_UPDATES_:
[2013/01/19]
added Klipsch S4, Creative EP-630i, clarified target audience of thread; reverted passing grade for Klipsch S4 to fail; changed bass timbre of Klipsch S4 and Sony MH1/MH1-C; revised final comments
[2013/01/17]
added Black Metal music for testing sibilance; reverted negative Sony MH1/MH1-C review to favorable after testing with Black Metal; retracted recommendation of JVC HA-FX101 for Black Metal
[2013/01/15]
rewrote everything; added Fake Sennheiser IE8, Luda SL99
[Planned update]
Monster Turbine is first on my to-buy-next list; will attempt to make frequency response graphs using a rudimentary set-up with RightMark Audio Analyzer
_Target Audience_:
Whenever a new member asks for headphones with "the most amount of quality bass" at head-fi, the poor inquirer becomes prey to audiophile recommendations that completely sidestep the demand at hand. While such feedback might be well-intentioned and could introduce the listener to a world of high-fidelity that she never thought she would've wanted, I say just give her the bass she wants. Tons of it. (You'll often see HiFiMan RE0 being solicited for bass, and just as frequently regretful threads are started because of it.) This compromise from the initial criterion is a "weighting mistake" prevalent in decision-making.
_Simple Bass Test_:
The first thing I look for in headphones is their ability to drive lower frequencies up to my loudness threshold without distortion and with minimal mudiness. A significant determinant includes the timbre of the bass, which I will efficiently communicate through onomatopoeia (the acoustic significance of this linguistic phenomenon is demonstrated by beatboxing). The timbre should be deep and full, like an explosion contained in an instant ("TUUD"), and it should not sound bloated from a boosted midtohigh-bass ("TOUG"). Once this requirement is passed, I proceed to judge the rest. You'll be surprised how HYPED HEADPHONES IN THIS WEBSITE FAILED THIS SIMPLE TEST.
I am not an audiophile not just by my student budget, but because fidelity is not my top priority: I believe that all music are not made equal, and I prefer boosting the lower frequencies using equalizers and DFX filters as music in various eras for mass production follow industry standards that are not suited for me. Currently I'm exploring the world of Denpa music (anisong, chiptune, the Akihabara musical) but I am proud of my encyclopædic knowledge of metal. While most metal and rock music are driven by distortion guitars--thus the reduced need for clarity--some of the best bands are more versatile and include clean vocals (Opeth, Anathema), classical guitar/clean amp (Yngwie), a full orchestra (Rhapsody, Nightwish), other musical instruments and modern computer generated sounds/post-processing.
It is a good decision to start with cheap headphones in my situation, for many reasons: The marginal utility of headphones rapidly approaches zero beyond the $100 mark--you can easily choose a cheap headphone with a similar frequency response (flat, v-shaped, and so on; compare graphs here and here) as a thousand dollar pair (within the frequency response range of the cheap one), and if the cheap headphones are done right (and you can find many featured here) they will pass tests on clarity, muddiness, distortion, isolation, etc.; not only that, but they will certainly pass double-blind experiments (if the test subjects are blindfolded and a mechanism is introduced so that the different shapes and textures of housings are eliminated as factors). If I can return $400 IEM's after trying them out, I would. I haven't tried it except yesterday when I returned a pair that was claimed to be better than the Klipsch S4. If you're just reading opinions and looking at measurements without a reference that you yourself have experienced firsthand, and you're about to jump on a $400 pair ... in the words of Nassim Taleb, you're just being a sucker. (I myself have been a sucker just this December after spending $300 on various hyped budget headphones ... but it's a long story of an excuse.)
I like my music loud. As loud as I can bear. And there are times in a day when I just want to immerse myself in the stampede of drums, so I emphasize it with various post-processing enhancements (DSP Manager for Android and Jetaudio Plus for Android and Fiio E5 portable amp). Only the Sennheiser CX line gave me this experience. The CX300 was the first. The CXL400 was a significant upgrade over the CX300 in terms of bass and soundstage. The CX870 came next, which disappointed me at first until I tweaked my setup to drive the headphones like the CXL400. These Sennheisers are already discontinued. Only fakes are left in the market (I tried a fake CX300 and the sound quality is noticeably worse than the original) except for the CX870, which is currently available for $32 from an authorized seller. Although I don't recommend getting the CX870 unless you can conveniently drive them (equalizer, DFX, amp). If you want to try authentic CX300's, you should get the rebranded ones from Creative, the Creative EP-630 for $21 which are the same thing
I have zero knowledge how the aforementioned discontinued Sennheiser models compare with the current ones and I still am researching about them, although at this point I have mostly given up. A lot of head-fi members use the word "veil" to describe Sennheiser's signature sound which seems to be present across the model hierarchy. As a fan of Sennheiser I am naturally inclined to call BS.
