Seriously, does Heavy Metal ever sound better on better speakers?

[Gabs]

Hi the perfect system for me would be a Grado on the head, with a sub on the feet.

 

[Gabs]

I listen to a lot of metal. All different genres. The biggest mistake people make is the assumption that "heavy metal" music doesn't care about sound quality or needs a lot of bass. It's the exact opposite. In all genres, metal has the highest requirements for flat and even frequency response. A little bit wrong in the mids will make many songs sound like shit. Too much bass will make the sound complete muddled up. In terms of dynamic compression, the songs are engineered to sound in such way. It's not that throwing a limiter and crankinh to maximum can give you a good sound. Bad reproduction will make drum sound weird, guitar sound weird, cymbal sound bad. You need to be able to hear everything clearly equally and in a not aggressive way. Too many systems make cymbals too hot for example is a common issue that's easily identified with metal. Too many "hifi" gears have werid mids and can be easily told using metal. Let alone boomy low-end in untreated rooms.

I listen vary from
In flames, Children of Bodom
to Architects, periphery, polyphia,
As i lay dying, insomnium, eternal tears of sorrow, threat signal etc etc.....

Devin Townsend cares about sound quality, because his albums are so well recorded regarding his complex "wall of sound".

 

[Vasr]

If you don't like metal on an average system, using a better audio system is not likely to make you like it or appreciate what a better system can do.

It is like playing in the sand. If you are averse to playing in the sand and getting plastered with it on your skin, you are not going to appreciate going to a beach with finer sand.

Metal can actually make good test music for your audio chain to expose some deficiencies which might not be caught otherwise in auditioning. Unless the genre itself makes you run screaming from the system...

One thing that people have not mentioned. You need a good soundstage resolution and width in your audio setup. Electronics or speakers or placements of speakers that compress the sound stage is going to make the incoming wall of sound incoherent. Spread it out well and you can hear the interplay between instruments and the grunge is not going to dominate/mask everything. Because it is high dB sustained over a larger frequency spectrum, many things in the audio chain can start to muddy the sound stage or be unable to resolve individual pieces.

While Metal is associated with distorted sounds, it is not any type of distortion. The popular amps and effects units used are known for shaping the harmonics introduced in ways that don't sound bad (which is different from some people finding the genre itself annoying!). Companies like Electroharmonix have made a lot of money perfecting distortion and could probably teach Nelson Pass a thing or two.

I don't play metal, but if you spend a lot of time playing with distortion units for a guitar to get that right Hendrix tone or the Gilmour tone, you get a good feel for what kind of distortion/harmonics works and doesn't. It has also made me a lot more sensitive to hearing unwanted distortion in the audio system even very subtle ones. So, if the metal music induces quick fatigue or harshness that makes you turn down volume (as opposed to getting a headache from high wall of sound which is not unusual), there is a high likelihood something is not right with your audio system in tonal balance or distortion.

Unfortunately, for a lot of people their first exposure to metal is likely to be with poor audio over a radio, or an outdoor performance with bad PA or a mediocre audio system (metalhead friends have a poor correlation with having a lot of money to buy good equipment) and just like with Opera, put them off for a lifetime.

 

[daftcombo]

Cymbals can sound very annoying on bright speakers. But all rock music and a lot of electro have the same problem.

Other important thing : you need to be able to put out high SPL if you plan to invite metal heads for a listening session.

 

[polmuaddib]

But, whenever i play some rock from 70s and 80s, the bass is almost non existent compared to other genres like soul, funk or rnb nowadays. Even jazz from the 50s have more bass, lower bass to be exact.
I have a feeling that all guitar rock was mixed either intentionally to have no bass below 100 hz, or they mixed on giant speakers with extremely high bass output.
Maybe people didn't like too much bass then? Or didn't care much.
I was a kid in the 80s and had a crap stereo, anyway. Cared more about the content then frequency response. Now i know better Now all i listen are test cds.... kidding.

 

[ctrl]

I think the amount of distortion in Heavy Metal Guitars makes it hard to appreciate a good speaker/system other than having a lot of tight bass for Heavy Metal.
Has anyone heard a system that makes a big difference with Heavy Metal?

It makes a huge difference!

As a hobby developer of loudspeakers, I regularly use metal music (besides other test music) to tune loudspeakers. A good "neutral" headphone as a reference alternately heard with the loudspeaker, reveals with Metal very quickly if the loudspeaker is tonally balanced - especially at high sound pressure.

If Metal always sounds unpleasant** over a loudspeaker (especially in comparison to headphones), it is simply a misalignment or misconstruction.

** in relation to the sound of the speakers, not the perception of the music genre

 

[Gabs]

Actually...there are so many different sound in heavy metal that there would not be only one system to suit. I'm a headphone guy and regarding different bands I listen I would pick one headphone or another. The Grado are nice for electric guitar but not with cymbals. Listening to, as an example, The White Stripes on the Grado is impossible, but 70's/80's heavy prog, sure.

