[Hotep303]

I have the HD800s, Utopias, TH900s, Pioneer Master SE1 and the Sony Z1R.

Best bass in terms of quality realism was probably the HD800 however it’s been the least enjoyable imo h/p.
Most enjoyable bass with quantity and still very decent quality- not muddy at all and easy to drive is the TH900.
TH900 are also much cheaper than the Utopias. The Utopias do have a better mid/treble than the TH900 not by much. The TH900 have very nice and larger soundstage. The TH900 imagining is close to the HD800

Thanks man. I've gotten a similar reply:

• There’s ZMF headphones like the Verite, which can punch fairly hard all the way down to the sub bass. But it has less bass quantity than others. If you found yourself having to increase the volume with the LCD-2C you will have to do the same here, unless you can EQ.
• There is of course the Utopia which is the best I have heard, and if you like the Clears you should like these. Baring in mind the timbre is very metallic, I modded mine with discs of open cell foam over the driver to help with this. But I think this is your best bet.
• Lastly there is the Fostex TH900 with earpads from the TH610. This one has the most impactful bass of any headphone, and lots of it, but the bass isn’t as “fast” as the other two, as the attack is a little rounded. The tonality is a little too low in the vocals, and high in treble. With lots and lots of bass. This one is really behind the others at almost everything else.

But the clears really didn't have good bass to me so I dunno bout the Utopia, could you comment on it's bass? Also what do you think about Z1R relative to others?

I kind of wrote the TH900 off when I read this reply, because I though that there are many headphones with "good bass" but they don't satisfy my bass needs and are mostly about quantity or slam where as I really enjoy the quality and speed of attack, clarity... So I dunno about the TH900...

 

[mrtim6]

The TH900 did not lack speed in their bass at all. And I disagree on the comment regarding the tonality being low in the voice. I think what this person is saying is the headphones are v shaped, which they are. However the vocals are not way behind HD800 or the Utopias they may sound slightly less prominent, however voices are still clear and present IMO.

The TH900 have biocellulose drivers, which sound pretty natural and are my favourite for EDM. The Utopias Have a beryllium driver which also sounds natural. I have Yamaha NS-2000 speakers with beryllium mids & tweeters they sound so natural with good recordings, however they are ruthlessly revealing of poorly recorded music. Utopias are more forgiving and have more modern technology, they don’t sound metallic at all IMO.

 

[Hotep303]

The TH900 did not lack speed in their bass at all. And I disagree on the comment regarding the tonality being low in the voice. I think what this person is saying is the headphones are v shaped, which they are. However the vocals are not way behind HD800 or the Utopias they may sound slightly less prominent, however voices are still clear and present IMO.

The TH900 have biocellulose drivers, which sound pretty natural and are my favourite for EDM. The Utopias Have a beryllium driver which also sounds natural. I have Yamaha NS-2000 speakers with beryllium mids & tweeters they sound so natural with good recordings, however they are ruthlessly revealing of poorly recorded music. Utopias are more forgiving and have more modern technology, they don’t sound metallic at all IMO.

Thank you for your thoughts on this. That's pretty great news! How would you compare TH900 with Z1R?

 

[mrtim6]

Over all I prefer the TH900 - I wanted to love the Z1R however they don’t really standout. I think the biocellulose drivers are really quite special and underrated. If you’re buying for musical enjoyment the TH900 IMO tick the box.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

I have the HD800s, Utopias, TH900s, Pioneer Master SE1 and the Sony Z1R.

Best bass in terms of quality realism was probably the HD800 however it’s been the least enjoyable imo h/p.
Most enjoyable bass with quantity and still very decent quality- not muddy at all and easy to drive is the TH900.
TH900 are also much cheaper than the Utopias. The Utopias do have a better mid/treble than the TH900 not by much. The TH900 have very nice and larger soundstage. The TH900 imagining is close to the HD800

Ive previously owned the th900mk2, and my co-worker has the hd800s. Im not exactly sure what you mean by easy to drive, because they weren't easy to drive unless you had a good amp to push them. Also, the bass and mids sounded better to me than the hd800s. The hd800s had better brass, violin and piano detailing than the th900mk2 however. But the rest i found them lacking.

Also comfort was worse on the hd800s, felt flimsy and cheap when compared to the th900mk2. That being said, i sold my th900mk2s because the headband was atrocious, developing sore spots and padding wasnt the greatest but ive had worse. The sound was great tho. I do miss them sometimes but then i remember that headband and i move on lol.

 

[mrtim6]

Ive previously owned the th900mk2, and my co-worker has the hd800s. Im not exactly sure what you mean by easy to drive, because they weren't easy to drive unless you had a good amp to push them. Also, the bass and mids sounded better to me than the hd800s. The hd800s had better brass, violin and piano detailing than the th900mk2 however. But the rest i found them lacking.