When I find myself being adviced by a head-fier who uses the word "accuracy" a lot, I follow the efficient heuristic of running away. I mean, if you were me, and you hate it when modern recording techniques make modern metal music sound heavier than those recorded in the early 80's (Judas Priest's Painkiller album was released in 1990 and it features sound production that rivals today's), then you would require heavy use of DFX settings to alter the timbre/tonal quality of the bass and equalizers to boost the enhanced bass. The legendary power metal albums by Helloween for example sound dated and flat to my young ears, but after modifying them the double bass pedals pound as if remastered by Flemming Rasmussen. "To listen to music as they were intended" is a weak argument. Of course, accurate, high-fidelity headphones with a flat frequency response should be ideal even for me as long as they can reproduce the overprocessed signal I'm sending them. But from the small number of audiophile headphones I tested, they all cracked.
It is a strong argument for accuracy/fidelity that signal modification should be left to the equipment and headphones should just focus on signal reproduction. The perception of sound however is the ultimate deal-breaker. When I compare a "bass enhanced" IEM like CX870 to a flat hi-fi IEM like RE0, since I'm using the same equipment and the same enhanced signal, the already enhanced signal gets additional "enhancements" from the CX870 thus they seem to sound "better" than the RE0's which appear to whisper. But since we're talking about experiences, how I experience the sound is the end of it.
_Headphones list_:
- Sennheiser CX300 (genuine, $20 sold by Amazon.com, not marketplace)
- Philips SHE3580 ($7 from ebay)
- Sennheiser CX485 for small ears ($20 sold by Newegg.com; not related to CX400)
- Grado SR60 ($50 sold by Amazon.com)
- Sony MH1 ($25 from ebay)
- Sony MH1-C ($28 from ebay)
- Soundmagic E10 ($35 sold by Amazon.com)
- JVC HA-FX101 ($15 sold by Amazon.com)
- Sennheiser CX870 (genuine, $30 sold by JR.com)
- Sennheiser CXL400 (genuine, $20 sold by Newegg.com; CX400 with lanyard/neck cable)
- Sennheiser HD555 (borrowed from an audiophile engineer)
- Sennheiser HD598 (borrowed)
- HiFiMan RE0 (borrowed)
- Audio-Technica ATH-EM9r (borrowed)
- Fake Sennheiser IE8 ($27 from aliexpress.com)
- Luda SL99 ($49.90 from staples) (I bought this because the only other basshead I seem to get along with in head-fi and many reviews at bestbuy.com swore that it is better than the Klipsch S4.)
- Klipsch S4 (genuine, $42 sold by Amazon.com)
- Creative EP-630i (genuine, $15 sold by Amazon.com)
_Equipment_:
The following setup gives me a much better sound than my Cowon iAudio U3:
- Phone and OS: LG P500 with Cyanogenmod 10 using DSP Manager (from Cyanogenmod) with Bass Boost set to extreme, Loudness Compensation set to strongest, and Equalizer set to Rock
- Media Player: JetAudio for Android with X-Bass set to 100 and Equalizer set to Heavy Metal 2 X2 and volume at half.
- Amplifier: Fiio E5 portable amp with bass boost turned on and volume at maximum.
- 3.5mm Y stereo adapter for simultaneous comparison.
_Test_:
The following files are played starting from half the phone volume, slowly increasing up to maximum:
- Symphonic Power Metal Medley (short excerpts from my favorite Nightwish songs with some Dream Theater) - this is a comprehensive "real-world" test which spans the entire audible range, featuring multilayered tracks of soprano vocals, full orchestra and choir, atmospheric piano melodies, rhythm and lead guitars, and power metal drums.
- Blind Guardian – The Wizard (Uriah Heep Cover) - this song starts with acoustic guitar playing and mellow singing great for testing clarity, and then at 45 seconds in the track the bass (not double pedal) pounds alone, great for testing the tonal quality of the bass, and then the music before the drums join in joins in [sic], which is great for testing muddiness.
