Heavy Metal Listening

[Alec]

idc:al7478:

but i think many rock fans want big boomy warm bass.

I would have said that that is exactly what should be avoided! A boomy sound muddies everything and warm suggests a lack of power and attack. With heavy metal and rock I want a bass that drives the music along, but is not overbearing so that other instruments are lost in the noise.

indeed, and not too bright that you cant listen to more mellow stuff for long periods. its a happy medium innit? too much attack could get waring after long periods and/or with certain kinds of music.

 

[matthewpiano]

Try a Pioneer A400. Its an inexpensive solution but, with the right pair of floorstanding speakers, you'll get a sound that handles the complexity and layers of the music whilst retaining the speed and impact. I had a morning of metal and heavier rock the other day and I was amazed at how good it sounded. The Pioneer is an amp that never slows the music down and yet, if partnered correctly, it will also create atmosphere and tonal quality.

RE speakers, one of the things I like about the Diamond 8.3+ is that whilst their floorstanding cabinets provide extra weight and depth to the sound, the bass is very agile much more so than my BR2s gave actually. I'm sure there must be similarly balanced floorstanders out there still.

 

[manicm]

idc:manicm:

Yeah, when I took Bowie's Scary Monsters (my treble test disc you see) to my dealer he was subtly horrified, especially since his warm and cuddly Naim sampler disc was playing before. He must have thought me to be some juvenile nut when I played the song Fashion.

Sounds like you need to try another dealer manicm, they should never react negitively to anyone's choice of music and test disc. In any case Scary Monsters came out in 1980, how old is your dealer if you appear to be some 'juvenille nut'?! A really good dealer should have a selection of everything from jazz to metal and be satisfied with the look of joy on a customer's face when their music sound's great. I am adding Sepultura, my favourite metal band and Chaos AD to my tester music from now on.

No, he did not say anything and was helpful, it was just the look on his face for a fraction of a second! In fact he was out of the room while I changed CDs.

 

[Anonymous]

horsburghn:
I listen to both Rammstein and Slipknot through my system and love them both (I also use them to audition new kit). I even listened to Dave Lee Roth's Skyscraper the other day and was pleasantly surprised at how listenable it was as was the first Boston album.

Rammstein - quality. Sounds great with my kit too. Denn Das ist mein teil!

Slipknot - yuck! (IMHO of course...)

Cleanest, loudest live system I have heard is Rush at Manchester MEN October 2007. Perfect. Room to breathe in there.

 

[Anonymous]

manicm:

Yeah, when I took Bowie's Scary Monsters (my treble test disc you see) to my dealer he was subtly horrified, especially since his warm and cuddly Naim sampler disc was playing before. He must have thought me to be some juvenile nut when I played the song Fashion.

Sometimes dealers really need to give their systems a good workout.

This is part what's wrong with the Hi-Fi industry. What is 'juvenile' about that album? Why should you alter your taste in music to suite a machine? Any system that has decent timing and bite should be good with metal, unless it's the uber revealing steely uper midrange kind.

 

[Thaiman]

AEJim:
I think there are a few conflicts between Heavy Metal music and the traditional Hi-Fi values which always leads to some elitist snobbery from those who listen to "tinkly piano jazz". It's usually down to the recording quality/production, which in many cases is a completely unjustified criticism.

It's been a few years since I've been into "real" heavy metal so I'm not too familiar with the newer material but I can tell you that, for example, Pantera have some brilliantly made albums which really do sound amazing on a good system. We use AC/DC, Sabbath, Rage Against the Machine and Nirvana as part of our program of test material when developing new speakers. Saying that - there is some awfully recorded stuff around, in particular a large portion of 80's albums are highly compressed and not worth a listen (the same can be said of any genre though!).

It's very easy to produce a good sound when you only have one cleanly recorded instrument playing, hence that kind of material being the most prevolent in Hi-Fi show demonstrations - it's far harder to make a group of overdriven guitars, pounding drums and gravelly shouting sound "pleasant". In my opinion this is actually a far sterner test of your system - the old Hi-Fi benchmarks of soundstaging, separation, depth, timing and tonal quality are actually still evident on many of these recordings! You don't always get the huge dynamic swings of Classical music but some of the bass guitar/drum solo's are equally revealing of a system's capabilities.

The other consideration when listening to Heavy Metal/Rock is volume of course! This kind of music just doesn't sound right when it's quiet, many perfectly good systems just aren't so good at higher levels and the sound can harden up noticeably. You're probably best off aiming for as much power as possible in an amp, speakers with larger/multiple drivers and a source component which isn't too harsh and thin with good midrange attack for those snares and guitar solo's. This is generalisation at it's best of course since there are always exceptions to the rule.

