[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilPeart TRUE bass. satisfactory bass. I am no bass head. too much bass for me. "boomy" bass. accurate bass. opening bassline. bassline. tight bass. bass. lower frequencies.

I take it the proportionate bass delivery from the K-501 doesn't satisfy your "bass" requirements?

 

[NeilPeart]

One could say that the K501 doesn't cover all the "basses."

Seriously guys, I really don't care which cans you bash and which cans you molest.

However, I do want you guys to try Bjork's "Hyperballad" and report your findings because perhaps I simply heard K501s that weren't up to snuff! I still miss the 501's sweeeeet midrange and it was pretty comfy with those light cloth pads! Enjoy the AKG sound!

P.S. BASE BASE OMG TEH BASE!!!

err….OMG TEH BASS!

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilPeart Man all this K501 love is smothering me! I love the midrange on the K501; it truly is one of the best in the headphone world (as many AKGs demonstrate). The soundstage is also wide and expansive, and the treble is detailed and smooth. The only aspect of the K501 is its lack of TRUE bass. I'm not trolling or picking a fight, but after 300+ hours of burn in and using my Corda HA-2 I could never obtain satisfactory bass from the K501. I am no bass head (the DT770 and PS-1 have too much bass for me), but I certainly don't think the HD580/600/650 have "boomy" bass - those headphones have accurate bass. Listen to "Hyperballad" by Bjork and tell me if you can hear the opening bassline. Three different versions of the K501 (driven by the HA-2, HR-2 and the Max) could not reproduce this bassline. I like nice, tight bass that isn't overwhelming, but the K501 simply cannot reproduce bass in the lower frequencies. I cannot live with a headphone that cannot produce all the notes in my favorite pieces. I'm glad you 501 folks are enjoying your new headphone but please cease with the "every other 'phone in the world is the K501's bitch."

I could have sworn i heard some bass in the 501's at the qualia meet - on unburned cans too. i just came off of Qualias tho, so after that a whisper would sound like bass lol! *hides from Nik* But yep the PS-1 was scary bass, as were my Darth Beyer DT770s. The HP-1 had perfect bass, the HD650 was ok too, and the CD3000 was bass shy, but came out when prodded (vinyl, EQ). Maybe the 501 is like a hamster - it's a bit bass shy, but with some coaxing it will come out to play.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilPeart I do want you guys to try Bjork's "Hyperballad"

Oh god do I have to endure a track of that screeching Icelandic woman to know what bass is??

I'll stick to my story....... the K-501 are balanced in all departments, if I want to listen to overblown bass I'll listen to other headphones but I refuse to waste good money on a "Bjork" album

EDIT: The K-501 is more akin to a good quality near field monitor whereas the majority of headphones are more like conventional floorstanding speakers with 12 inch woofers...... I can understand the bass issue but don't agree that the K-501's are "lacking" in bass.... they're simply not bass heavy and present everything proportionally.......

I love deep bass but there's a time and place for it and headphones are not the ideal transducers to experience a true bass note.
note

 

[lan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunwar BTW is there an AKG smilie?

<- truly the most ridiculous of the available smilies. I crack up everytime I see this.

The K501 pads are something else. They feel non sticky which is great.

 

[bubbagump]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kunwar very well put, Bubba, if i may call you that ( psst...Forrest Gump)

yea Its a odd screen name, and a first for me. I was having a rather off day when I registered here the first time and I unchecked the 'receive email from admins' box, sans I didn't get the email to activate my account (this is called stupidity). so I just grabbed the name off of my mousepad

I'm normally junkilo most other places.

 

[bubbagump]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilPeart However, I do want you guys to try Bjork's Hyperballad"

cool i'm always looking for technologically challenging pieces for the cans...

 

[PinkFloyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubbagump cool i'm always looking for technologically challenging pieces for the cans...

Yello "the eye" track 5 ......... subterranean bass...... the last track is just pure crazy and will blow your mind.

 

[elrod-tom]

It's great to see all this love for the K501. It's the sweetest set of cans I've heard in the mids and highs, and it has what I feel is good, tight bass...somewhat rolled off, but natural. Oh, and I'll agree that they are very comfortable. I wish my K271s' had the same ear pads (if that's what you'd call them).