One of the best things about the music of Blind Guardian is the production: Their albums were produced and mixed by the same engineer behind Metallica's best albums. Comparing the production of various metal albums, Blind Guardian features the best bass kick with the perfect timbre: deep, punchy, booms when necessary, and separates cleanly in double pedals. The latter property of double pedal drumming is one of the most critical areas which most speakers and headphones fail to reproduce without distortion nor lagging. (Another famous quality metal recording studio is Finnvox, home of Stratovarius, Children of Bodom, Nightwish, etc.--the drum tracks recorded here are the gold standard of modern metal music).
The voice of Hansi Kursch of Blind Guardian can be considered the manliest in power metal, quite a feat considering that metal is dominantly a masculine expression with a few exceptions. Hansi has that rasp and power in his voice that surpasses that of Ronnie James Dio (just compare Blind Guardian's Dio cover of Don't Talk to Strangers to the original). Blind Guardian's drummer, Thomen "The Omen" Stauch, is among the world's greatest drummers (just listen to the intro of Script of My Requiem), up there with Dream Theater's Mike Portnoy, Stratovarius's Jorg Michael, and Tool's Danny Carrey.
I recently added Black Metal music to test sibilance. I was under the assumption that since Black Metal is extremely distorted and traditionally underproduced (the kvltist part of it anyway, e.g. early Immortal), it is pointless to test for distortion LOL BUT it turned out that Black Metal is useful for testing sibilance. I forgot that Black Metal features the highest demon screeches in music and amplified high frequency guitar distortion effects.
_Disclaimer_:
This is in no way written to spite the audiophile community. The audiophile/engineer who let me borrow his gear is acutely aware of what he is looking for in his headphones, and he is definitely not a basshead. He seems to prefer a flat frequency response; I’m not entirely sure because that’s one of the few things that materialized in my head after he bombarded me with geek talk which I wish I would finally understand this semester (my mastery of calculus-based physics is only up to sound waves--superposition of wave functions, beats, harmonics, Fourier series; I am taking electricity/circuits and magnetism this spring but until then I have nothing to say about the mechanism of DAC’s nor amps in detail except that I understand how impedance difference causes signal loss). I’m certain however, that when I let him listen to the Sennheiser CX870 (we’re cousins so sharing earwax is okay) he said it has “pretty good bass.”
While I think my sonic demands are modest—I only want to hear the prepubescent high notes of a castrati chorus and the stampede of heavy metal double bass without the crackling sound of incompetent speakers at high volume, just like the memory from my uncle’s $10,000 mobile entertainment system in his G35 when I was a kid—I did not find an affordable solution to meet my needs until I experienced the CX300 (and Logitech Z-5500 speakers) for the first time.
_Result_:
Sennheiser CX300 (genuine, $20 sold by Amazon.com, not marketplace; discontinued, but rebranded alternative by Creative available)
PASSED
Bass timbre: "TUUD"
Recommended.
The headphones I measure others by. Bass check: Deep? Deep. Punchy? Punchy. Booms when necessary? Booms wh-- Separates cleanly in double pedals? Separates clea-- Great! How about everything else? I can transcribe music by ear with this, no problem! Awesome, yeah!
What others call "a small soundstage" may mean "an immersive, intimate relationship with the music" to me. "Boomy" bass? What bass does not explode why would you want the sound of someone kicking a flat tire? The CX300 bass can boom and still stay tight (I noticed that most earbuds without vents are prone to boom). Muddy? My ears are more sensitive to the mid and high frequencies, so if I don't turn the mids relatively lower with an equalizer I would be overwhelmed. These are the main complaints about the CX300 that I've read, but since the CX300 is my first IEM experience, I love it unconditionally the way it is.
The CX300 pictured is my third pair, but that does not mean it is not durable. I'm just clumsy and I clumsily offered my first pair to the sewer while crossing the street. My second pair is missing, and this third is supposedly a backup. I gave it to my mom some time ago and she recently broke the wire. In the picture, the cord near the plug is broken.
Philips SHE3580 ($7 from ebay)
FAILED at higher volumes but passed at normal.
Bass timbre: "Tud"
Not recommended.
