Nothingpersnal
New Head-Fier
Clear MG is pretty good for metal with EQ, while I find the presentation of the 800S too wide to be enjoyable for the genre.
The Best Headphones for Metal Music: Tier List (Share your own!)
- Thread starter monkey4054
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- headphones metal music
paradoxper
Headphoneus Supremus
Nice list. Try out the HEDDphone and Solitaire if you get the chance.
monkey4054
100+ Head-Fier
Thanks, definitely will add them to the list. Also keen to try the new RAAL CA-1a..
Mhog55
Headphoneus Supremus
Would you mind sharing your MG EQ settings?
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monkey4054
100+ Head-Fier
Update:
The other day I visited a kind local dealer and tried a number of headphones that I have yet to try.
These were fairly brief demos, so take my initial impressions with a large grain of salt.
I tried and was able to A/B the following headphones:
Demo source gear:
Roon on Mac > Holo May (Level 2 or KTE) > Raal PDA-1a/ Feliks Envy
Quick rankings:
Ranking for metal music (disregarding all factors except sound quality for metal music):
1. Raal SR1b (extremely impressive TOTL technical ability, resolution, speed, detail. It's only missing the sub-bass (completely) and odd-ball design/fit. It's possibly fatiguing due to the forward and aggressive presentation but didn't listen long enough to find out though)
2. Meze Elite (reminds me of D8000 Pro in a lot of ways. Brighter with less bass than Empyrean, almost the opposite signature of Empyrean. Slightly better resolution and detail. I think for less money I'd take the D8000 Pro instead based on my memory of the D8000. This should be priced the same as the Empy, not significantly more.)
3. Empyrean (less fatiguing but not as balanced as Elite, I could live with this headphone though, very comfortable)
4. Verite Closed (It has good resolution, detail, slam, bass quantity, and quality. Technical ability is decent, but not overly impressive, lacking speed compared to the planars and the Raal. I could live with it.)
5. Verite (I slightly prefer the closed version but pretty much has the same signature, it's fine, didn't impress me though. Lacks the speed, dynamics, and technical abilities that a lot of the above have)
6. Atrium (It has slam/punch but less bass quantity than the Verite, more mid-forward, mid-range quality is amazing, very sweet, lush, beautiful and natural timbre. I can see many fans for this, not my ideal signature though, not for metal music anyway)
7. Bravura (Only here because it doesn't really have much macro-dynamics/punch/slam for metal. If it did, it would blow everything else away, it sounds beautiful and ticks almost all other boxes)
8. CA-1a - (Big trade-off with big brother, you get a more comfortable and conventional fit but lose most of the TOTL level qualities of the SR1b. It is very neutral and decent sounding but not overly impressive anywhere either.)
Ranking for bass-heads like me that prioritise having strong, impactful, plentiful bass:
1. Empyrean (Thumping but very boosted mid-bass, could do with some more sub-bass quantity though, kick drums are more emphasised on this than any other headphone... including Abyss.. can see why people think it's too much, Alcantara pads tame this a lot, and silver upgrade cable also helps tighten things as well.)
2. Verite Closed (has slam/dynamics and decent quantity of bass, missing the technicalities and speed of the planars)
3. Verite (Similar to above, but closed just slightly better in bass quanitity/slam)
4. Atrium (Is quite similar to Verite but with less quantity of bass. Similar levels of impact and slam and other qualities are in the same ballpark, would need a longer a/b comparison to really know.
5. Elite (Much more neutral in bass compared to Empyrean, I tried pad rolling with Empy pads, not a first choice for a bass-head, but far from the worst)
6. SR1b (has mid-bass, has strong macro-dyanimcs too with lightning fast attack/decay, zero sub-bass though, not recommended for EDM or other bass-heavy music.)
7. Bravura - has TOTL bass quality certainly and decent quantity (volume) but very little dynamics or slam, you hear the bass notes but don't feel them in that visceral way at all, with no real attack or impact to the sound)
8. CA-1a (It has just adequate levels and quality of bass compared to the others, not bad at all, but not immediately impressive either. I do believe it is the cheapest headphone of this bunch, so to be expected I suppose?)
