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Long hair, a leather jacket, ripped jeans, and, of course, their favorite band’s t-shirt. These are the telltale signs of a devoted heavy metal music enthusiast. It’s no secret that metalheads are some of the most loyal fans on earth because, after all, it’s all about the music, but how are they listening to their beloved blast beats and ripping guitar solos? EDM lovers will always go with headphones with plenty of bass, but what headphones are the best for banging your head to your favorite crushing heavy metal track?
It turns out that’s an easy question to answer — it’s the Heavys H1H over-ear headphones.
What you need to know about the Heavys H1H
The Heavys H1H headphones are a serious pair of over-ear headphones designed to give the best possible sound when listening to heavy music. Heavy metal, technical death metal, doom metal, hard rock, you name it. Anything with distorted guitars, driving bass lines, punchy kick drums, and vocals ranging from singing to full-on screaming.
However, we can’t forget the dynamics of subgenres like progressive metal, where you’ll often encounter the softer, melodic side of metal, where clean guitars shimmer with plenty of reverb and delay to create a soundscape you’d think belonged on a Pink Floyd album. Honestly, the Heavys headphones can handle it all.
In terms of design, the Heavys headphones have plenty of features and connection options. The H1H uses a unique 8-driver (four per side) design for sonic annihilation, “Hellblocker Noise Cancelation (ANC)” to keep outside noises at bay, transparent mode, and Bluetooth 5.1 with support for SBC, AAC, and aptX adaptive codecs. It also supports wired connection via an included 3.5mm cable, audio over USB-C, and a microphone for taking phone calls.
Capping it off, my favorite feature of the Heavys is the physical volume knob, which doubles as Play/Play button. I love that you can dial in the exact volume of your music rather than relying on increments from your phone buttons. Did I mention you can also make the H1H headphones your own with swappable earcup shells?
So, how does the Heavys H1H sound?
As a musician with my own heavy metal band, I was eager to experience the Heavys H1H headphones. Can there indeed be one heavy metal headphone to rule them all? The first thing I noticed about the Heavys headphones is how comfortable they are to wear despite their large size. The headband is cushy, and the earcups are very roomy, providing a quality seal around my ear. With the “Hellblocker” noise canceling engaged, I quickly cued up my go-to reference album, Opeth’s Ghost Reveries, and began my journey.
The chart below shows the frequency response of the Heavys headphones with “Hellblocker” ANC on versus off while using the available aptX codec. Unfortunately, you do lose a bit of bass response when activating the Hellblocker ANC, but we hardly see a change in treble frequencies.
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This is always nice to see. Aside from the minor dip around the 11.5kHz range, the frequency response barely changes when listening via audio over USB-C—a negligible difference, if anything.
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Hearing the clean opening chords of the album’s opening track, Ghost of Perdition, I knew we were off to a good start. The details of the timed delay effect accompanying the isolated opening clean guitar chords can be heard. As the rest of the band kicks in, I’m immediately satisfied with the low-end punch from the kick drum and the snap from the snare drum. The distorted guitars sound crip with good definition, not to mention the clarity and separation of the Hammond and Moog synths that add an extra layer to this progressive metal soundscape. Before I knew it, the 10-and-a-half-minute track ended, so it was time to put on something a little… heavier.
Born in Dissonance is a grooving yet complex metal track drenched in polyrhythms by Swedish heavy metal titans Meshuggah. The low-end resonance of Fredrik and Mårten’s 8-string Ibanez guitars sounds enormous in the roomy earpads, while the steady rhythmic pulse of Dick’s semi-distorted bass guitar and Thomas’s kick drum locked in together had me air drumming in no time.
Lastly, I knew I had to crank up a classic for good measure. Cueing up Holy Diver by Dio seals the deal for me. The first thing I noticed was the excellent separation of all the instruments on this track, especially regarding the mid-heavy left and right rhythm guitars, not to mention the details of the reverberated snare tone. Of course, Ronny’s voice is sounding as powerful as ever. Overall, the Heavys headphones are undoubtedly an ideal pair of cans to enjoy your favorite heavy tunes.
Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS)
The chart below shows how the sound of the Heavys H1H headphones was assessed by the Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Score (MDAQS) algorithm from HEAD acoustics.
The simulated panel of listeners returned incredibly high scores for Timber and Immersiveness, with a decent score for Distortion as well. Turning ANC off dropped the Distortion score a hair, but with an overall MDAQS rating of 4.9, by this measure, we can’t argue that the Heavys headphones are some of the best headphones we’ve tested, and most people will enjoy their sound.
Yes. The Heavys headphones offer a transparent mode to help you stay aware of your surroundings while listening to music.
Should you buy the Heavys H1H?
The Heavys H1H headphones are an excellent pair of over-ear headphones for sitting down and enjoying all the details of your favorite heavy music. On the other hand, if you are just flipping through Spotify on your short commute to work, there are cheaper alternatives out there.
In my years of touring with my band, I noticed plenty of metalheads enjoy collecting vinyl and appreciate all the tangible details that come with it. The ritual of listening to your favorite album from start to finish. Taking in the incredible artwork. With or without its wired connection, this scenario is the perfect time to “unplug from the world.” Put on the Heavys headphones, and enjoy the finer details of your favorite tune, and by the finer details, I mean a double kick drum rattling your brain, the crisp, impactful chug of a palm-muted electric guitar in your ear, and the overall sound of heavy music, the way it’s meant to be heard. Rock on!
Frequently Asked Questions:
Yes, you can take calls while connected to the H1H headphones.
Not really. They are large and don’t have any water resistance rating.
The Heavys aren’t as ideal for gaming as the best gaming headsets, but yes, they can be used.
The Heavys’ headquarters is in New York City, but the headphones are manufactured in Denmark.