[NA Blur]

You may want to take a listen to the Philips Cityscape Downtown.  They can often be found for under $65 and for an on-ear design sound amazing.  The bass is very well extended, but not exaggerated like the XB-500 should be.
 
It looks like Bestbuy may carry the XB-500.  Perhaps look around in your area for a shop that has a demo set and compare them to yours.  It looks like the fakes look identical from packaging to design, but the drivers are certainly different.

 

[Malevolent]

Quote:

 


They make fake xb500's? I don't see why anyone would want to lol.
 
I got them from here http://www.toners.ca/Consumer-Electronics/Headphone-Microphone/Sony-MDR-XB500-Extra-Bass-Headphone and they seem to be a reliable website.
 
Also, I have to say that I liked the bass better on the *cough*beats by dre studios*cough*, but that could be because I might a defective pair. Would I be able to get them replaced by sending them back to sony or something by any chance?

 
The XB500 has more bass than both the Beats Solo and the Beats Studio. The latter 2 cans are really bassy, but the XB500 tops them both without much effort. If you find the bass on the XB500 lacking in comparison with the Beats Studio, then you may very well have a defective/fake pair.
 
In fact, I find that most of the XB cans are bassier than the Beats Studio.

 

[Ikarios]

I received an XB500 earlier this week and the second I put them on, I could not stop laughing from how hilariously bassy they are. I've heard a TON of headphones, and none of them have ever been so comically bassy as these. Either your ears are broken or you have a defective or fake pair of XB500s.
 
And yes, there are fakes of these headphones in existence.

 

[stinkypinky12]

Hey any luck with the XB500's?  I have been looking into them because they are like half the price of ATH-M50's but then i read your review.  Everyone else seems to disagree with you though.  Were they defected?

 

[BenTandBroken]

I had a similar let down when I initially tried my xb-500's with my laptop and iPod/iPhone, but once I paired them with my fiio e11 and eq'ed them on the amp (put it on the #2 setting) they literally vibrate my the entire sides of my face. Word of caution however with the iPod and iPhone I would avoid the bass enhancing eq's in my case it introduced heavy distortion. Hope this helps.

 

[cmski29]

Quote:

Hey any luck with the XB500's?  I have been looking into them because they are like half the price of ATH-M50's but then i read your review.  Everyone else seems to disagree with you though.  Were they defected?

They sound really good at the highest volume, but that's it. I'm probably going to get another pair to see if they really are defective, but for a defective pair of headphones they sound amazing on the highest volume.

 

[Ohnoitztotoro]

I also think that either you have a defected/ fake pair or the inner basshead in you is just too much to satisfy. The only problem with this is, if the XB500 doesn't satisfy your bass cravings I don't think there are many other options out there unless you get two massive speakers sandwich-ed between your head. To me these headphones offer bass in such quantity that if it went any further, we wouldn't be able to hear anything else. (I already feel that way sometimes lol).
 
Definitely take a look into the matter but if you find out that you do have a real pair of XB500, just give it some time to adjust and see if it gets any better for you.    

 

[Ehab]

Quote:

This is my first post here, so be gentle

 
I ordered a pair of Sony MDR-XB500's a 2 weeks ago, and they just came in 3 days ago. I heard lots of reviews of how the bass was huge, and there was lots of it, and that it's one of the best bass headphones you can buy. Thing is, mine have very little bass. You can only really feel the bass if you turn the volume up to full blast, and then it starts to hurt your ears because everything else is too loud.
 
So I found an article about modifying them here
http://moneyexpertsteam.blogspot.ca/2012/11/how-to-mod-sony-mdr-xb700-headphones.html
 
and a topic here:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/553762/sony-xb-700-mod
 
Would this mod improve the bass in any way? I don't want to take my headphones apart unless I know the outcome of doing it.

Thanks!

I agree with you too as the same thing happened with me today: I ordered a pair of these from amazon and I'm sure they are not fake ones but I'm also sure that all people saying that the XB-500 has AMAZING and overpowering bass didn't try the Sennheiser HD-202 which is less than half price and has much much much more "punchy" and excellent bass with very clear and crisp highs and mids.
 
