[vid]

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so, i was wondering, would it be best to get a DT880 and eq down the treble spike and boost the mids a tiny bit, Or get hd600 and boost the highs and the subbass? If i do that then it comes down to qualities that don't depend on frequency response like durability, bass control, detail, and decay yada, yada, yada.

 
Or get the '80s version of the DT 990 used, no treble spike and cheaper.

 

[morijinal]

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drivers that aren't capable of making much subbass really can't make much subbass even though you put like a +12 on it, if you do so it would become rather bloated and bleed into the midbass. while not increasing the subbass that much themselves. 
for the vocals the 1khz point affects the forwardness, the 500hz mostly affects the lower vocal and the body of the sound, 2khz gives the vocals energy.

well i don't have either headphone so i wouldn't know, if i do i would probably be able to tell you though

Agreed. Filtering what exists makes sense. Amplifying what does not - does not. Don't get me wrong, I believe the EQ can cater to individual taste, and in some circumstances remove or amplify certain characteristics. However, you can only do so much when it comes to hardware. If a headphone isn't capable of pumping out sub-bass it can't be forced to. If they are capable of strong sub-bass they can be squeezed for every ounce they are worth if desired.

 

[Eisenhower]

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Agreed. Filtering what exists makes sense. Amplifying what does not - does not. Don't get me wrong, I believe the EQ can cater to individual taste, and in some circumstances remove or amplify certain characteristics. However, you can only do so much when it comes to hardware. If a headphone isn't capable of pumping out sub-bass it can't be forced to. If they are capable of strong sub-bass they can be squeezed for every ounce they are worth if desired.

 
with EQ, filtering = amplifying. If you filter (reduce) all frequencies except the bass, and then increase the volume on your amp, the result is essentially boosting the bass frequencies. The reason you want to do it this way is to prevent digital clipping.
 
Now with sub-bass in particular, the reason you shouldn't boost those frequencies is primarily due to limitations of open dynamic headphones -- they inherently have increasing distortion below 100 Hz because the driver is moving freely, and with low frequencies this can and does result in over extension of the driver causing bass distortion.
 
This is the reasons ortho-dynamic headphones (LCD-2, HE-500) offer an improvement in the bass response, because they do not need to roll off the sub-bass frequencies to prevent distortion.

 

[streetdragon]

mostly because generally ortho's have bigger drivers than the XB1000 right?

 

[Eisenhower]

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mostly because generally ortho's have bigger drivers than the XB1000 right?

 
It is the size and also the physical characteristics of the driver.
Closed dynamic headphones (like the xb1000) are better with bass because the driver isn't moving freely -- there is pressure behind it.

 

[Marvin7]

HD650 owners - using SineGen, which dips and peaks have you spotted? My HD650 sounds surprisingly flat from bottom to peak (my hearing seems to reach only 15KHz) with the exception of a dip around 8.2KHz.