I think that bass thing (BTW - I'm amazed that some knucklehead hasn't shown up trying to start a flame war about that) can be addressed quite nicely with the correct choice of amp. I find that the K501 is a nice match for an amp with a lot of power, and a good strong bottom end. The HeadRoom Max and the Ray Samuels Emmeline products are IMHO an excellent match. I didn't care for the Corda PreHead with the K501, as I think that it had almost too much power (it did, however, make my K340's sing like nobody's business!!). Ditto the X-Cans V2, as this pairing was overly emphasised IMHO in the high end.

 

[kaitsuburi]

**chime chime**

I have almost the same setup as Kunwar and I totally love the K501s!! Their neutrality (no "groovalizing effect", colour, overemphasis, et.al.), combined with the "full open air" soundstage create an effect of clarity and control that I find very pleasing (<--insert K501 smilie here). They have power, especially properly amped (I used to drive them unamped for a month or so), and I find them great for genres other than classical & jazz, because of the non-"over-indulging" bass and the great detail in the mids/highs.

I think it's a matter of taste, really. I don't think anyone who hears the K501 with a good amp would deny their superb clarity, neutrality and detail. Perhaps some would find them a little "dry" and "analytical" when compared with Senns or Grados. I am addicted to their crystal sound, however, and lately have been using them for listening almost exclusively.

-kaitsuburi

 

[akio]

ahhhhH! i'm getting sucked in! has anyone run them off of a mpx3 + amp yet? some of the funniest replies i've ever seen are in this thread -

"Oh god do I have to endure a track of that screeching Icelandic woman to know what bass is??"

hahahaha. gooo pinkfloyd!

 

[kunwar]

the mpx3 would add bass to an already clear and detailed phone.
It should go nicely with it.
I will let someone else as well chime in about the MPX3's influence on a pair of 501's
I have today given the MS Pros and the talisman to a good friend for listening for a couple of weeks so the 501 is my only headphone for a while

 

[fmplautus]

The posts above extolling the Sennheiser's 600 family bass are below the belt!

I lived with a pair of HD-600 phones for two years. The bass was what finally drove me to find an alternative (happily the AKG 501). To my ears the Senns are casebook studies in tilting a frequency response to produce an unbalanced, bloated and compressed sound.

More specifically, the 600s sound like bass with a colagen injection -- no life, all bloat, no tune. It's bass that puts the music on the sacrificial alter. The headphones are the antithisis of music. They are fatiguing. They are squeezed. They are headphones for people who want to hear that one really big note in a way that makes damned sure it doesn't get missed. I think we used to have a term for it back in the heyday of poorly designed 15 inch monitors -- BOOM.

What a day when I finally got a hold of the Akg-501. Suddenly the music was back, and real -- you know, integrated, fingers-plucking-strings, and kick drums-powered-by-real-feet, and synth lines that cornered like Ferarris and not Lincoln town cars with too many golf bags in their respective trunks.

But hey, if you want to lay back in the LazyBoy and gaze at your signicant other with that loopy "hi-fi" look on your face and wait for that 30 mhz tone so you can interrupt the concert with "Mable, you gotta hear this low bass," go for it...I mean by all means. All I can say is that the 600 family just about euthenised this pair of ears.

Thank God I got out of the LazyBoy. Thank you AKG-501 for restoring the music! Thank you, thank you, thank you...AND AT WHAT A BARGAIN PRICE!!!

 

[lini]

Without question, the K501 is a nice sounding, well built and very comfy headphone - nevertheless I grew tired of its sound after a few years of using it. It's probably my ears getting old and wanting more bass and groove - which made me fall in love with the K240S instead.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: I second PF's assessment that the K501 sounds like some nice monitor speakers - it does right what it does, I'd say. Nevertheless, over time I was badly missing what it omitted. Interestingly enough, though, I still prefer monitor-like sound for speakers, while my preference in headphones has changed to groovier models...

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd Yello "the eye" track 5 ......... subterranean bass...... the last track is just pure crazy and will blow your mind.

Darn it i have to go check out that track when i get home tomorrow!