Ranking for non-metal, non-bassy music listeners (you don't care about strong, impactful bass or listen to much metal music if any at all):
1. Bravura (incredible, has it all... except macro-dynamics)
2. Raal SR1b (Would be number 1 but has a weird fit and no sub-bass. The Bravura has sub-bass and is more comfortable)
3. Atrium (beautiful and natural timbre, amazing mid-range, would be great for vocal heavy music)
4. Elite (Good all-rounder and would work great as a one-and-done if you couldn't swing for a Bravura or Raal.)
5. Verite Closed
6. Verite
7. Empyrean (smooth and non-fatiguing, nice mids, but slightly behind in detail retrieval, resolution and speed)
8. CA-1a (I'm sure this will win some fans, but there are other options that are better, even at the price level I'd rather a ZMF or HD800S or Focal Clear etc. Living in SR1's shadow permanently)
Would any make it into my tier list?
If you can live with the weird fit, amp/source requirements, and the complete lack of sub-bass, the SR1b is Tier 1. No debate. It's a bona fide TOTL headphone/ear speaker. Competes easily with the likes of 1266 TC, Susvara, Stax, etc.
Verite Closed is probably Tier 2 but other than the sweet, lush ZMF mid-range and decent level of detail/resolution, it's pretty 'ok'. Not boring, but not overly impressive. If I heard it in isolation I'd be much more impressed, but compared to the higher-end planars.. it falls short of being the best, for my personal tastes.
Empyrean and Elite I'd put in Tier 2 as well for sound, but Tier 1 based on comfort, build, being non-fatiguing, and relaxing to listen to. I think I'd take a D8000 Pro over the Elite for less money though. Would need to A/B them to be sure though. They have a similar-ish sound. The Empyrean is much warmer and reminds me more of like an Audeze LCD-3 or 4.
Bravura is Tier 1 easily but lacks in impact/slam/macro-dynamics. If it did have the slam and macro-dynamic ability... it would be game over for everything else, period. I'd sell my Abyss, my amps, everything, and live happily ever after in electrostatic bliss.. oh well.
Atrium if you like softer, more old-school metal/rock/blues or if vocal presentation/mids are the most important factor in your listening. Again, I wasn't really blown away by any of the ZMFs. But I didn't dislike them either. I just preferred the others more for their technical ability, speed, etc. I'm still keen to hear the Caldera at some point in the future. Maybe a planar ZMF has the qualities that the dynamic models are missing!
CA-1a was just mediocre to me, I don't think I'd really recommend it to anyone or for any use case specifically. Although I wouldn't dissuade you from trying it for yourself if you get the opportunity either. It's kind of jack of all trades, master of none type thing, but I think there are better headphones you could choose in every category (better bass, better technicalities, better timbre, better mids etc.)
The other day I visited a kind local dealer and tried a number of headphones that I have yet to try.
These were fairly brief demos, so take my initial impressions with a large grain of salt.
I tried and was able to A/B the following headphones:
- Meze Empyrean
- Meze Elite
- Raal SR1b
- Raal CA-1a
- ZMF Verite
- ZMF Atrium
- ZMF Verite Closed
- Warwick Acoustics Bravura
- Abyss 1266 TC (my own personal unit for comparison and my point of reference)
Demo source gear:
Roon on Mac > Holo May (Level 2 or KTE) > Raal PDA-1a/ Feliks Envy
Quick rankings:
Ranking for metal music (disregarding all factors except sound quality for metal music):
1. Raal SR1b (extremely impressive TOTL technical ability, resolution, speed, detail. It's only missing the sub-bass (completely) and odd-ball design/fit. It's possibly fatiguing due to the forward and aggressive presentation but didn't listen long enough to find out though)
2. Meze Elite (reminds me of D8000 Pro in a lot of ways. Brighter with less bass than Empyrean, almost the opposite signature of Empyrean. Slightly better resolution and detail. I think for less money I'd take the D8000 Pro instead based on my memory of the D8000. This should be priced the same as the Empy, not significantly more.)
