RPGWiZaRD
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2010
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I currently use the Sony XB500 and absolutely love them but the upgradeitis is always haunting me with the "dude your headphone costed only 43 EUR, ofc there is better headphones out there!"-argument so I feel I had to create this thread so I could try and get a better picture together with your help of which headphone candidate would possibly suit me most. I know very well what kind of a sound signature I prefer though and can describe it very exactly, I just don't think there's any headphone out there that fits the description perfectly, not that I know about at least except for Sony XB500 that sounds the closest I've heard so far to that with a help of a bit EQing.
The thing is I don't have the typical audiophile-taste of how I want it to sound like, completely neutral sound isn't my cup of tea. I prefer a very colored/fun sound or a very warm/forward/aggressive "in-your-face"-style and the closer to the sound the better (I want to feel I'm on the stage with instruments surrounding me!) so immediatly I put on a pair of laid-back sounding headphones I find the music to be very boring and not engaging at all. The soundstage size isn't too important for me and neither is instrument separation as the more warmer/forward the usually worse these things tend to get and I prefer the warm/forward sound over the wide soundstage & good instrument separation when I'm able to choose. I also prefer to have a bass emphasize, I don't concider even the XB500's bass too strong but I definitely wouldn't need any stronger, it's much more likely I'd find the bass to be too underhelming though when testing different headphones but I do have a good working EQ I use whenever I don't get the amount I personally prefer (I ain't a puritist, far from it, if EQ will bring me more satisfaction ofc I will do it). It's also VERY important for me to have a balanced deep and upper bass output, I don't want it to decay too fast and neither be too slow/boomy/deep bass focused with lacking punch from the upper bass, a 50/50% deep/upper bass ratio would be ideal for me and the XB500 is just tiny bit more emphasized in the upper bass by sth like 46/54% ratio in my ears and can easily be fixed with a bit of EQing. The mids I want to be as forward/up-front as possible and shouldn't sound too smooth, rather "crispy" so that it can reveal fine details as well and the vocals are really a top-concern too. The highs should be slightly on the smoother side, I prefer gentle/soft highs that don't bite, I really hate sharp/edgy/bright thin ear-piercing highs that are anything beyond what most people would call "neutral", I rather have them a bit on the dark/smoother side and then boost them a little on the EQ if need be, the highs on the XB500 is just slightly too much held-back but even if I boost them then they become never harsh/edgy at all though, they stay "soft" but adds more details so XB500 satisfies me on that point as well once EQ'd.
I listen to lots of different genres, lots of trance, techno, breakbeat, some dubstep and hardstyle, mainstream pop, rock, alternative, instrumental (I like piano & guitar especially and I play piano/keyboard as a hobby), ballads, some what I would call "mainstream rap" like airplanes by B.o.B or Eminem ft Rianna - Love the way you lie and maybe some RnB and also sometimes orchestra (game music and movie OSTs).
I've tried XB700, Denon D1100, ATH-M50, Beyer DT770 Pro/80 that are expensier than the XB500 and none of them come close but it doesn't come as a suprise to me either now afterwards when I know better what kind of sound I'm looking for. The Beyers were too laid-back with too recessed mids and the highs were too thin & bright and bass was too deep bass focused with slight lack of punch to it. ATH-M50 coiled-cable (the newer white-boxed) had too little bass output and highs were tiny bit too harsh with too much present sibilance in my ears and could be slightly more warm/aggressive sounding for my liking but it was definitely slightly on the warmer side of neutral though. Denon D1100 lacked deep bass output for me, the bass decayed too quickly while having very strong punchy upper bass though so the deep/upper bass ratio was quite a bit off and the mids were far too recessed and smooth sounding and the highs were on the border to being "thin" and edgy/sharp and also it was far too "distant" sounding (maybe not as forward/warm sounding as many suggest them to be or the soundstage centered position is simply not where I want it to be?). XB700 while having very strong deep bass output lacked upper punchy bass and mids were tiny bit recessed and highs were tiny bit on the brighter side for me and could have been slightly more forward/warm sounding for my taste.
So which headphone do you think are the most suitable for me? Are the Sony XB500 I already have the best perhaps? My own suggestion would be perhaps Ultrasone HFI-580 but my expectations of what I've read about them here would be that the highs are probably slightly too bright and then people comment the bass as being very punchy which makes me worried about their sub-bass capabilities. They seem very EQ friendly though and perhaps I could fix those things with the EQ if needed. I've also looked at Shure 750DJ but I'm worried about them not being warm/forward enough sounding. I believe Ultrasones with slight treble decrease and slight bass emphasize or Grados with large bass boost and large decrease in highs would probably be a short description of what would suit me. Any thoughts?
