[Mochan]

XB500 > in mid bass than the XB700.  But that's what we've already established. Some people will prefer the smoother, deeper presentation of the XB700.

 

[maverickronin]

After reading this review of the XB700s and others like it I wondered why and how people managed to have completely different impressions of it.  Not just that some people didn't like it, which is to be expected, but that people reported a completely different experience, stating things that are completely opposite to my experience.
 
I have a hypothesis as to why this may be, and I would like the feedback of everyone here who has listened to the XB700s.  My theory is that people who report the XB700s to have generally poor sound quality either like to listen loudly, use an unsuitable amp, or both.  I was listening to my XB700s with my D2+ and Total Bithead, wondering what would cause someone to think they had a narrow soundstage, uncontrolled bass, muffled mids, and no highs.  Then I remembered that I seem to listen rather quietly compared to other people.  I turned the volume up to ear bleeding levels (for me anyway, I've observed many others listening at such volumes for long periods of time) and suddenly they didn't sound so hot anymore, exhibiting most of the flaws listed above.  Then I tried them at similar volumes on my Maverick D1, a considerably stronger amp, and they sounded better.  I'm not sure exactly how much better, as my ears were starting to hurt at this point, but a trend seemed to be forming.
 
It would appear that while the XB700s may sound fine at low volumes without any dedicated amping, higher volumes demand an amp with much higher current capacity to maintain fidelity.  My questions to all the bass heads in this thread are:
 
1.  Do you like the XB700?
2.  In your opinion, do you listen loudly or softly compared to others?
3:  What amp, if any, do you use with the XB700s?
 
Thank you in advance.

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

I have a hypothesis as to why this may be, and I would like the feedback of everyone here who has listened to the XB700s.  My theory is that people who report the XB700s to have generally poor sound quality either like to listen loudly, use an unsuitable amp, or both.

Couldn't it just be in comparison to other, better headphones the XB700s are not upto par? Have you compared them to any other headphone setups? I heard all XB300,500 and 700 and kept the XB500, sounded better overall, not great, but for $50 does the job. The whole idea behind these headphones is to listen to them loud, they're only good for bass genres such as D&B, some techno... apart from that they're hopelessly recessed and uninvolving.

 

[maverickronin]

How much better are we talking about here?  I think they compare favorably to the other headphones I own, HD650, DT770/600, SE530, and K340 or I wouldn't still own them.  They aren't perfect, but what is?  Especially for the price.

 

[Graphicism]

Not much better... I found the bass to be slightly better controlled and the midrange a little more forward, the XB700 seemed to peek at both ends leaving it hollow in the middle. Either way if you own the HD650 and DT770 I would think them to be far superior, they are still warm sounding headphones but leaps and bounds better with mids, detail and overall clarity on a nice tube amp.

 

[maverickronin]

The 650s are quite a lot better in most every area.  They just don't do much in the way of sub bass.  Most of my electronic music sounds pretty poor on them without quite a lot of EQ.  The 770s aren't nearly that far ahead though.  Their soundstage has more depth and they are more detailed, but that's it for advantages.  The upper mids and lower treble sound odd and slightly unnatural to me, compared to the XB700s.  That may change when I get around to finishing my Crack though.
 
I like the tone and timbre of the XB700s quite a bit.  To me, they sound like baby HD650s with a huge bass boost.  They're not without their weaknesses.  They fall flat on their face with seemingly random tracks for reasons that I have yet to identify, and they can become muddled in complex layered passages, but nothing else brings the sub bass like they do.  I wouldn't want them to be my only pair of headphones, but in their sonic niche and price range they do very well.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Any1 interested in upcoming Sony ZX series? Seems to be going by specs and pricing (they are entering the same pricelineup as XB series at launch) these might be some kind of successors to XB. They have the same look as the new flagship Z1000. Some may not like the design but I really like it, the oval cup design, the pads while looking quite tiny compared to XB looks still quite soft and comfortable IMO, the XB series pads are like almost too huge and soft IMO that it will eventually cause some mis-shaping like it did with my XB500 once I used it for a little while (it put more pressure at top of the pad making it less thick at top so had to put some paper in between the driver holding mechanism and where the connector is plugged so it would create an even pressure on my ears and I also think that improved the sound (cuz your head is usually thicker higher up the cups will have to tint a bit). Also the "bass-reflex" holes are gone so no more leaking and I'd expect these to shut off ambient noise REALLY good. The only thing that remains to be seen is how the bass compares to XB, there I still have my doubts. What these speaks to me though that bling-bling is put aside in favor for usability / practical use. weight of 260g for ZX700 and 180g for ZX500 sounds great.
 
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sony.jp%2Fheadphone%2Fproducts%2FMDR-ZX700%2Findex.html
 
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sony.jp%2Fheadphone%2Fproducts%2FMDR-ZX500%2Findex.html
 
I may end up getting both ZX700 and ZX500 when they release but I'm gonna wait and see how the bass quantity & quality turns out first. I want it to be at least close to XB series. 

 

[cam94z28]

IMO those look SO much better than the XB series. Looking at their design I doubt they will be designed for the same level of bass. No reflex port, and a more refined style makes me think they might be going for overall sound quality. Not necessarily a bad thing, but look at what happened with the Altus series (MDR-D777LP)

 

[Mochan]

You may be on to something here. I also listen relatively softly and I have found the XB700s to have a very wide, airy soundstage (not the deepest, but certainly very wide) and the treble and mids are pretty good. The sub bass extension is the best I have ever heard on headphones or IEMs. They certainly can get lost in complex or really fast passages but even the HD650 has that problem. 
 
