[GoldWarlock]

I purchased Grado SD-80.

The highs are excellent.
But bass is nothing. I mean there's no bass at all!!!!

What to do plz HELP.

I get smth like bass with DFX on PC or ExtraBass on CDPlayer.

 

[Gluegun]

If you have no bass, than your cans are probably defective. You mean NONE at all, no low noises at ALL? Or do you mean that it is less bass than you are used to hearing; you like bass boosts?

Be more specific. Properly working grados HAVE bass, they have impact, they have VERY low frequency response compared to most crappy headphones....but it's not that boomy whoooom whoooom you might mistakenly call bass.

 

[GoldWarlock]

As I said I hear bass only with enhancements (DFX, ExtraBass)

I hear bass but very, very low.

 

[dngl]

You hear smoothe bass anally with enhancements? hehehehehe. No offence meant. Fix your spelling

do you hear bass with any headphones? or are you used to really loud messy subwoofers? Is your hearing damaged? Is the grado's plug making complete contact with the input?

generate a sine wave at different frequencies and see where the cutoff is. Anyway, Grado has a good warranty and they'll take good care of you if your cans are broken.

 

[Gluegun]

Assuming your Grados are working properly, which is unknown, than you shouldn't NEED those "enhancements". All those really do is lessen everything except the upper midbass (they don't do squat to lower bass), which shouldn't really help with any kind of music played on QUALITY headphones. That bass boomer doesnt make bass louder--it just makes it suck less for crappy headphones. Turn it off, and THEN tell me what they sound like. ALSO, what do they sound like plugged into something ELSE! It could be your source!!

 

[GoldWarlock]

Thanx guys.

Where can I get sine wave file.
Any source?
I'd like to check it.

Cable plugged OK.

Any sound files with good bass to check?

 

[dngl]

this post has tons of good sound file and test tone generator links.

 

[skippy]

you can download sweep tones here:

http://www.marchandelec.com/sweeps.htm

most mass market headphones have an exagerrated midbass response. so often times hi-fi headphones sound thin on the bass in comparison. if you hear no bass, then the cans are defective.

 

[GoldWarlock]

Thanx skippy.

I tried this mp3 files.
I hear ok from 20Hz -I think it's ok.
But the sound is not very loud.

Then I hear up to 10000Hz, but with some minor clicking artifacts.

Should I burn in this headphones?


Guys you are great!

 

[Gluegun]

*sigh*

First of all, you got some of the idea behind those files wrong.

20 Hz is the *bottom* of your hearing range. of COURSE it shouldn't be loud. your ears cant hear it as loud as it should be--they aren't made to.

Now, is there any point, from 20 hz to 400 hz, a sweep, that it suddenly gets WAY louder? or is it smooth, all the way up?

And those clicking artifacts.....they're probably in the mp3, or your sound card....

So, you've listened to them off of a portable, bass shy, off of a pc sound card, bass shy, what about off of a ministereo? (None of those should give it that much power...)

THEN, listen to it off of, oh, saaaaaay, a high quality Digital Audio Reciever. You know, the thingy that hooks up to your DVD player so you get DTS and Dolby Digital, the thingy that gets the radio and everything? Or, what about a DVD player or a big CD player? Try hooking it up to those.

*pause*

Is it bass shy on a Led Zeppelin CD? Hey, Why dont you talk to some of us on ICQ or something? Like, get on, and add a few Head-fiers.....

*another pause*

Hey, anyone notice how Headroom's frequency response graphs show the SR-60 as having more bass than the SR-80? Wierd.

 

[Tim D]

How is all of this sweep tone stuff helping him?

First of all what is the reference for which he says the SR-80's have no bass. What is the song. What is the other audio equipment for which he has heard plenty of bass on that particular song.

Yadda yadda. Ummmm I know some friends that stick thier computer subwoofer practically in a small crawlspace/corner between a HUGE desk and wall because "uh...duhhh it gives more bass doopid!". Than he tells me that I'm dumb, blah blah, bass doesn't work like speakers. And than I said, "yes I know bass is omnidirectional...but that doesn't mean you should stick it in your closet either" (cause thats what it really sounded like and practically was). Basically he just created a terribly tuned bass port with the crawlspace of the desk and wall.

Anyhow, you just have to figure out what bass is for yourself. But to me it isn't Sony Super MegaGroove Bass. Course that said...Grados have average bass extension, there ARE phones with better extended bass. But there are so many speakers and headphones with worse that I'd wager it is not a problem with the headphones.

The only indication I see of source is that he has a CD player with extra bass...typically means a mini-system or portable CD player. And a computer soundcard. And these aren't going to give you the most profound bass response.

 

[Eagle_Driver]

I used those sweep tones to measure bass extension of several headphones...

Since my Sony D-EJ721 can barely reach 20Hz (and that's with my Sennheiser HD 590's and my Sony MDR-ED268LP's), I tested several of my headphones and earbuds through my Pioneer receiver (with audio fed from my Sony CDP-C265 carousel) using individual frequency choices from 8Hz (which actually spans from 4Hz to 16Hz). Even with the receiver's output, however, my Sennheiser MX-500 earbuds produce no output whatsoever at anything below 40Hz - only distortion. My Sony MDR-V6's - while they can't reproduce a 20Hz tone from my portable - actually does it with some authority from my receiver. The other tested headphones and earbuds (Grado SR-60, Sony MDR-101LP, MDR-E828LP, MDR-E848LP and MDR-E888LP) - extend down at least to 30Hz. (Note that my Senn 590's fared about the same as far as bass extension from my receiver as they did from my PCDP, and I didn't bother to test my Sony ED268's on my receiver.) However, bass extension is only one part of the story - listening to a wide variety of actual music will tell you which headphones are good/great and which ones are craptacular. ("Craptacular", if you don't know what it means, is the same thing as "spectacularly crappy".)

 

[Xevion]

Goldwarlock - I think you have spent too much time around blaring subwoofers. You really won't hear all that much bas soutput under 40Hz or so with most headphones, and you won't get volume levels anywhere near subwoofer levels with them.

If you listen to headphones more and more, you will notice that the bass is there, and it will seem louder as you get used to hearing bass without feeling it.

 

[GoldWarlock]

Thank you guys a lot. Espesially Gluegun.

I listened to my favourite LedZeppelin. Of course I hear bass, It is OK.

The broblem is that my definition of bass was wrong. Now I can hear it. I hope as time goes by I'll feel it too *sighs*.

Any thoughts about break in of Grado?

 

[jim]

gluegun,

I don't find it too surprising that the sr-60s showed more bass than the 80's in headroom's tests. My thinking is that Fritz, the dummy recording head, doesn't have flexible ears like a real human, so the comfy pads of the 60s had a better seal than the stiff mesh of the 80s. As with most headphones, loss of seal quality usually means decreased bass response, so maybe that's why.