- Joined
- Feb 23, 2011
- Posts
- 16,414
- Likes
- 3,088
Quote:
The bass boost to me sounds like a wide-band bass boost, so even though the bass boost is at 80 Hz, I can hear more rumble with sub-bass and more lower-mids, so in a sense it does affect the mids a little. It definitely isn't totally transparent, and I don't think a +6.5 dB boost would be. The wide-band bass boost is the kind of rumble "theater" effect I mentioned earlier. It doesn't have the clean bass impact I would have preferred, where the bass boost is a narrower band, but it does increase the bass impact, yes. In this sense, the bass boost doesn't sound clean per se, but it's strangely addicting to me, honestly. Maybe it's because I tend to listen to music at low volume levels, and at that point the bass is often drowned out first (equal loudness contours).
As for how my rig is "bundled", I'm just using the rubber feet on the bottom of the C5 to protect my iPhone from being scratched. The rig doesn't move enough in my pocket to worry about it too much.
I mentioned this in the V-MODA M-100 thread but I finally got a LOD for my iPhone, and it does make a difference to me. While double amping, the music sounded a little better in terms of the midrange being more forward and the soundstage sounding a bit wider, but with the LOD the music just has another level of clarity. The M-100's sound really good with an iPhone 4S (256 kbps VBR MP3) and the C5 with the FiiO L3. The midrange is brought forward a little, treble smoothed out more so it's not as fatiguing for louder volume levels, bass impact is cleaner, there is the sense of a wider soundstage, and the instruments have more air between them; the sound seems comparable to an O2 using the L3 but with slightly less instrument separation, a bit narrower soundstage, and a slightly more forward midrange.
With the bass boost on, you get a pretty substantial amount of bass. I think it'll satisfy the needs of a basshead for bass rumble, or for road warriors who want a little more oomph in the bass region with the extra outside noise.
Also, a bit off-topic, but why is it that when I use the FiiO L3 LOD with the Objective 2, the volume I get out of the O2 is EXTREMELY loud, as in I have to turn the volume knob nearly all the way down to get to a more listenable volume level for me (yes this is in the channel imbalance region).
On the other hand, when I plug-in the C5, I can listen to my music at much more reasonable volume level. Is it due to the power output differences? How does the gain factor into this? The O2 has a gain of 1.0, whereas the C5 is 2.3.
Headphone of choice for this comparison was the V-MODA M-100, a fairly sensitive 32 Ω headphone.
I am curious to hear them paired with my Grado PS500. Need to go for a trip to vancouver and test it in person if its available. however I have few questions:when you guys turn the bass boost on will it affect the mids or highs somehow or its totally transparent? and did anyone try them with these or other grados? whats your opinion on the bass impact? I really like the PS500 sound BUT wished it had more bass out of my iPad and its kinda bugging me when I play techno or anything electronic. thanks
The bass boost to me sounds like a wide-band bass boost, so even though the bass boost is at 80 Hz, I can hear more rumble with sub-bass and more lower-mids, so in a sense it does affect the mids a little. It definitely isn't totally transparent, and I don't think a +6.5 dB boost would be. The wide-band bass boost is the kind of rumble "theater" effect I mentioned earlier. It doesn't have the clean bass impact I would have preferred, where the bass boost is a narrower band, but it does increase the bass impact, yes. In this sense, the bass boost doesn't sound clean per se, but it's strangely addicting to me, honestly. Maybe it's because I tend to listen to music at low volume levels, and at that point the bass is often drowned out first (equal loudness contours).
As for how my rig is "bundled", I'm just using the rubber feet on the bottom of the C5 to protect my iPhone from being scratched. The rig doesn't move enough in my pocket to worry about it too much.
I mentioned this in the V-MODA M-100 thread but I finally got a LOD for my iPhone, and it does make a difference to me. While double amping, the music sounded a little better in terms of the midrange being more forward and the soundstage sounding a bit wider, but with the LOD the music just has another level of clarity. The M-100's sound really good with an iPhone 4S (256 kbps VBR MP3) and the C5 with the FiiO L3. The midrange is brought forward a little, treble smoothed out more so it's not as fatiguing for louder volume levels, bass impact is cleaner, there is the sense of a wider soundstage, and the instruments have more air between them; the sound seems comparable to an O2 using the L3 but with slightly less instrument separation, a bit narrower soundstage, and a slightly more forward midrange.
With the bass boost on, you get a pretty substantial amount of bass. I think it'll satisfy the needs of a basshead for bass rumble, or for road warriors who want a little more oomph in the bass region with the extra outside noise.
Also, a bit off-topic, but why is it that when I use the FiiO L3 LOD with the Objective 2, the volume I get out of the O2 is EXTREMELY loud, as in I have to turn the volume knob nearly all the way down to get to a more listenable volume level for me (yes this is in the channel imbalance region).
On the other hand, when I plug-in the C5, I can listen to my music at much more reasonable volume level. Is it due to the power output differences? How does the gain factor into this? The O2 has a gain of 1.0, whereas the C5 is 2.3.
Headphone of choice for this comparison was the V-MODA M-100, a fairly sensitive 32 Ω headphone.