I use a Dared MP5 and a Marantz 1090. I also use a uDAC and an E7. Lately I have also been using a Cobra. I'll experiment listening loud on the Cobra and the E7, which aren't very powerful.
 
Quote:

After reading this review of the XB700s and others like it I wondered why and how people managed to have completely different impressions of it.  Not just that some people didn't like it, which is to be expected, but that people reported a completely different experience, stating things that are completely opposite to my experience.
 
I have a hypothesis as to why this may be, and I would like the feedback of everyone here who has listened to the XB700s.  My theory is that people who report the XB700s to have generally poor sound quality either like to listen loudly, use an unsuitable amp, or both.  I was listening to my XB700s with my D2+ and Total Bithead, wondering what would cause someone to think they had a narrow soundstage, uncontrolled bass, muffled mids, and no highs.  Then I remembered that I seem to listen rather quietly compared to other people.  I turned the volume up to ear bleeding levels (for me anyway, I've observed many others listening at such volumes for long periods of time) and suddenly they didn't sound so hot anymore, exhibiting most of the flaws listed above.  Then I tried them at similar volumes on my Maverick D1, a considerably stronger amp, and they sounded better.  I'm not sure exactly how much better, as my ears were starting to hurt at this point, but a trend seemed to be forming.
 
It would appear that while the XB700s may sound fine at low volumes without any dedicated amping, higher volumes demand an amp with much higher current capacity to maintain fidelity.  My questions to all the bass heads in this thread are:
 
1.  Do you like the XB700?
2.  In your opinion, do you listen loudly or softly compared to others?
3:  What amp, if any, do you use with the XB700s?
 
Thank you in advance.

 

[Mochan]

Regarding the ZX series, I strongly doubt that they are meant to succeed the XB series. They don't look bass monsters at all, and ZX probably doesn't stand for "Zextra Xbass."

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

How do you tell if a headphone is bassy based on its looks? AKG K 518 DJs doesn't look very bassy but they are.

 

[wind016]

I thought the XB series headphones weren't anything special unless you listened to it in loud volumes. At low volumes, I thought the headphones were dull, and muddy. At high volumes, I thought the bass impact made the headphones much more exciting and the deficiencies were easier to be overlooked. For low volume listening, I had no doubt in my mind that there are better headphones. For high volume, that bass really kicks and difficult to match, but I thought Ultrasones were still better in detail while having a lot of bass kick.
 
I'm surprised the Audio Technica ES10 and W70s are not mentioned more often on this thread. I am interested in how they fair against the other basshead heaphones

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

In terms of listening volume with XB I'd agree about XB700, it needed to be listened at loud volume to sound great and the bass was quite weak and boring at low volumes (but it wasn't only bass that was effected but that's where it was mostly noticable) and I've never heard a headphone this sensitive to volume levels and it kinda disturbed me a bit. This isn't the case with XB500, it behaves like my HD 212 Pro or AKG K 518 DJ in that regard (not saying HD 212 Pro sounds great cuz it's a hopeless case at whatever volume but it doesn't improve at higher volume at least), it sounds great even at more quiet volumes and you get plenty of bass at whatever volume. Please do not speak about XB500 like it would be similar as XB700 cuz they are highly different. XB500 have the exact sound signature I prefer, a bit like an Ultrasone in aggressiveness/forward sounding  (I'm not exactly sure cuz I've only tested one quickly) but with significantly smoother highs and more bass (which I like). I don't think it exists a more higherend headphone that has similar sound signature as XB500 (aggressive/forward/smooth highs/great non-recessed mids 1-2kHz/LOTS of both punchy & deep bass) but does it better and satisfies my bass craving needs. Feels like XB500 has a rather unique sound and I can imagine people either like it or hate it (it stills needs EQing though, un-EQ'd it's too "muffled" sounding thanks to far too big boost at 250Hz and too little boost at 4 - 16kHz). I'd say XB500 is more like a Grado & Ultrasone but with A LOT smoother highs and bigger bass while XB700 is more like Sennheiser HD 600/650 laid-back style and more bright and we all know people will have their own preferations about what sound signature fits you better. I'm sure you'd probably like XB500 more than XB700 if you like Ultrasones but I'm unsure about the highs though, sounds to me you prefer more bright/sparkly highs. I thought I did as well until I tried XB500 and realized especially voices have never sounded so natural (after some EQing) due to lack of "sparkle"/brightness while still being absolutely clear.

 

[soundeffect]

I agree that the bass of the xb700 doesn't kick in unless in higher volume that is without amping.  In lower volume the xb700 doesn't perform too hot and nothing special. In higher volume the xb700 can hit pretty deep.

 

[Mochan]

I just did some testing with the XB700 with no amp, with a not so powerful amp (the D10), and a powerful amp, the Marantz. 
 
I have come to the conclusion that the XB700 is indeed quite sensitive to amping. This makes sense since bass is the first thing to go when you don't have enough juice. The difference between ampless and the Marantz is like night and day, the Marantz makes the bass so full and powerufl at the same volume level. To get to the same volume level you'd have to raise the volume on the DAP to treble ear-splitting levels, and the bass is muddy to boot. 
 
It does seem like the way to listen to the XB700 is through a beefy amp and at low listening levels -- which coincidentally is how I listen to them anyhow.
 
Using the Cobra, the bass improves a smidgen but I still miss the really deep, powerful extension a bigger amp like the MP5 or the Marantz provides.