[BlueSundays]

get a cardas and a cary 300 sei, and the bass will be excellent.
If you cant afford all that, at least get the cardas. Its a magical pair.

 

[TooNice]

Come to think of it, how does the HD600 bass compares to the K701?

It's been a while since I heard the HD600. I recall the HD650 being a bass monster but bass was not the thing I found the most memorable about the HD600.

 

[BennyBoy]

Maybe your source, try a friends source and see if that helps.

 

[mrarroyo]

My HD600 with the stock cable have plenty of bass for me.

 

[Zorander]

Judging from my memory of the HD-580 (very close to the HD-600 sound-wise), there was plenty of bass to please.

How are you driving the HD-600 and what cans did you come from before this?

 

[jagorev]

HD 600 has just about perfect bass. Not too much, not too little, just really good and high quality.

 

[fewtch]

IMO the HD580/600 does have weak sub-bass, but a slight midbass hump. They can definitely sound weak bass-wise if you're used to KSC-75/Portapro/V6 sort of headphones.

 

[humzebra]

I had the supermacro 3 > HD 600 for awhile and I felt the bass was decent. They were so neutral and lacking impact that I stayed with the Grados.
The highs were really nice and just right to me - very controlled.

 

[bifcake]

I agree that with a replacement cable (either Cardas or Equinox, which I prefer), many of the veil problems go away.

I also agree about pairing these phones with the Cary 300SEI. However, if you can't afford the 300SEI, the Cary SLP-88 is a very viable alternative for a third of the price. I wrote a comparison review:

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=87005

 

[funnycaff]

Woah lots of responses, didn't realise so many people were on this forum!

Some responses-

1. I'm driving them with a Marantz PM7200 amp, which is more than capable of shifting some power.

2. I came from a pair of HD500's - they had a bigger. boomier bass.

I find that if I turn the volume up quite high, the HD600's produce a fantastic sound and the bass does start to come out. But often I listen on a fairly low volume, and I think that's when I notice the bass feels weak.

 

[maarek99]

I agree. The bass on hd580 is pretty weak. That is one of the reasons I went to the hd650. Unfortunately they did something to the treble and transient response making the hd650 seem slower and muddier. And the airy quality is gone.

 

[arielext]

Quote:

Originally Posted by funnycaff Woah lots of responses, didn't realise so many people were on this forum! Some responses- 1. I'm driving them with a Marantz PM7200 amp, which is more than capable of shifting some power. 2. I came from a pair of HD500's - they had a bigger. boomier bass. I find that if I turn the volume up quite high, the HD600's produce a fantastic sound and the bass does start to come out. But often I listen on a fairly low volume, and I think that's when I notice the bass feels weak.

1) does that amp have a decent headphone-out? Yes the line-out is good, but how about the headphone out? My yamaha sounds great, but the Corda Aria is so much better for headphone listening.
2) Is the HD500 a bass-monster? I never heard that one, but switching from one headpone to another takes some getting used to if they differ alot. I thought I even heard a small difference between the hd580 jubilee and the hd600, but I can't remember what it was

 

[amartignano]

My HD600 has perfect bass in terms of quantity. One of the most balanced headphones I've ever had (on my setup). The HD650, for example, have in my rig a little too much bass, so I ended preferring the HD600 to them, accepting a bit of more "roughness" in the HD600 (compared to the HD650).

bye
Andrew

 

[lordgibbness]

Quote:

Originally Posted by funnycaff Woah lots of responses, didn't realise so many people were on this forum! Some responses- 1. I'm driving them with a Marantz PM7200 amp, which is more than capable of shifting some power. 2. I came from a pair of HD500's - they had a bigger. boomier bass. I find that if I turn the volume up quite high, the HD600's produce a fantastic sound and the bass does start to come out. But often I listen on a fairly low volume, and I think that's when I notice the bass feels weak.

From what you say that different volume's give you a very different bass sound, I would imagine that it is your headphone jack on your amp. Maybe it'd be worth trying a different amp/source?

The HD600s have an impedence of 600ohms whereas most amps headphone jacks are designed to operate around the 32 to 50ohm mark. I got a Rega Ear (very good and comparively cheap headphone amp) for this exact reason. I wouldn't recommend spending lots of money however - especially not on cables etc. as these make very tiny differences and should be the final part of your setup.

Try it on a different source and see what you think. Then maybe take it to a store where you can try the Ear or another amp with mates well with your headphones.

 

[Jazz1]

As other folks have mentioned the whole equipment chain can make subtle and not so subtle differences in the sound coming out of your headphones. Source>amplifier>headphone cable>headphones.

In my experience you can fine tune sound with cables, but the source and amplfier can make the bigger differences.

I was almost in the HD-650 "too much bass" club until I got my musical equipment chain "improved" by reading Headfi. Until then I actually favored the HD-600 for the music I listen to because I felt the HD-650's bottom end was slightly too much. However, my current line-up of equipment seems pretty much in harmony with my musical tastes. The HD-650 is now my favored headphone. These forums are great guides, but your own taste is of course what you need to satisfy.

By the way I think the Zu headphone cable brings a little more to the table than the stock Sennheiser cable in the bass department.