The Basshead Club - Page 342

Thanks. I was rooting for the XB1k, but I guess it's a pretty niche headphone. I wonder how my headphones compare to the sdj's. 

For a bass-head can? Not a whole lot. The Signature Pro is similar, but more expensive. To truly outclass the SDJ for a bassy can, you gotta step all the way up to TH900 or maybe LCD 3 (if that's really bassy enough) at $2k. 

@SoundFreaq- glad you are loving the Sig DJ as much as I do.  Great comparison.  I agree 100% with your comments.

It seems like many of us purchase multiple headphones since some do some things better than others.  If I knew a year ago what I know now, I would have only purchased the Signature DJ for all my listening and called it a day.  Although, if the Signature DJ never existed, I would be content with the M-100.
 

Judging from the photo, the Signature DJ's don't appear to be much larger than the M100's.

Well, I'm playing with my Magni right now, and I have to say. It's a pretty good amp. It sounds more "analog" than I like, but it's very powerful. I almost blew my headphones when I plugged it in. Out of the box, with no eq adjustments and whatnot, it's a pretty weak amp, but the special thing about this amp is that once you up the volume on your player, eq up the bass, adjust the gain settings on your player, etc. this thing becomes a monster begging for more. It clearly outclasses my receiver in every aspect outside of the tone control feature (adjust bass, treble dB), and the magni can take much more power than the receiver. In fact, my headphones start physically distorting before the amp gives out. It was the opposite with my receiver. 

As far as audio quality goes, there is more resolution in the higher frequencies, the bass sounds kind of bloated compared to my previous setup, and there's better separation. I'm guessing the extra power is allowing my drivers to stretch their legs out some more. 

Right now I'm fiddling with it to find the equilibrium of bass quantity and quality, using the E17 as my DAC, and F2k as my player. I'm basically having to go through everything that I went through with my receiver to get the sound right (takes a while), but I have high hopes for my rig when it's all said and done. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by retrophonic 

Judging from the photo, the Signature DJ's don't appear to be much larger than the M100's.

The SDJ is pretty portable, but it's nowhere as portable as the M-100. The angle of the photo is a bit deceiving. The M-100 folds up into a tiny little awesome package. 

MMM are a great pair of headphones. I wouldnt say $300 worth but SC always puts up 40-50% off coupons for the holidays.  Hard to beat headphones for $150. A little sloppy at first, but after a decent burn in they are great. Very warm soundstage. Upfront and punchy bass, but not sloppy or having an issue with overflow. Its a very love or hate headphone. Sound stage leaves a bit to be desired but its great for any sort of electronic (Dub, trance, techno, house), blues, R&B, and even nocturne's. I would not reccoend them for rock, jam, pop, opera, classical, etc.  
 

As a side note the clamp force is quite powerful. I had to use some cotton in the ear pads to balance out the pressure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoundFreaq 

 

 

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

 

You got it!

 

In order of personal preference:

 

1. Signature DJ: Robust, high quality bass, tight and punchy. Smooth mids, sparkly treble without being too hot at all. A perfect compliment to the bass. Soundstage and imaging both top notch. This was far and away my favorite headphone. It's just so clean, not only was it the best bass can, but it was also the best all-rounder. I should note that this is my second pair of SDJ's. I got rid of the first pair as they didn't do anything for me that my Sig Pro couldn't do, and better at that. But after reading more impressions and finding that my impressions were different, I decided to bring them in again. This second pair is quite different that the first pair I had. Bass seems cleaner, the highs much more tame, and the sound stage increased. I love the second pair. The discrepancy is in keeping with other people's findings as well. Seems the Signature line is kind of all over the place, with major QC issues from Ultrasone. 

