[Graphicism]

Quote:

I disagree, I never got that sinking feeling with the DT880 or my Skybeyer.  It simply did not play insanely low bass notes clearly enough for me to be able to say "super low note A was lower than super low note B"  I found the beyers to just play them with such force that I couldn't differentiate them.  Where as my Sony XB500s never had that issue.  
 
its just how my ears picked it up, if that is not the case for others then so be it.  But I found the sonys to play the super low bass notes with more responsiveness.  They sank much lower on the Sonys, but were more vast and powerful on the beyers.  

Yeah I would have to say it's a stark contrast between the 2 phones; Sony XB has over-the-top quantity while the Beyer's have subtle quality. I mean to expect a phone to compete with something 5x it's price is asking a lot, the Sony are great for what they are, they're an easy recommendation when people are looking for bass.
 
What source and amp did you conclude the Sony's extend further than the Beyer's?

 

[swbf2cheater]

Sansa Fuze with custom LOD, Fiio e11, e9, home pc with altec lansing speakers, while they extend further they were not as clear as what the beyers did. 
 
The beyers did not play some super low bass instances on some of my favorite tracks like certain tracks from Gorillaz.  The bass they did respond to was excellent in terms of punch and quality.  The Sonys played the super low notes but not clearly, i mean I could hear the bass difference between the two.  The sonys were inferior in quality, but simply allowed the lowest bass to be audible vs the beyers that did not
 
 

 

[n-phect]

^^ this makes no sense, you can hear any 20hz bass on any headphone

 

[n-phect]

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th xb's have more powerful bass than darth beyers???

no

 

[TMRaven]

I haven't found that to be true at all.  The DT990s struggle to play a crisp and cleanly audible/rumbly 20hz tone from my experiences (at normal listening levels)  You have to crank the volume up quite a bit to hear that tone, and even then it's not very clean.
 

 

[n-phect]

Quote:

I disagree, I never got that sinking feeling with the DT880 or my Skybeyer.  It simply did not play insanely low bass notes clearly enough for me to be able to say "super low note A was lower than super low note B"  I found the beyers to just play them with such force that I couldn't differentiate them.  Where as my Sony XB500s never had that issue.  
 
its just how my ears picked it up, if that is not the case for others then so be it.  But I found the sonys to play the super low bass notes with more responsiveness.  They sank much lower on the Sonys, but were more vast and powerful on the beyers.  

 
you said it yourself, it sank much lower but you couldn't differentiate it.
 
my dear sir, you have been BASSIFIED.  please go seek the nearest akg

 

[Graphicism]

Ultimately this comes down to what source you're listening too and whats powering it. The majority of DACs out there are built around $5 op-amps and they struggle in reproducing both extremities, therefore when a headphone has more mid-bass (XB500) than say something closer to neutral (DT880), the cut-off point doesn't effect the bass-heavy phone but the neutral one.
 
In addition to a good source I've auditioned/owned; LDIII, Headfive, Zero - all of which don't replicate the extremities either, especially with a 600Ohm headphone a ridiculous high-gain amp is necessary. A Fiio simply won't even come close.