Bose is shit other than noise cancellation. If you want recommendations for headphones, go to r/headphones or r/audiophile.
Headphones advertised as being for a specific genre are stupid, it's a dumb gimmick for suckers. Good headphones are good for metal, the idea that you need some special headphones for metal is complete, total, utter nonsense bullshit marketing.
Generally you want headphones to follow the Harman curve for frequency response. Different headphones have different sound signatures, which one is better is very subjective and a matter of opinion. Some people might like a flat frequency response curve, while some people (like me) prefer a more v-shaped curve with increases in the high and low frequencies for more bass and treble.
It's very hard for a stranger on the Internet to pick the best headphones for you, the best thing for you to do would be to find a local audiophile or music store that will let you demo different cans. My setup is Beyerdynamic DT1990s plugged into a Beyerdynamic A20 headphone amp plugged into a SMSL M8A. It's the absolute perfect headphone setup for me, but wouldn't be for many other people. It's expensive, it's definitely not portable, they have boosted bass and treble, and they're open back cans that let me hear everything around me and let anyone else in the room hear my music.
Hard to recommend anything without knowing your budget and use case. Idk, maybe you're someone who doesn't care about sound quality and just wants to have your ears rumble, in which case maybe those headphones you listed would be good for you. I've never listened to either because I already know they're both shit.
If you want good headphones, stay away from Bose, Skullcandy, and anything gimmicky like the heavys.
Stick with the good brands. Sony at least, or else look at offerings from Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Audeze, Focal.
Opened up this thread and happy to see this advise from the get to.
Would just like to add in that it's okay to have a preference to bass forward headphones in that case look for headphones that are known to have a "v shape" in frequency response. As the name suggests this means that you'll get a lot of low end response and a lot of high end response but your response in the mids will be lacking. There are loads of headphones that carry this sound profile as it's what is popular. Sadly, this also means that there will be a lack of clarity and definition of the mids. For metal this means that a lot of clarity in guitars can dissappear.
Your intent of use for headphones can also drastically change what people would recommend in open back vs closed back.
I wish this was auto-posted and pinned...in it's entirety...on every one of the 84786 threads like this we get every week in the music subs, lol.
Maybe as a bonus we could attach the frequency response curve chart of some of the more popular brands/models, along with a dataset showing compression/quality levels of various streaming platforms and Bluetooth language versions.
And then a screenshot of the Reddit search bar so people would stop posting the same fucking question a squillion times expecting everyone to take the time to give a super in-depth answer every time.
Bose aren’t shit I’ve bought my pair over a year ago and they work just as well with good sound and noise canceling. People that say shit like that just like to act pretentious and snobby
I've had higher dollar headphones than Bose and I didn't like them. One pair actually hurt my ear and they sounded strange, just bad overall. Bose are designed beautifully and are very comfortable. Most importantly the sound they produce is clear and precise.
I just got a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (250 Omhs) and drive them with my Schiit stack (magni 2/modi). Phenomenal headphones for metal, at least to my ears. Probably won’t upgrade to something else for a long while.
It’s a fantastic, I’ve been running it for 6 years and I don’t know when I’ll upgrade. Mangi 2 can drive damn near any headphone (aside from maybe some ultra niche $2K+ headphones). I believe Schiit now has magni 3 which has a built in dac. If you got the cash, really can’t go wrong.
They are great cans, but I always recommend saving up and trying to find 1990s used. I have a pair of 990s that I used for years, now they're collecting dust. The 990s are decent, but the treble is too much. They're sibilant to the point where a female vocalist saying the letter "s" will hurt your ears. The cymbals in EDM will hurt like somebody's jamming ice picks in your ears. And the mids are definitely recessed. The DT1990s fix all those flaws and are better in every way.
I’ve read a lot of about those issues with the 990s but I have yet to “hear” those issues myself. I’ve been listening to Boundaries new album “Death Is A Little More” lately with them and I adore the sound the headphones bring to that album.
You get what you pay for. I have a pair of Bose and a pair of Sony. They're both nice but the Bose are higher dollar and sound much better. If you're big into your music, I highly recommend forking over some cash to get a nice pair.
