[chrislangley4253]

Quote:

I kind of disagree with this. hd 650's can be driven with cheaper amps, but more expensive amps pair better with them. This was the reason I didn't bother going for a 600 or 650, I didn't want to spend the additional money to really drive them.

OP, what kind of budget are you looking at exactly?

HE-400's have great bass for an open headphone. Going up in price the HE-500's are also great, and continuing to increase price LCD-2's as well.

Audio Technica ad900x is a nice balanced headphones. Not basshead level, but the bass is present.

Ultrasone pro 2900
beyer dt990

There are many options at many price points

You are so incredibly off. "Cheap" amps drive Sennheisers perfectly fine power-wise, which is all you need. Power and a lowish output impedance and low noise.
 
Sennheisers are relatively easy to drive. Anyone who tells you different is trying to sell you something.

Oh, and those ortho's you are suggesting? Those might actually be a little difficult to drive, certainly more than any Sennheiser.

 

[Errymoose]

He even said they are fine power wise, just that they "pair better" with other amps...  idk why you're agreeing with him so violently

 

[Sound Quest]

Quote:

Its a weird world where we don't buy a good product because it can't be as good as it could be. Imagine not buying engagement rings because you couldn't afford the best diamond or a home because you couldn't make the biggest improvement. I think the HD650 has great bass, lots of it and if you're into that kind of thing, someone could be very happy w/ the HD650 and E09K. IMO, don't let perfect be the enemy of really, really good. 

 
I don't want headphones with a lot of bass, i've been clear on this already. I just want headphones with a "little" more kick than a headphone that's perfectly balanced. I'm not looking for a big thick sound.
 
And to that other guy. Yes, the 650's can be powered relatively easy with cheaper amps. But power isn't everything. The 650's require expensive tube amping to get them sounding exactly the way they were intended. Otherwise they just don't sound quite right.

 

[imackler]

Quote:

 
And to that other guy. Yes, the 650's can be powered relatively easy with cheaper amps. But power isn't everything. The 650's require expensive tube amping to get them sounding exactly the way they were intended. Otherwise they just don't sound quite right.

 
Well, I can't agree or disagree whether they were intended to be run by tube amps. I know Senn shows HD650 w/ a solid state. The HD650 can have tremendous bass slam with the right amp. I agree the Fiio E09K doesn't but pretty much any of the amps that run off of 2 9v portable batteries do. The Headroom Micro sounds quite good with it as well. Anyways, I don't think you  want the HD650. Best of luck! 

 

[cel4145]

But i'm looking for something that won't cost 1000's of dollars in order to get the best out of them.

What is your budget? And do you have a headphone amplifier?

 

[Sound Quest]

Quote:

What is your budget? And do you have a headphone amplifier?

 
My budget is around £500 ($800). But an amp/dac needs to be included in that.
 
I was looking at something such as the Dragonfly of Meridian Explorer.
 
I was thinking something like Meridian Explorer paired with the Q701s.
 
Now I know the Q701's aren't something people would consider bass heavy. But I think the warm sound signiture of the Explorer would help open up the low end while taming the highs. This would allow me to listen to music at a louder volume without causing fatigue.
 
Although it's never easy to judge exactly how a headphone and amp are going to pair together. So it would be a bit of a punt. And a big punt at that.

 

[kuse50]

koss porta pro or sennheiser px100 if u want cheap open portable..

 

[soundeffect]

I don't want headphones with a lot of bass, i've been clear on this already. I just want headphones with a "little" more kick than a headphone that's perfectly balanced. I'm not looking for a big thick sound.

Like what other have said, "what headphones have you experienced with?" without knowing what you are basing on, people can't gauge what you can consider bass lacking in an open headphone.

I've seen people say the hd650, D2000, HE400, dt770 and a few others all being bass light albeit majority thinks they are heavy hitters.

Another option also is to either EQ or get an amp that has bass boost like fiio E17, E7, or ZO2

 

[jpelg]

Ultrasone PRO2500 or 2900's.

 

[cel4145]

My budget is around £500 ($800). But an amp/dac needs to be included in that.

I was looking at something such as the Dragonfly of Meridian Explorer.

I was thinking something like Meridian Explorer paired with the Q701s.

Now I know the Q701's aren't something people would consider bass heavy. But I think the warm sound signiture of the Explorer would help open up the low end while taming the highs. This would allow me to listen to music at a louder volume without causing fatigue.

Although it's never easy to judge exactly how a headphone and amp are going to pair together. So it would be a bit of a punt. And a big punt at that.

