Glad this thread exists. Am a basshead myself. However most bass headphone are lacking in so many sonic aspects such as no proper extension & tuning in high frequencies and low frequencies. Bass quantity but lack texture, and proper tuning in the low end and bass response. Bass and sub bass response rumble which bleeds to mid range all the way to upper mids; recessing frequency particularly mid range which makes the audio spectrum to sound recess, bloated and muddy, probably affect FR tuning. No proper dynamic slam and punch with proper accuracy of the recording and overall audio spectrum of the song, which varies. And most of the are V shape which is either good and bad, and most cheap range are V sounding with over sibilance highs causing slight distortion and unnatural highs; again recess mids. Most common are artificial highs and very digital sounding, again varies with amps and dac as well.
There are many variation of audiophile bass cans. Like plannar bass with great slam with high precision and accuracy but lack texture and punchyness of naturalness of a dynamic driver. For sub-bass extension is also quite solid for dynamic driver. Pleasant rumble can be heard without any problems most of the time, although you don’t get the absolute perfect extension of planar headphones, generally between 20 Hz and 40 Hz. Apart from plannar and dynamic, you also get like V shape but somewhat reference like quality; forwards mids and mid bass while roll off treble; forward midbass for punch and slam; warm and bassy; linear and bassy; sub bass rumble extension and lower bass emphasis while mid bass somewhat linear and many more bassy signature and many others. Moreover, cans with sub-bass bump will make the earcups rumble and shake, and also distort the midrange. One with a visceral and sharp bass will have very fast decay and treble spikes. One with deep bass extends into the sub-bass without overemphasizing it--consequently, little distortion with the mids. Do you want fast decay bass, or visceral bass with sharp treble, or deep bass? For instance, cans such as Atticus is the visceral bass headphone--sharp and detailed and impactful. The Aeolus is one the smoothest headphone while they do not have controlled bass, and instead has a bit of loose bass response but still very punchy and addictive which varies with pads and tube roling if one uses tubes. Atticus is the most intense, sharp bass while Eikon has very deep bass extension. LCD- 3 warm and bassy with great slam with tubes and of course plannar bass like character, perfect linear 1khz sub bass extension. Very different sonic characters indeed.
Headphone such as V-moda, couple of JVC, M50x all have great enjoyable midbass but lacks details, and proper tuning of the bass while just producing bass for the sick of it. Audiophile means also means reference and nothing is lacking eventhough certain cans based on specific audio signature such as bass response. Meaning not known for technicalities but still can resolve highly with amazing sound stage and its emphasizing its amazing low end. Also, there are many subjective preference regarding bassy sound signature and expectation biasness whether its good or bad. As for me, I have my own definition of a true bass canon headphone and most of them are close. But while there are audiophile cans can widely be considered as bassy cans due to emphasizing on the low end bass but still retains its other sonic aspects such as detail and nuetral as such. Beats headphone is just bass and bass but to what extend and meaning ? Producing more bass for the sake of it ?
So far, I think the candidates are the following in terms of audiophile bass canons with different variation of sonic signature and driver types; design cans. Abyss Phi 1266, Hifiman HE-6, ZMF Eikons (with EQ vary with source and pads) ZMF atticus, ZMF Aelous, Audeze LCD-2, LCD-3, LCD-4, XC, Beyerdynamic T5 and 1770, Fostex X00 and TH series, normally all biocelluse tuning usually are all excellent bass driver cans. So far in my experience I have not find any affordable bass emphasis that is somewhat audiophile quality to it and less flaws when it comes to bass canon cans. To me, I think Beyer Dt 770 pro 80 ohms are an excellent candidate in terms of bassy headphones but still does not compromise other quality of audio aspects. Am not sure which has the best bass since am unable to try everything and A/B them. So many factors involves such as impedance load, power and sensitivity and scalability with variable sources.
There are many variation of audiophile bass cans. Like plannar bass with great slam with high precision and accuracy but lack texture and punchyness of naturalness of a dynamic driver. For sub-bass extension is also quite solid for dynamic driver. Pleasant rumble can be heard without any problems most of the time, although you don’t get the absolute perfect extension of planar headphones, generally between 20 Hz and 40 Hz. Apart from plannar and dynamic, you also get like V shape but somewhat reference like quality; forwards mids and mid bass while roll off treble; forward midbass for punch and slam; warm and bassy; linear and bassy; sub bass rumble extension and lower bass emphasis while mid bass somewhat linear and many more bassy signature and many others. Moreover, cans with sub-bass bump will make the earcups rumble and shake, and also distort the midrange. One with a visceral and sharp bass will have very fast decay and treble spikes. One with deep bass extends into the sub-bass without overemphasizing it--consequently, little distortion with the mids. Do you want fast decay bass, or visceral bass with sharp treble, or deep bass? For instance, cans such as Atticus is the visceral bass headphone--sharp and detailed and impactful. The Aeolus is one the smoothest headphone while they do not have controlled bass, and instead has a bit of loose bass response but still very punchy and addictive which varies with pads and tube roling if one uses tubes. Atticus is the most intense, sharp bass while Eikon has very deep bass extension. LCD- 3 warm and bassy with great slam with tubes and of course plannar bass like character, perfect linear 1khz sub bass extension. Very different sonic characters indeed.
Headphone such as V-moda, couple of JVC, M50x all have great enjoyable midbass but lacks details, and proper tuning of the bass while just producing bass for the sick of it. Audiophile means also means reference and nothing is lacking eventhough certain cans based on specific audio signature such as bass response. Meaning not known for technicalities but still can resolve highly with amazing sound stage and its emphasizing its amazing low end. Also, there are many subjective preference regarding bassy sound signature and expectation biasness whether its good or bad. As for me, I have my own definition of a true bass canon headphone and most of them are close. But while there are audiophile cans can widely be considered as bassy cans due to emphasizing on the low end bass but still retains its other sonic aspects such as detail and nuetral as such. Beats headphone is just bass and bass but to what extend and meaning ? Producing more bass for the sake of it ?
So far, I think the candidates are the following in terms of audiophile bass canons with different variation of sonic signature and driver types; design cans. Abyss Phi 1266, Hifiman HE-6, ZMF Eikons (with EQ vary with source and pads) ZMF atticus, ZMF Aelous, Audeze LCD-2, LCD-3, LCD-4, XC, Beyerdynamic T5 and 1770, Fostex X00 and TH series, normally all biocelluse tuning usually are all excellent bass driver cans. So far in my experience I have not find any affordable bass emphasis that is somewhat audiophile quality to it and less flaws when it comes to bass canon cans. To me, I think Beyer Dt 770 pro 80 ohms are an excellent candidate in terms of bassy headphones but still does not compromise other quality of audio aspects. Am not sure which has the best bass since am unable to try everything and A/B them. So many factors involves such as impedance load, power and sensitivity and scalability with variable sources.
