[Rydell]

It's the type of impact from "sonic" bass you might hear from on explosion on screen using a good home theater setup. I've heard someone reference the "sense" before with their headphones(HD 25-1) but I've only ever experienced it on a very good quality speaker setup.
 
I have the JVC SZ2000's and AKG701's(Cayin C5 amp); personally heard several other hifi headphones (displays at Best Buy or Guitar Center) and never experienced anything apart from a heavy hard hitting, thumping bass. Has anyone here ever owned or heard this type of bass? If so, I'm hoping to get this sound as close as possible with headphones being less than $500 and amp less than $200. Could you reference what it was?

 

[dfrez]

I don't see how it would be possible to feel the bass impact in your chest with a set of headphones. The physics just don't make sense to me. Standing in front of a large speaker at a concert or elsewhere, the low frequency sound waves travel and "hit" you in your chest. That sound wave then resonates inside your body for a short moment, this is why you feel a "bass impact". In order for a headphone to be able to do the same thing, it would surely damage your hearing well before you feel it in your chest or other parts of your body.

 

[Koolpep]

I had this feeling a few times with my Denon AH-D7100. Of course it's psychoacoustic stuff as there can be no real physical impact on my chest. That must be the reason why it's not happening anymore for me, body must have realized that the brain played a trick

 

[Billheiser]

Headphones are great but the one thing they can't give us are pressure waves hitting our body. I think that's why too many people get bass heavy headphone and turn them up too loud - they are seeking the body impact but it's not going to happen.

 

[Billheiser]

There is at least one sly way to get this, though. In my system, I can listen to headphones, turn OFF my power amp to the speakers, but leave ON my preamp which has one set of outputs going to my subwoofer. So my sub is adding the room shaking power while I headphonize.

 

[LNuneek]

There is a product that is coming out (supposedly) that you wear on your back and it gives you the sensation of a subwoofer on your body. Producer Timbaland introduces it. It's not headphones per se, but an accessory to use with your headphones. It's called "Subpac" I guess.
 
Fast forward to about the 45 minute mark. He's also wearing it throughout the video.
 
 

 

[Rydell]

Interesting. Yeah I didn't think you'd actually feel the bass waves all the way to your chest, I guess through headphone voodoo it might be able to trick your brain into thinking that's happening. Koolpep, that's what I suspected if one actually did trick your brain into thinking that, probably wouldn't last very long. That Subpac is pretty cool... slightly expensive, but I guess that's the only option. Thanks for the responses all.

 

[Montecristo]

Maybe the sony headphones that have tires for ear pads....or ultrasone 900. I can only think of heavy bass hitting headphones.

 

[pbui44]

That "chest impact from headphones" is based on your own experiences of what bass is to you. I have heard of many headphone setups where you will feel this quoted sensation and based it of live music, music from many mediums (CDs, vinyl, lossless, etc.) and sources, and music that I have produced myself, which is not much.

So far, the best quantity/quality bass and bass-to-midrange (doesn't have to be warm) sound I have heard is from three I have heard: Hifiman HE-4 with TH500rp ear pads, Fostex TH500rp with Audeze pleather ear pads (Hifiman-terminated cable plugs), and Sennheiser HD250 II (1991-1995). I have all of these on medium gain on my amp and all three have their own places with bass. No other setups will match these for bass and bass-to-midrange, not even a Stax SR-009/Ayre QB-9/Headamp BHSE setup. It is all on personal experience.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Feeling bass on your torso from only headphones is not possible in terms of physics, but psychoacoustics can make that possible in your own head in the sense that you've strongly associated feeling bass that hearing it makes you feel it even if there isn't any pressure wave hitting your chest. The reverse phenomenon of course are people who associate bass with that chest thump too much that even headphones with an obvious bump in their bass response graph never have enough bass to them all because that bass kick isn't happening.