I think you'd be better off with the Beyerdynamic DT880s over the Q701s. You'll get some midbass out of the Q701s, but then it rolls off pretty fast on the low end without much sub bass response (if any). And an amp is not going to help that; it can only color the sound very slightly. It's not going to make up for lack of low end bass in headphones where the driver was not designed for deeper bass output. Find the headphones that will suit you; don't trust an amp to make that happen.

The DT880s are fairly neutral for midbass in comparison to the mids, but also have good sub bass extension. And they do respond well to a little EQ bass boost if you need more. The DT880s are also well known for very good clarity, one of your requirements in your original post. In fact, I'm surprised no one has mentioned these already. Based on what you have been saying, they seem like the best choice for you. If the bass isn't enough, then the Q701s definitely wouldn't work and you need a headphone that has more bass emphasis over a more neutral bass response.

I would also suggest researching the ODAC and O2 dac and headphone amplifier. You can buy them in the UK from Epiphany Acoustics under a slightly different name, either as separate components or a combined unit.

 

[soundeffect]

If you are interested in AKG, the k702 65th Anv. Has a little bit more bass than the Q701 plus the benefit of better headband and pads.

 

[TMRaven]

You need to tell us what headphones you've tried out that you consider bass light.  You talked as if you've heard the HD650 so I'm assuming you think they're bass light?

 

[Sound Quest]

Quote:

I think you'd be better off with the Beyerdynamic DT880s over the Q701s. You'll get some midbass out of the Q701s, but then it rolls off pretty fast on the low end without much sub bass response (if any). And an amp is not going to help that; it can only color the sound very slightly. It's not going to make up for lack of low end bass in headphones where the driver was not designed for deeper bass output. Find the headphones that will suit you; don't trust an amp to make that happen.

The DT880s are fairly neutral for midbass in comparison to the mids, but also have good sub bass extension. And they do respond well to a little EQ bass boost if you need more. The DT880s are also well known for very good clarity, one of your requirements in your original post. In fact, I'm surprised no one has mentioned these already. Based on what you have been saying, they seem like the best choice for you. If the bass isn't enough, then the Q701s definitely wouldn't work and you need a headphone that has more bass emphasis over a more neutral bass response.

I would also suggest researching the ODAC and O2 dac and headphone amplifier. You can buy them in the UK from Epiphany Acoustics under a slightly different name, either as separate components or a combined unit.

 
Thanks for the link. That amp/dac combo looks quite nice. I'm just wondering if a 0.5ohm output would be enough to drive demanding headphones?
 
Quote:

If you are interested in AKG, the k702 65th Anv. Has a little bit more bass than the Q701 plus the benefit of better headband and pads.

I like the look of the 65th Anv Edition. Unfortunately the price difference compared to the standard K702's and Q701's here in the UK is a rather big difference. And I don't think it's justified for such minor tweaks.
Quote:

You need to tell us what headphones you've tried out that you consider bass light.  You talked as if you've heard the HD650 so I'm assuming you think they're bass light?

 
Yes i've tried the HD650's. And no, I don't think they're bass light. However, they weren't adequately amped causing them to sound muddy. I was told that expensive high-end amps were required in order for them to sound the way they're supposed to.

 

[TMRaven]

Who told you that and what amp were they using to amp the HD650?  There won't be a magical transformation of muddy to crystal clear sound on the HD650 with really high end amps, unless the amp being used in the first place is very muddy sounding itself.  You don't need any top of the line transformer tube amp to make the HD650 sound good, in fact they can sound pretty clean out of just a cheap solid state amp.  It's more about subtle refinement and scalability with more expensive amps and the HD650 than just sounding bad and then sounding good.
 
I've not heard the X1 but you might look into it if you think the HD650 to be a little too muddy.  The X1 has a little bit of a treble spike to give some clarity.

 

[cel4145]

Thanks for the link. That amp/dac combo looks quite nice. I'm just wondering if a 0.5ohm output would be enough to drive demanding headphones?

0.5 ohm output means that's the low impedance output and it would be suitable for driving the hardest to drive low impedance IEMs. The general rule is that you want to make sure that the low end output impedance of the amp is 1/8 the impedance of the headphones. You also have to worry if you buy 600 ohm headphones. Some amps aren't going to do a good job of driving headphones with that high impedance.

That being said, if you are worried about whether or not the O2 has enough power (watts) for the impedance the headphones you choose, the O2 is extremely popular. You can ask in the owners/impression/review threads for whatever headphone you decide on.

If you don't have to have a small portable dac/amp setup, my recommendation would be to get a separate DAC and headphone amp. Then if you buy a solid state amp and decide later on you want to try a tube amp, you don't have to replace the DAC. Or if you want to try a better DAC, you don't have to replace the amp. Moreover, higher end DACs and amps are generally separate units. So for instance, I just got the Schiit Asgard 2 to replace my O2 amp, but I'm using it with the ODAC.