I might be wrong, but would anything with a smile-shaped frequency response sound better at low volumes because our ears pick up on midrange and vocal frequencies easier? The most accentuated the bass and treble, the more extended and detailed they will feel at lower volumes.

GS1000 has a slight smile. Ultrasone does too. Beyerdynamic DT880 is supposed to have slightly recessed mids. I like regular Grados for low volume despite their forward midrange, probably because of bright treble and the fact that their bass doesn't extend even at high volume.

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You are right Fletcher Munson curves

My Grado RS2i is great for low volume listening, so I assume the GS1000 would also be great. IMO, none of my Senn or Beyerdyanamic headphones come close.

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I'll have to check that out. I have only had mine for about 3 weeks and have not done that much low-volume listening with them, but they seemed to be pretty good, though certainly not as good as the GS1000 was. Here's the curves compared - they are quite different in their response:



I'd agree, they don't set any standards at low-level, but I have not thought they were bad there either and haven't experienced the 'lost vocals' you speak of. What amp are your using to make this observation? As I said, the GS1000 would clearly get the crown, and if you were going to do a whole lot of low-level listening, that would be my choice.

I think my ATH W5000 sound great at low volumes. They sound great pumped up too, LOL.

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I am using a WA5 amp for listening with my HD800s and the phones aren't as pleasing as my Stax SR-007 or even my ATH-W1000X at lower levels, which might be beacause the HD800s have a more linear frequency curve. What might also be cause of the problem is that my tubes (EML 300B) are very airy and transparent, which might be a little too much considering how thin the HD800s can be at times.

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I've been listening at fairly low volumes this morning to a whole bunch of cuts with vocals to compare to your observations. No such problem with overly recessed vocals...or even mildly so. Vocals are still quite immediate, and overall the presentation remains quite linear to me. I'm listening with a WA6SEm so that may have something to do with the difference I'm hearing. HD800's are quite nice to my ears at low volumes in my setup. I no longer have GS1000's to compare directly, but I was consistently impressed by low volume listening with those. At low volumes they occurred to me as more detailed than what I'm hearing right now, whereas, if I can criticize the HD800's for anything at low volumes it would be in losing some of the very resolving quality it has at higher volumes. The GS1000's did not seem to suffer that loss as much, as I recall.

I guess that oqvist is right when he asys that Ultrasone is siuted at least the =933&graphID[]=323]PRO 900

The AKG K1000 sounds good in low volume when they are poorly amped and the speakers are left completely closed. I am yet to test them with a proper amp so dont really know the true potential of the K1000. Atleast they are better than HD600 for now

I think my GS1000's are amazing at lower levels, much better than the T1, SR325, K701, HE-5 etc that I owned.  With the GS1000, you don't feel like you are mising any detail or bass at low levels, they are quite incredible in this regard. 
 
At normal levels, I also love them, and contrary to many criticisms, I think they hold up well to the best out there.  My T1's are my #1, but the GS1000 is a very close #2.

+1 for GS1000. They're in their own league when it comes to low volume.

My HD800 is great for low volume as long as I turn the upsampling feature on with the DA100, which brings vocals more forward and bring everything on more of a even plane.  Otherwise, it does sound too distant at lower volumes.