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

dasdoing

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fun example,
this track doesn't even have a bass guitar in it:
It seams many times the lower bass is basicly restricted to the kick drum.
I tested it with a t-shirt simulating long hair and it actualy got better lol (Is there any long hair simulating plug-in? lol)
 
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CDMC

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Tool- Fear Innoculum.

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

Pretty much any Tool. As you listen through Fear Innoculum you can hear where they apply distortion for effect as when not applied, it is incredible how clear and present the music is. Nine Inch NAils, the Downward Spiral is also well mixed.
 
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Sal1950

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I agree some of it can sound pretty bad, but I tend to think about "really old" metal that way, for me that's maybe before '74 or so, in which a bunch of it can sound crashy and thin (and I generally don't care for metal/hard rock before about '75 or so anyway).
That "old metal" is pretty much all I'm familar with, havn't listened to much since then and it's about all I own. ;)
 

Sal1950

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I tested it with a t-shirt simulating long hair and it actualy got better lol (Is there any long hair simulating plug-in? lol)
I see a ball cap advertised on TV with LED lights inside it. Your supposed to wear it when others aren't looking and it stimulates hair growth for the folically genetically denied. :p
 

q3cpma

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Short answer: yes.
Long answer: even lo-fi stuff (e.g. https://osmoseproductions.bandcamp.com/album/remains-of-a-ruined-dead-cursed-soul) benefits greatly from good speakers, as you can appreciate how barren and raw the production is.
And it's not like everything is lo-fi, but there's such thing as too well produced in extreme metal. For example, listen to Atrocity's Toddessehnsucht, Gorguts' Obscura, At the Gates' The Red in the Sky is Ours or Pungent Stench's Been Caught Buttering to learn what very well produced death metal is supposed to sound like without going into too much streamlining.
I also recommend Danzig's Danzig II - Lucifuge as one of the heavy metal albums all "audiophiles" should listen once, it's honey for the ears when played on good speakers.
 

zelig

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By "better" I'm including more spatial cues, clearer and more refined timbre of voices and instruments, "hearing more"it seems. However, none of that would matter if it wasn't also kicking ass. The sound is also rich and full, punchy from top to bottom, tons of energy for each instrument, so it's also kicking ass.
You are wasted here. You should be writing reviews for What Hi-Fi? :)
 

Balle Clorin

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Well I see people listen to and enjoi The Emptiness by Gojira on very sofisticatef high end speakers on extreme levels, while I cannot bear the massive distorted wall of Sound. I cannot judge speakers on such music myself. I need to like the music, maybe that is the key point.
 
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DSJR

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Not hugely my genre, but one album I found tricky was Black Sabbath's 'Sabotage' which can sound small and rather clogged on a smaller stereo and magnificent on a big one...
 

raistlin65

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I've been listening to a lot of Kiss, Van Halen, Rush and Max Webster (usually vinyl) on my Thiel 2.7s, and it sounds better to me than I've ever heard those recordings before (e.g. on all the traditional boxy speakers growing up).

By "better" I'm including more spatial cues, clearer and more refined timbre of voices and instruments, "hearing more"it seems. However, none of that would matter if it wasn't also kicking ass. The sound is also rich and full, punchy from top to bottom, tons of energy for each instrument, so it's also kicking ass. So I'm voting "yes" for your question from my experience. (I've also heard high end speakers sound wrong or wimpy with rock).

Exactly. Runnin with the Devil (and the rest of the album) sounds great on a good system. When I was younger, it was one of the songs I used to always use to demo speakers and headphones. Even to this day, I usually give the intro to the song a listen with new equipment.
 

EJ3

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Here are a few albums I sprung for the remasters and have been pleasantly surprised with and would recommend for you to pick up to perform your own subjective assessment:
Disclaimer: everyone's strict definition of Heavy Metal may vary so if these are not your preferences or what you consider heavy metal please simply disregard those recommendations that don't meet your interest.

Nirvana -Nevermind
Iron Maiden -Number of the Beast
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
Led Zepplin - IV
Jack White - Lazaretto
Queen - A night at the Odeon
Stone Temple Pilots - Core

Here are a few albums that I just love and sound fantastic on a good system
Fugazi -13 songs
Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory
NIN - Broken and/or Downward Spiral
When you say "albums" are you talking vinyl or another format? I can do either or.
 

Beershaun

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When you say "albums" are you talking vinyl or another format? I can do either or.

If you are looking to do an A/B type of comparison I would use digital FLAC files or a lossless streaming service. It's much easier to cue up the two and see what you prefer.
 
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ehabheikal

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Hi Sal,

Can you tell me: what kind of metal/hard rock do you like?

I agree some of it can sound pretty bad, but I tend to think about "really old" metal that way, for me that's maybe before '74 or so, in which a bunch of it can sound crashy and thin (and I generally don't care for metal/hard rock before about '75 or so anyway).

A bunch of albums from the bands I mentioned - Rush, Van Halen, Max Webster (and I'd throw in Cheap Trick and others) sound absolutely friggin' amazing! The sound is huge, rich, dynamic, clear, generally clean. Demo-worthy stuff. In fact I was actually shocked when I grabbed a copy of Kiss Love Gun and gave it a spin. The sense of peering right in to the studio listening to the band, or perhaps like a direct monitor feed, was pretty shocking. I had no idea it was recorded so well.

I was mostly into iron maiden, metallica, megadeath, bonjovi, savatage
 
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ehabheikal

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If you are looking to do an A/B type of comparison I would use digital FLAC files or a lossless streaming service. It's much easier to cue up the two and see what you prefer.
I use qobuz for now.
 

Promit

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There are people on this site who are such productive contributing members most of the time, but something comes up and they can't help but disrespect everyone else for no reason. It really grates on me. You don't get it? Cool. Move on and stop wasting everyone else's time with your ignorance.
 
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