While the bass in here is disappointingly weak, it's still stronger than the HiFiMan RE0 (unfair comparison I know). The rest sounds lacking. While I got it for $7 open box, retail costs almost the same as the JVC HA-FX101 so get that instead.
I will try to test this again.
Sennheiser CX485 for small ears ($20 sold by Newegg.com; not related to CX400)
PASSED
Bass timbre: "TUUD"
Not recommended.
While the bass has the same tonal quality as the CX300 and CXL400 ("TUUD" seems to be the Sennheiser "signature sound/color"), it is noticeably lacking in magnitude and size compared to the CX300. It has the same size inner tube as the CX300 and CXL400 but it has smaller buds which I now use with my CXL400, and it feels smaller and more comfortable due to the vents that equalize pressure and the extended body that rests above the earlobe to reduce tension in the canal.
Grado SR60 ($50 sold by Amazon.com; discontinued)
FAILED at higher volumes but passed at normal.
Bass timbre: "Tuhd"
Recommended if disturbing nobody nearby, not recommended over using speakers.
I got this before my IEM experience. Head-fi used to be about Grado SR60 vs Sennheiser PX100. I got both, and PX100 has better bass. SR60 is more comfortable though. Both the SR60 and the PX100 are leagues below the CX300 bass-wise (just look at the graphs at headroom). I still use this since IEM’s are just plain uncomfortable. The SR60 can also stand the tortures of time and transport, having survived several move-ins. I also once tripped from the wire, which is a very long 6 feet, and bent the 3.5mm plug. Still works.
Sony MH1 ($25 from ebay)
FAILED at higher volumes but passed at normal.
Bass timbre: "tUud"
Not recommended Recommended for Black Metal, not recommended for bassheads in general. Also recommended for normal listening.
Perceived through my bass bias, the MH1 sounds balanced--and by balanced I mean it lacks bass. The bass quality is very similar to the Sennheiser's but lower in magnitude than the already bass-shy CX485. The soundstage--which I can describe as the perceived proprioception and separation of sources of sound--feels cozy. I'm not one to use a subjective adjective one sees in wine tasting reviews, but I didn't quite care about soundstage before since I sometimes use the Wide setting in Jetaudio or Crossfeed in RockBox when I felt like it until I went to head-fi and self-proclaimed audiophiles kept pointing at it. If you like that cozy sound with that hint of walnut afterthought, good for you. One extremely weird thing about the bass: in volumes just before it cracks, it echoes for a splitsecond. I don't know if the high pressure from the tight seal is causing that. As I shared above, I call BS on anyone mentioning the "veil" on the Sennheiser CX series; strangely enough, I am inclined to use that word on the MH1: the mids and highs are noticeably recessed compared to the Sennheisers. [I was listening to a track with a heavy bass guitar amplified over the vocals so I thought it was muddy. The CX870 behaved the same way.]
I am updating this review upon listening to Black Metal with the JVC HA-FX101. Many have reacted against my recommendation of the FX101, calling out on its sibilance problem. I have trained myself to like amplified high frequencies after getting the sibilant Sennheiser CX870, so the FX101 sounded "normal" to me. However, when I tried listening to Black Metal music after a long while--using the FX101--I felt massively violated. The grating high frequencies reminded me of the first time I tried listening to Death Metal LOL I had to exorcise the FX101 out of my ears. I don't know if, like my experience with Death Metal where I eventually learned to appreciate its harsh, Hellish environment, that I would soon get used to such noise coming out of the FX101.
And then I tried the MH1 with Black Metal. It was like the MH1 invited Satan to a book reading party and sat him the **** down to chill around a hearth on a winter's night. I never listened to Black Metal with such "warmth", so mellow and relaxing, taming the chaos of noise Black Metal aggressively flaunts its enemies. Of course this experience/illusion of "clarity" and "detail" is but interesting to me--Black Metal isn't supposed to be tamed: it should inhabit the territory of social discomfort (I'm not quite comfortable with noisecore yet). Now, when I listen to X Japan--where the main focus is, apart from the visuals/visual hallucinations (thus "Visual Kei"), is Yoshiki's godly histrionic metal drumming--MH1 fails to satisfy a stadium full of schoolgirls screaming Yoshiki's name. The bass simply just can't be driven up to the satisfactory level I require.
After further listening and comparing I am loving the MH1. It does have that "open"/"clairvoyant" sound to it that is very evident in many songs I've tried so far, as compared to my other headphones. I also love how the earbuds feel in my ears. In most songs, and when I'm not in an extreme mood for bass, I prefer using the MH1 as it can go loud enough for normal listening.