3. Empyrean (less fatiguing but not as balanced as Elite, I could live with this headphone though, very comfortable)
4. Verite Closed (It has good resolution, detail, slam, bass quantity, and quality. Technical ability is decent, but not overly impressive, lacking speed compared to the planars and the Raal. I could live with it.)
5. Verite (I slightly prefer the closed version but pretty much has the same signature, it's fine, didn't impress me though. Lacks the speed, dynamics, and technical abilities that a lot of the above have)
6. Atrium (It has slam/punch but less bass quantity than the Verite, more mid-forward, mid-range quality is amazing, very sweet, lush, beautiful and natural timbre. I can see many fans for this, not my ideal signature though, not for metal music anyway)
7. Bravura (Only here because it doesn't really have much macro-dynamics/punch/slam for metal. If it did, it would blow everything else away, it sounds beautiful and ticks almost all other boxes)
8. CA-1a - (Big trade-off with big brother, you get a more comfortable and conventional fit but lose most of the TOTL level qualities of the SR1b. It is very neutral and decent sounding but not overly impressive anywhere either.)
Ranking for bass-heads like me that prioritise having strong, impactful, plentiful bass:
1. Empyrean (Thumping but very boosted mid-bass, could do with some more sub-bass quantity though, kick drums are more emphasised on this than any other headphone... including Abyss.. can see why people think it's too much, Alcantara pads tame this a lot, and silver upgrade cable also helps tighten things as well.)
2. Verite Closed (has slam/dynamics and decent quantity of bass, missing the technicalities and speed of the planars)
3. Verite (Similar to above, but closed just slightly better in bass quanitity/slam)
4. Atrium (Is quite similar to Verite but with less quantity of bass. Similar levels of impact and slam and other qualities are in the same ballpark, would need a longer a/b comparison to really know.
5. Elite (Much more neutral in bass compared to Empyrean, I tried pad rolling with Empy pads, not a first choice for a bass-head, but far from the worst)
6. SR1b (has mid-bass, has strong macro-dyanimcs too with lightning fast attack/decay, zero sub-bass though, not recommended for EDM or other bass-heavy music.)
7. Bravura - has TOTL bass quality certainly and decent quantity (volume) but very little dynamics or slam, you hear the bass notes but don't feel them in that visceral way at all, with no real attack or impact to the sound)
8. CA-1a (It has just adequate levels and quality of bass compared to the others, not bad at all, but not immediately impressive either. I do believe it is the cheapest headphone of this bunch, so to be expected I suppose?)
Ranking for non-metal, non-bassy music listeners (you don't care about strong, impactful bass or listen to much metal music if any at all):
1. Bravura (incredible, has it all... except macro-dynamics)
2. Raal SR1b (Would be number 1 but has a weird fit and no sub-bass. The Bravura has sub-bass and is more comfortable)
3. Atrium (beautiful and natural timbre, amazing mid-range, would be great for vocal heavy music)
4. Elite (Good all-rounder and would work great as a one-and-done if you couldn't swing for a Bravura or Raal.)
5. Verite Closed
6. Verite
7. Empyrean (smooth and non-fatiguing, nice mids, but slightly behind in detail retrieval, resolution and speed)
8. CA-1a (I'm sure this will win some fans, but there are other options that are better, even at the price level I'd rather a ZMF or HD800S or Focal Clear etc. Living in SR1's shadow permanently)
Would any make it into my tier list?
If you can live with the weird fit, amp/source requirements, and the complete lack of sub-bass, the SR1b is Tier 1. No debate. It's a bona fide TOTL headphone/ear speaker. Competes easily with the likes of 1266 TC, Susvara, Stax, etc.
Verite Closed is probably Tier 2 but other than the sweet, lush ZMF mid-range and decent level of detail/resolution, it's pretty 'ok'. Not boring, but not overly impressive. If I heard it in isolation I'd be much more impressed, but compared to the higher-end planars.. it falls short of being the best, for my personal tastes.
