Closed-back for Extreme Metal (Tech-Death/Black/Doom) + Rock/Blues — FT1 vs DT 700 Pro X vs HD 480 PRO vs DT 1770 MK2? (And DAC/Amp advice beyond KA17

[MaXX99]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a reliable closed-back headphone under €500. While my primary musical focus is heavy and extreme metal (Technical Death Metal, Black Metal, Doom/Sludge, Nu-Metal), I also regularly listen to bands like Tool, progressive rock, and blues.

These will be my main daily drivers for commuting, office work, and casual home listening. Because they’ll be transported in a bag daily, build quality, long-term durability, and easy spare-part availability (cables, pads, headband elements) are just as important to me as sound quality. Zero sound leakage and solid isolation are mandatory.

My main portable setup is a Samsung S25 Ultra paired with a FiiO KA17 dongle (using Desktop Mode when needed), but I’ll also plug into a PC and a Denon AVR at home.

What I'm looking for acoustically:​

• Transient Speed & Driver Control: Fast double-bass and dense blastbeats (240+ BPM) need to stay distinct. I want to avoid driver smearing or distortion when the mix gets congested.
• Low End: Clean, deep sub-bass extension (down to 20–30 Hz) with low THD. I want punch and weight for Doom riffs and Tool's basslines, but without a bloated lower mid-range bleeds.
• Treble: Well-controlled high frequencies. Harsh or sharp peaks in the 6–10 kHz region make raw black metal or bright guitar solos fatiguing very quickly.

Headphones I'm considering:​

• FiiO FT1 (~€160): Great price for a 60mm dynamic driver and attractive wood build. Tuning looks fun, but does the driver actually hold up with low THD and fast speed under intense tech-death passages, or does it compress?
• Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X (~€230): Built like a tank, low 48 Ω impedance, and easy spare parts. Treble seems much smoother than the old DT 770. How does its distortion profile compare to higher-tier dynamic drivers?
• Sennheiser HD 480 PRO (~€325): 130 Ω dynamic studio model. Looks linear with clean extension, but I wonder how much voltage headroom it needs for low-end PEQ.
• Sennheiser Momentum 5 (~€399): A bit of a wildcard (ANC/wireless). I like the replaceable battery and direct USB-C mode. Is the DSP tuning/driver clean enough for complex wired listening compared to passive studio cans?
• Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro MK2 (~€465): The 30 Ω Tesla 2 driver promises lower distortion and fast transients. Excellent build quality, but from a measurement perspective, does it justify double the price of the DT 700 Pro X?

Questions for the community:​

1. Acoustic & Durability Pick: Based on measurements (FR adherence, THD, impulse response) combined with physical durability for commuting, which option makes the most sense?
2. KA17 Performance & Alternatives: How well does the FiiO KA17 handle higher-impedance loads like the 130 Ω HD 480 PRO when adding a bass shelf via PEQ? Would I be better off looking at alternatives like a Qudelix-5K (for hardware PEQ), a battery-powered portable amp (like Topping G5), or a dedicated DAP?
3. EQ Headroom: Do any of these dynamic drivers show high distortion or compression when pushed at moderate-to-high SPL with low-end EQ applied?
4. Other Recommendations: Are there any other well-measuring, durable closed-backs under €500 I should consider that take Parametric EQ well?

Appreciate any measurements, insight, or hands-on experience!

TLDR. Partily AI generated as English is not my native tongue

 

[Juanrdp]

I've used previously both the Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X and the DT 1770 Pro, both are wonderful headphones if you like the peculiar sound signature, very, very bass heavy and with a V sound signature is not a neutral headphone in any way, but for some music like Dubstep (Deep Dubstep is too much even for those) is nice.

And i'm sorry but the only metal that i listen was Simphonic Metal (mostly Nightwish, Therion and Epica) years away and i'm not sure of the specific necessities of the more extreme ones.

For Rock and Specially Blues i would always try to search a more neutral sound like Sennheiser than Beyerdynamic... in my opinion Beyerdynamic is one of the worse possible choices for those.

Between the two... difficult choice but i would probably favor the 1770 due a couple of details, first one is that the 1770 Pro have detachable cable and i specially like the Coiled cable, and second, the 1770 have better sub-bass (that is the specialty of those headphones in my opinion), but the price difference is huge... maybe wait till a sale?, y get mines in one black Friday for half the price.

I've not tried the HD 480 but used the HD 650, the 650 is nice but it's an open headphone (not closed like the ones you are comparing), with a neutral sound a very nice soundscape it's very diferent from the Beyerdynamic, you have better mids.

If you are not biased to the Beyerdynamic sound i would like more the Sennheiser probably maybe not for the heavy but for sure for the Blues.

And alternatives... i currently not using almost none of those headphones anymore and most of the time i use a cheaper ones xD, the HiFiMAN Sundara open... you could get here in Europe slightly for more than 100€ most of the time and i don't known clearly why but i love the sound signature (very neutral, they are planar headphones) and the soundscape.

I also have the HiFiMAN Sundara Closed, but it's a serious decrease in sound quality in my opinion, they are not bad in any way but specially the soundscape is seriously worsened due the nature, if you don't mind others hearing your sound i would always go for the Sundara Open.

For durability, clearly Beyerdynamic specially the 1770 due the detachable cable... they are build like a tank, second probably Sennheiser (i'm not a fan of the construction but never have a problem with it), and last one HiFiMAN, they are sturdy but not close to the Beyerdynamic and the headband is a weakpoint, also the pads are not specially durable.

But neither Beyerdynamic or HiFiMAN and close to being a portable headphone, in my opinion if you need to move them daily are bad choices, at least the 1770 Pro have a really nice case in the package but it's huge and not very practical for daily use.

I hope it helps in someway....

 

[Ruediger]

My main portable setup is a Samsung S25 Ultra paired with a FiiO KA17 dongle (using Desktop Mode when needed), but I’ll also plug into a PC and a Denon AVR at home.

Can't speak to the headphones (don't use any that are similar), but to the amplification.

I think the FiiO dongle isn't bad and has decent power. That should work good from the start. Plugging into a Denon AVR will set you back to a rather basic headphone output. And a PC (RealTek) is even worse, unless it's one of their top chips.

I'd recommend to chose player/dac/amp wisely when you decide on a headphone. And maybe streamline that to one (mobile) player.

When traveling I use Sony XM6 (LDAC, ANC) which should be near the Sennheiser Momentum. But if you plan to use a cable anyway, you can chose something more exciting than these BT headphones. I mean they are not bad at all, but there is a lot of room upwards.