Maybe I'll give the balanced 650s a go when I get home and a/b them with k701s.

Uhm, what? There's just the right amount of separation on the C notes during the kick drum sequences for me at least. It's a little less clear than the G notes. No fancy schmancy expensive cables used here, or anything. But i don't know if it "should" be clearer than what it is

I suppose this could also be very dependent on the listener, and how this person preceives mainly frequency masking.

Quote:



With ideal sound reproduction devices, the difference and separation should be very dramatic, not subtle at all. When I listen on my K+H O300D's, as soon as the higher note plays, all of the body and weight of the bottom end suddenly gets sucked out and practically feels like they just vanished, and when the lower note comes back, that beefy bottom end magically reappears. The difference is night and day, and surprised the hell out of me when I first listened to that track on the O300D's.

I doubt any headphone can resolve that kind of bass detail, no matter the price. I'm guessing it's a limit of the physical properties of headphones--you just can't beat physics I suppose.