Just for sharing, a band and song in 1981, with maybe some bass :

 

[Zog]

I think the amount of distortion in Heavy Metal Guitars makes it hard to appreciate a good speaker/system other than having a lot of tight bass for Heavy Metal.
Has anyone heard a system that makes a big difference with Heavy Metal?

Looking at the elements of Metal, it meets few, if any, criteria: Melody, Harmony, Form, Orchestration, Rhythm. So my answer is: Who cares?

 

[Frank Dernie]

I think the amount of distortion in Heavy Metal Guitars makes it hard to appreciate a good speaker/system other than having a lot of tight bass for Heavy Metal.
Has anyone heard a system that makes a big difference with Heavy Metal?

Yes.
Having enough power and bass, it doesn't need to be super deep but have plenty of loudness capability, is important IME and the ability to go loud in the bass means small 2-ways will be easily outclassed.
Now whether super low colouration/distortion is important is a different question, probably not IME but it seems some disagree.
Some quite cheap coloured but big and efficient speakers sound great on metal, small perfectly formed monitors are more impressive on string quartets but pityful on metal.
Just my 50 years of experience here, for example I found Klipsch Heresys magic on loud rock but their weaknesses were evident on smaller acoustic stuff like folk and string quartets (but not bad enough for that to overrule their strengths when I was young).
I have speakers which can do both now

Edit:
This may seem like a heretical statement here but I would imagine a 2-way with smallish mid-woofer and a sub crossing over at around 80Hz would be weak in exactly the area a speaker needs to be strong for metal.

 

[restorer-john]

I have speakers which can do both now

Both kinds of music? Country AND Western?

 

[kneepel]

I've always preferred progressive & jazz influenced metal on headphones, just because with a nice pair of cans you get that great critical listening aspect. Thrash & death metal is always fun to blast on whatever speakers with a tight, punchy low-end.

Looking at the elements of Metal, it meets few, if any, criteria: Melody, Harmony, Form, Orchestration, Rhythm. So my answer is: Who cares?

Good meme right there.

 

[ttimer]

Other important thing : you need to be able to put out high SPL if you plan to invite metal heads for a listening session.

Could the idea that "Metal doesn't care about sound quality" be sparked by the fact that many metalheads have bad hearing from too much exposure to high SPL?
On the other hand, the metal musicians that i know of are usually very skilled and educated instrumentalists. I'm pretty sure that they appreciate good sound reproduction.

 

[restorer-john]

On the other hand, the metal musicians that i know of are usually very skilled and educated instrumentalists. I'm pretty sure that they appreciate good sound reproduction.

Well, I'm all ears. Someone please post an example of excellent sound quality in a metal recording.

 

[kneepel]

Well, I'm all ears. Someone please post an example of excellent sound quality in a metal recording.

Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Opeth - Ghost of Perdition
Tool - Lateralus
Intronaut - Habitual Levitations

I could name a lot more off, but these are the ones off the top of my head that have a clear, detailed mix & lots of dynamic range. Usually when you get into the sub-genres of metal you (depending on what) move away from visceral walls of sound and more into an emphasis on writing and instrumentation.

 

[restorer-john]

Mastodon - Crack the Skye
Opeth - Ghost of Perdition
Tool - Lateralus
Intronaut - Habitual Levitations

I could name a lot more off, but these are the ones off the top of my head that have a clear, detailed mix & lots of dynamic range. Usually when you get into the sub-genres of metal you (depending on what) move away from visceral walls of sound and more into an emphasis on writing and instrumentation.

Tracks 2,3 and 4 are all quite similar in structure to me. Sound is quite respectable even on youtube. I imagine it could be even better with an uncompressed source. I quite like the Opeth one. Very interesting and thanks for posting.

 

[ctrl]

Well, I'm all ears. Someone please post an example of excellent sound quality in a metal recording.

I wouldn't go so far as to claim "excellent sound quality" when it comes to Metal (because of genre-sound, compression,...), but there are many recordings that are easy to listen to.

PSYKUP - Cooler Than God or Psykup - Color me blood red
Burst - Lazarus Bird - (We Watched)The Silver Rain
Aspera - Traces Inside
Canvas Solaris - Sinusoid Mirage
Opeth - Ghost of Perdition
Psycroptic - The Throne Of Kings
etc.

 

[vavan]

Intronaut - Habitual Levitations

Tracks 2,3 and 4

isn't "Habitual Levitations" the name of album and not some specific track?

 

[Sancus]

Looking at the elements of Metal, it meets few, if any, criteria: Melody, Harmony, Form, Orchestration, Rhythm. So my answer is: Who cares?

I lol'd.

 

[dasdoing]

not realy a fan of any distorted music,
but the music is obviously mixed to emphasis on the guitars (midrange). flat midrange is probably more important then anything.
also since metalheads allways have long hair they have some HF absorbtion (and added mid reflection?), that's why probably many songs are mixed to bright (listen to music and add a hat to see that stuff like this has a rather big impact).
maybe a wig is necessary to listen to metal? hahahah

 

[SIY]

Well, I'm all ears. Someone please post an example of excellent sound quality in a metal recording.

Tool- Fear Innoculum.

I played this for a couple of 20-somethings we had over for dinner the other night. They were... astonished.