Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif
People have unreasonable and unrealistic expectations of bass.
Have you heard about the various studies where people have come to enjoy the hot, sizzling sound of a lossy MP3?
Do you know why so much compression is put into CDs? That's because people enjoy the sound of compression.
Can you see where this is going?
People also love the sound of overemphasized, sloppy, fuzzy and horrible bass. You can find that everywhere. All cheapo (and many expensive) subwoofers are designed to produce their own thick sound with lots of "feel" and sub cabinets are designed with lots of resonances and other tricks to make the bass more palpable.
Well, how does the MP3 sizzle, compression and sloppy, overemphasized bass relate to the real world of sound?
It doesn't.
If you listen to an upright bass at jazz club it sounds like a HD-800. Really, it does. It also sounds a lot like the K-501, a DT 48 or an electrostat.
But there's no slam!
Duh. There isn't any slam in real life. Go listen for yourself.
You only get that kind of slam in real life when you're at a rock concert where they are using fuzzy, wooly, resonant woofers that are in colored cabinets being driven into distortion fed by amps that are driven into distortion.
If you want to hear what bass sounds like in the real world, the HD-800 nails it.
If you want a bloated, sloppy and offensive mess, go get yourself a Darth Beyer.
Complaining about the HD-800 bass is exactly the same as moaning about how turntable makes everything sound richer than a MP3 or a SACD makes everything "too quiet."
Or another way to put it, you might prefer chocolate milk to regular milk. That's fine. But don't rail against regular milk because it doesn't naturally taste like chocolate.
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This should be sticky somewhere... explains a lot of different opinions in these forums and the fact that some people love and others hate the same headphone, because they are looking for different things.
I said on my HD-800 thread that they are very much a tool for showing whatever is fed to them. Some people should recognize and state (and many have done so...) that they prefer NOT to listen to this but to a distorted version. This is not about "neutrality vs euphony", it's actually about saying that
a live performance has no bass and many people prefer more bass than reality....
Let me state that that is ok, there is nothing wrong with that, just don't post reviews saying the bass is awesome just because it is boomy and sounds like a subwoofer....
Yeah, and I know what I'm talking about. HD-600 has no bass right? JVC DX-1000 has lots of bass, the best bass ever... right?
Well, side by side on a Dualmono Rudistor RPX-33 I can tell you the DX1000 has absolutely no more bass information than the HD-600, it only moves more air and 'boooms' more. Bass is, at best, the same.
Sorry but I had to say it!
cheers