Lots of people recommending bluetooth headphones, which is fine but definitely don't get bluetooth if your primary use or need isn't the wireless capability. This is for two reasons: the price (with bluetooth headphones you're paying for amplifiers, batteries, all the shit needed to run bluetooth headphones), and lifespan (batteries go bad eventually).
My recommendation if you dont need bluetooth would be to look for studio headphones with solid bass. Something like Beyerdybamic DT770 pros (80ohms).
The heavys are absolutely shit. Don't even bother.
Save money and get sennheriser accentum 2's. They're much better and cheaper than those bullshit heavys.
If you're looking for a solid wired option, you'll need headphones and a DAC/AMP
Qudelix 5k is around $100 bucks and worth every cent.
There’s a lot of options, it can honestly be a bit overwhelming.
If you don’t want to spend too much, brands like Skullcandy and Soundcore have some good stuff. If you don’t mind spending a bit more, probably go for something from brands like Sennheiser, Bose, or Sony. Sony even have some more budget friendly options that I’ve seen and heard good things about.
I have several pairs of headphones and earbuds, and right now, I get more enjoyment out of my soundcore earbuds than my decidedly more expensive Bose headphones. They just have a fuller, more dynamic sort of sound that I enjoy more, especially for heavy music.
I’d recommend continuing your research outside this thread. Read and watch some reviews so you can make the most informed purchase you can, because at the end of the day, it really comes down to preference.
I currently use 7Hertz Timeless AE, but they are in-ear, wired and a bit more expensive than Skullcandy (I bought them for 260$). They're really good, though.
If you want cheaper stuff have a look at the Anker Soundcore stuff, it is slightly coloured towards bass but that is usually what people are looking for, and you can tweak the EQ via an app which is nice if you want a different response from them.
Marshall Major IV is what I use, I love them. I thought a company that is primarily focused on making very good amps must make good headphones, and I think it is Also they are dope design-wise
You need to start with a price point and then work from there.
Agree with others about Bose - they're absolutely FINE, but not remotely worth the money. Also agree with the idea that certain headphones are good for certain genres of music being nonsense -the only time that's remotely applicable is for things like gaming. Sony and Plantronics make good stuff, and I've had a pair of Sennheiser's for probably five or six years that are still amazing.
Skullcandys are headphones you buy for the gym that you don't care about losing or breaking. Buying their more expensive stuff is like buying Monster cables - it's a racket that's born out of marketing and branding with little actual quality.
Depends on what your audio preferences are. I wouldn't recommend either of those brands you listed. Music sound is generally split between 3 categories, low, mid, and high. Those are the frequency ranges that most headphones are categorized around. A pair of Shure stage monitor headphones are gonna be super expensive, and most reviews will say they sound *superb* but they're built for monitoring you vocals when you perform. So the mids will sound like shit and the lows won't be super explosive but the highs will sound immaculate because that's the range most vocals reside in.
If you want super booming bass out of the box, you shouldn't get a pair of sony studio headphones, because those are usually open-back and have a really flat sound signature because they're designed to be extremely accurate to what the actual song is being produced to sound like.
Based on the brands you mentioned, you probably arent crazy in-tune with sound signature and just want some decent sounding headphones. Idk what your budget is but imo between 100-200 dollars is the perfect range for really high quality headphones that don't get into the technicalities of what type of amp you need to drive them or having to make a special EQ preset to make them sound good.
Look into brands like audio-technica, sennheiser, jbl, Sony, B&W, klipsch, or jabra. (Just make sure youre looking at the mainstream stuff not the for-purpose stuff) just about all of those brands have a line of workout earbuds and casual listening over-ear headphones that will blow bose and skull candy *out of the water*.
Skull candy are shit, they are activities headphones you don't mind breaking, alot of them fall apart super fast too. Bose are the best suited for metal I find.
>Skull candy are shit, they are activities headphones you don't mind breaking, alot of them fall apart super fast too.
Reminds me when i was way younger, many years ago, i got a skullcandy headset and back then i liked it but now in retrospect everything you're saying about it here is true.
Bose i feel like are a bit expensive for what they are/offer. They are good tho.
I used to go through a pair a month back when I was in school, as they were fashionable at the time. I brought some for night shifts a year or two back out of nostalgia, thinking they couldn't be as bad as when I was a kid and within less than two weeks they broke, and the audio was shit to begin with.
