[ANinjaBurrito]

I've been looking at these 3 pairs for about a week now, and I still haven't decided on what I want. So I thought I should come to the experts.
 
I'm looking for a headphone with amazing bass, but can also handle the mids and highs well. I've been leaning towards the M50's, as everyone on headfi says they have amazing bass, and can handle the other stuff. Should I go ahead and pick up the M50's, or do the denons/K81's have better bass?

 

[Mr Joboto]

I'm sure a lot of replies will back the M50, and so will I in this case Define, 'better bass'? Do you mean 'more bass'?

 

[Noobiiee]

I'd go for Denon AH-D1001 for its comfort and sweet bass. The bass can be tightened up with the MarkL mod.

 

[bumpypoo]

I have the same problem... cannot decide between those three above along with the Creative Aurvana Live!
 
If I may ask, how similar are the Denon and Creative?
 
If money was not a problem, which one would you recommend out of the four in terms of overall sound quality? (especially for Trance and Electronic music)
 
I own a Fischer Audio Eterna (v1) and also a Audio Technica CKS70... i love the amount of bass they both produce but love the quality of bass of the Eterna. So if anyone has heard any of them, you can use that as a reference.

 

[TheWuss]

it's simple.  m50. 

 

 

 

[Shanghaiman]

i have the akg's and they are pretty awesome.  great amount of bass, but sacrificing quality.  If you live in the states the akg's are around the same price range, but in Europe they are much cheaper.  To me, the akg's are not in the same range as the others

 

[Noobiiee]

Quote:

I have the same problem... cannot decide between those three above along with the Creative Aurvana Live!
 
If I may ask, how similar are the Denon and Creative?
 
If money was not a problem, which one would you recommend out of the four in terms of overall sound quality? (especially for Trance and Electronic music)
 
I own a Fischer Audio Eterna (v1) and also a Audio Technica CKS70... i love the amount of bass they both produce but love the quality of bass of the Eterna. So if anyone has heard any of them, you can use that as a reference.

 
The CAL is basically the D1001 with Creative name on it. However if money is not a problem, I'd go for the Denon for its less flashy earcup and more flashy brand name 

 I guess you will like the CAL!/D1001 bass, which is deep and sweet. The stock version bass can be a bit slow but some dynamat and stuffing could improve it significantly. Good thing about them is that the nice deep bass doesn't make the mid and treble mediocre. Ah. Now I'm regretting selling my D1001  
 

 

[Marximus]

I absolutely love my D1001s.  They have the perfect sound quality, in my opinion.  Very punchy, detailed, engaging, and musical.  They're more on the ear than over the ear, though, which can be a little uncomfortable for me after a while.  The M50s clamp more, but they're definitely circumaural, and more comfortable in the long term, in my opinion.  I haven't heard the K81s, but I read the monster thread about them, and apparently they've got some nasty clamp.  Comfort is a big deal for me, but if you're looking for straightforward good sound quality, I'd recommend the D1001s.  I listen to acoustic folk rock, some classical music, and some pop.

 

[Souchirou]

I'm happy with my m50 but haven't any of the others.
 
I think you will be happy regardless which one you pick so pick the one that looks best to you

 

[Noobiiee]

Quote:

I absolutely love my D1001s.  They have the perfect sound quality, in my opinion.  Very punchy, detailed, engaging, and musical.  They're more on the ear than over the ear, though, which can be a little uncomfortable for me after a while.  The M50s clamp more, but they're definitely circumaural, and more comfortable in the long term, in my opinion.  I haven't heard the K81s, but I read the monster thread about them, and apparently they've got some nasty clamp.  Comfort is a big deal for me, but if you're looking for straightforward good sound quality, I'd recommend the D1001s.  I listen to acoustic folk rock, some classical music, and some pop.

The clamp can be solved by stretching the headband, but the K81's bass is uncontrolled. One thing to note about the D1001 is that it needs about 150 hours of burning-in, out of the box, there's a tiny bit of graininess in the high, it doesn't happen a lot but noticeable sometimes. Make sure you burn it in properly before deciding to pass it on. 

 

[Dedekind]

The D1001s are a good can in their own right but given the choice I would take the M50s.  After owning the M50s for a while and getting the chance to demo a friend's D1001 I was less than impressed.  In terms of bass the M50s hit lower and harder than the D1001s.  To my ears I couldn't hear a significant difference in the quality of the mids and highs.  In fact I found that in spite of the heavy bass the M50s managed to be reasonably balanced given its price point and even compared quite favorably to cans well out of its price range.  In terms of build quality the M50s far surpass the Denons.  D1001s feel quite flimsy and share the poor build quality which is present Denon's other headphones.  The M50 on the other hand is clearly professional grade and in my experience has been able to survive quite a beating.
 
I'm not trying to say that the D1001s are bad headphones.  In fact it would be hard for me to see anyone not enjoy them.  I simply feel that the M50s provide a much more enjoyable listening experience.