Quote:
Originally posted by r3cc0s
do most people use the xbs or mega bass switches to listen to their music? |
If you were to poll everyone out there who owns a PCDP, I'd say the answer is probably "yes." Most people use mega-bass.
Most people interested enough in high-quality audio and headphone reproduction to be participating here probably do NOT use the mega-bass option. There are two main reasons why:
1. Older mega-bass circuits added lots of noise in addition to boosting the midbass response as much as 15dB.
2. Newer "digital" mega-bass circuits add bass without adding (much) noise. However, I have yet to find a mega-bass (or super-bass, or xbs... whatever) enhancement that's subtle enough to be useful with good headphones. Typically mega-bass is designed to make crappy no-bass headphones sound like they have some kick. Invariably it's way too much.
About the best mega-bass circuit I've ever played with is on my Sony D-211 portable CD player, from 1992. It was (I think) one of the first digital mega-bass options, and used a DSP to act directly on the digital bitstream before the DAC could act on it. The result was low noise, and 3 levels to choose from (four if you count "off"). Level 1 is subtle enough to actually improve the sound of many cheap anemic headphones, and actually sounds okay with better headphones that need a little help in the bass department (like Grado SR-60s). Level 2 is only useful with really crappy headphones that have almost no bass response to speak of in the first place. Level 3 is not useful with any headphones I've ever tried. It really pumps up the bass to ridiculous levels, which cheap headphones can't handle anyway and good headphones didn't need in the first place.
It's interesting to note that the Level 3 mega-bass setting on the D-211 is actually WEAKER than the mega-bass switch on my (much newer) Sony D-E200 portable (a 2 year old design). The D-E200 claims to be a digital mega-bass design, like the older D-211, but it is absolutely the most ridiculously over-powered mega-bass option I've ever heard. Worse, it has only one option -- "on" or "off." Apparently the 'wimpy' mega-bass options just didn't sell well.
It might be nice if a PCDP came out that had a true "warm" circuit rather than mega-bass. I envision something which uses a DSP to
slightly warm up music... rolling off the highs slightly while subtly increasing the bass and lower midrange. Unfortunately there really isn't a market for it except amongst those of use who use good headphones in the first place. And we know how much the manufacturers care about what
we want to see in a PCDP.