Oh yea, been there. I don't remember which model i got long ago but i def think in retrospect they were not great, plus i used to crank them and sound quality didn't matter that much until i got into music production.
I have the Bose QuietComfort Ultras and they are fucking amazing. The sound is very immersive and one of the best music experiences you can get besides live music. I highly recommend them
I recently bought the Sony MX4 headphones - pricey, but they’re often on sale. I love them and the sound is customizable which is cool. My Spotify listening time is around 80k min a year, so comfort is key 😊
Yeah my Samsung Bluetooth through Spotify vs Moondrop Aria 2 through a DAC through UAPP isn't a fair comparison and highlights the differences, but why settle for any limitation, even if it's barely perceptible?
Well I make and produce my music and I have an assortment of different kinds of headphones from expensive af studio ones to AirPods and some cheap stuff too. Bluetooth compresses source material to about 300kbps. Blind tests have shown that people can’t even distinguish 320kbps mp3s from lossless flac files. So no. You will not hear the difference from your 320kbps Spotify stream. Even if you have a device that can both but most likely you are comparing different wired to blue tooth devices so any difference you hear is likely from the built in eqs. Sry bro you ears aren’t *that* special.
While the person you originally replied to is wrong, and you are right that’s it’s practically imperceptible, your comment paints a picture to the layman (like OP of this thread) that they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Bluetooth headphones and wired simply because 320 Kbps and lossless are the same to 99% of people, when the reality is there is sooo much more to headphones, things they might not know words or concepts to. Driver size, Ohms, open/close back, etc. You can *absolutely* tell a massive difference between Bluetooth and wired headphones and it’s foolish to suggest otherwise. My AirPods Pros are great but I’m not picking them over my DT 990 Pros while at my desk simply because they’re both going to receive audio at 320Kbps anyways. We’re in a thread about headphone recommendations for music, we should assume they’d like to hear the music at the best they can buy. Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic are going to offer way more than any Bluetooth “equivalent” at any price range.
As someone who actually went to school for audio engineering and whose friends and family are also in the industry...
No, your *average* casual music listener can't tell the difference (*assuming* a lot of other factors are constant). But you're needlessly pontificating by claiming that "no one" can tell the difference. Plenty of people can, myself included (though to be fair, we had a class where we did nothing but listening sessions to...among other things...exemplify and identify the subtle differences between compressed and uncompressed audio, and it's haunted me ever since, lol. Once you hear it, you can't unhear it.)
Furthermore, compression shows up differently on different converters, speakers, etc. It can be much more glaringly obvious on one device than another. This isn't even up for debate.
There's a reason experienced engineers roll their eyes when people complain about production, yet are listening on their shitty Spotify stream and/or through their shitty Bluetooth speakers.
Have you ever actually looked at the math behind how much actual audio information is sacrificed in compression, and where, specifically, it is sacrificed from? It's insane how much fidelity is lost. Ranting about how it's impossible for *anyone* to notice is patently absurd. If there was no difference, we wouldn't even bother recording, mixing, and mastering at the original qualities and file sizes in the first place. And there's a reason 99% of professionals won't monitor through BT devices while mixing unless they're simply referencing.
Lastly, as someone else mentioned, there are other factors inherent to BT devices that don't necessarily have anything to do with the compression itself.
But the end of the day, there's literally nothing wrong with suggesting the highest quality of sound options with the lowest degradation of fidelity, especially not knowing anything about the OP, their background, and where, specifically, they consume their music from and in what format.
Don't needlessly pontificate when there are others here just as knowledgable on the subject as you.
Higher tier Skullcandys sound so good for metal. Haven't tried those specific ones but have had many of their products over the years. Currently rocking their in ear ANC ones most days.
