I spend a lot of time in the amp forums, and the single biggest question is 'how can I inject some bass into these phones ?'. I think many of us are going about it the wrong way - wouldnt it be easier to just buy something from Ultrasone/Denon and take it from there ?
Personally, I found the coloration of the DJ1 lost its gloss fairly quickly, but (fwir) higher models in the Ultrasone range have a more balanced sound, but still retain that solid bass impact. It seems to me that spending $400 on something like the Pro 750 makes more sense than spending $500+ on a succession of amps that cant inject bass into headphones that simply werent designed to deliver 'thumping' levels of bass. Know thy headphones and thy sources - the rest will follow thee to bass heaven.
I dont really have a dog in this fight - I like the tight bass from my AD900/Grado phones - but this seems like a good place to raise the issue and offer a possible solution.
It's the same price as a Cowon I9 or a used Cowon S9. The Cowon gives me all the bass and details I'd want and more than I can handle =P Cowon and Sony XBs will shake your head... Not that I'm suggesting you to max out the bass like that, but it can. I'm still questioning the need of buying an amplifier for the HFI 580 or Sony XBs... They're very efficient. If anything, you want them to bring out more of the bass, not give them more current. I didn't notice much difference between my HFI 580 through my Cowon or through my home system.
