How Much Bass Is The Perfect Amount?

[Spyro]

As long a it does not bleed into mids is more bass generally more desirable? Sort of like what SE846 is doing? Is it completely personal preference?

Some say ER4 is perfect bass, some might prefer a stronger presence like SS535....or maybe W4? Bass is maybe most subjective frequency??

 

[ToddTheMetalGod]

Bass is a very subjective and the "perfect amount" differs from person to person. Not only does this difference have to do with taste, but also how people hear lower frequencies differently than other people. Many people prefer close to flat frequency response (actually with headphones a little more than this, considering they cannot move as much air as a floor standing speaker, for example, and your body can sense this). Planar magnetic headphones tend to be good for producing deep, flat, low-distortion bass... which is why the LCD-2 rev. 2 is so popular among people who strive for good bass quality. I know you're probably looking for in-ear monitors exclusively, but someone else will have to recommend one because I only use over-ear/on-ear headphones. Bass bleed into the mid-range depends upon a lot of aspects of the headphone design, and since I'm not an expert I'll leave that for someone else to answer. It has to do with frequency response, attack and decay, etc.

 

[Spyro]

No, I'm not personally looking.  I just find it really controversial around here.  
 
Bass charateristics might include.....
-overall quantity
-whether it distorts
-amount of extension
-texture/layers
-slam or weight to the impact
-decay
 
That's just to name a few.  I use to think W3 bass was superior to W4 just because of qty and fullness is more on W3 but there is a lot more that goes into it. I now realize W4 is technically superior.  But I DO think that if you can add in an underlying "fullness" (not necessarily a boom boom subwoofer affect but a fullness) without bleed it will be more desireable.  Afterall, whether speakers or headphones or IEM's I think we all desire a realistic live type presentation.
 
But, yes, after all is said and done it is still very much a personal preference.

 

[H20Fidelity]

I think another angle is the genre you're listening too, for example, something like EDM really needs that extension and fullness or it sounds absent in the lower regions, however something like acoustic to me is more desirable at neutral . What makes a good low end to me is clarity, speed, texture, extension and its ability to not bleed and stay well seperated the entire time.. You want to be able to hear every note and bass line almost as if the low end has its own character in a song. Something like ER4S with a good seal is perfect in qauntity for acoustic , but I don't find it terribly good quality personally , it lacks clarity and depth to me personally. One of the better low ends I've heard would be T-Peos H-200, it has great texture extension and clarity, it reminds me if a bubble that bounces to the music. And when amped goes deep pushing out clarity. But back to genres I switch around, and for EDM these days use full size over iems.

 

[ToddTheMetalGod]

  No, I'm not personally looking.  I just find it really controversial around here.  
 
Bass charateristics might include.....
-overall quantity
-whether it distorts
-amount of extension
-texture/layers
-slam or weight to the impact
-decay
 
That's just to name a few.  I use to think W3 bass was superior to W4 just because of qty and fullness is more on W3 but there is a lot more that goes into it. I now realize W4 is technically superior.  But I DO think that if you can add in an underlying "fullness" (not necessarily a boom boom subwoofer affect but a fullness) without bleed it will be more desireable.  Afterall, whether speakers or headphones or IEM's I think we all desire a realistic live type presentation.
 
But, yes, after all is said and done it is still very much a personal preference.

I figured you were talking about bass purely in a subjective sense. But yes, all of those characteristics matter and they differ in importance based on the person listening. I personally care a lot about the overall quantity (at least flat bass, I hate it when there isn't enough bass to give power to drums or electronic music), distortion, texture/layers, decay, weight to the impact, distortion, and the amount of extension (in approximate order of importance to me). I really love the bass on my HE-400, it's nearly perfect but could use a bit more texture (or maybe I just want the LCD-2

). I absolutely love flat bass. I sometimes like a little mid-bass, but too much more than flat can cause bass bleed... so I try to avoid it. At first I found it hard to get used to flat bass because everything is so mid-bass oriented to make up for other bass faults (mostly extension), but I got used to it and find that I don't care for mid-bass at all anymore.

 

[ubs28]

As long a it does not bleed into mids is more bass generally more desirable? Sort of like what SE846 is doing? Is it completely personal preference?

Some say ER4 is perfect bass, some might prefer a stronger presence like SS535....or maybe W4? Bass is maybe most subjective frequency??

 
In my opinion, the perfect amount of bass is the amount of bass that sounds realistic on live music such as orchestra and jazz. 

 

[lilboozy]

beats studios bass

 

[shch13]

Personal view, enough Bass so that it compliments the music well and does not overshadow anything.
I find the bass on the UE400 to be just enough after switching tips, before that it was barely.
But without modification I'd say the EX300 is my ideal level.

 

[vwinter]

This is going to be a circular reference but:
The right amount for the signature.

Bassception?

 

[Longtime Lurker]

people here typically do not like bass. many users say that the gr07 mkII has "perfect punchy bass." those iems have practically none at all unless the track was mixed with heavy amounts of mid bass. listening to rap with them was pretty awkward.

 

[vwinter]

people here typically do not like bass. many users say that the gr07 mkII has "perfect punchy bass." those iems have practically none at all unless the track was mixed with heavy amounts of mid bass. listening to rap with them was pretty awkward.

Which is probably mixed with studio monitors that have flatter, ie less bass, than the GR07, likely with the expectation that it would be mostly listened to on bassier sets, which would make it probably sound bass shy for some on the GR07...