recommendations for rock/metal headphones

[robertmetal]

Hello, im looking for a pair of quality headphones for listening to mostly hard rock and metal .im looking for an open design as they seem to have the best sound and sound leakage is not a problem. I will be using the headphones on my little hi fi which of course does not have the best preamp so im looking for a pair of phones that don’t require an external pre to get the most out of them. My budget is around the £100 or ($200) mark
I was looking at the Sennheiser HD595 model but have since read that they may not have the punch for rock/metal??

any help is much appreciated,
cheers.

p.s. visit these pages for some of the types of music I listen too if that helps in advising on a pair of phones >:O)

http://www.myspace.com/hammerfall
http://www.myspace.com/icedearthofficial
http://www.myspace.com/kamelot
http://www.myspace.com/nevermorefans
http://www.myspace.com/helloween

[DorKnight]

Grado SR80 or SR125;

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/p...Product_ID/247

http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/p...Product_ID/423

[robertmetal]

hello again,


i think ive rounded my choice down to the sennheiser HD595 and the grado sr80
i can get both for the same price.

which of these two?

[eviljohn2]

Check out the Beyerdynamic DT990 from Superfi. I've written quite a lot about them on this site recently and there's plenty on Headfi to chew on. They sound very engaging indeed with metal and rock.

[DorKnight]

Originally Posted by robertmetal

hello again,


i think ive rounded my choice down to the sennheiser HD595 and the grado sr80
i can get both for the same price.

which of these two?

I would say the SR80 for Rock/Metal.

[robertmetal]

im leaning towards the grado sr80 but two things concern me

1. they look very flimsey, like they would fall apart in a month.
2. just about every one says that the grados are uncomfortable to wear-
whats the point of having a great sound if your dying to get the things off your head?

ive been reading about some phones called Goldring DR150
they seem very good price/quality ratio

?

[DorKnight]

I've not tried the Goldrings, some people have issues with the Grados and some don't.

The Grados are actually built well so you don't need to worry about that, I get the Grado burn after a while but that's easy to overcome - Below are my modded Grados;



If you do have an issue with comfort, like I did, then just grab yourself a pair of Sennheiser HD 414 Replacement Ear Pads off eBay - Only a couple of quid (I also popped on a Beyer headband as I don't have much hair up top anymore).

[robertmetal]

the beyer headband makes them look about ten times more comfy already! i wonder why grado havent addressed the comfort issuse?
it may not be a problem for me anyhow as i have a smaller sized head

[DorKnight]

They have nice leather bands on the upper models and for me, with not so much hair, the Beyer band does help and will be good option if you did opt for a pair of Grados.

As greenhorn said on Head-Fi, the Sr225 might be an option if you wanted to go down the route of second hand cans.

As for Alessandro, their cans are made by Grado and are available direct through their website;
http://www.alessandro-products.com/main.html

There appears to be a bit of a wait on them and you will also have Customs to deal with when they arrive in the UK (probably), so if you go for them through Alessandro factor in the extra charge.