[Sung Tongs]

First time poster although I was lurking for awhile before I made my purchase of the Sony MA900 due to their praised soundstage. I guess I had an entirely wrong idea of what soundstage was. I was looking for a deep immersive sound but the MA900s just sound distant. Also the bass is almost non existent. Well it's there, you just can't hear any detail in it whatsoever so it might as well be. Sorry to be bashing these headphones so badly but it was almost the opposite of what I wanted.
 
So naturally I'm thinking of going full closed for my next pair. I have listened to the HD25 and they sound alright. Could use a little more treble, detail, and maybe a tad more bass. I'm looking for an incredibly detailed sound with probably a slight v shape. The DT880 interest me and are right at the high end of my budget but the lack of bass and the fact they are semi open is steering me away. 
So any recommendations would be immensely helpful! Glad to finally be a part of the head fi community!

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

First time poster although I was lurking for awhile before I made my purchase of the Sony MA900 due to their praised soundstage. I guess I had an entirely wrong idea of what soundstage was. I was looking for a deep immersive sound but the MA900s just sound distant. Also the bass is almost non existent. Well it's there, you just can't hear any detail in it whatsoever so it might as well be. Sorry to be bashing these headphones so badly but it was almost the opposite of what I wanted.
 
So naturally I'm thinking of going full closed for my next pair. I have listened to the HD25 and they sound alright. Could use a little more treble, detail, and maybe a tad more bass. I'm looking for an incredibly detailed sound with probably a slight v shape. The DT880 interest me and are right at the high end of my budget but the lack of bass and the fact they are semi open is steering me away. 
So any recommendations would be immensely helpful! Glad to finally be a part of the head fi community!

Actually, try the DT 990, they sound like a HD 25-1 II and a Dt 880 fused, the bass of the HD25 and all the detail of the Dt 880. How ever the mids on the Dt 990 are VERY delicate, and they need an amp. Actually I'm selling a Jds Labs C5 that pair'd nice with my Dt 990, gave the mids some nice body to them and keep the sound stage big
 
but since you want an open can with bass, the Dt 990 Pro is your best bet! Just need an amp for it. 

 

[davebucklin]

What you report sounds like under-powered headphones. What are you plugging them into?

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

What you report sounds like under-powered headphones. What are you plugging them into?

Oh yea but wait the Ma 900 are 25 ohms are they not? How could they be... well never I take that back could be a lack of current 
 
which reminds me I am selling an amp  

 

[Sung Tongs]

Quote:

Oh yea but wait the Ma 900 are 25 ohms are they not? How could they be... well never I take that back could be a lack of current 
 
which reminds me I am selling an amp  

 
Yeah I was under the impression the ma900 was fairly easy to drive.
 
Do the dt990 really have more bass than the dt880 despite being more open?

 

[Makiah S]

Quote:

 
Yeah I was under the impression the ma900 was fairly easy to drive.
 
Do the dt990 really have more bass than the dt880 despite being more open?

... YES. They REALL DO, have that much MORE bass [I do have the Pro versions which have even MORE bass due to the clamp] As I said before, they have SO much more that I don't like them for any kind of rock music or orchestral. How ever they do really nice with Nu Jazz, or any kind of hip hop. And seeing as they are open the bass is very tight an detailed. Good texture, just a tad to much for ME to use them with everything
 
HOW ever, they do have a very consumer friendly sound 

 

[Sung Tongs]

... YES. They REALL DO, have that much MORE bass [I do have the Pro versions which have even MORE bass due to the clamp] As I said before, they have SO much more that I don't like them for any kind of rock music or orchestral. How ever they do really nice with Nu Jazz, or any kind of hip hop. And seeing as they are open the bass is very tight an detailed. Good texture, just a tad to much for ME to use them with everything

HOW ever, they do have a very consumer friendly sound 

So I got the dt990 and the bass sounds very recessed. Yes i used them with an amp. Even the ma900s have a deeper. They are very detailed but the trade off is that they are very sibilant. I'm pretty disappointed to be honest. I feel like I've got a different pair of headphones than everyone else based on the reviews I read. This is extremely frustrating.
Right now I would settle for a more comfortable hd25. Does anyone know something close to that?

 

[Oregonian]

Closed and bass enhanced -

$100-150 M-Audio Q40 - great solution
$150 and up - Ultrasone Pro900 $250ish used, Beyerdynamic DT770

 

[donunus]

Sung Tongs, get some beats headphones. Basing on your feeling that the dt990 lacked bass and the fact that you dont like an expansive soundstage. I would try the beats mixr or something like that.

 

[linglingjr]

  Sung Tongs, get some beats headphones. Basing on your feeling that the dt990 lacked bass and the fact that you dont like an expansive soundstage. I would try the beats mixr or something like that.

 
The beats tour (the IEM version) might be worth looking at too.  Beats have that v shaped FR you're looking for as well.
 
EDIT: What genres do you listen to?
EDIT 2: DT770s are overrated imho non existant mids and highs that cut off super early.

 

[Sung Tongs]

The beats tour (the IEM version) might be worth looking at too.  Beats have that v shaped FR you're looking for as well.

EDIT: What genres do you listen to?
EDIT 2: DT770s are overrated imho non existant mids and highs that cut off super early.

I listen to all genres which is making it harder to settle on a pair of headphones. The dt990s sound good on classical and singer songwriter type stuff but on anything electronic it just doesn't cut it.

I've never heard anyone seriously recommend beats on this forum before. I was under the impression there were always better alternatives for the price. I also should have made it clear that im not interested in IEMs. Anyway I've heard beats and that's not the sound I'm going for. I'm not really a bass head. The bass on the hd25 is plenty and I thought those weren't bass heavy to begin with.

 

[cel4145]

So I got the dt990 and the bass sounds very recessed. Yes i used them with an amp. Even the ma900s have a deeper. They are very detailed but the trade off is that they are very sibilant.

The DT990s have a lot of treble and are very detail oriented. So they will be very revealing. Quite often it's not that the headphones are sibilant, but that the recordings you listen to are. Just didn't hear it before. Also, because of the additional treble, you are probably not running the mids and bass on them as loud as the DT990s. The MA900s definitely do NOT have better sub bass extension.

Did you burn them in at all? Hook the DT990s up to an MP3 player (don't have to use an amp). Run them at moderately loud volumes (not so much that they are clipping) for a few days straight. That may calm the treble down a little and bring out the bass.

 

[linglingjr]

We were being sarcastic about the beats lol.  You will want headphones with significant bass if you listen to a ton of genres.  Just get hd598s and be done.

 

[techboy]

HD 598 doesnt have as much bass as he likes.

 

[linglingjr]

The 598s are plenty warm in my experience... many genres and badly mastered music sounds good through them imo they're maybe the best all around cans that don't need an amp.