[Mad Lust Envy]

Why do people obsess over bass? Because it grips people a lot easier than midrange or treble. Bass has large impact on lots of people as it's the only part of the audio spectrum that you can literally feel. It's easily the part of the audio spectrum that will make you bob your head to the music. A lack of bass will make quite a few popular genres appear dull and lifeless.

You are sorely mistaken if you think bass isn't an important part music.

Perhaps not the genres some of you prefer, but certainly some genres rely on bass just as some genres rely on mids.

Having heard plenty of headphones in my time, I still love and need my bass. My fave genres rely on it. I'd put my importance of bass like:

Bass: 35%
Mids: 20%
Highs: 45%

Yes, I'm mostly a bass and treblehead, as long as the midrange isn't lost.


Not aiming this at anyone in particular.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Quote:

This seems to be the route most Head-fiers go. They set out to go buy the most sterile and lacking of warmth headphones and then end up rolling tubes.

Yes, I try not to judge. To each his own! I am probably not "correct" as well.

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

Yes, I try not to judge. To each his own! I am probably not "correct" as well.

I wouldn't mind going that route if I had the cash to do that, but running a good tube amplifier with a Beyer T1 or HD800 gets into Stax O2 range and I couldn't justify the cost when the Stax O2 sounds so much better to me.
 
Ultimately, frequency presentation and balance is the most important. I'd rather listen to my HD598 than a HD800 or T1 paired with a neutral source.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Yes, and people put more emphasis on total bass volume than the quality of the bass. As long as it's loud and deep, it doesn't matter if it is accurate.

There are three reasons for this:

1. Popular music has shifted downwards. 25 years ago, most popular music was mostly based around the mids.

2. The proliferation of cheap, crappy subwoofers. They're freakin' everywhere. You used to just get a pair of speakers. Today, everything mass-produced comes with a sub. Not a good sub, either, but a cheap, inaccurate, bass noisemaker. Computer speakers, HTIB, cars, everything has a crappy subwoofer today.

3. The death of music ed. It used to be that kids were widely exposed to acoustic instruments and musical tastes were formed by listening to live music. Today, everyone's musical knowledge comes from the crap subwoofers in point 2. Since that's what they're used to, a neutral pair of speakers or headphones sounds "bass light," even if those transducers are accurate to real life.

I also blame live performance of electronic-based music. Often, they crank the woofers up to unsafe levels and the bass is a complete mess, tuneless and sloppy. So even some live performances are a bad reference today.

You can chalk the sloppy bass preference up to "taste," but the truth is that recordings are bad today, popular music relies too much on the low end, 99.9% of speakers/headphones add bass that isn't on the recording and are sloppy messes, and hardly anyone has the experience to tell good bass from bad.

I know I'm in the minority. But the situation is sad. People listen to bad music (don't get me started) on bad equipment and are so used to it that they shut themselves off from great equipment and a rich history of music that doesn't thump. Further, the music that doesn't thump is more complex, richer and has original compositions and actual musicians. A good symphony will reveal itself over years of listening. Most popular music is interesting for 30 seconds, at best, before it starts repeating itself. Boring.

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

Yes, and people put more emphasis on total bass volume than the quality of the bass. As long as it's loud and deep, it doesn't matter if it is accurate.

There are three reasons for this:

1. Popular music has shifted downwards. 25 years ago, most popular music was mostly based around the mids.

2. The proliferation of cheap, crappy subwoofers. They're freakin' everywhere. You used to just get a pair of speakers. Today, everything mass-produced comes with a sub. Not a good sub, either, but a cheap, inaccurate, bass noisemaker. Computer speakers, HTIB, cars, everything has a crappy subwoofer today.

3. The death of music ed. It used to be that kids were widely exposed to acoustic instruments and musical tastes were formed by listening to live music. Today, everyone's musical knowledge comes from the crap subwoofers in point 2. Since that's what they're used to, a neutral pair of speakers or headphones sounds "bass light," even if those transducers are accurate to real life.

I also blame live performance of electronic-based music. Often, they crank the woofers up to unsafe levels and the bass is a complete mess, tuneless and sloppy. So even some live performances are a bad reference today.

You can chalk the sloppy bass preference up to "taste," but the truth is that recordings are bad today, popular music relies too much on the low end, 99.9% of speakers/headphones add bass that isn't on the recording and are sloppy messes, and hardly anyone has the experience to tell good bass from bad.

I know I'm in the minority. But the situation is sad. People listen to bad music (don't get me started) on bad equipment and are so used to it that they shut themselves off from great equipment and a rich history of music that doesn't thump. Further, the music that doesn't thump is more complex, richer and has original compositions and actual musicians. A good symphony will reveal itself over years of listening. Most popular music is interesting for 30 seconds, at best, before it starts repeating itself. Boring.

Friday.
 
Whatever the case, most people here seem to be part of this minority.  It is rather sad, but it seems to be the direction consumerism is going.  If people are perfectly content with their crappy subwoofers, then that's not gonna change for awhile.  But I think that eventually "high-end" audio equipment will start trickling down.  It has been for years, though it seems to have gotten worse lately.  But still, you can get hi-fi gear these days for a lot cheaper than it used to be.  But you have to look for it to find it.  You're not gonna find it by asking a sales associate at Best Buy.