After much further listening, I am loving the deep, deep bass sound of the MH1. As I emphasized many times above, the bass in this can't be driven to party loud levels. I compared it again with the rest and the deep MH1 bass makes the CX300 bass seem "bloated", just as the SL99 bass sounds bloated compared to the CX300. I am changing the timbre for the MH1 from "tuud" to "tUud" to express a descent from "U" to "u" which makes it sound deeper. In defense of the CX300, it can drive the sub-bass with the same clarity as the MH1 but also at higher intensities.
Anyway, I thought the phone compatibility was due to an extra wire so I assumed it'd worked normally when plugged in any stereo jack. It turned out that the positive, negative, and ground wires were configured differently, so you will need an adaptor for this to work on mp3 players. It works normally if you hold the middle button. I mistakenly bought the MH1 first, and, after seeing that the frequency response graph of the MH1-C looked more bass-oriented than the MH1 (as measured and compared by Rin Choi), I relented and got both. They sound exactly the same. Great fitting earbuds; fits deepest than others I’ve owned. The MH1 has a different filter over the opening than MH1-C, and it also has the Sony Ericsson logo (see picture).
Sony MH1-C ($28 from ebay)
FAILED at higher volumes but passed at normal.
Bass timbre: "tUud"
Not recommended Recommended for Black Metal, not recommended for bassheads in general.
Sounds exactly the same as MH1. I actually like the cable; I think the flat cable design is currently the best solution for tangled cords. The cable might be heavier than standard but because of the wonderful fit of the earbuds it doesn’t weigh the headphones down.
Soundmagic E10 ($35 sold by Amazon.com)
FAILED because the bass didn't sound like bass to me even if it can drive that ... that sound loud
Bass timbre: "PFDT"
Not recommended.
This is the biggest disappointment in the list. Honestly, I stumbled upon a review recommending the E10 from a feedback left by an angry customer who got a fake Sennheiser IE8. The customer was saying (in Chinese) something like "THE E10 HAS MORE BASS THAN THIS ****." The E10 does have bass. Lots of it. It can even drive it to the maximum. But it's more like "bass". It has an airy and artificial quality to it that can only be efficiently communicated by the word "PFDT". Perhaps the small hole under the inner tube (see picture) and another hole beside the wire are one vent too many. There is also that boosted midtohigh-bass, which is absent in the Sennheisers, that seems to cater to some bassheads. If that is the sound you want, fine.
JVC HA-FX101 ($15 sold by Amazon.com)
PASSED barely near my loudness threshold, but failed to sustain the tonal quality of the bass at higher volumes
Bass timbre: "TUUD" and then "TUHD" at higher volume than normal.
Recommended Not recommended for Black Metal, recommended for everything else.
Wow. If I were really on a budget I'd get this. I needed a can opener just to open the packaging, which I was happy to do because the packaging for my other headphones were either non-existent or not very tamper-resistant. The bass is loud. And actually sounds almost similar to the CXL400 (the champion of my list). Definitely bigger and deeper and louder than the CX300 bass. Except when you turn the volume up any louder than normal the deep “TUUD” bass sound becomes “TUHD”. The striking XX logo carved at the back covers a vent, and when the vent is blocked (by long hair for example) the bass cracks. The fit of this is similar to the CX870, with the angled tubes. I actually had my ear impressions and this angled design is accurate to the shape of my ears. I recommend the FX101 for normal listening. By normal I mean NOT ME LOL
I am updating this review to confirm the sibilance problem of the FX101, which only presented itself to me while playing Black Metal music. Please see the updated review of the Sony MH1 for details.
Sennheiser CX870 (genuine, $30 sold by JR.com)
PASSED
Bass timbre: "TUUD"
Recommended if you can drive them (see my setup) but not recommended without the equipment.
Discontinued but amazon.co.uk still sells them for US$91.05. Authorized seller JR.com currently has them on sale for $33. I was disappointed at first because it has slightly less bass than the CXL400, and I was hoping that it was going to be a significant upgrade after a long break of not using IEM's due to the pleasure of music diminishing below the pain of discomfort. Confirming the rumored sibilance problem in the reviews made it worse. I felt cheated. I regretted every decision I've made up to that point in my life except all decisions prior to me making that purchase. The next stage in coping with the death of a dream is denial. I told myself, no, it can't be. Just look at the model number: it's higher! So then I went (more) nuts, put on sunglasses and said "MAXIMUM THE BASS." This is how I got my test parameters.
