sounding than Final D8000, somewhat recessed mids. The Anniversary tuned models (white, purple cups) I don’t recommend.

  • Abyss AB-1266 Phi TC - Slightly U-shaped tuning. Crisp, clear, detailed, punchy. TOTL resolution, bass slam/impact, very visceral. Downsides are cost, demand on source components, strange fit, and not super comfortable.

  • Final Audio D8000 - Smooth, non-fatiguing, with very good slam and impact, excellent bass quality and quantity. Rich and meaty mids, unlike the TH-900. Has all of the qualities that are found in good planar headphones. However, detail and resolution could be better a bit for the price-point

  • Final Audio D8000 Pro - Significantly improved resolution, technical abilities, detail (TOTL level) and tuning compared to the original D8000. However, bass quantity/slam/impact is worse. Needs a bass boost badly.

  • Audeze LCD-4 with EQ only - TOTL technical ability, resolution, detail, and excellent bass impact/slam. Need to EQ the mid-range and a touch more bass quantity would be perfect. Very heavy, but still quite comfortable.

  • Focal Utopia OG & 2022 - Incredible speed, detail, and resolution, with the very best dynamic ability I have heard. But can be fatiguing on long listens for me and needs a bass boost. The 2022 model has mostly addressed this and has a less bright and more warm presentation. Depending on your preferences this may be preferable but at the expense of some ultimate detail and resolution compared to the OG.

  • JM Audio XTC Open - This one came out of left field. I prefer this to the Abyss 1266 TC. Everything sounds right. Superb overall sound quality and presentation. Value for the money is off the charts. Are there headphones with better detail retrieval and spatial effects available? Yes, but for insanely more money and not worth it for metal music.

  • ZMF Caldera Open - Similar sounding to the Utopia but in my opinion, it also needs a bass boost. The Caldera is certainly a strong contender for best TOTL headphone, but not quite perfect.

Tier 2 (very good, but not quite Tier 1 level performance):

  • HE-6SE - Best neutral/balanced sounding headphones for metal I've heard outside the Tier 1 headphones. Excellent bass slam/impact, but could use more bass quantity for my tastes. Superb planar qualities (imaging, separation, effortless detail) (Unfortunately have not tried an OG HE6, it's on my wishlist!)

  • Fostex TH-600 & E-MU Teak - Almost as good as the 900 with a bit more mid-bass and less sub-bass compared to 900. Incredible value on the used market. The E-MU Teak uses the same driver and is the best new headphone under $500 for metal in my opinion.

  • Hifiman Arya - Superb detail, speed, and planar qualities, but unfortunately lacking in slam, bass quantity and dynamics. Excellent, but you can do better for metal music...

  • Focal Clear - Similar overall to the Utopia but a notch down in resolution and detail, still a very good and solid upgrade from the HD-600 apparently.

  • Fostex TH-909 - an open-back 900, with less treble and sub-bass than 900. But still has good slam and dynamics and is almost as enjoyable as the 900. Redundant though if you already own the 900.

  • Sennheiser HD800S - Surprisingly good with Metal considering how people had described it prior to hearing it for myself. Similar to the Focal Clear, but more detailed, with a much wider soundstage, and a bit more balanced tuning. Can't really go wrong with this, but it needs more bass impact and dynamics for my preferences. Great value with the right amp!

  • HEDDphone OG - Superb mid-range, detail, and resolution. Macrodynamics are very solid. Weird fit and comfort, and is far too heavy. The sound punches way above its price but it lacks sub-bass extension and some occasional brightness/sibilance. The new version should be a must-try.

  • Audio Technica ATH-ADX5000 - Similar sounding to the HD800S but with less soundstage and better bass impact. Very solid choice, but I think there's better for around the same price.


Tier 3 (solid performance, entry-level):

  • Fostex TH-X00 - Superb value used, similar tuning to the TH-600 but lesser resolution and detail.

  • Hifiman Sundara - Very good value, similar sound profile to Arya, but a few notches below in technical ability, resolution, and detail.

  • ZMF Atticus - Warm, rich, smooth, lush sound. Not my preferred tuning, a bit too warm. Excellent, although quite bloated bass with strong slam/impact and dynamic qualities. The biggest drawback is it is severely lacking in technical ability, detail, and speed compared to others on this list.

  • Fostex TH-610 - Very decent sound overall, but lacking the magic of the 600 and 900 due to less bass and treble quantity. Has a more balanced and less V-shaped tuning. Good used buy.

  • AKG K371 - Solid sound quality and a Harman target tuning. You can't really go wrong with it for the price. I would boost the bass up personally.

