[jenkinsontherun]

Hi all, after months of getting into this hobby, and owning quite a few pairs of headphones and iems, with ample listening time, I am quite confident that this is the ideal frequency response for classic rock.

The reasoning is as follows:
Sub-bass boost gives kick-drums a visceral impact
Mid-bass dip unveils many male vocals, as well as clarifying instrument imaging/placement
Neutral mids/upper mids to support a natural timbre with vocals+guitars
Treble roll-off is optional, but I personally prefer a safe, fatigue-free listen rather than splashy cymbals, which I find to be a major problem in many headphones.

I am curious on your opinions on this graph. Moreover, do you have any headphone recommendations that follow this FR, or otherwise is great for rock?

Thanks!

 

[ADUHF]

I don't have any specific recommendations. But what is your reference point for the above curve? Headphones come in many shapes, sizes, and sound signatures after all.

 

[jenkinsontherun]

Any headphone with a mid-bass dip and sub-bass focus is pretty much ideal, I can EQ the treble to my liking. I don't want to EQ sub-bass as that may cause distortion.

Perhaps I missed a point, which is that when people recommend headphones with good sub-bass, it usually also comes with a lot of mid-bass as well, which is sort of the trick of it all. I am not looking for an all-rounder with a natural midbass, but rather a headphone with a perhaps unnatural amount of mid-bass dip.

It's rare, and perhaps why nobody has made recommendations yet.

Are the LCD 2/3's any good? Is it a sub-bass focus, or just "good bass" overall, in which case they wouldn't fit the bill?

 

[Art Garfunkel]

Perfect FR curve for a 70's era disco. Except bring the top up instead of down.

 

[jenkinsontherun]

Perfect FR curve for a 70's era disco. Except bring the top up instead of down.

Interesting take, though I never heard disco music. I'm trying to tame cymbals, while maintaining details. Maybe I'm asking for too much.

 

[jenkinsontherun]

The HD250's, a vintage headphone, are ALMOST there. They have very deep and mellow sub-bass, and arguable a dipped mid-bass, which lends to a sweetness to the midrange, as well as boost placement/popping-up of instruments, very nice experience. Only thing is that they have two treble spikes that even with eq, make cymbals sound thin up top.

 

[ADUHF]

Any headphone with a mid-bass dip and sub-bass focus is pretty much ideal, I can EQ the treble to my liking. I don't want to EQ sub-bass as that may cause distortion.

Perhaps I missed a point, which is that when people recommend headphones with good sub-bass, it usually also comes with a lot of mid-bass as well, which is sort of the trick of it all. I am not looking for an all-rounder with a natural midbass, but rather a headphone with a perhaps unnatural amount of mid-bass dip.

It's rare, and perhaps why nobody has made recommendations yet.

Are the LCD 2/3's any good? Is it a sub-bass focus, or just "good bass" overall, in which case they wouldn't fit the bill?

I think I see. So you want something that is well-extended in the sub-bass, but not too warm sounding, or flat across the bass and midrange then?

 

[jenkinsontherun]

I think I see. So you want something that is well-extended in the sub-bass, but not too warm sounding, or flat across the bass and midrange then?

Exactly, specifically, a mid-bass dip along with that coveted sub-bass extension/boost.

 

[Art Garfunkel]

Exactly, specifically, a mid-bass dip along with that coveted sub-bass extension/boost.

Maybe the AKG K371?

 

[bagwell359]

I think that someone is modifying moderate quality headphones with severe EQ to put emphasis on some areas (and less on others).

The real answer is a really rugged medium/high quality headphone EQ'd to flat, and then hear the music the way the musicians and engineers intended.

 

[pstickne]

...and then hear the music the way the musicians and engineers intended.

Wouldn’t that be with full-size speakers?

 

[jenkinsontherun]

Wouldn’t that be with full-size speakers?

Exactly. Also, what does ruggedness have to do with sound .

 

[ADUHF]

Maybe the AKG K371?

The Sennheiser HD 380 Pro is/was also heavily boosted in the sub-bass. (Too much imo.) I don't know if this model is still in production. But you might be able to pick one up used. I owned one for a brief time, and the pads tended to flap a fair amount at higher volumes. Kind of a rather large and somewhat clunky headphone overall. But it did have some heft in the lower frequencies...

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/SennheiserHD380Pro.pdf

I think I'd look for something which has a more neutral "room sound" though. With a boost in the bass, but one which does not bleed too much into the midrange.

The AKG K371 is close. Like the Senn 380 Pro, the resonance in the bass on the K371 is too low in frequency to really be neutral imo. So you may find its bass lacking in warmth. Its titanium drivers are also a little sharp-sounding in some spots in the treble and upper midrange. Both the lack of warmth in the bass, and sharpness up top may be tweakable with an EQ though, since these are closed-back HPs...

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#1671/4011
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#1671/4012

Other headphones you could try are the Audio-Technica M50x, and Beyerdynamic DT-770 which comes in 80 and 250 ohms. Both of these HPs would probably also need some tweaking with an EQ though. The AT M50x actually has a bit of a bump in the upper bass, which might need to be toned down...

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#295/4011
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#295/4012

And the Beyer DT-770 can sometimes be quite bright in the treble. It has a nice lift in the bass though and is fairly neutral in the midrange. Though there is a small notch in its upper mids at 3.5 kHz, which may add some coloration to vocals...

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#440/4011
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#440/4012

I'm sorry I don't really know of some more expensive HPs to look at. The Focal Stellia has a rise in the bass, but it's mostly in the upper bass, where it'll add alot of warmth, which is not what you seem to want...

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#794/4011
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#794/4012

The Audeze Mobius might get you a little closer to what you want in the sub-bass, but it's a little choppy in the treble...

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#689/4011
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#689/4012

I don't know too much about the Polk Audio UltraFocus 8000. But it has a pretty steep rise in the sub-bass. So it might also be worth a look...

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#256/4011
https://www.rtings.com/headphones/1-4/graph#256/4012

There are a couple of Bose headphones that also go up like that in the sub-bass fwiw. That's about all I got for the moment.

 

[ADUHF]

I would not try listening to the Senn 380 Pro, the Polk Ultrafocus 8000, or Bose headphones referenced above at higher volumes btw, without at least some EQ to tone down the sub-bass. Imo, they all have too much of a rise in that area for normal listening at higher volumes.