After using my maximum bass setup I got the CX870 to sound as good as the CXL400. Although of course when I used the CXL400 in that setup I-- wait for it. About the sibilance, apparently it was a matter of getting used to (breaking-in, i.e. neuroplasticity of the corticofugal network in the auditory cortex, where persistent sound is memorized as a pattern where new sound would be compared). The best thing about the CX870 is the fit. I have unusually small ears, like, underdeveloped. So I had to stop using IEM’s for a long while. The CX870 has a smaller tube and earbuds than the CX485 supposedly for small ears. My ears no longer ache and I can listen for hours. I can also use the CX870 for my laptop because the CXL400 has like 6 inches of cable lol LITERALLY.
Sennheiser CXL400 (genuine, $20 sold by Newegg.com; CX400 with lanyard/neck cable)
PASSED
Bass timbre: "TUUD"
Recommended above all else.
The CXL400 completely destroys the CX300 bass-wise, and the former also makes the latter sound "muddy" with its higher clarity and more open soundstage (although both headphones still have a superstereo soundstage compared to the Sony MH1). The CXL400 is the top of my list. Discontinued but you can still find this on ebay for $50. I doubt you can counterfeit this easily since the craftsmanship is quite delicate, especially the threaded part of the cord. The bass is the best. It’s big. Deep. And the vibrant details are not muted while the bass is pounding. Double pedal? You can distinguish each full thump. Highs? When the Tölzer Knabenchor little boys choir are singing I feel like they’re singing to me and I’m Jesus. Details? You can hear the slightest friction between the pick and the guitar string much like violin rosin touching the bow. You will go deaf before you can figure out at what volume it cracks. Its smallest pair of stock earbuds were still too big for my ears so I had to find much smaller ones.
Sennheiser HD555 (borrowed from an audiophile)
FAILED at normal volume.
Bass timbre: "KRRRK$K%"
Not recommended for me I mean if I were to recommend myself a headphone I won't recommend this to me.
Perhaps if I were listening to the sound waves emitted by distant stars I would need something accurate and without the lower frequency alien grunts amplified to the terror of the whole Jet Propulsion Laboratory. But I want those lower frequencies amplified. I want each bass kick to sound like an explosion. The HD555 cracked when put to the bass test. Since it’s an open air headphone, my cousin heard it crack as well. Also, the HD555 feels like it’s squeezing my head. What I love about the Grado SR60 even today is that I can loosen the metal a bit around my gigantic hydrocephalic head.
Sennheiser HD598 (borrowed)
FAILED at normal volume.
Bass timbre: "KRRkkk"
Not recommended for bassheads.
I can’t discern the difference between this and the HD555?
HiFiMan RE0 (borrowed)
FAILED; never cracked but the magnitude and size and tone of the bass seemed like the moment you realize you need to wear hearing aids from now on.
Bass timbre: "tuh"
Not recommended for bassheads.
The quietest bass in the bunch. If I didn’t know it was famous and somewhat pricey I would’ve disregarded it entirely. The bass is a whisper.
Audio-Technica ATH-EM9r (borrowed)
FAILED at normal volume.
Bass timbre: "HA ha"
Not recommended for bassheads.
The hinges look like they go in the ear, but they’re just hinges for the mini folded speakers. You hang the speaker over your ear with a clip. They cracked during the test at normal volume.
Fake Sennheiser IE8 ($27 from aliexpress.com)
FAILED at higher volumes, but passed up to near my loudness threshold.
Bass timbre: "TUUD"
Recommended for normal listeners.
If I had $400 I'd get the Sennheiser IE80. I recently got my fake IE8 (I bought them knowing they're fake) and I was pleasantly surprised how genuine they look when put to the authenticity test (especially the red wires and the functioning bass dial). Even the sound signature is spot-on. They sound close to my authentic Sennheisers, but not quite at the dangerous volumes I normally listen to. They could've fooled me for sure.
SL99 by Ludacris ($49.90 from staples)
PASSED beyond loudness threshold.
Bass timbre: "TOUG"
Recommended for some bassheads who like that bass sound.