  • Sennheiser HD600 - Superb midrange detail and resolution, overall balanced sound and no doubt a certified classic. A great entry point for headphones, but if you can afford to spend more there’s better performance available. I prefer stronger bass. The HD600 lacks sub-bass extension and impact is decent but somewhat lacking to my ears.

  • Audio Technica ATH-R70x - Neutral sound, very balanced but not very exciting to my ears. It is good for the price certainly. HD600 is better overall to my ears.


Tier 4 (NOT recommended, particularly bad for Metal listening IMO):

  • Most Grado headphones - phenomenal, delicious, mid-range performance, no doubt. But severely lacking in comfort, build, bass impact, and extension. Also, too bright and fatiguing for long listens (the ones I've heard anyway). Very polarising. I'm sure some of you like it with metal, but I don't. More of a classic rock/blues headphone to me.
  • Most Audeze headphones without EQ - Excellent bass and usual planar qualities, but off-sounding mid-range can sound hollow/honky and sometimes muddy without EQ
  • Focal Stellia - perfect for most genres except Metal. Sounded both fatiguing and somehow boring/unconvincing with Metal. Might be source-picky as well.
  • Hifiman Susvara - TOTL technical ability and perfectly balanced tuning. A fantastic all-rounder for many genres, but a little boring and lacking in bass quantity and dynamics for metal music IMO. Not worth the price at all.
 
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Jan 3, 2022 at 5:45 PM Post #2 of 90
Thank you very much for taking your time to do this ranking. Anyway, there is a thread about "best headphones for metal" by Levap in this sub-forum, but I see that you've tried a lot of different headphones and I like to see them listed in a different thread.

In my case (I only listen to melodic metal), I love my Denon AH-D9200 for heavy, death and power metal, I prefer the DT 1990 Pros for gothic, black and doom and, right now, I'm being surprised by the Sony Z7s with gothic doom (listening to "Lacrimas Profundere" first albums with them). The times I tried the HD 800 with some metal genres I didn't like the experience, but I'll give them another try based on your observations.

I will try next "Draconian" with the Sony Z7... :L3000:
 
Jan 4, 2022 at 9:47 PM Post #5 of 90
I'd add the Quad Era-1 in that mid tier list somewhere. Also the 99 Classics in Tier 3. I'm sure an Kennerton headphone should probably be present as well.
Yeah not sure about Kennerton. I used to own a Vali but I thought it was meh. I want to hear more of the line though, especially the GH50.
 
May 23, 2022 at 10:23 PM Post #8 of 90
With the LCD-X 2021 being reported as having its mids adjusted I wonder how it pans out without EQ.

Also wondering how the Edition XS fits in. I hear comparisons between it and the Arya.
No EQ of any sort here and they sound brilliant with metal, no audible hollowness in the mids of any sort, very natural, tipped toward warm side with heavy bass.
 
Aug 11, 2022 at 8:20 PM Post #11 of 90
Have you tried the lcd x? I've heard it's really good with metal and I'm planning on getting it
Hey mate, I've tried the older model, but not the new 2021 revision, which I've heard is greatly improved.

I didn't really like it when I heard it originally. I compared it directly to the Focal Clear and Hifiman Ananda at the time and much preferred both over the LCD-X. The LCD-X had great planar bass, but the mid-range tonality/timbre was way off and it sounded muddy, muffled, and hollow compared to the Hifiman and Focal. But again, this was the older revision, I'd still like to try the 2021 version when I can get my hands on one..
 
Aug 12, 2022 at 12:51 AM Post #13 of 90
Hey mate, I've tried the older model, but not the new 2021 revision, which I've heard is greatly improved.

I didn't really like it when I heard it originally. I compared it directly to the Focal Clear and Hifiman Ananda at the time and much preferred both over the LCD-X. The LCD-X had great planar bass, but the mid-range tonality/timbre was way off and it sounded muddy, muffled, and hollow compared to the Hifiman and Focal. But again, this was the older revision, I'd still like to try the 2021 version when I can get my hands on one..
Perhaps it's more of a preference thing? Present, forward, and sparkly upper mids and treble?
 
Aug 12, 2022 at 2:08 AM Post #14 of 90
Perhaps it's more of a preference thing? Present, forward, and sparkly upper mids and treble?
Oh definitely, always an element of personal preference. But the older Audezes' have objectively off mid-range tonality though. Some people may still like it... but it's still not right.
 
Aug 12, 2022 at 2:37 AM Post #15 of 90
Perhaps it's more of a preference thing? Present, forward, and sparkly upper mids and treble?
Beyond the immediately obvious there is planar vs dynamic sound and exposure to better headphones that can influence that opinion. I found the LCD-X great headphones at first, impressed by the planar bass. Then, once I heard better and got used to planar sound. I preferred dynamic sound much better.
 

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