Empyrean and Elite I'd put in Tier 2 as well for sound, but Tier 1 based on comfort, build, being non-fatiguing, and relaxing to listen to. I think I'd take a D8000 Pro over the Elite for less money though. Would need to A/B them to be sure though. They have a similar-ish sound. The Empyrean is much warmer and reminds me more of like an Audeze LCD-3 or 4.
Bravura is Tier 1 easily but lacks in impact/slam/macro-dynamics. If it did have the slam and macro-dynamic ability... it would be game over for everything else, period. I'd sell my Abyss, my amps, everything, and live happily ever after in electrostatic bliss.. oh well.
Atrium if you like softer, more old-school metal/rock/blues or if vocal presentation/mids are the most important factor in your listening. Again, I wasn't really blown away by any of the ZMFs. But I didn't dislike them either. I just preferred the others more for their technical ability, speed, etc. I'm still keen to hear the Caldera at some point in the future. Maybe a planar ZMF has the qualities that the dynamic models are missing!
CA-1a was just mediocre to me, I don't think I'd really recommend it to anyone or for any use case specifically. Although I wouldn't dissuade you from trying it for yourself if you get the opportunity either. It's kind of jack of all trades, master of none type thing, but I think there are better headphones you could choose in every category (better bass, better technicalities, better timbre, better mids etc.)
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Camerton Binom-ER
I'm not a metalhead, but I enjoy listening to Russian Circles. On the other hand, I have a friend who's the most extreme and enthusiastic metalhead and he approved the Binom-ER.
Altiat CAL.1H is smooth and it's enjoyable to listen to. Not the most capable headphone, but perhaps all it takes is some fiddling around and modding in order to make it more suitable.
iBasso SR2 is similar to the CAL.1H and it works with just about any genre.
I'm not a metalhead, but I enjoy listening to Russian Circles. On the other hand, I have a friend who's the most extreme and enthusiastic metalhead and he approved the Binom-ER.
Altiat CAL.1H is smooth and it's enjoyable to listen to. Not the most capable headphone, but perhaps all it takes is some fiddling around and modding in order to make it more suitable.
iBasso SR2 is similar to the CAL.1H and it works with just about any genre.
monkey4054
100+ Head-Fier
Thanks for that, I've never heard of those first two. I'll add them to my list to check out!
Nostoi
Headphoneus Supremus
Genuine question: what sub-genre of metal sounds good on TH900?
monkey4054
100+ Head-Fier
I think pretty much all sub-genres sound excellent. You need to match to the right amp and maybe pad roll as a stock TH900 can be a bit sibilant at times.
Nostoi
Headphoneus Supremus
OK, did not find that personally but maybe my amp was wrong. I found the TH900 excellent on boomy soundtracks together with ambient music, but for textured metal guitars (esp. 80s metal), they sounded off to my ears. I could see them working on newer metal and perhaps technical death metal/industrial metal maybe, though.
Although it's one hell of an expensive headphone, a special characteristic of the Binom-ER is its ability to capture the finest textures and the most subtle nuances in sound. This ability is not limited to a specific frequency range, but rather covers the whole frequency spectrum. It's a special gem, with a special price...
monkey4054
100+ Head-Fier
I respect your opinion, this is obviously all very subjective. The TH900's mid-range is definitely recessed and the overall timbre is a bit on the 'colder' side of neutral. If you like warmer, richer, more organic-sounding headphones, the TH900 might not be preferable. It's still one of my favorites and probably one of, if not the best headphones for metal for the money IMO.
Nostoi
Headphoneus Supremus
Never heard of this headphone, but looks quite interesting.
Nostoi
Headphoneus Supremus
It's a great headphone, and I enjoyed my time with it, but not so much for metal. But I do like WP900 for metal, which is also quite v-shaped so.... maybe I should revisit TH900. The warm/rich ZMF style of tuning is also not for me (I would go so far to say the Atrium is the worst sounding headphone for metal I've ever heard...!)
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