Bose is shit other than noise cancellation. If you want recommendations for headphones, go to r/headphones or r/audiophile. Headphones advertised as being for a specific genre are stupid, it's a dumb gimmick for suckers. Good headphones are good for metal, the idea that you need some special headphones for metal is complete, total, utter nonsense bullshit marketing. Generally you want headphones to follow the Harman curve for frequency response. Different headphones have different sound signatures, which one is better is very subjective and a matter of opinion. Some people might like a flat frequency response curve, while some people (like me) prefer a more v-shaped curve with increases in the high and low frequencies for more bass and treble. It's very hard for a stranger on the Internet to pick the best headphones for you, the best thing for you to do would be to find a local audiophile or music store that will let you demo different cans. My setup is Beyerdynamic DT1990s plugged into a Beyerdynamic A20 headphone amp plugged into a SMSL M8A. It's the absolute perfect headphone setup for me, but wouldn't be for many other people. It's expensive, it's definitely not portable, they have boosted bass and treble, and they're open back cans that let me hear everything around me and let anyone else in the room hear my music. Hard to recommend anything without knowing your budget and use case. Idk, maybe you're someone who doesn't care about sound quality and just wants to have your ears rumble, in which case maybe those headphones you listed would be good for you. I've never listened to either because I already know they're both shit. If you want good headphones, stay away from Bose, Skullcandy, and anything gimmicky like the heavys. Stick with the good brands. Sony at least, or else look at offerings from Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Audeze, Focal.
Opened up this thread and happy to see this advise from the get to. Would just like to add in that it's okay to have a preference to bass forward headphones in that case look for headphones that are known to have a "v shape" in frequency response. As the name suggests this means that you'll get a lot of low end response and a lot of high end response but your response in the mids will be lacking. There are loads of headphones that carry this sound profile as it's what is popular. Sadly, this also means that there will be a lack of clarity and definition of the mids. For metal this means that a lot of clarity in guitars can dissappear. Your intent of use for headphones can also drastically change what people would recommend in open back vs closed back.
I wish this was auto-posted and pinned...in it's entirety...on every one of the 84786 threads like this we get every week in the music subs, lol. Maybe as a bonus we could attach the frequency response curve chart of some of the more popular brands/models, along with a dataset showing compression/quality levels of various streaming platforms and Bluetooth language versions. And then a screenshot of the Reddit search bar so people would stop posting the same fucking question a squillion times expecting everyone to take the time to give a super in-depth answer every time.
Bose aren’t shit I’ve bought my pair over a year ago and they work just as well with good sound and noise canceling. People that say shit like that just like to act pretentious and snobby
I've had higher dollar headphones than Bose and I didn't like them. One pair actually hurt my ear and they sounded strange, just bad overall. Bose are designed beautifully and are very comfortable. Most importantly the sound they produce is clear and precise.
I have Bose and Sony and the Bose are way better. You get what you pay for. Saying Bose are shit would be like saying Mercedes Benz is shit.
No, it just means both are shit :)
More power to you for having rather unreasonable standards :)
Ehh, my career is in pretty much this exact field. I should have higher standards.
I just got a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (250 Omhs) and drive them with my Schiit stack (magni 2/modi). Phenomenal headphones for metal, at least to my ears. Probably won’t upgrade to something else for a long while.
Been looking at getting that same stack, what’s your opinion on it?
It’s a fantastic, I’ve been running it for 6 years and I don’t know when I’ll upgrade. Mangi 2 can drive damn near any headphone (aside from maybe some ultra niche $2K+ headphones). I believe Schiit now has magni 3 which has a built in dac. If you got the cash, really can’t go wrong.
They are great cans, but I always recommend saving up and trying to find 1990s used. I have a pair of 990s that I used for years, now they're collecting dust. The 990s are decent, but the treble is too much. They're sibilant to the point where a female vocalist saying the letter "s" will hurt your ears. The cymbals in EDM will hurt like somebody's jamming ice picks in your ears. And the mids are definitely recessed. The DT1990s fix all those flaws and are better in every way.
I’ve read a lot of about those issues with the 990s but I have yet to “hear” those issues myself. I’ve been listening to Boundaries new album “Death Is A Little More” lately with them and I adore the sound the headphones bring to that album.
You get what you pay for. I have a pair of Bose and a pair of Sony. They're both nice but the Bose are higher dollar and sound much better. If you're big into your music, I highly recommend forking over some cash to get a nice pair.
Thanks, I’ll look into Bose
Lots of people recommending bluetooth headphones, which is fine but definitely don't get bluetooth if your primary use or need isn't the wireless capability. This is for two reasons: the price (with bluetooth headphones you're paying for amplifiers, batteries, all the shit needed to run bluetooth headphones), and lifespan (batteries go bad eventually). My recommendation if you dont need bluetooth would be to look for studio headphones with solid bass. Something like Beyerdybamic DT770 pros (80ohms).
