[Liu Junyuan]

I am also still enjoying these headphones. I personally did not care for the HM5 pleather and have since moved in to the HM5 new velour pads, which allow for more air and soundstage at the expense of isolation; they are also quite comfortable.

And I still do like the Beyer DT770 pads as well.

These headphones are amazing for electronic music.

 

[FastAndClean]

To much mid and upper bass for me, i dont listen to them anymore, i prefer AKG Y55, they have more sub bass and no bass bleed into the mid range.

 

[PacificRim]

I got bored and thought hmm maybe switch the pads from the JVC HAMR77X to the Q40 and it fits pretty good ( the Q40 pads fit on the JVC but not perfectly because of the angles it has but it works)  tried the sounds and not bad more - dare I say more bassy IMO - would like to see if anyone has tried this combo and their thoughts

 

[frenchjay]

Is there anything even close to how these headphones sound? I've currently got these hooked up to a FIIO E17K, and a Little Dot 1+ abs they are just amazing. Im scared to buy another pair of headphones incase they don't sound like this. The bass is extremely good on these headphones with any kind of House / Techno!

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Is there anything even close to how these headphones sound? I've currently got these hooked up to a FIIO E17K, and a Little Dot 1+ abs they are just amazing. Im scared to buy another pair of headphones incase they don't sound like this. The bass is extremely good on these headphones with any kind of House / Techno!

You're in the same boat as me but I gave up looking personally, that's how well I think they sound, especially if you're into electronic kinda music then these have a very very nice fitting sound signature. I'm addicted to their punchy/impactful bass and non-recessed meaty mids and non aggressive smooth natural highs that lets me listen at a reasonably loud vol without getting ear-fatigued and that's what eletronic dance music needs IMO. I prefer these over Signature DJs that often are seen as some kind of "king for electronic music" but to me the highs were slightly too aggressive and while the bass quality was close to Q40 I still think it was slightly worse, in the sense it wasn't quite as tight and punchy, sounded slightly more bloated as in bleeding into the rest of the music but it was the closest to Q40 bass quality I've heard so far but the mids/highs balance was more U-shaped and Q40 sounds reasonably balanced to me so.
 
I'm personally into euphoric hardstyle music and they do the kicks of hardstyle so nicely!

 

 

[frenchjay]

You're in the same boat as me but I gave up looking personally, that's how well I think they sound, especially if you're into electronic kinda music then these have a very very nice fitting sound signature. I'm addicted to their punchy/impactful bass and non-recessed meaty mids and non aggressive smooth natural highs that lets me listen at a reasonably loud vol without getting ear-fatigued and that's what eletronic dance music needs IMO. I prefer these over Signature DJs that often are seen as some kind of "king for electronic music" but to me the highs were slightly too aggressive and while the bass quality was close to Q40 I still think it was slightly worse, in the sense it wasn't quite as tight and punchy, sounded slightly more bloated as in bleeding into the rest of the music but it was the closest to Q40 bass quality I've heard so far but the mids/highs balance was more U-shaped and Q40 sounds reasonably balanced to me so.

I'm personally into euphoric hardstyle music and they do the kicks of hardstyle so nicely!


 

I've been through a few pairs of headhphones to get to this specific sound. Audio Technica, Beyerdynamic etc. But they were always off the mark. Lack of bass, sharp highs and generally underwhelming for what I was after.

I'm dissapointed there's nothing quite like these, and I've checked this thread for years hoping something would come up.

 

[FastAndClean]

xb500 is similar but a little bit over the top

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

  xb500 is similar but a little bit over the top

 
I've used XB500 before and still own the pair, the Q40 packs in an entire different league as far as sound quality goes while still providing that nice bass impact (quantity of bass isn't as much as XB500 but the impact vs quantity bass ratio is better though). The XB500 requires EQing to get a decent sound while the Q40 doesn't need any EQing. I did enjoy XB500 for a little while when I had dialed in the perfect EQ settings but when swapping to Q40 it was like no turning back ever.

