[Chris J]

Quote:

 
Without applying any EQ, the Q701 emphasizes the bass more than my 880's do. They both have great extension down to 18hz but the 701's are a little more pronounced in their delivery. I wouldn't say either are very bass heavy, just a light edge in love of bass with the 701's.
 
But who knows, the 701 is fully open and it sounds bassier than the semi open 880.
 
Both headphones need a little EQ to make the best use of their bass for me. I would mostly do this with games, and loud rock and electronic music. For classical music and jazz they sound great with zero EQ.
 
To give you an idea of where I'm coming from, the Sony MDR-V6 has the perfect amount of bass for me, and it runs about +10db from 100hz down to 30. In fact when I EQ the V6 I usually cut 120 by 3db and boost 16000 by 4 to clean up their midrange and add a little sparkle back in it's veiled highs.

 
Quote:

Never any offence taken.  Will be interesting to see your impression once you can side-by-side both.  I like both - but personally feel that the quality of the bass is slightly better on the DT880s.  Quantity is pretty even - although the mid-bass on the Q's can sometimes give the impression of 'more'.  I guess it really will depend on what you're listening to.

 
Very, very strange.

 
I own a pair of Q701 and 600 Ohm DT880.
Whenever I change from one to the other I am always surprised by how much fuller the DT880s sound compared to the Q701. And how much lighter the Q701s sound.
Not to sound clique, but I really do think the difference between the two is night and day.
For a lot of music I find the DT880s to be overly full sounding.
Don't misunderstand me, I like both headphones and don't really prefer one over the other.
 
BTW, at a Head Fi meet I compared my Q's with another guys K70x............we both had an extremely hard time distinguishing between the two.

 

[Evshrug]

Never any offence taken.  Will be interesting to see your impression once you can side-by-side both.  I like both - but personally feel that the quality of the bass is slightly better on the DT880s.  Quantity is pretty even - although the mid-bass on the Q's can sometimes give the impression of 'more'.  I guess it really will depend on what you're listening to.

Glad you weren't offended... People have been VERY feisty with me on the FiiO E12 thread. I said the amp provides very punchy sound, and the bass-boost option was great because it's mostly isolated to the sub-bass and audiophile-friendly, and suddenly I was bombarded by a guy saying I was wrong for calling the boost good because I am not a basshead and I'll "never understand." Especially when I said he might change his mind if he could hear it, and if he wants more bass he'd be better off with a basshead headphone than a boost :/

FiiO's actually considering changing the amp because some (3) people (without hearing it) are clamoring for MOAR BOOST!!!! I just shrug and say "alright," I've already got the one I want.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

 
 
Very, very strange.

 
I own a pair of Q701 and 600 Ohm DT880.
Whenever I change from one to the other I am always surprised by how much fuller the DT880s sound compared to the Q701. And how much lighter the Q701s sound.
Not to sound clique, but I really do think the difference between the two is night and day.
For a lot of music I find the DT880s to be overly full sounding.
Don't misunderstand me, I like both headphones and don't really prefer one over the other.
 
BTW, at a Head Fi meet I compared my Q's with another guys K70x............we both had an extremely hard time distinguishing between the two.

 
 
DT880 definitely have more bass than Q701, even more than HD650 when it comes to  sub bass.

 

[Evshrug]

...
Not to sound clique, but I really do think the difference between the two is night and day.
Don't misunderstand me, I like both headphones and don't really prefer one over the other.

BTW, at a Head Fi meet I compared my Q's with another guys K70x............we both had an extremely hard time distinguishing between the two.

I wonder more and more what I'll think when I get my chance
Btw, not saying anything, I'm just sayin' I've never heard people actually say "the difference is like night and day!" before joining Head-Fi! I enjoy hearing it now, because I associate the phrase with our group now

 

[J Bones]

Quote:

 
?
 
Maybe more mid-bass on the Q's (marginal) and slightly more in the lower mid section - but not more sub-bass.   Graphs say same .....
 

 
 
Curious about your choice of words too.  You state the Q701 has more bass than the DT880 - then in the next sentence you say you are excited to audition a DT880?  Curious - because if you haven't heard the DT880 yet - how can you make that statement .... ?