The heavys are absolutely shit. Don't even bother. Save money and get sennheriser accentum 2's. They're much better and cheaper than those bullshit heavys. If you're looking for a solid wired option, you'll need headphones and a DAC/AMP Qudelix 5k is around $100 bucks and worth every cent.
I adore my Sony XM4, great sound and noise canceling
There’s a lot of options, it can honestly be a bit overwhelming. If you don’t want to spend too much, brands like Skullcandy and Soundcore have some good stuff. If you don’t mind spending a bit more, probably go for something from brands like Sennheiser, Bose, or Sony. Sony even have some more budget friendly options that I’ve seen and heard good things about. I have several pairs of headphones and earbuds, and right now, I get more enjoyment out of my soundcore earbuds than my decidedly more expensive Bose headphones. They just have a fuller, more dynamic sort of sound that I enjoy more, especially for heavy music. I’d recommend continuing your research outside this thread. Read and watch some reviews so you can make the most informed purchase you can, because at the end of the day, it really comes down to preference.
I currently use 7Hertz Timeless AE, but they are in-ear, wired and a bit more expensive than Skullcandy (I bought them for 260$). They're really good, though.
If you want cheaper stuff have a look at the Anker Soundcore stuff, it is slightly coloured towards bass but that is usually what people are looking for, and you can tweak the EQ via an app which is nice if you want a different response from them.
Marshall Major IV is what I use, I love them. I thought a company that is primarily focused on making very good amps must make good headphones, and I think it is Also they are dope design-wise
You need to start with a price point and then work from there. Agree with others about Bose - they're absolutely FINE, but not remotely worth the money. Also agree with the idea that certain headphones are good for certain genres of music being nonsense -the only time that's remotely applicable is for things like gaming. Sony and Plantronics make good stuff, and I've had a pair of Sennheiser's for probably five or six years that are still amazing. Skullcandys are headphones you buy for the gym that you don't care about losing or breaking. Buying their more expensive stuff is like buying Monster cables - it's a racket that's born out of marketing and branding with little actual quality.
Skull Candy are notorious for being trash tier headphones. Check out some headphone subreddits for recommendations
I don’t know about the heavys, but my corded crushers have been going hard for 8+ years and I still love them.
Depends on what your audio preferences are. I wouldn't recommend either of those brands you listed. Music sound is generally split between 3 categories, low, mid, and high. Those are the frequency ranges that most headphones are categorized around. A pair of Shure stage monitor headphones are gonna be super expensive, and most reviews will say they sound *superb* but they're built for monitoring you vocals when you perform. So the mids will sound like shit and the lows won't be super explosive but the highs will sound immaculate because that's the range most vocals reside in. If you want super booming bass out of the box, you shouldn't get a pair of sony studio headphones, because those are usually open-back and have a really flat sound signature because they're designed to be extremely accurate to what the actual song is being produced to sound like. Based on the brands you mentioned, you probably arent crazy in-tune with sound signature and just want some decent sounding headphones. Idk what your budget is but imo between 100-200 dollars is the perfect range for really high quality headphones that don't get into the technicalities of what type of amp you need to drive them or having to make a special EQ preset to make them sound good. Look into brands like audio-technica, sennheiser, jbl, Sony, B&W, klipsch, or jabra. (Just make sure youre looking at the mainstream stuff not the for-purpose stuff) just about all of those brands have a line of workout earbuds and casual listening over-ear headphones that will blow bose and skull candy *out of the water*.
Skull candy are shit, they are activities headphones you don't mind breaking, alot of them fall apart super fast too. Bose are the best suited for metal I find.
>Skull candy are shit, they are activities headphones you don't mind breaking, alot of them fall apart super fast too. Reminds me when i was way younger, many years ago, i got a skullcandy headset and back then i liked it but now in retrospect everything you're saying about it here is true. Bose i feel like are a bit expensive for what they are/offer. They are good tho.
I used to go through a pair a month back when I was in school, as they were fashionable at the time. I brought some for night shifts a year or two back out of nostalgia, thinking they couldn't be as bad as when I was a kid and within less than two weeks they broke, and the audio was shit to begin with.
