[Kamakahah]

That was a great discussion on the Dogs. I really like that they are even being compared to cans x2 and greater in price range -- Really says it all. 
Sure they have their faults, all headphones do and that's the nature of the game. You just have to find a can with the faults you can live with. (sounds like picking a life companion 

)
When it all comes down to choosing a headphone, no opinion ways in heavier than your wallet, and the MDs are pretty much top dog in their price bracket. 
 
While I agree and disagree with many of the points made, there was some good information gleaned from all of your posts, thanks. 
 
Still loving my MDs. 

 

[mrspeakers]

I guess today was "soundstage day."  I must have missed the memo... 

 
Soundstage seems to be one of the most personal and subjective areas of all.  We can measure frequency response, resonance and ringing, time domain, square wave, etc, but I am aware of no way to measure soundstage empirically, probably because our understanding of the factors that create it are not well defined or readily modeled and measured.  Heck, it's not so easy to get a proper frequency plot for a headphone.  
 
I suspect the complexity of soundstage perception relates to the different "Open is always better than closed," vs "Open is sometimes better than closed" camps. Contrast this to tone, where bright, neutral or neutral/dark opinions seem to generally be agreed upon.  
 
 
Obviously others have different perceptions about soundstage, and as the maker my bias is obvious so I won't comment except to say that for gamers who need isolation (room mates, etc) open phones may simply not even work.  So all other arguments aside about gamer soundstage vs music, or open vs closed when if isolation is a requirement the short list of phones probably looks very different.

 

[Hardan]

Hmm, I am thinking of an upgrade and I've been looking at these all day long.
 
First AMP question, I got one of these http://www.jdslabs.com/item.php?fetchitem=o2full, anybody got experience with the O2 AMP + MD? 
 
Are they a "good" upgrade going from my ATH-M50's? 
 
Would love some input, thanks!

 

[Greed]

I think soundstage is a difficult area to gauge. It relies heavily on your source as well. I'm no where near an expert in this area, but I suspect it would be harder to test soundstage with poorly mastered music. Obviously, certain genres also will be hard to gauge soundstage as well. I'd say the more instruments in the recording, the better reference it can become and the easier it is to pick up on whether the headphone has a large soundstage or not. Unfortunately, it is hard to find a headphone that isolates well, and that has a large soundstage. I guess these two things go hand and hand, when developing a headphone. It is a great topic though. Regardless of my thoughts on the faults of the Mad Dogs, they are incredible headphones for the price, and can punch way above their weight. It really is a testament to how much effort you put into this product, Dan, and I think we all can agree that you have designed one heck of a headphone.

 

[ruleof72]

Quote:

Does anyone happen to know how well the Schiit Magni pairs with the Mad dogs?

I've had my Mad Dogs paired with the Magni for a few weeks and it is a really Schitty pairing

 
Seriously, for the $100 or so you'll spend, the Magni is a great amp and well worth your consideration.

 

[jibzilla]

Quote:

 
I agree with you. The Mad Dogs are on par with the Denon D7000 in terms of sound stage. 

holy crap we have some waaaayy different ears

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

I think soundstage is a difficult area to gauge. It relies heavily on your source as well. I'm no where near an expert in this area, but I suspect it would be harder to test soundstage with poorly mastered music. Obviously, certain genres also will be hard to gauge soundstage as well. I'd say the more instruments in the recording, the better reference it can become and the easier it is to pick up on whether the headphone has a large soundstage or not. Unfortunately, it is hard to find a headphone that isolates well, and that has a large soundstage. I guess these two things go hand and hand, when developing a headphone. It is a great topic though. Regardless of my thoughts on the faults of the Mad Dogs, they are incredible headphones for the price, and can punch way above their weight. It really is a testament to how much effort you put into this product, Dan, and I think we all can agree that you have designed one heck of a headphone.

 
Thanks!

