Sony XB-500... Wow! :)

Great you like them, maybe you can see now why I often recommend them. :p In fact I prefered these even over the Beyer DT770 Pro/80, will be interesting to see your opinion, so please post your comparisions later, it would be very interesting to hear.

There's a possibility you prefer warm sound which XB500 have, "full" description is actually pretty good for the XB500, they are very warm which gets this "meaty"/forward/aggressive sound which is quite opposite to what DT770 Pro are, these are more laid-back, "thin" sounding, I will make a bet at this point and guess you will actually prefer XB500 cuz usually you like either of these but not both because they are quite the opposite sounding IMO except for both got strong bass (XB500 a bit stronger).

it's hard to listen to other headphones right after using the XB500's. the bass quantity is just ridiculous. glad you like them, they are a unique headphone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonb 

it's hard to listen to other headphones right after using the XB500's. the bass quantity is just ridiculous. glad you like them, they are a unique headphone.

I don't only compare bass you know. I usually EQ out the bass to the bottom of the EQ after that's tested to focus on mids and highs and I like those just as much as I like the bass. It's just everything happen to fit perfectly for my taste on XB500, the warm sound, the deep vs upper bass balance, the unusually up-front mids for a headphone in this price category whit lots of fine details in it , the smooth highs with no sibilance present whatsoever and doesn't become harsh/ear piercing when boosting them either while still providing more detail. As long as you're not a fan of very laid-back sound and hate bass with as great instrument separation as possible with boosted highs then it's very hard to not like XB500 IMO. They are definitely "fun" headphones meant for providing great enjoyable music listening experience, not the type you want for studio use/analytical listening. :p

i never implied that you did.

i do kinda like the XB500, i have a pair. i just find the bass to be to much for most of my music, and i can't always use an EQ. actually i never tried any EQ on them because a good portion of my music listening is done on Rdio.com, and there is no way for me to EQ it. i can use an EQ when i listen to my FLAC files or Shoutcast streams, but that's it.

the mids also sounded drowned out by the bass, but i'd assume an EQ may help this. i listen to mostly metal and progressive rock which un-EQed these do not sound good on.

they do sound hella fun on dubstep and bassy stuff like that, but i get to tempted to crank it up. these things are definitely capable of causing serious hearing damage and i prefer not to lessen my hearing. they do have a time and a place though.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPGWiZaRD 

I don't only compare bass you know. I usually EQ out the bass to the bottom of the EQ after that's tested to focus on mids and highs and I like those just as much as I like the bass. It's just everything happen to fit perfectly for my taste on XB500, the warm sound, the deep vs upper bass balance, the unusually up-front mids for a headphone in this price category whit lots of fine details in it , the smooth highs with no sibilance present whatsoever and doesn't become harsh/ear piercing when boosting them either while still providing more detail. As long as you're not a fan of very laid-back sound and hate bass with as great instrument separation as possible with boosted highs then it's very hard to not like XB500 IMO. They are definitely "fun" headphones meant for providing great enjoyable music listening experience, not the type you want for studio use/analytical listening. :p

Yea unEQd I'd agree that probably some users would be overhelmed by the upper bass especially in the 125 - 250Hz range which kinda masks up the fine details in the mids especially but they have changed a bit with time as well for me (now got ~1000hrs on them), I needed more EQing at first to get the optimal sound, now I need very tiny adjustments for it to sound just about right (right amount treble vs bass) as the highs have come out more to what it sounded at first. I would show my EQ setting in case I wouldn't be at parents place. I only use them at my computer and I tweak the soundcard driver's EQ which is applied then for basicly everything. 

yea, it doesn't work like that in my setup. i use a USB DAC so i no longer have any system wide sound card settings. i also now use Ubuntu linux and there is no system wide soundcard EQ anyway. i just prefer my HD650's, so they get used 99% of the time.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPGWiZaRD 

Yea unEQd I'd agree that probably some users would be overhelmed by the upper bass especially in the 125 - 250Hz range which kinda masks up the fine details in the mids especially but they have changed a bit with time as well for me (now got ~1000hrs on them), I needed more EQing at first to get the optimal sound, now I need very tiny adjustments for it to sound just about right (right amount treble vs bass) as the highs have come out more to what it sounded at first. I would show my EQ setting in case I wouldn't be at parents place. I only use them at my computer and I tweak the soundcard driver's EQ which is applied then for basicly everything. 

How would you guys compare the xb700 to the xb500? i have the 700 and once listened to the 500 in a store. but when for the 700,

Glad you're liking the XB500, they are a delightfully bassy treat.

Fantastic synergy with the gumstick player too.

the xb500 and xb700 have the same overall bass quantity. xb500 has more mid-bass though and will sound warmer.  other than the bass i have no idea.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamesMcProgger 

How would you guys compare the xb700 to the xb500? i have the 700 and once listened to the 500 in a store. but when for the 700,

Here's some "minimalistic" EQ setting I draw in excel quickly which should be quite close to how I have them EQ'd using the minimalistic setting, I also use another EQ setting with greater boosted values with more bass etc for more aggressive/warm sound but this is to just balance out the sound.

the numbers on the left are in single db? if so those adjustments are so small they will barely even be noticeable. our ears can just barely tell a 1 db difference.

if i was to EQ the XB500 i would be cutting more like 5-6db from about 80hz and lower. probably about 8db at 200hz or so. then they would still sound more bassy than my HD650's.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPGWiZaRD 

Here's some "minimalistic" EQ setting I draw in excel quickly which should be quite close to how I have them EQ'd using the minimalistic setting, I also use another EQ setting with greater boosted values with more bass etc for more aggressive/warm sound but this is to just balance out the sound.