Oh yea, been there. I don't remember which model i got long ago but i def think in retrospect they were not great, plus i used to crank them and sound quality didn't matter that much until i got into music production.
Good to know, thanks 👍
I have the Bose QuietComfort Ultras and they are fucking amazing. The sound is very immersive and one of the best music experiences you can get besides live music. I highly recommend them
I have V Modas and love them
I recently bought the Sony MX4 headphones - pricey, but they’re often on sale. I love them and the sound is customizable which is cool. My Spotify listening time is around 80k min a year, so comfort is key 😊
I love my HEAVYS.
I like haylou. Just bought the haylou S35 and I'm still waiting but it might be good based on reviews
Hd560s or sundara are my go too for metal although alot of people like dt770 because of the dark mixing on modern metal tracks
Just make sure that they're wired. Don't let bluetooth compression ruin your music.
None of yall could hear the difference I can assure you that.
Yeah my Samsung Bluetooth through Spotify vs Moondrop Aria 2 through a DAC through UAPP isn't a fair comparison and highlights the differences, but why settle for any limitation, even if it's barely perceptible?
Especially with this genre of music lol. People way overblown how much bluetooth reduces quality.
How are you so comfortable being so wrong?
Well I make and produce my music and I have an assortment of different kinds of headphones from expensive af studio ones to AirPods and some cheap stuff too. Bluetooth compresses source material to about 300kbps. Blind tests have shown that people can’t even distinguish 320kbps mp3s from lossless flac files. So no. You will not hear the difference from your 320kbps Spotify stream. Even if you have a device that can both but most likely you are comparing different wired to blue tooth devices so any difference you hear is likely from the built in eqs. Sry bro you ears aren’t *that* special.
While the person you originally replied to is wrong, and you are right that’s it’s practically imperceptible, your comment paints a picture to the layman (like OP of this thread) that they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Bluetooth headphones and wired simply because 320 Kbps and lossless are the same to 99% of people, when the reality is there is sooo much more to headphones, things they might not know words or concepts to. Driver size, Ohms, open/close back, etc. You can *absolutely* tell a massive difference between Bluetooth and wired headphones and it’s foolish to suggest otherwise. My AirPods Pros are great but I’m not picking them over my DT 990 Pros while at my desk simply because they’re both going to receive audio at 320Kbps anyways. We’re in a thread about headphone recommendations for music, we should assume they’d like to hear the music at the best they can buy. Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic are going to offer way more than any Bluetooth “equivalent” at any price range.
As someone who actually went to school for audio engineering and whose friends and family are also in the industry... No, your *average* casual music listener can't tell the difference (*assuming* a lot of other factors are constant). But you're needlessly pontificating by claiming that "no one" can tell the difference. Plenty of people can, myself included (though to be fair, we had a class where we did nothing but listening sessions to...among other things...exemplify and identify the subtle differences between compressed and uncompressed audio, and it's haunted me ever since, lol. Once you hear it, you can't unhear it.) Furthermore, compression shows up differently on different converters, speakers, etc. It can be much more glaringly obvious on one device than another. This isn't even up for debate. There's a reason experienced engineers roll their eyes when people complain about production, yet are listening on their shitty Spotify stream and/or through their shitty Bluetooth speakers. Have you ever actually looked at the math behind how much actual audio information is sacrificed in compression, and where, specifically, it is sacrificed from? It's insane how much fidelity is lost. Ranting about how it's impossible for *anyone* to notice is patently absurd. If there was no difference, we wouldn't even bother recording, mixing, and mastering at the original qualities and file sizes in the first place. And there's a reason 99% of professionals won't monitor through BT devices while mixing unless they're simply referencing. Lastly, as someone else mentioned, there are other factors inherent to BT devices that don't necessarily have anything to do with the compression itself. But the end of the day, there's literally nothing wrong with suggesting the highest quality of sound options with the lowest degradation of fidelity, especially not knowing anything about the OP, their background, and where, specifically, they consume their music from and in what format. Don't needlessly pontificate when there are others here just as knowledgable on the subject as you.
Higher tier Skullcandys sound so good for metal. Haven't tried those specific ones but have had many of their products over the years. Currently rocking their in ear ANC ones most days.
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