[Naphta]

Budget: No more than £200
Type: Open ear rather than closed, it's the only thing I actually missed from my HD555s
Listening Genres: Just to be typical, I listen to alot of different types of music. But in general I listen to Drum & Bass, Dubstep, Electronica, Trance, House, Chiptunes and so on.
How I want it to sound: I quite liked the bass on my M50s and generally how well it worked with alot of different genres however, a little tiny bit more bass would be nice but not required.
What I have now: I currently have a Fiio e5 which I wasn't all that impressed with and an Asus D2X sound card, if using an amp on my M50s will grant better sound for the money then I'm all game to simply buy an amp (at a lower budget of £75).

If there are any questions just ask

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Open and bassy... something I was hunting for like ever.

The only two I know that fit that bill for sure:

Beyerdynamic DT990
Hifiman HE4

However, the HE4 is out of your price range, AND needs some serious power, not even a relatively cheap and powerful E9 can drive them well.

They both do your genres well (pretty much the same genres I'm into).

They both are bright and have edgy treble.

Look into at least a DT990 Pro (around $170USD), and an E9 amp, which definitely has the power.

 

[Naphta]

Open and bassy... something I was hunting for like ever.
The only two I know that fit that bill for sure:
Beyerdynamic DT990
Hifiman HE4
However, the HE4 is out of your price range, AND needs some serious power, not even a relatively cheap and powerful E9 can drive them well.
They both do your genres well (pretty much the same genres I'm into).
They both are bright and have edgy treble.
Look into at least a DT990 Pro (around $170USD), and an E9 amp, which definitely has the power.

Although being a little more bassy would be nice, being equal to my M50s would be fine. Just want an overall increase.

Seeing as the DT990s are in roughly the same price range, are they really an upgrade or just a sidegrade?

 

[Wicked world]

I have both cans (M50's and DT-990) and yes... I think the step would be a big upgrade in "hifi-terms"! I really like the M50's, they are very easy on my ears and fits all kinds of music, but the DT-990 is definitely more hifi.

 

[TMRaven]

The DT990 will not give a same or overall increase in bass.  In fact you'll get a good decrease, especially in the sub-bass department.  
 
The only way you're going to get more bass compared to an M50 is if you stay with closed headphones.  D2000 is a rather natural upgrade from M50.  Its bass is slightly less, but has more impact.  DT770 has more bass.  Iv'e heard Ultrasone Pro900 is a bass monster.
 
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Dunno about you, but I personally felt the DT990 had the same range of bass as the M50 (if not more), just that the nature of open vs closed presents the bass a little differently. Once somebody understands that open headphones present bass a little differently than closed, they'll be fine. In case of the DT990, it is the only open headphone I have heard to sound a lot like a closed one.

I think a lot of us agree, open >>>>> closed for the most part.

OP stated he wants an open headphone. His best bet is the DT990, due to how well presented the bass is..

 

[TMRaven]

If by different you mean less bass then ya I agree with you.  An open headphone will also never give the impact of a closed headphone either, as much as people like to think the DT990 has major bass impact, it's just not happening.
 
I'm trying to be a realist to the OP rather than talk in an esoteric way.  I wouldn't want him to be disappointed at the DT990's bass coming from the M50 like I was.  Even though the DT990 was a major upgrade in every way, it will never have the bass of a closed headphone.
 
Every once in a while you see threads pop up from newcomers that say things like "HD650 bass disappointment," "LCD-2 not enough bass," "DT-880, where's the bass?" and the creators usually state that they have nowhere the amount of bass as their previous entry-level closed headphones.  About 10 posts later in said topics after all the elitist "you're not amping it right, get a better dac" talk, someone finally breaks it to the topic starter that an open headphone will never have the bass of a closed, and that they've been deceived by head-fi.  I wouldn't want this guy (which I'm assuming isn't looking for a fidelity type of bass) to be one of those guys.
 
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I've owned too many basshead headphones to count, and I still think the DT990 puts out an extremely satisfying amount of sub bass. I would agree with you on mid bass though. However, I prefer sub bass, over mid bass, so maybe that's where we're different. The DT990 Bass won't punch you in the face, but dwell within the music as a whole, like a good speaker setup, and not like something pounding right into your skull.

 

[TMRaven]

DT990 to me sounds like a pair of small bookshelves with no sub.  I guess they're speaker-like in that regards!
 
I too prefer sub-bass over mid-bass, and that's why I enjoy the D2000 more overall.  The DT990 is mostly mid-bass.  Its midbass is a lot of times more pronounced than the D2000 helping to separate a lot of drums, but it still lacks the impact.  Far from speaker like.  Most speakers I've heard were able to both separate and give you punch with mid-bass without having to be bloated in the mid-bass.  That's just one advantage speakers have going for them over headphones, but we're talking about headphones anyways.
 
 

 

[alv4426]

I don't agree with this. I have the DT880 which are supposed to have less bass than the DT990 and I feel like they have better quality and slightly more quantity than my M50. I don't feel like the M50s bass is really all that great or powerful, I would NOT call them a basshead can. And yes the Pro900 is much much better when it comes to bass, even the Pro750 is.
 
Quote:

DT990 to me sounds like a pair of small bookshelves with no sub.  I guess they're speaker-like in that regards!
 
 
 
 

 

 

[TMRaven]

Might you have the white-box M50s?  I have the blue box.  My blue boxed M50s have more bass quantity than even my D2000s.
 
 

 

[Naphta]

Well my m50s don't have particularly in your face bass but I like the strong subtle bass which I suppose is sub-bass?

And I do understand that open headphones just aren't going to give the same amount of bass, which doesn't bother me as I do miss the open feel of my old HD555s even though overall I greatly prefer my M50s because everything seems very neutral I guess.

Or should I just get an amp (I assume my D2X is pretty good when it comes to DAC.)

 

[alv4426]

Seems I can't quote on my iPhone but yea I have the white box M50, although I don't think anyone has ever proved that they are different front the bluebox evn though a lot say they have less bass

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I had the blue box M50 myself. The bassiest M50. I still didn't feel the DT990 was lacking. And I certainly feel the DT990 has more sub bass than mid bass. We all hear differently I guess. People have stated the M50 to be bass neutral (even blue box ones), and DT990s to be bass monsters. I think both have their powerful but different sounding bass.

 

[mak2675]

To tell the subbass potential (as least subbass impact potential) of a headphone, all you have to do is amplify the 30-60Hz signal. For computer software, winamp EQ won't work, but if anyone has realtek HD they have a 30Hz. There is a better way though.  My secret method of getting super sub bass, and I doubt there is a better way to maximize headphone subbass, is to load enhancer plugin on winamp --->>>put harmonic bass range at 10, then go on winamp and lower the 60Hz and 170 Hz midbass by about 9-11 dB, you might have to lower even more, and even the 310 Hz frequency ----->>> NOW, crank up the bass level on enhancer from level 2-6. NOW, you'll know just how much of that subwoofer subbass sound can be squeezed out of your headphone, provided its amped properly. (Remember, subbass is felt more than its heard, prepare for some crackling sound, and make sure to take frequent breaks because you'll need it, not only for your ears but also to change your pants). Consider selecting boost on enhancer as well.
 
Anyways, I'm concerned about subbass myself. . I wanna know if it can reach 30-40Hz w/ dt990 and whether the subbass has the same impact as the dt770s which IMO are good/great subbass phones, but outshined by panasonic htf600 and denon d2000 which just go deeper and have more impactful subbass.