 

[TakashiMiike]

Quote:

Yes, and people put more emphasis on total bass volume than the quality of the bass. As long as it's loud and deep, it doesn't matter if it is accurate.

There are three reasons for this:

1. Popular music has shifted downwards. 25 years ago, most popular music was mostly based around the mids.

2. The proliferation of cheap, crappy subwoofers. They're freakin' everywhere. You used to just get a pair of speakers. Today, everything mass-produced comes with a sub. Not a good sub, either, but a cheap, inaccurate, bass noisemaker. Computer speakers, HTIB, cars, everything has a crappy subwoofer today.

3. The death of music ed. It used to be that kids were widely exposed to acoustic instruments and musical tastes were formed by listening to live music. Today, everyone's musical knowledge comes from the crap subwoofers in point 2. Since that's what they're used to, a neutral pair of speakers or headphones sounds "bass light," even if those transducers are accurate to real life.

I also blame live performance of electronic-based music. Often, they crank the woofers up to unsafe levels and the bass is a complete mess, tuneless and sloppy. So even some live performances are a bad reference today.

You can chalk the sloppy bass preference up to "taste," but the truth is that recordings are bad today, popular music relies too much on the low end, 99.9% of speakers/headphones add bass that isn't on the recording and are sloppy messes, and hardly anyone has the experience to tell good bass from bad.

I know I'm in the minority. But the situation is sad. People listen to bad music (don't get me started) on bad equipment and are so used to it that they shut themselves off from great equipment and a rich history of music that doesn't thump. Further, the music that doesn't thump is more complex, richer and has original compositions and actual musicians. A good symphony will reveal itself over years of listening. Most popular music is interesting for 30 seconds, at best, before it starts repeating itself. Boring.

I think a lot of new head-fiers are this way, and most of my generation is too.
 

 

[ginetto61]

Quote:

 

.......     Ultimately, frequency presentation and balance is the most important.   I'd rather listen to my HD598 than a HD800 or T1 paired with a neutral source.

Good morning. 
Could you please elaborate a little this statement ?
Are you saying that you deem the HD598 more balanced of the two other models ?
This is quite of a statement, enough to provoke violent reactions here

As I am evaluating the purchase of one among the HD5X8 series, of which I am reading great things, you will understand my extreme interest.
Thanks and regards,
gino
 

 

[wind016]

 
Quote:

Good morning. 
Could you please elaborate a little this statement ?
Are you saying that you deem the HD598 more balanced of the two other models ?
This is quite of a statement, enough to provoke violent reactions here

As I am evaluating the purchase of one among the HD5X8 series, of which I am reading great things, you will understand my extreme interest.
Thanks and regards,
gino
 

What do you mean? I already made a review that provoked many violent reactions involving pepper spray and rape whistles =) You can see the review in my signature.
 

 

[ginetto61]

 Hi !  I did not know really

I will read it at once
Regards

gino

 

[Redcarmoose]

Audio has always gone in trends. The 1970s had big boxy speakers. Somehow the "box" sound was in. The box seemed to color and add warmth and bass to thin sounding solid state 1970s cheep electronics. As the 1980s came upon us a book shelf craze started. Even before Cd's were out and about people everywhere were trading in there big 3.5 foot tall speakers and getting these fast unboxed 6 inch tall monitors. In 1981 we saw a proliferation of really small stereos too! The total opposite from the super tuner! The public likes change for the sake of change regardless of SQ. I could see a bass backlash in the future where everyone starts to get into treble again. It usually takes some kind of technological invention though. With the proliferation of rap music I still think heavy bass will be with us for a couple more years.
 

 

[Poetik]

Quote:

 
Some peoples set-ups at Head-Fi shows are totally detailed in the high treble and have no bass. This could be the sound they love and have gotten used to. They hear the bass in other systems and roll their eyes back in silent opinion.

Lol I know right? It must be all that michael mcdonald. 
 

 

[Redcarmoose]

Quote:

Lol I know right? It must be all that michael mcdonald. 
 

and Kenny G

 

[tk3]

Yep, very much agree with this.
I never considered myself a basshead, but after I got my L3000s, I noticed what I've been missing.
With the large bass impact they possess (without drowning out the other frequencies), they just make metal and the like more engaging and more fun to listen to.
 
While I find myself focusing on headphones with an upper mid focus (which is why I like the AT headphones), I feel that every part is equally important.

 
Quote:

Why do people obsess over bass? Because it grips people a lot easier than midrange or treble. Bass has large impact on lots of people as it's the only part of the audio spectrum that you can literally feel. It's easily the part of the audio spectrum that will make you bob your head to the music. A lack of bass will make quite a few popular genres appear dull and lifeless.

You are sorely mistaken if you think bass isn't an important part music.

Perhaps not the genres some of you prefer, but certainly some genres rely on bass just as some genres rely on mids.

 

 

[Prog Rock Man]

I am sure it is something to do with our heartbeat and rhythm causing feelings of reassurance and excitement.

 

[DaBomb77766]

Quote:

I am sure it is something to do with our heartbeat and rhythm causing feelings of reassurance and excitement.

Hearing/feeling my own heartbeat makes me feel anxious and feel like the world is closing in on me.  Maybe I'm just strange like that.