One of the best post i ever read on this forum

IMO, metal system is hardest to build and certainly the most expensive! Too many people turn their nose at the metal recording but get the synergy right and nothing else matter!

 

[Anonymous]

the record spot:That sounds about right; they held the record for blasting out 76k at Celtic Park in the 1970s. People in Carlisle phoned up to complain. At least they're consistent!

Whilst we are on the subject. At The Phoenix Festival 1996. A certain band called the Sex pistols( playing Anarchy in the Uk), could be heard above The Prodigy playing Voodoo People in a Tent 800m away from the main stage which is frankly ........... insane.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry to gatecrash the post. just a good place to put this and its on similar lines. Ive got an Arcam mini solo due to lack of space. Listen to more rock than metal. What bookshelf speakers should i partner it with? Budget £250. M A BX2 get good reviews. Any other suggestions welcome. They gonna be tight up to a wall, again due to lack of space.

 

[Dan Turner]

Thaiman:get the synergy right and nothing else matter!

Brilliant! (i assume that was intentional?)

I find Naim/Neat pretty good for metal - had a quick blast of Metallica and Rage Against the Machine this morning - first time in ages - and I've never heard them sound so good.

 

[6th.replicant]

Perhaps it's significant that Big Chris - this forum's heavy metal guru/drummer (Designs of Chaos) - has an Arcam CDP and (bi-)amps?

FWIW, I'm currently listening to RATM on a similar setup and like what I'm hearing.

 

[SteveR750]

al7478:

Exactly what im after (for all types of music too, but ive realised lately my system is laking with harder edged music), but i think many rock fans want big boomy warm bass.

You would be very wrong then. A clean snappy bottom end is what rock needs.

 

[the record spot]

Two potentially brilliant sources for metal would be the original Exposure 2010, which several people have reckoned is great for rock. See also Audio Analogue's Paganini CDP, that had bass on it like nothing else I've heard, but not so heavy it was leaden footed. Well worth snagging in either case IMO.

I think if you land an amp that's got the grunt then for digital, this will take you far. It's not solely about the watts, but certainly, when I play rock (and that's my main pick at home) the Sansui amp pummels out Motorhead nicely thanks. I picked up a copy of a Dillinger Escape Plan album a while back (my word, that singer's a very angry young man indeed!) and that flies out the speakers. Zeppelin, Rush, etc, all well handled...check out Geddy Lee's "My Favourite Headache" solo album too. Great rock album and the bassline on it is terrific (no surprise given it's his instrument...!). No reason why any good dealer won't play this stuff.

Mind you, heard a very laid back (i.e. uninvolving IMO) in Hi Fi Corner yesterday - Spendor A9s and a Naim system. Dire - particularly given the whole setup would've set you back not far off £10,000.

 

[Big Chris]

6th.replicant:Perhaps it's significant that Big Chris - this forum's heavy metal guru/drummer (Designs of Chaos) - has an Arcam CDP and (bi-)amps?

FWIW, I'm currently listening to RATM on a similar setup and like what I'm hearing.

Listening to the new 'Forbidden' album on my Arcs and I'm more than happy.

OK, I am keen to upgrade my speakers to nearer the level of the electronics, but if you told me I couldn't ever spend another penny on my Hi-Fi, I would still be more than happy to listen to it until my dying day.

 

[simon3102000]

I listen to alot of heavy metal, maiden/filth/rammstein.paradise lost etc and it sounds pretty awsome on my setup with great seperation between the instuments but as always there are alot of badly recorded albums out there in any genre.

 

[Anonymous]

Chasw,

what's your budget? for cdp, i recommend "esoteric", truly high end sound, extremely neutral and so honest(i find it a bit hard sounding for classical music, rock sounds awesome though), amp i'd audition american brands like krell, Canadian brand: Bryston, English brands are more transparent sounding i guess, cyrus and roksan are great for rock as well. Speakers, i recommend german brand called "Elac", they are fast and detailed, with plenty power, it's great for rock, i enjoyed Elac with lots of my rock stuff.

andy

 

[Alec]

SteveR750:al7478:

Exactly what im after (for all types of music too, but ive realised lately my system is laking with harder edged music), but i think many rock fans want big boomy warm bass.

You would be very wrong then. A clean snappy bottom end is what rock needs.

No, I'm right, some do want that. It is they who are wrong