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Is there a difference in presence of bass between an ortho and a dynamic hp?(revised)

post #1 of 7
6/22/11 at 1:33am
Thread Starter 

  Hi.  I have been curious lately about a couple things that lead to me wondering about the presence of bass on different headphones.

 

  First off, If i'm mainly listening to just mp3 player music that was intended to be played as an mp3, am i wasting my time on an audiophile headphone.  I enjoy music that makes me smile and feel like i'm floating through space but that's mainly the musician's job. If they think they can accomplish that with an mp3 file then what would that song sound like out of good equipment. I've read that it will be over analytical.

 So i don't think i would want such a beautifuly structured and engineered peace of equipment like an orthodynamic.....right now( although i very much want one!!!) but more of the feel of a dynamic driver due to the way they present bass.  I do not understand how an ortho driver works but from what i can tell it doesn't have the same rumbling capabilities that a dynamic driver does by pushing and pulling the cone via voicecoil and magnet. 

  Does anyone think they can accurately describe the difference when hearing and feeling the bass of a dynamic compared to an ortho?  Thanks guys.  Proud to be a head-fier.

 


Edited by NewMACAdress - 6/22/11 at 9:35am
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post #2 of 7
6/22/11 at 6:46am

In short; yes. Orthos can have big surfaces with strong motors and low distortion, this can lead to very good bass. But that's in theory; it will depend on the particular design and voicing of the headphone if it will suit your own taste. 

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post #3 of 7
6/22/11 at 9:36am
Thread Starter 

Thanks Jade but i ended up revising my post lol.  I was quite tired last night and was rambling lol.

 

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post #4 of 7
6/23/11 at 1:12pm

As a blanket statement:

No, nobody can define a predictable difference between the bass from an orthodynamic, conventional "cone & coil" dynamic, electrostatic headphone, or other driver types.

 

There are theoretical advantages & disadvantages to each driver type, but ultimately decisions and compromises made by the headphone designers will trump them.

 

The generally favorable opinion towards electrostatic & ortho headphones is not necessarily that they are superior technology to conventional dynamics, its that the consumers of these products form a smaller portion of the market and generally want a certain sound. Once you have a specific & reasonably well defined goal in mind it's easy to achieve using any technology. Dynamic headphone designers have shown that when they put an honest amount of effort into it they can (and do) build headphones that are VERY suitable for this niche of the market. The problem for dynamic headphone designers is that the low end garbage gets associated with their honest efforts at building quality gear. 

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post #5 of 7
6/23/11 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JadeEast View Post

In short; yes. Orthos can have big surfaces with strong motors and low distortion, this can lead to very good bass. But that's in theory; it will depend on the particular design and voicing of the headphone if it will suit your own taste. 


Hi JadeEast, I just want to mention that most Orthos have large surface drivers, but not all. For instance, the Fostex T50rp drivers I transplanted into another set of earcups are not that big but produce deep and very good bass. 

 

I've been curious as to the reason for this. Maybe the particular membrane material used by Fostex is more flexible and responds better to the energy of the bass frequencies, or perhaps it has to do with the specific Neodynium magnets. Whatever the reason, the bass can be just crazy from the Fostex despite the modest size of the rectangular drivers.

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post #6 of 7
6/23/11 at 3:08pm

Agreed. A good look at some of the driver technology has been posted over on the innerfidelity blog. Maybe some answers there. 

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post #7 of 7
6/23/11 at 4:04pm
Thread Starter 

So there is a diaphram that can move airwaves by forcing an electric current through an isodynamic field. cool

Thanks for that link

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