Some people consider sub bass performance to be important for metal, so the 6XX doesn’t work there. But I’ve come across plenty of others who really like the 6XX for metal. Although the 6XX is also popular in general so that could be it as well
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I would not go with the Senhiesers headphones. they are veiled and not very bright at all. I would also not go with the Beyers as i think they are too bright. unless you know how to control the treble through EQ or are comfortable with putting toilet paper in the cups.
The Hifiman Sundara are a hell of a headphone for the price. it should cost more. Its very well balanced and bright but not too bright. I would recommend that headphone highly. great for rock too. they are reference cans and many reviewers were blown away by them and i heard one say the treble is the best around
Thanks for such an extensive list! This definitely gives me a few more options to look over and consider. I’ll have to do a bit more research in to some of them, but it definitely helps me narrow down a few choices.
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I hadn’t considered how much the amp would brighten up the headphones at first when I was doing my initial considerations. It definitely makes me glad I made a post and mentioned my gear, haha. Thanks for mentioning that, and I’ll definitely have to consider the 6XX a bit more with that knowledge. Are there any other headphones that are more neutral that you’d consider, outside of the 6XX?
Hmmm, in the price range (and for quite a bit more), it will be hard to find a more neutral headphone than the 6XX. It’s basically a Senn HD650. The HD600 and HD650 are reknowned for their neutrality (with a slight warm tilt). Are you treble sensitive? There are many listeners out there who like THX amps and don’t find the treble objectionable. If you’re one of them, great! That really opens up options for you. Something you COULD consider… For $400 (or just a touch more, depending on what deals you find) you could snag both a 6XX and a Beyerdynamic DT880 600 ohm. That gives you both a neutral-warm and a neutral-bright sound signature. It will also tell you real quick if you can handle the treble combo of the 880 and SP200. If the 880 is too hot, return it - OR - sell your SP200 (I sold mine in less than 24 hours on Ebay 6-7 weeks ago) and get a Schiit Asgard 3. IMO, that amp is far superior. But, you’re under no obligation to agree with that. Food for thought.
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Used Aeon OG or Open X, if you happen to catch the $429 Elegia, LCD-1, Emu Teak
Or what Wave said
I’ve never considered myself to be very treble sensitive, so I would assume that I could handle the combination of a DT880 600 ohm and the SP200. I might try to grab both a 6XX and a DT880 as you said then, to at least see how well I actually can handle the combination and give myself a few more options as well to swap between if it doesn’t bother me. Thanks for the suggestion, and I’ll keep the amp in mind too.
Thanks for the suggestions as well, FiCurious. I’ll definitely see if I can catch any deals on those headphones.
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It’s worth a shot but I will agree that the setup you have will make them bright. Avoid the 990s in this case as you will definitely need to modify those to bring them to sound right. 880s border between too sharp and just right so it might push them over the edge. As mentioned though Aeons are indeed a good headphone however, skip the originals they are terrible in my opinion when I tryed those vs the open x there was no competition and the open x demolished the originals. So much compression and lack in dynamics on the originals it hurt. E-mu are really bassy and a bit of an odd ball feel free to look up their frequency youll see what I mean really nice though, I wouldn’t say lcd-1 is bright its more balanced, elegia has a slight treble peak so more neutral bright.
Is the SP200 brighter than the 789? I’m seeing all these comments about that not being a good combo with the Sundara but the 400i is brighter at the ranges the Sundara is bright and the 789 did not make that worse in my case. If anything it smoothed things out a bit. Switching from a es9018 based dac to an akm dac had a bigger impact for me than switching from the liquid spark to the 789.
For metal I think 58x or even the blon b20s would be right up your alley. I’m treble sensitive and never considered the 58x to be to much plus they have enough mid bass to make me blink with a kick drum. Blons are the same way but can get shouty to my ears. For reference I use a MP 788 and 887 stack.
I’m gonna throw out the Koss ESP95X. Definitely not a bright headphone, but it is quite open and unique. One of my favorites I’ve tried so far. It’s electrostatic, so it comes with its own amp essentially. Worth looking into in your price range if you’re wanting to try something different.
IMO the sennheiser 58x where too veiled and too shouty in the mids for me to enjoy them with metal music (which is my main genre I listen to and test headphones with). Under $400, my favorites for metal music are the dt880, Dt1990, 4xx, sundara (I currently own), shp9500 w/ bw hybrid pads (also currently own), argon mk3 w/ zmf suede oval, Monoprice m570
I think the Sundara would be perfect if it had a tad bit more bass and thicker pads. Maybe a pad swap will do the trick but as of now I just eq the bass up a couple db.