Also comfort was worse on the hd800s, felt flimsy and cheap when compared to the th900mk2. That being said, i sold my th900mk2s because the headband was atrocious, developing sore spots and padding wasnt the greatest but ive had worse. The sound was great tho. I do miss them sometimes but then i remember that headband and i move on lol.

Hi Tsukuyomi just to clarify.
The TH900 is easy to drive not the HD800, I have listened to both h/p on Grace M903, Leben CS300XS With NOS tubes, GSX MK2, and Sony TA-Z1ES and Bakoon h/p amps with various sources. The HD800 on certain tracks had the most realistic (as in the room with me) drums especially on the Grace M903 which is an excellent amp/dac. The TH900 was far more enjoyable and emotionally engaging IMO on a wider range of music than the HD800. So from a purely musical point of view IMO the TH900 is better, from a technical point of view (as in realistic) the HD800 were better, however they sounded somewhat sterile on some occasions.
I agree the comfort was better on the TH900, I did not have an issue with the headband.

 

[mrtim6]

My TH900 is a MK1 FYI

 

[Redcarmoose]

Have you tried the Sony z7m2 or z1r ? Ive heard the bass is quite pleasing.

My headphone experience has been primarily centered around bass the last 10 years. More so in the last 3 years as I moved from classic rock and metal to more EDM, classic rock and metal.

So a big part of my playlists now center around 1980s style modern synth wave, electro, psytrance and regular trance.

10 years ago I was mainly using the Fostex built Denon AHD7000 but have recently switched over to the full-size Sony Z1R, Z7 and new IER-Z1R IEM.

Most of this quality EDM bass is going to be built around your amp as we all can identify with damping factor being the overall best clue to get tight and deep bass. Beyond the low frequencies it’s the control you get with better amps which sculpt the detail in the bass, basically making it seem like more bass, when it’s really just detailed as heck bass!

I did hear the HD800s from a 100K vinyl system listening to a limited edition of Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon. The bass was fantastic but I was looking for another signature hence getting the AHD7000s instead.


Of everything I use now the IER-Z1R has the highest physicality bass index. It’s not giant big V shape bass like the 64Audio N8 or huge giant CA Atlas IEM bass, but more fine and real. The IER-Z1R is put together with an emphasis on sub bass. But it’s the most natural I’ve heard. Just very thick but fast and full of bass timbre details. The problem is it’s $2000.

A great alternative is the Sony Z7. Still deals around I found a pair for $360 OTD. It’s maybe less refined than the full-size Z1R bass......though driven right the bass is fantastic. Giant 70mm drivers don’t mess around. With the right cable and source/amp they offer clean fast great fun bass. The kind with physicality you can feel.

Strangely I find bass in a number of IEMs which are now being made with giant BA drivers. Even the BGVP DM6 offers fantastic bass for $199.

There has never been a better time to bass out in quality! Cheers!

 

[Hotep303]

My headphone experience has been primarily centered around bass the last 10 years. More so in the last 3 years as I moved from classic rock and metal to more EDM, classic rock and metal.

So a big part of my playlists now center around 1980s style modern synth wave, electro, psytrance and regular trance.

10 years ago I was mainly using the Fostex built Denon AHD7000 but have recently switched over to the full-size Sony Z1R, Z7 and new IER-Z1R IEM.

Most of this quality EDM bass is going to be built around your amp as we all can identify with damping factor being the overall best clue to get tight and deep bass. Beyond the low frequencies it’s the control you get with better amps which sculpt the detail in the bass, basically making it seem like more bass, when it’s really just detailed as heck bass!

I did hear the HD800s from a 100K vinyl system listening to a limited edition of Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon. The bass was fantastic but I was looking for another signature hence getting the AHD7000s instead.


Of everything I use now the IER-Z1R has the highest physicality bass index. It’s not giant big V shape bass like the 64Audio N8 or huge giant CA Atlas IEM bass, but more fine and real. The IER-Z1R is put together with an emphasis on sub bass. But it’s the most natural I’ve heard. Just very thick but fast and full of bass timbre details. The problem is it’s $2000.

A great alternative is the Sony Z7. Still deals around I found a pair for $360 OTD. It’s maybe less refined than the full-size Z1R bass......though driven right the bass is fantastic. Giant 70mm drivers don’t mess around. With the right cable and source/amp they offer clean fast great fun bass. The kind with physicality you can feel.

Strangely I find bass in a number of IEMs which are now being made with giant BA drivers. Even the BGVP DM6 offers fantastic bass for $199.

There has never been a better time to bass out in quality! Cheers!

I've had Vega which is supposedly a lot like atlas and the bass while very nice in some senses simply didn't have the attack and authority of hd800. It sounded much more like planar bass than dynamic.