[aeriyn]

My iPod Mini has plenty of bass when connected directly to my DT440s with no amp. Putting my MINT between the two makes the bass a lot nicer, though.

For portable use, my Mini has good bass with the E2s (but getting it to sound clear is hard, trying to use the EQ presets, it's pretty much silicone tips and Latin preset is probably the clearest) and I'm hoping it does well with the E3cs I'm ordering tomorrow. =P

 

[Rumz]

aeriyn let me know what you think. I'm currently using the E3c with my iPod Mini

 

[NEO]

What if you use the earphones that has exaggerated bass like Sony EX-70/71 with the Ipod?

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEO What if you use the earphones that has exaggerated bass like Sony EX-70/71 with the Ipod?

I have a pair of heavily burnt in EX71s (there is a HUGE difference between these, and a brand new pair of '71s) and it sounds fine to me...

Mavis...

Comparing a headphone to a 5.1 speaker setup is obviously going to yield different results... that isn't conclusive...

Now, i'm not sticking up for the ipod, yes - I do have one, and yes, I do think it sounds very poor against my 'home rig', but to say it is bass-light? Nah... Sure, its not like you've got a sub-woofer strapped to your head, but as has been said before, the iPod is like (to coin a phrase, and not meant in a negative manner to anyone who has posted here or read this thread) an 'audiophile' DAP player... sounding very balanced (in relative terms of course)... If I had a player that was Whomp... Whomp... Whomping along... i'd sell it - straight away!

Just my $0.02

 

[stymie miasma]

I vote for bass shy.

To my ears, the lack of bass was most noticable on various 'rock' albums, as opposed to electronica where the bass is generally very well represented, and you can get away with a little bass anemia. With rock, I found it next to impossible to follow bass lines. I tried Grado SR60s, Koss KSC35s, Sony MDR-7506s and EX51s - no luck with any of them. I was hoping the 7506s would help me "find the bass", but this was sadly not to be.

Given that I spend most of my time listening to speakers, the iPod was a real let down. In addition, I was saddened that the music it plays was so uninvolving - some folks call it neutral, but I'm with dura when I say it is boring to the point of fatigue. Of my 4 headphones, the SR60s were the best at dealing with the neutrality, but for my purposes, they are not portable.

In any case, the iPod is gone and I am now getting a much better representation of my music using a simple Sony NH900 HiMD. The other cool thing about MD, is that it is gapless (another inexcusable fault of the iPod)

 

[meithkiller]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie87 How much do headphones help for ipods bass, can anyone reccomend a pair for about ~$50 USD that boost the bass

I'd give the Koss KSC-35's or KSC-75's a try with your iPod. I use them with my 4G iPod, and have been very happy with their sound and low end output. Best part is a new pair of KSC-75's is only $15.

-Keith

 

[Halbyrd]

I vote for depends on the cans. With my RatShack Pro35A's (made by Koss, not sure whether they're analogous to PortaPros or not), the bass was OK un-EQ-ed, but nothing to write home about. EQ made a muddy mess of the bass on both the RatShacks and my Sony MDR-CD180s (Sony bashers can shut up, they're not bad for $25 @ Target).

After lurking in Head-Fi for a while, I decided to go for the Senn HD280s. Plugged them into the headphone jack on my compy--OMG, T3H B4SS!!!

Not ear-thumpingly loud bass, but so deep I kept taking them off to see if I was hearing a jet-liner through the phones--I live near Orlando International, under a glide-path

, so it's pretty common. Tried them with the iPod...where bass go? Sounded bright, harsh, and pretty awful.

The story doesn't end there, though. I decided to try breaking in the Senns by leaving them plugged into my PS2 while it was looping a farily bass-y BG theme for about 8 hrs straight (Xenosaga ep1, paused). No volume control, but the PS2 has a suprisingly strong line-level output, when heard through a RCA stereo->mini adaptor. Plugged the Senns back into the Pod...and that's How Halbyrd Got His Bass Back.

So, long story short: iPod can have good bass, you just have to be choosy about what phones you pair it with.

 

[allenf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thisp The iPod has good bass, outside of low impedance headphones. With headphones of a low impedance(around 16-32 ohms), there is a bass recession. The Rio Karma has the same problem, but to a much lesser degree. There's a graph showing it.

Is that graph for a 4G or previous iPod

I understand that the bass roll-off issue with low impedance 'phones was fixed with the 4G onwards.

I have just tested my iPod Photo 60GB with Groove Armada - Suntoucher which kicks in with a low B @ 30.5Hz when the percussion starts - I can hear it quite well with the stock buds, very clearly with my E3Cs, and when I get home I will listen to it again as I have done many times before through my Audiolab/Tannoy rig - dock or headphone out - and I will be able to feel that bass clearly.

The iPod shows a lean, accurate balance with the tilt on dynamics and detailing: to claim that the iPod has no bass is demonstrably untrue - betcha it's more or less flat 20-20K.
Oh hang on...you mean it isn't BASS IN YER FACE???

Cheers

 

[mavis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by allenf Is that graph for a 4G or previous iPod I understand that the bass roll-off issue with low impedance 'phones was fixed with the 4G onwards. I have just tested my iPod Photo 60GB with Groove Armada - Suntoucher which kicks in with a low B @ 30.5Hz when the percussion starts - I can hear it quite well with the stock buds, very clearly with my E3Cs, and when I get home I will listen to it again as I have done many times before through my Audiolab/Tannoy rig - dock or headphone out - and I will be able to feel that bass clearly. The iPod shows a lean, accurate balance with the tilt on dynamics and detailing: to claim that the iPod has no bass is demonstrably untrue - betcha it's more or less flat 20-20K. Oh hang on...you mean it isn't BASS IN YER FACE??? Cheers

I think it's wonderful that you're having such good luck with your iPod's bass. Too bad the rest of us aren't ...

 

[aeriyn]

They probably increased the capacitance of the coupling caps to help ameliorate the bass rolloff.

 

[memepool]

It's definitely the impedance of the heaphones that is at issue and not the ipod itself. Don't know what the Americans are complaining about as their Ipod is much better than the European one as we are stuck with an EU limit of 100db.
My Ipod 3G can't drive Sennheiser HD25s so I use Sony D55's which have excellent bass response. Not at all impressed by inner ear buds like Sony EX71's. Although they do have bass they just sound odd, giving very strange emphasis to the certain frequencies.
Another issue is codecs. What do you expect if you remove half the audio information? For instance the same piece of music encoded as an MP3 / AAC / Apple lossless will have different levels of bass than an uncompressed one. Compression takes all the life out of the music anyway. Apple lossless is ok but it seems to compress digital sources more sharply than analogue ones. Sounds better with Vinyl transcriptions than with the same piece on CD.

 

[allenf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mavis I think it's wonderful that you're having such good luck with your iPod's bass. Too bad the rest of us aren't ...

Yeah, and equating "heavy bass" with "hi-fi" is playground stuff <yawn>.

 

[allenf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by memepool Don't know what the Americans are complaining about as their Ipod is much better than the European one as we are stuck with an EU limit of 100db.

Google "iMod"...

 

[mavis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by allenf Yeah, and equating "heavy bass" with "hi-fi" is playground stuff <yawn>.

What's your point? Just because I like powerful LF bass means I can't enjoy "hi-fi" equipment?

 

[Jahn]

It depends on the can. And the out. And if you use an external amp.

ATH-CM3 buds from the headphone out. Where's the bass?

KSC-35 to the headphone out. There it is.

KSC-35 to the SR-71 to the line out to the ipod. And now it sounds beastly.

Add a 75 ohm adapter - controlled rage, rowr. Bass is slammin.