 

2. V-Moda M-100: I am just so impressed with this headphone! V-Moda nailed it. I can't believe I am getting such robust, crisp sound, and an expansive sound stage out of such a small package! Compared to the SDJ, it's not as clean, but it is so very impressive. I far preferred it to the classic Pro 900, and it edged out the Denon D2000. V-Moda's sound is much more forward and in-your-face than the Denon, making it sound laid-back in comparison. This is my top recommendation now for a bass can in the sub $1k realm. 

 

3. Denon D2000: This was actually my first time to compare the D2000 to the Pro 900 head on. The D2000 has more sub-bass, and more forward mids. To me the Denon had a much more rich sound, more depth. I prefer the sub-bass slant. It sounded cleaner and warmer than the Pro 900. The Denon is a classic for a reason. Top notch headphone. 

 

4. Pro 900: I've talked about the Pro 900 ad nauseum. Harsh, bright highs, sucked out midrange, and tons of rumbly mid-bass. Punchy, but the quality not on par with the others. I've bought and sold 2 pair trying to make them work. Not for me. 

 

Unranked: XB1000 - Without EQ, my least favorite. With EQ, maybe second favorite. These are my EQ-to-sound-like-I'm-in-the-club headphone. Slammin, tight bass. A bit of a cavernous sound. Big and spacious. Don't like the mids and highs. Lots of detail missing. Bass is great. Best club-feeling, with EQ, headphone I own. Only the MG6Pro bests it. 

 

 

Short and sweet. Very well done. 

I think a much more interesting comparison would be the new ATH-WS99 vs M100. Since ATH-WS99 is new and not available outside asia yet it's not well known yet (but you can buy from for example Accessoryjack) it doesn't often get recommended yet. Dannyboi should be having a comparison of those two soon. Denon D2000 is pretty different kind of sound/headphone vs M100 while ATH-WS99 is probably much more similar kind of type. D2k is more a "laid-back"/distant sound with subbass focus without much punch (midbass) and slight highs emphasis while M100 is a punchy yet controlled bassheadphone and more "in-your-face"/engaging sounding in comparision. So it's comparing apples vs oranges while ATH-WS99 seems to be much more close to M100's sound signature and is more like comparing oranges vs mandarin so it will come a lot down to personal taste how you want it to sound in that case if comparing D2k vs M100.

House tracks like that use both strong midbass and fill it out with quite a lot of subbass too, it's using both really. The initial "thump/thud" you hear is the midbass and then it's filled out with subbass to sound fullier. For house I'd prefer a punchier kind of bass like M100 and ATH-WS99.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oregonian 

 

No idea, since this is my first Beyer phone period.  Very light, comfortable, great bass phone.  Perfect clamp force.  Hard to believe anyone not happy with the bass or even not thinking they are a basshead phone.  Seriously, after trying out the Mad Dogs, the instant I started listening to them I knew they were going back.  The instant these DT770's started playing I knew they were keepers.  Then again, maybe the other ohm models are different.  Been listening to these a couple hours this morning and I'm very pleased.  They go deeper than the Q40's so at this point I probably rank them a touch higher.

 

I will have to do an A/B side by side vs the Q40's. 

I heard that the Mad Dogs are pretty balanced. Do they not have enough bass for you? How does the mid range and soundstage compare to your DT 770 and Q40? 

I had the DT 770 Pro 80 a while back and I much preferred it over the Q40.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoundFreaq 

Unranked: XB1000 - Without EQ, my least favorite. With EQ, maybe second favorite. These are my EQ-to-sound-like-I'm-in-the-club headphone. Slammin, tight bass. A bit of a cavernous sound. Big and spacious. Don't like the mids and highs. Lots of detail missing. Bass is great. Best club-feeling, with EQ, headphone I own. Only the MG6Pro bests it. 

How true there, in total agreement. Unamped, the XB1000 is really quite sub-par, and was quite disappointing as a famed "XB" can. Still, when amped, they really, really shine.

I've finally got my hands on the XB900. It took me quite a while to find one, though. Initial impressions are good - it is very bassy indeed. Can't wait to play around with them even more!