[Alghazanth]

Hi, I've gone through a few headphones in the past few months trying to find one I can comfortably stick with, and I'm at what is likely my final decision. I own the Denon D7000s and Audio-Technica AD700s. Now, despite one costing me 11x more than the other, I simply cannot decide between them. I put on the AD700s and fall in love with the immense soundstage that takes some of my music to another level, but then I turn on a more aggressive and less atmospheric track and miss the D7000's magnificent bass. So, I put on the D7000s and find myself headbanging almost instantly until I once again turn on an atmospheric song and feel like I'm hearing it in a medium sized room, not the forest, snow fields, or medieval terrains the music depicts. I listen to Death Metal (closed headphones win), Black Metal (open wins), Classical (open wins), and Electronic (closed wins). Thus, I cannot settle for one type when it comes to music.
 
In addition to music, I use these for gaming in combination with an Astro Mixamp (dolby headphone) The choice between the two is just as impossible here. The AD700 feels much more like I am outside when playing Black Ops for instance. The D7000s have ridiculous depth and width in soundstage for closed cans with DH on, but they never quite make an outdoor map feel like an outdoor map. On the other hand, when the explosions come in, the AD700 sounds very meh. I can hear the explosions, but I certainly can't feel them. The mixamp's bass boost causes the lowest bass to distort, so that's a no-go. The D7000's on the other hand make explosions sound catastrophic.
 
So as you can see, despite the pretty crazy price difference, I am unable to pick between the two. In the interest of settling down with one ultimate pair of headphones, I have 2 options: Closed headphones with incredible soundstage, or open headphones with powerful bass. The D7000s have probably the best soundstage of any closed can, so the former is out. Thus, I need to find open headphones with the usual immense soundstage and strong, punchy bass to go with it. Here is some criteria:
 
-No budget
 
-Must have soundstage as good as or better than the AD700s and bass at least approaching that of the Denon line
 
-Must be relatively easy to drive. I will NOT be using an amp at this time for various reasons I won't get into. I will buy a good one later, but not now or soon. These will be driven by an X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion (all lossless) for PC gaming and music and an Astro Mixamp 5.8 for console gaming. I believe the Mixamp has issues with anything over about 50ohm impedence (The AKG701s are 62ohm and the mixamp only provides sufficient volume if I do not mix in any voice chat, and I have to as I always play online)which is why I bought the low impedance Denons and Audio-Technicas. Thus, cans like the HD 650/800 and T1 are out for now.
 
-No headphones that are known to not work well with DH (Yes, I have read all of http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/534479/mad-lust-envy-aka-shin-cz-s-guide-to-headphone-gaming-particularly-with-dolby-headphone multiple times)
 
-No modding
 
I currently have my eye on the AD900s, but I'm unsure if their bass is any better than the AD700s.
 
So what all that said, does such a pair of headphones exist?
 
Thank you very much.

 
Edit: If it matters, I have not given the D7000s nor the AD700s much burn in time, only about 20 hours apiece. I don't think the 200 hours recommended would do anything for the D7K's soundstage or the AD700's bass, but I'm no expert.

 

[Digital-Pride]

Hmm, finding Denon like bass in an open headphone is certainly a difficult task!  Yet, I have some suggestions for ya:
 
Beyerdynamic DT 990 32 Ohm
 
Sennheiser HD598, HD650
 
Ultrasone HFi-2400, PRO-2900
 
You'll find some really nice low-end extention with all of these options.  However, if you're after the best possible bass without the need for an amp, then look no further than the Ultrasones listed here.

 

[Elanzer]

DT990 have lots of bass and massive soundstage, great gaming headphones.
 
The 32-Ohm version might still be hard to drive with the mixamp though, since they're low sensitivity.

 

[dj_surya]

srh840 ??

 

[Digital-Pride]

Quote:

srh840 ??

The OP requested headphones that have an open design.  That is something the Shures are not, they are excellent headphones though.
 

 

[Senpai3330]

In the bass department, FA-011 might be an option. But the soundstage only merits a "good".

 

[TMRaven]

I think the DT990 32ohm have 107db of sensitivity, which sounds like plenty to me.  I wouldn't hesitate on the DT990, find a store that accepts returns, try it out with your mixamp, and if you don't like it then take it back.

 

[laon]

Forget about AD900, even sr60 have better bass (quantity) than it.

 

[ourfpshero]

ad900 or a pioneer se-a1000

 

[laon]

 
Quote:

ad900 [...]

how the heck anyone call that bass powerful is beyond me, but hey maybe mine was defective. 

 

[Graphicism]

You're not going to find D7000 bass in an open headphone, Denons are tuned for bass heads, the best you can hope to find is good slam and bass texture. Back in the day before the Denons, Sony XB, Beats and so on the 'bass heavy' cans were ATH AD2000s and SA5000s however with todays listening expectancy they would be bass light in comparison. I enjoy the Dt880s bass, more than likely you would like a more colored response in DT990s but even then I wouldn't recommend it for a bass head.

 

[dan1son]

Grado HF2.  Compared quite well to the D9000 I heard at the last meet. 

 

[Acix]

You can start looking in to the Ultrasone models, the HFI-2200, and the PL-2500. Most of the Pro /Proline series have big sound stage with powerful bass.

 

[drez]

Quote:

 


how the heck anyone call that bass powerful is beyond me, but hey maybe mine was defective. 

 
Nope just weird advice.  ath-ad900 is widely known NOT to have powerful bass lol.  That, or everyone else who has ever reviewed this product is wrong...

 

[Derp]

If you vent the drivers on most Grados the bass becomes phenomenal.