Before I added the SL99 to this list, I concluded that the Klipsch S4 is number one on my to-buy list. Since I love challenging convenient notions such as that celebrity endorsed products are bound to be poor, and due to the raving reviews at bestbuy.com swearing that they're better than the Klipsch S4, I decided to keep an eye on the SL99. Suddenly, the SL99 was put on clearance for half the price so I bit. I also love Ludacris.
The timbre of the bass is not deep at all. While the top of my list, the CXL400, sounds like a large, deep "TUUD", the SL99 sounds like "TOUG". The "TUUD" sound is a controlled low frequency response that is maintained at higher intensities, while the "TOUG" sound is a bloated midtohigh-bass. It is however capable of driving that bass sound beyond my loudness threshold. But I don't really like that bass tone quality. And I agree that the SL99 keeps the mid and high frequency details intact just like the CX400.
The WORST thing about the SL99 surprised me: The metal mesh that covers the tube came off easily! You'd think it was built like a full metal weapon of war but no; I simply tried changing the buds from medium to small--WHICH WAS HARD TO DO BECAUSE THE TUBES WERE RATHER THICK as if someone was trying to insinuate something--and when I removed the rubber tip the tip rubbed the mesh and came off with it. The metal mesh was so thin as well.
It is worth noting even if it is readily deducible from the previous paragraph that the fit hurts like rape.
The FX101 and the SL99 sound similar at higher volumes, and this is possibly because of the vents. But if I cover the vents on the SL99 I get a deeper bass sound while the FX101 crackles when covered. The FX101 however has a superior fit.
Creative EP-630i (genuine, $15 sold by Amazon.com)
PASSED
Bass timbre: "TUUD"
Recommended
I can confirm that the Creative EP-630i sounds exactly the same as the original Sennheiser CX300. See CX300 review.
Klipsch S4 (genuine, $42 sold by Amazon.com)
PASSED. FAILED at higher volumes.
Bass timbre: "TUUD" "Tuud"
Not recommended over the CX300/EP-630.
I'm used to being disappointed at this point, although I didn't expect the Klipsch S4--touted as bass kings by many--to lag behind be decimated by the CX300. Compared to the latter, the S4 bass significantly lacks punch, feels much smaller, and can't be driven to louder intensities. I was expecting it to be similar to the CXL400 since the frequency response graph of the S4 is almost identical to that of the CX500, and the CXL400 is reportedly the CX500 without the volume control. If this were true, then the CX400 has a bigger, deeper, louder, and tighter bass sound than the CX500. But I have yet to confirm that. One peculiarly rad thing about the S4 is that it is the IEM that has reached furthest into my ear canals. The fit of the double-flanged earbuds is perfect and comfortable, and the seal is complete especially with my abnormally small macaroni ears. That said, even with the perfect fit and seal the bass is definitely not the royalty it was elected to be. So this thread about the S4 VS CX300 isn't all lies after all.
I can't find a frequency response graph that depicts the boosted midtohigh-bass ("TOUG") but I'm guessing it looks like that of the Sony XB500, a basshead favorite. The Monster Turbine (not Pro) also looks very promising. Now that I bought the Klipsch S4, I'm getting the Monster Turbine next.
_Some Final Comments_:
To reiterate, the purpose of my test is simple: Determine whether the headphones can drive lower frequencies at higher intensities without distortion and with minimal mudiness. I tried to eliminate the impedance factor by using my own loudness threshold as benchmark. For normal listening volumes, I recommend the JVC HA-FX101 for bass except for music with harsh high frequencies such as black metal, and the Sony MH1-C (the MH1 requires an adapter for mp3 players) for everything else. If you have bass cravings at louder intensities, the FX101 and MH1-C will fail you whereas the Sennheiser CX300/Creative EP-630 can absolutely satisfy.
So I spent almost $300 (now more than $400) last December on budget-fi (I got two pairs of CX870) when I could’ve just invested a little bit more for a Sennheiser IE80. See, I pondered upon this unhealthy and unnecessary splurge and came to this rationalization: Each headphone I buy isn’t a waste because it raises the worth of the better headphone that I have. And because there is no available way for me to test headphones physically (because I don’t like going out much) budget-fi allows me to explore with minimal risk. If you have easy ways of testing IEM's please tell me! THANKS
Edited by PocketSmiley - 1/20/13 at 5:10am