I know that many of you guys won't believe me but try those HD-202 and you'll find it true.
To be honest, the ONLY pro for the XB-500 is the comfy cushions but otherwise, HD-202 wins. Even for isolation and sound leakage, there is no way to compare these two pairs!!
I'm really disappointed that I paid 110$ (including shipping and customs) for those XB-500; they are not even worth the 50$ I paid for the Sennheiser's

 

[Joe Bloggs]

I think the amount of bass you get may be dependent on the seal you get with these phones. Their sealing on-ear design (what with that airtight cushion around the sound port) is brilliant, but some people's outer ears may be shaped oddly enough that a seal cant be made this way and all the bass leaks out. For the two of you who find the bass less than overwhelming--how is the isolation? Good or just so-so? Lack of isolation could clue you in to a corresponding lack of a seal.

 

[SmOgER]

^^^ +1 ^^^ 
 
But if seal it's OK, I can just repeat my words, that with EQ and HP like this you can get as much bass as you want even for the most ridiculous tastes.... I'am sure if I would adjust bass knob to max and gave you to try mine S600s, you would be shaking and screaming to turn it down 

 , XB500 is known to have even more bass. And as far as I know, purely bass wise, there isn't any better alternative for them, regardless the price. And as for more advanced EQing, you can greatly gain bass AND clarity at the same time.
 

 

[Malevolent]

Quote:

I agree with you too as the same thing happened with me today: I ordered a pair of these from amazon and I'm sure they are not fake ones but I'm also sure that all people saying that the XB-500 has AMAZING and overpowering bass didn't try the Sennheiser HD-202 which is less than half price and has much much much more "punchy" and excellent bass with very clear and crisp highs and mids.
 
I know that many of you guys won't believe me but try those HD-202 and you'll find it true.
To be honest, the ONLY pro for the XB-500 is the comfy cushions but otherwise, HD-202 wins. Even for isolation and sound leakage, there is no way to compare these two pairs!!
I'm really disappointed that I paid 110$ (including shipping and customs) for those XB-500; they are not even worth the 50$ I paid for the Sennheiser's

 
To me, the XB500 delivers much better bass than the HD202. Besides the obvious quantity, the extension, impact and all around bass presentation puts the Sennheier in its place. It's nothing shameful for the HD202 though, as it was not made out to be a can marketed towards bassheads. The XB500 does one thing well, and that is to produce loads of bass.
 
Outside of the realm of bass, I'm sure the HD202 can hold its own against the XB500.

 

[Ehab]

Quote:

 
To me, the XB500 delivers much better bass than the HD202. Besides the obvious quantity, the extension, impact and all around bass presentation puts the Sennheier in its place. It's nothing shameful for the HD202 though, as it was not made out to be a can marketed towards bassheads. The XB500 does one thing well, and that is to produce loads of bass.
 
Outside of the realm of bass, I'm sure the HD202 can hold its own against the XB500.

If you EQ the HD202 by boosting up the bass and highs, you'll get an awesome sound clarity and punchy bass in amazing quality; never muddy nor distortion at all.
Also  the isolation of the HD202 is much much better than the XB500 and I think this is one other reason that makes me feel that outstanding punchy bass.
I really don't know how these HD202 are so cheap!! didn't Sennheiser compare other headphones before pricing these?

 

[Ehab]

Quote:

I think the amount of bass you get may be dependent on the seal you get with these phones. Their sealing on-ear design (what with that airtight cushion around the sound port) is brilliant, but some people's outer ears may be shaped oddly enough that a seal cant be made this way and all the bass leaks out. For the two of you who find the bass less than overwhelming--how is the isolation? Good or just so-so? Lack of isolation could clue you in to a corresponding lack of a seal.

I think you're right and this may be one of the main reasons that makes me feel the punchy bass on the HD202 more than the XB500 as the Sennheiser's provide much more isolation than the Sony's and I don't think anyone who tried both can say otherwise regarding the isolation.

 

[Graphicism]

Quote:

They sound really good at the highest volume, but that's it. I'm probably going to get another pair to see if they really are defective, but for a defective pair of headphones they sound amazing on the highest volume.

 
So what's the outcome?

 

[Ehab]

I want to ask you guys one thing more:
Does the sound of the XB500 differ after listening for a while with them? I mean the sound just out of the box differs after use for some time as I read this on some threads but I don't know if this is true or not.
I just got mine and didn't try them enough but I wasn't satisfied enough when I tried them at the first moment I got them out of the box and that's why I'm asking.
Kindly reply.