Some of you with experience of the nano or micro iCAN will already be familiar with our XBass feature in the upcoming micro iDSD.
But for others, we hope you find this interesting.
Super Duper feature 2.0
XBass (not all headphones are created equal)
Background
“Listening to the radio I feel so out of place
There's a certain something missing that the treble can't erase
I know you can tell just by looking at my face
A word about my weakness I'm totally addicted to bass”
The Puretones – “Totally Addicted to Bass”
No one headphone produces a perfect bass response.
Explanation
Between different recordings and different headphones, bass is often found wanting.
To have Bass or not to have Bass, that is not the question here
Listening to great music is always a positive experience; from the most humble to the most extravagant system, all are capable of providing great enjoyment. However just as in the song by the Puretones, if the Bass is not right, then “There's a certain something missing that the treble can't erase”.
With headphones, bass performance varies widely. Some headphones have prodigious bass, some have perfect, even-handed bass, yet many others are bass shy or have severely missing bass. There is no direct link to cost in this, some rather inexpensive headphones can have killer bass, while rather more expensive headphones are found lacking. Of course, bass performance is only ONE factor in Headphone sound quality.
Here are some representative frequency responses of different headphones:
Leftmost is the
Ideal curve, this is what a headphone SHOULD measure like. Real ones never do. The other three are examples of REAL headphones and show their varying degrees of bass response.
Going from second left, real world
Example 1 has very good real bass. Such headphones are quite rare though.
Example 2 has some attenuation in the bass. This is often found even with rather expensive headphones. This curve is indicative of a certain US$ 1,500 Headphone which is all around excellent and of the best ever made, yet the bass is still a little lacking, not that one would call it bad, but always leaves one wishing for more.
Example 3 is typical of many smaller headphones. Bass is noticeably absent; not just a little at the very bottom, but a big chunk has gone AWOL. Such headphones do sound distinctly lacking in bass; thin, weedy and unsatisfying. They make some correction mandatory.
Another possibility that is not shown is that the headphone will have a very heavy, boosted bass, some DJ Headphones and some in-ear-monitors types are like this. Depending on music and taste this may be perceived as a good thing, or not. For such headphones it is very important that the headphone amplifier has a very good damping factor, so that the extra bass is well-controlled without becoming boomy. To show what actual, real headphones look like, below is a comparative shot of four different ones measured by HeadRoom.
At iFi we have been aware of this common bass problem with many headphones. Oddly, headphones with the best bass are rarely those with the cleanest midrange or the best imaging. Hence buying headphones is often a compromise.
i) One could buy a set of headphones that has almost everything and give up a bit of bass. With the player software, the equaliser function could be adjusted to compensate for the lack of bass. But this brings into play DSP and the music signal is no longer Bit-Perfect.
ii) And of course, with your iPod or Laptop, the limits become obvious: the limited power output simply cannot supply the extra power needed for the equalised bass and sound becomes distorted, so you have to turn the volume down, but you do regain some lost bass. It still often does not sound that natural either, as few of these equalisers are correctly tailored to compensate for the shortcomings of headphones…
Enter XBass...
How this benefits the listener
If your headphones leave your craving for deep, clear, solid bass unsatisfied, you need something eXtra. You need eXtra-Bass. XBass - adds back the "missing bass" and the customer is able to dial-in their desired level. As with other iFi features, this is performed in the analogue domain so the music signal remains original.
Further, as XBass is integrated in the micro iDSD Headphone Amplifier we have more than enough power to add the bass back without distortion - the extra bass is tight, crisp and precise.
XBass is integrated into the micro iDSD (along with nano and micro iCANs). Just flick the switch to ON and away you go. If you find it doesn't suit a particular headphone or track, just switch it to OFF.
Wanna make your 'phones the Ace of Bass? then checkout
XBass...
