[agentsmith23]

I just got the Philips CititScape Uptown headphones yesterday and I am really not sure what to think of them. So far I have tried them on my cell (Smasung Galaxy S II) and my laptop (Alienware M14X R2 with Creative Recon 3Di audio). I am really concerned if they are possibly defective or if I am expecting something that they aren't capable of. What is happening, is that if I listen to a bass heavy track and have the built in EQ of the device set to max for the lower frequencies I get a lot of distortion. Now these are my first higher end headphones and the other much cheaper headphones I have access to don't show any distortion at the same levels. The headphones I am comparing them too are a pair of Skullcandy earbuds that are about a year or so old that cost about $20 and my wife has a set of Panasonic RP-DJS400. The earbuds have minimal bass but sound ok with no distortion no matter how loud I turn up the bass. The RP-DJS400 headphones have loud thumping bass that also doesn't distort but the mids are muddied by the bass. Is what I am hearing from the Uptowns normal behavior or are they defective or am I doing something wrong?
 
Thanks for any possible input, please let me know if you need any further information.

 

[obobskivich]

You shouldn't be listening/operating the equipment in this manner - that's just excessive boost, and it's not at all surprising you're hearing quite a lot of distortion and mud. That's the result of the EQ settings you're using. The cheaper headphones probably have no response down there, so you're either "creating" some response, or they simply aren't able to reproduce it, and it doesn't matter WHAT that setting is (realistically).

When you set the EQ to flat, does the distortion go away? If yes - the headphones are fine. If you really "need" that much bass, buy headphones that are suited for delivering it.

 

[warrenpchi]

Quote:

You shouldn't be listening/operating the equipment

 
If I had a nickel for everytime you've said that... 

 
Quote:

If you really "need" that much bass, buy headphones that are suited for delivering it.

 
+1
 
OP, have you ever considered Sony MDR-XB500s?

 

[agentsmith23]

I really don't need a lot of bass, I was just curious mostly as to why the Uptown cans get so distorted compared to the much cheaper ones. When the EQ is flat the cheaper cans still have more bass though. And yes when the EQ is flat the Uptowns have no distortion.
 
Should I not be using the EQ at all?

 

[obobskivich]

Just because you spent more, doesn't mean you get more bass - sound quality is a lot more than just how much bass you have.

I'm guessing the simple fact is that the earbuds or whatever else are going over a cliff at around 150hz, and that no matter how much boost you drive into them, they simply cannot reproduce 20 or 30hz, and you aren't hearing the nasty distortion that would otherwise appear.

EQ is fine to use, but you should never be in a situation where you're applying +12 or +24 or +36 to a band - a lot of things would have to go wrong for that to become untrue.

 

[agentsmith23]

Quote:

Just because you spent more, doesn't mean you get more bass - sound quality is a lot more than just how much bass you have.
 

That's perfectly understandable. Thank you so much for the information. I have also followed this post on setting up Winamp and I am noticing a difference in SQ already.

 

[mrbrad]

I have the Uptowns and listen to them mostly with my iMac and iTunes. They have plenty of bass for me. I think they do a pretty good job of isolating, are very comfortable (especially with glasses) and cover the spectrum of music nicely.
 
Brad.

 

[warrenpchi]

Quote:

Just because you spent more, doesn't mean you get more bass

 
But then why do Beats cost so much?