 

[mrspeakers]

Quote:

holy crap we have some waaaayy different ears

 
I think that is the key issue.  I don't anyone would say the Mad Dog is a bass head phone, nor would it be described as bright.  There's pretty much a neutral/dark consensus.  
 
Soundstage not so much...  
 
I am sure we perceive soundstage very differently for many reasons.  The shape of the pinna, for one, will interact differently for different users, affecting how the wavefronts enter the ear, and headphone proximity to the ear.  Also, source can and does impact the sound.  Live soundstage is quite different from synthesized effects in a studio, live material has very subtle cues where studio is more in the face (generalization, I know). I personally rely more on acoustic recordings, preferably not too closely miked, to hear the secondary ambience/audience to feel the hall size and space.
 
I think my perception is closer to jazzerdave, but it may be anything from music genre, to the amps or to us just having similar ears, or maybe we define the cues we call "space" in a similar way.  It'd be a great topic for sound science, but it's probably about as far as taking it here can go, except that it's pretty obvious there's not a consensus on that point, except that regardless, it's just one of many factors to consider.

 

[Jesterphile]

I just received mine apparently (Tracking says so but I'm not home...) Thanks Dan! You shipped them incredible quickly which is much appreciated.
 
Unfortunately I wont be able to weigh in on the discussion until tomorrow when I'll be able to listen to them...

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

Quote:

I think I'm just going to have to wait until I move back to VA.

 
Was about to say the same...not a fan of the South personally.  The food is good, though.  What part of Va disastermouse?

I'm from the Upper Peninsula of MI - and we've got our own sort of dysfunction, don't get me wrong....but work ethic generally isn't one of them.  Jobs are scarce enough that even fast food peeps make sure your stuff is done right, generally.  Southwest VA (Roanoke) is also 'southern' - but people care more about screwing up there and the crime isn't as bad as it is here.  The UPS drivers gave me fits for a while there too, but I got to know my regular driver and he was awesome. 
 
It's just frustrating buying expensive stuff and not knowing if it's going to arrive the way it should.  Bums me out....
 
Sorry for the thread derail.

 

[jonbmet]

Quote:

Hopefully I'm getting out of this gawd-awful city in the gawd-awful Deep South soon.

 
Savannah is awesome. Good riddance!

 

[disastermouse]

Quote:

 
Savannah is awesome. Good riddance!

Yeah....awesome.  :/
 
The city smells terrible and the crime is just the worst I've ever seen - worse than LA or SF or Tucson, or San Antonio.....the culture here is just broken beyond belief.  There's no point in having nice things here because someone will steal it eventually.  I would NEVER buy a nice car and drive it here....and the local culture is very much a 'give up' culture - a 'why bother' culture...and so darned PROUD of itself.
 
I don't understand the pride of the South - wrong on nearly every important issue throughout history, fought 'bravely' to keep slavery, then Jim Crow, etc.  You'd think such historic and epic failures would humble the culture, but nope.

 

[dryvadeum]

How do the MD's compare in subbass rumble with the Denon D5000's? I like the D5000's subbass a lot but need something that isolates from external noise better.

 

[aamefford]

Quote:

How do the MD's compare in subbass rumble with the Denon D5000's? I like the D5000's subbass a lot but need something that isolates from external noise better.

Pretty much from memory on the D5000's, if it's not in the music, you might still get a pretty good rumble - the bass is a bit boosted.  With the MD's, if it isn't meant to be prominent in the music, it isn't with the MD's.  If it is meant to be prominent - it jumps ups and surprises you.  MD has good sub-bass when called for.  It is not a basshead can to me.

 

[dryvadeum]

Quote:

Pretty much from memory on the D5000's, if it's not in the music, you might still get a pretty good rumble - the bass is a bit boosted.  With the MD's, if it isn't meant to be prominent in the music, it isn't with the MD's.  If it is meant to be prominent - it jumps ups and surprises you.  MD has good sub-bass when called for.  It is not a basshead can to me.

Do you think you could EQ the bass to get more subbass rumble without introducing distortion?