Here I even drew what would probably represent ideal FR curve for me (black line):
The thing is I don't have the typical audiophile-taste of how I want it to sound like, completely neutral sound isn't my cup of tea. I prefer a very colored/fun sound or a very warm/forward/aggressive "in-your-face"-style and the closer to the sound the better (I want to feel I'm on the stage with instruments surrounding me!) so immediatly I put on a pair of laid-back sounding headphones I find the music to be very boring and not engaging at all. The soundstage size isn't too important for me and neither is instrument separation as the more warmer/forward the usually worse these things tend to get and I prefer the warm/forward sound over the wide soundstage & good instrument separation when I'm able to choose. I also prefer to have a bass emphasize, I don't concider even the XB500's bass too strong but I definitely wouldn't need any stronger, it's much more likely I'd find the bass to be too underhelming though when testing different headphones but I do have a good working EQ I use whenever I don't get the amount I personally prefer (I ain't a puritist, far from it, if EQ will bring me more satisfaction ofc I will do it). It's also VERY important for me to have a balanced deep and upper bass output, I don't want it to decay too fast and neither be too slow/boomy/deep bass focused with lacking punch from the upper bass, a 50/50% deep/upper bass ratio would be ideal for me and the XB500 is just tiny bit more emphasized in the upper bass by sth like 46/54% ratio in my ears and can easily be fixed with a bit of EQing. The mids I want to be as forward/up-front as possible and shouldn't sound too smooth, rather "crispy" so that it can reveal fine details as well and the vocals are really a top-concern too. The highs should be slightly on the smoother side, I prefer gentle/soft highs that don't bite, I really hate sharp/edgy/bright thin ear-piercing highs that are anything beyond what most people would call "neutral", I rather have them a bit on the dark/smoother side and then boost them a little on the EQ if need be, the highs on the XB500 is just slightly too much held-back but even if I boost them then they become never harsh/edgy at all though, they stay "soft" but adds more details so XB500 satisfies me on that point as well once EQ'd.
I listen to lots of different genres, lots of trance, techno, breakbeat, some dubstep and hardstyle, mainstream pop, rock, alternative, instrumental (I like piano & guitar especially and I play piano/keyboard as a hobby), ballads, some what I would call "mainstream rap" like airplanes by B.o.B or Eminem ft Rianna - Love the way you lie and maybe some RnB and also sometimes orchestra (game music and movie OSTs).
I've tried XB700, Denon D1100, ATH-M50, Beyer DT770 Pro/80 that are expensier than the XB500 and none of them come close but it doesn't come as a suprise to me either now afterwards when I know better what kind of sound I'm looking for. The Beyers were too laid-back with too recessed mids and the highs were too thin & bright and bass was too deep bass focused with slight lack of punch to it. ATH-M50 coiled-cable (the newer white-boxed) had too little bass output and highs were tiny bit too harsh with too much present sibilance in my ears and could be slightly more warm/aggressive sounding for my liking but it was definitely slightly on the warmer side of neutral though. Denon D1100 lacked deep bass output for me, the bass decayed too quickly while having very strong punchy upper bass though so the deep/upper bass ratio was quite a bit off and the mids were far too recessed and smooth sounding and the highs were on the border to being "thin" and edgy/sharp and also it was far too "distant" sounding (maybe not as forward/warm sounding as many suggest them to be or the soundstage centered position is simply not where I want it to be?). XB700 while having very strong deep bass output lacked upper punchy bass and mids were tiny bit recessed and highs were tiny bit on the brighter side for me and could have been slightly more forward/warm sounding for my taste.
So which headphone do you think are the most suitable for me? Are the Sony XB500 I already have the best perhaps? My own suggestion would be perhaps Ultrasone HFI-580 but my expectations of what I've read about them here would be that the highs are probably slightly too bright and then people comment the bass as being very punchy which makes me worried about their sub-bass capabilities. They seem very EQ friendly though and perhaps I could fix those things with the EQ if needed. I've also looked at Shure 750DJ but I'm worried about them not being warm/forward enough sounding. I believe Ultrasones with slight treble decrease and slight bass emphasize or Grados with large bass boost and large decrease in highs would probably be a short description of what would suit me. Any thoughts?
Here I even drew what would probably represent ideal FR curve for me (black line):