 

[FastAndClean]

overall xb500 is similar in that it have smooth bassy sound, without recessed mids or harsh treble, the problem with xb500 is that it has to much mid and upper bass, easily corrected with eq, q40 needs aftermarket earpads to truly shine
the problem for me with q40 was the small soundstage and rolled off treble after 10k
and they needed sub bass eq, they start to roll off below 50hz, xb500 has no roll off at all
xb500 can output 20hz sine wave strong and clean without distortion and eq
the q40 driver (similar to xb500) is incredibly powerful, it can literally shake your head without distortion

 

[frenchjay]

Does anyone own the Q40's and the Fostex TH-X00? I'd like to know how different these two are. It seems like the bass maybe better on the Fostex from reading, but I'm unsure.

 

[quisxx]

Does anyone own the Q40's and the Fostex TH-X00? I'd like to know how different these two are. It seems like the bass maybe better on the Fostex from reading, but I'm unsure.

Had both, totally different ball game when it comes to bass. Fostex has a ton more bass.

 

[lyon79]

Still amazing after all these years. They are an absolute beast for electronic music, but you need a 10-band EQ to make the most of them. A simple Sansa Clip won't cut it.

They might be a bit hard to get (depending on where you live) and the comfort will vary depending on your skull size (search this thread for more). I tend to get skull pains after listening to them, especially at home (not so much when I do it outside, cycling or walking). For this reason I consider them to be strictly portable gear, but watch out: they don't isolate your music from the world, just the outside world from you. I wouldn't wear them in a library.

 

[Armaegis]

I think given the age, these are practically unobtanium these days and not worth actively searching for. Not bad if you stumble across one at a pawn shop or craigslist somewhere.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I would gladly buy another pair if I could find one (in decent condition). These are still my favorite headphones I've used so far having tried many expensier ones, perfect for EDM especially with punchy, snappy, good quality bass (It's more about the great dynamicness and such than bass quantity) and good overall balance with nothing missing and highs that are very natural sounding (lack of metallic'ness that's common with closed headphones). Imaging and soundstaging is also pretty decent probably because it's a slightly vented design with a couple of small holes.

The new Ultrasone Signature X is the closest I've found so far with a pretty similar sound signature and does the bass part also very well, depending on pads the subbass quantity may be over-the-top like with the thicker pads for my taste or the amp I pair with anyway (DigiZoid ZO) which adds its own boost in configurable steps where the Q40 has somewhat rolled-off bass pairs nicely with the amp to add what's missing down low. Also I find the highs a little bit more natural sounding on the Q40, the Signature X have slight hints of that typical metallic highs sound but since the highs are somewhat subdued it's not that much present and shows up more clearly if boosting highs on the EQ but the Q40 have slightly more highs but they are softer/more natural sounding at the same time so. Also I think I prefer Q40 at least for my ears when it comes to soundstage and imaging, especially the soundstage sounds more open on Q40 meanwhile Signature X has slightly more defined "edges" eventhough it extends ever so slightly further to the sides (slight oval shaped soundstage) where it just sounds like it stops meanwhile on Q40 it's more like a smooth non-defined outer wall and also more "round soundstage" with equally much depth as width which is my personal preference, I also like the Signature X soundstage better if I limit the stereo "width" on the RME ADI 2 DAC to 98-99 instead of 100 which gives a more round soundstage, it gives the illusion of having more depth when the width is slightly tamed so.

 

[lyon79]

I don't know about Ultrasone Signature X but the Signature Pulse's are quite similar to the Q40's (but after EQ-ing. The Pulse's need less EQ). I consider the Pulse's to be a direct upgrade to the Q40's (better comfort and isolation, better mids and highs but roughly the same bass). I would agree that the Q40's are not worth actively searching for anymore, but the price of the Pulse's or other Signature headphones is much higher than that of the Q40's. You could get three or four Q40's for the price of one Pulse's.

I found Ultrasone Pro 580i to be the closest to the Q40's in terms of the overall sound and price (they're also more comfortable and have better isolation), but the Pulse's have a more consistent mid bass, which is sometimes underwhelming in the Pro 580i's. The Q40's side with the Pulse's in that regard. The Pro 580i's also need more EQ (about the same as the Q40's) to make the bass reach its full potential, so they also need a 10-band EQ. Stay away from the Pro 780i's though, they have poor bass reponse due to different drivers.