Sony xb500, am I deaf?

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7Virtues 

I bought these expecting a lot of hit you in the face bass. I get almost none. By none I mean its no different that any other non bass headphone I've used.

 

I do get a lot on certain songs (can feel a rattle), but only if I hook my ipod up to my fiio e6 and turn on bass boost....

 

Do I have a bad model or bad ears? I hear bass just fine in my car or home theater etc.. 

Well you're just used to more bass than headphones can provide as car subs != headphones. The strongest bass experience you'd experience is probably XB500 paired with digiZoid ZO2 amp with max bass boost level, that should tickle your face with bass. You'll never get bass you feel in your whole body though from headphones.

Either you're listening to songs that were likely mastered with full-sized sub arrays in mind that would otherwise not provide a lot of bass in songs coming from even the most bass-oriented headphones, or you are going deaf.  There's also the possibility that you're just so used to the bass headache that is full-sized sub arrays in small enclosures.

What songs in particular are you listening to? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7Virtues 

I don't think I'm going deaf, like I said I can hear bass in cars/movies/theater etc... 

Bass, especially in these situations when you have huge subwoofers pointed at you, is felt more than heard.

Again, what songs in particular are you using?  

You're listening through your computer?  XB500 doesn't particularly improve too much from amp, so that tells me your computer's internal soundcard is very bad, especially considering you're saying you feel it's no different than a pair of apple earbuds.  Lil-Jon Get Low has a little low bass, but mastered to the point that it'd be way less apparent on a pair of  bass heavy headphones compared to full sized subwoofers.  I've heard considerably more bassy songs than that.

Also if you're trying to get bass that makes your headphones rattle, you will most certainly lose hearing over time.  If you're going for impact alone, then you need to steer clear of headphones.  A headphone's advantage is the ability to hear the lowest bass tones with minimal price investment.  Impact is a speaker's advantage.

your thoughts make me curious. i'll buy an xb500 tomorrow and see.

i have before and listened to them for about 30 secs before deciding they weren't for me because they sounded veiled.

this time, i'll burn them and see how the bass is.

especially compared to my hm5's since you say it doesn't seem different from normal warm phones.

I am not too sure how the 3rd gen touch's amp/dac are, but I have the 4th gen and it is pretty good. I'd assume the 3rd gen is pretty decent as well, at least decent enough to not have a severe bass rolloff.

Try Trentemøller: The Last Resort (album), or James Blake Limit to your Love.  

If those don't have a lot of bass for you, then you're very used to the amount of bass full sized subs through at you in small spaces, and you need to stay clear of them for a while.  The body is adaptive and the aural memory is very bad, so the more time you spend away from anything that pisses your neighbors off the better you'll hear bass from headphones.