 
That's exactly what I was thinking too, and when looking through the frequency response of both and the square wave response @ 50Hz as well. I know these graphs aren't 100% accurate to interpretation and that you would have to try the cans out to really understand where they sit at in relation to each other but I def. was almost positive the DT880's had more sub-bass than the Q701's. I guess I'll just have to follow my own guidelines and try them out for myself.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

 
That's exactly what I was thinking too, and when looking through the frequency response of both and the square wave response @ 50Hz as well. I know these graphs aren't 100% accurate to interpretation and that you would have to try the cans out to really understand where they sit at in relation to each other but I def. was almost positive the DT880's had more sub-bass than the Q701's. I guess I'll just have to follow my own guidelines and try them out for myself.

 
Thats a typical example of when graphs are totally different than the actual sound. First, DT880's should be brighter according to graph, which they're not, they're actually much fuller, smoother and darker sounding than Q701's. And also there's no way in hell that Q701's have more bass than DT880's. No way, not in a 1000 years.  I switched between them now and DT880's have much fuller sound, much more bass slam, way better extension, or volume and quantity in sub bass region. It's not even a small difference.  If DT880 bass quantity would be 10/10, then Q701 would be 5/10 or 6/10 maybe.

 

[Evshrug]

No chance of hyperbole in saying the Q has half the bass?

 

[Chris J]

Quote:

 
Thats a typical example of when graphs are totally different than the actual sound. First, DT880's should be brighter according to graph, which they're not, they're actually much fuller, smoother and darker sounding than Q701's. And also there's no way in hell that Q701's have more bass than DT880's. No way, not in a 1000 years.  I switched between them now and DT880's have much fuller sound, much more bass slam, way better extension, or volume and quantity in sub bass region. It's not even a small difference.  If DT880 bass quantity would be 10/10, then Q701 would be 5/10 or 6/10 maybe.

 
Yep,
that's basically what I hear.
 
Again, don't anyone get me wrong, I really dig the Q's, especially for Jazz.  DT880s are a bit more of a neutral sounding Rock and Pop 'phone.
 
The graphs surprise the hell out of me (they should sound almost identical, but they dont!), but I do hear what I hear!

 

[tdockweiler]

Has anyone tried the K701 pads on the Q701?
I tried them and they sound awful. I think it's only because these K701 pads are so flat that I couldn't tell which side was angled!
They sounded and felt exactly like the K601 pads.
 
Any bass and warmth the Q701 had is gone.
 
I noticed the Q701 pads are much harder. These very worn K701 pads are super soft and not hard at all.
 
Q701 and K702 pads have the same part #, but K701 pads might be a bit different.
 
One idea I had was that AKG found out some Q701 (or K701?) drivers were sounding slighty bassier/warmer than the rest and hand picked all of these ones for the 65th.

If I was super rich I'd like to try out a dozen Q701s and see how different they all sound.
 
Maybe there is a K701 out there that COULD sound 100% identical to my Q701 if it had the button+foam and K702/Q701 pads.
 
Sorry to open a can of worms, but it's just surprising how much the Q701 changes with pads.
 
I wonder what the button and foam does to the K702 (not K701). Maybe someone can re-create it on the K702.
 
Maybe K701 pads are identical in sound to Q701 pads. Probably so..
 
I can't wait to try the 65th pads on my Q701. They're not due in to the USA until the19th or 20th

 
BTW ever since upgrading my power supply on my amp and getting a non MOV based surge protector (Furman SS-6B), all my garbage tracks sound much, much worse. The Q701 is now suddenly not as forgiving as it once was. I mean this is ok, but sometimes I like my bad music sounding better than it really is

My HD-650 and DJ100 makes them all sound much better. More coloration and not as accurate. Nothing wrong with that sometimes.
 
Man and I thought believing in cables was bad. Now I'm convinced good power supplies and noise filters improve audio quality slightly. Can't tell an ounce of difference with my HD-650 though I think. Not about to go out and buy a $500 power conditioner though! My new power supply (Astrodyne) only cost me $50 and my surge protector $33.

