Bought HD650 - confused about sound quality

The HD650 is not designed to have a lot of bass, it reproduces the amount of bass in the source more or less accurately. The PortaPro has a few dB of bass emphasis. So, your HD650 is probably neither fake, nor damaged.

 

Edited by stv014 - 11/19/11 at 11:45am

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Edited by thelostMIDrange - 12/27/11 at 12:33pm

If you want a higher-end pair of headphones with tons of bass, the Denon Dx000 series would probably work better for you.  I believe the D2000 is priced similarly to the HD650?

Bass quantity is not the sole metric of sound quality. The goal of hifi is to accurately reproduce recorded sound. By that standard, your PortaPros were worse---they were adding bass that wasn't really in the recording.

My advise is to listen to only the HD650 for two weeks. After that time, listen to the PortaPros again. They'll probably sound muddy and bloated to you.

On the other hand, you might just be a bass head.

Also, I was never excited by the 650 until I heard it out of a *really* good amp. That still doesn't mean inflated bass. Better textured, better defined, and faster: yes. More bass: no.

Nobody denies your finding :D. I think your best bet is, as it's been said before, to listen to the HD650 exclusively for a short while and see what you think of the Porta Pro afterward. If you're still craving for more bass, then it's not for you. Or maybe you'll discover more virtues to your HD650 by changing the DAC and the amp.

You've possibly been a victim of modern age bass-emphasized music and systems.  

 

Get a pair of Denons if you want a clear sound bust still need the bass slam to satisfy your inner basshead, or consider speakers instead of headphones.  A speaker system has the ability to provide extremely full bodied and visceral bass while being neutral; a headphone can not.

 

Think of this as the beginning of your journey as a Bass-Head into the world of totally awesome bass, versus bass that is muddy and bloated. Learn to pick out the texture and timbre of the instruments that make those sweet lower notes; investigate where they're coming from around your ears and what you like about particular ones. The good news is that you have an excellent tool to do this with now: the HD650 is capable of incredibly accurate bass reproduction when controlled properly from a decent source. 

 

And, hey, if you don't like the HD650, investigate other good-bass headphones! The W1000X and the various high end Denons also do incredibly well with replication of lower frequencies. It's a great time to be a headphone fan, the possibilities are endless!

 

^ That's your problem.  If you don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on your source gear, consider some Denons, as others have stated, or Ultrasones; my Pro750's have tremendous bass response.

You could try to equalize the H650's. Giving a 4-6dB boost to 311 and below certainly gives a nice boost, but in my opinion this makes them sound a bit muddy. Probably because I'm used to the normal sound signature of the HD650's.
I do think it's definitely worth a try in your situation though. You will probably find that doing this will increase the quantity, but reduce the quality.

Nope, to my ears, the PortaPro's bass does not match BOTH quality and quantity of bass. The HD 650 extends deeper, and is significantly less muddy.

 

 

It might be the earpads, where did you buy your HD 650?

That's weird, because their FR graph clearly show a bass emphasis.