 

[derbigpr]

Quote:

No chance of hyperbole in saying the Q has half the bass?

 
 
Nope. Its just not comparable. DT880's have much more present bass. In my opinion, more present than HD650's bass, apart from a small region in mid bass region where HD650's are boosted.  Overall, DT880's have that "subwoofery" feel to them, there's always sub bass present. Not boosted or anything, just that deep omnipresent bass, when there is bass in tracks of course. In terms of 80-120hz region, I'd say HD650's beat the DT880's by a small margin in terms of quantity, but anything under 60-70 hz DT880's just keep going and going, they don't feel like they're rolling off at all.  Q701's have good extension as well, better than HD650's, not quite as good as DT880's, but the amount of bass is just much smaller.  Don't get me wrong, Q701's still have bass, its always perfectly audible, never ever have I felt in any type of music that they're LACKING bass, or that I have a problem hearing any low frequency sound, but the amount and presence of bass with DT880 is just very noticeably higher.

 

[derbigpr]

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[derbigpr]

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[Evshrug]

Derbigpr,
Ok. I was just was wondering about the "half" quantity.

Yep, that's basically what I hear.

Again, don't anyone get me wrong, I really dig the Q's, especially for Jazz.  DT880s are a bit more of a neutral sounding Rock and Pop 'phone.

The graphs surprise the hell out of me (they should sound almost identical, but they dont!), but I do hear what I hear!

So wait, the DT880 have more bass, but sound more neutral?

 

[Brooko]

They're interesting points - (@ChrisJ / Evshrug / Derbigpr) - nice to have this conversation with you guys.  Unfortunately I no longer have access to the Q's (ended up buying the K701s because I liked them more).
 
I really do think comparison between DT880 and K/Q701 is very much going to depend on the music.  Anything boomy (mid-bass, lower-mid concentration) may sound comparable to the DT880 - again because of the slight elevation in mid-bass on the Q's.  Anything with normal spread of bass (particularly lower bass) is going to have much more emphasis on the DT880.
 
@Derbigpr - I agree that the DT880 have much more impact - again because of the lower bass.
 
Couple of thoughts on this whole issue.  When you guys compared, did you volume match as closely as possible?  Because of the different presentations in overall frequency, I often find that I give the DT880s a little more volume - simply to bring the mids out a little more (not so necessary with the L-Dot though), whereas with the K701 I tend to not need as much volume (I am very much a balanced - to - mid-head).  This could give the impression that the K/Q has a lot less bass.
 
Also - because the K701 by nature has more width of stage, and (for me anyway) just has an airier presentation, it definitely gives the feeling of less bass.
 
I love both cans though 

.  Throw the HD600 (or HD650) into the mix as well, and it's a very nice trio.

 

[Kodhifi]

Please look at the difference between 600ohm dt880 and 250ohm dt880. The Q701 most definitely has more bass than my 250ohm dt880. It's not night and day but it is noticable.
 
The reason the Q701's come out sounding louder in the high frequency compared to the 880's frequency curve is because of your ears. 701's have a EQ bump in the upper mid range where your ears are pretty sensitive to sound. The 880's are louder at the upper frequencies where your ear is less sensitive.
 
Listen to 2 phones that for sake of argument are perfectly flat. One with a bump at 2khz and one with a bump at 12khz and the 2khz ones will sound brighter and more detailed even though it's not at as high a frequency.
 
 
Here take a look at this graph to see what i mean about the bass.
 

 
According to measurements, the Q701 are 4 to 5db LOUDER from 800 to 20hz than the DT880 250ohm that I own. Notice the 600ohm DT880 has a similar curve but about 3-4db more bass than the 250ohm DT880.
 
 
I own 250ohm DT880 and Q701 and what I hear when I compare them, holds up in the measurements, Q701 has more bass than my dt880, right down to 20hz.
 
And do you see that little hump at 2khz in the green line? That's why the Q701's sound brighter and more detailed than the 880 and why their midrange is so applauded. Your ears are far more sensitive to 2khz than to 10khz