Picked up M-Audio Q40 - WOW

[dakanao]

Quote:

No on the HiFiMan velours.
 
840 pads were so much more comfy and to me the bass was cleaner than stock. 

What about the mids and highs? Also, was the bass tight with the 840 pads? If you were to rate the tightness of the bass with the 840 pads on a scale from 1 - 10, what would you rate it?

 

[Oregonian]

Quote:

What about the mids and highs? Also, was the bass tight with the 840 pads? If you were to rate the tightness of the bass with the 840 pads on a scale from 1 - 10, what would you rate it?

Mids and highs were unchanged to my ears. 
 
Bass was tight, yes.  I'd rate it at a 8.....

 

[dakanao]

Quote:

Mids and highs were unchanged to my ears. 
 
Bass was tight, yes.  I'd rate it at a 8.....

Why do some people say that the mids and highs are muffled?

 

[Oregonian]

Quote:

Why do some people say that the mids and highs are muffled?

Well, they aren't the Q40's strength but I actually think they are pretty darn good. 

 

[btk31]

Im thinking of buying the Q40's to expand my audio collection i currently own the monster VECTR which are good for bass and alright for clarity but im looking for something with explosive bass that are also comfortable and fasionable.
I love my VECTRs big jump from the beats solos in quality and my sennheiser collection, some advice on the Q40s and whether to buy or not, cheers    
 
(i also run a Fiio E06 amplifier sometimes so quality with and without is quite important.)

 

[Oregonian]

Im thinking of buying the Q40's to expand my audio collection i currently own the monster VECTR which are good for bass and alright for clarity but im looking for something with explosive bass that are also comfortable and fasionable.
I love my VECTRs big jump from the beats solos in quality and my sennheiser collection, some advice on the Q40s and whether to buy or not, cheers    

(i also run a Fiio E06 amplifier sometimes so quality with and without is quite important.)

Now, keep in mind I love the Q40's. The comment you made about comfort made me pause - the Q40 stock is far from comfortable. They need the clamp stretched out a little and some pads swapped to make them reasonable but never will you call them über comfy. I put Shure 840 pads on them, and they still are not 4-5 hours at a clip comfy.

with your comments, I'd look at the Ultrasone Pro900, as it has truly explosive bass, very comfy and I think very sharp looking.

Just my opinion.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I didn't like the sound of Hifiman leathers versus stock Q40 pads. For me stock pads sounds best especially if you deepen them slightly by stuffing something underneath them. To my ears sounds best balanced from lows to highs (well especially mid/highs are best balanced then, the lows are obviously strong as always on Q40 ).

 

[dakanao]

Quote:

I didn't like the sound of Hifiman leathers versus stock Q40 pads. For me stock pads sounds best especially if you deepen them slightly by stuffing something underneath them. To my ears sounds best balanced from lows to highs (well especially mid/highs are best balanced then, the lows are obviously strong as always on Q40 ).

Do you consider the highs of the Q40's to be crisp?

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Do you consider the highs of the Q40's to be crisp?

 
I would call them pretty neutral so it sounds roughly how it would sound live too (only rolls off quite steadily up top above 14kHz+ where music doesn't use the frequencies that much but it removes some airiness). They have a bit crispiness but not overly much, it depends on the mastering of the tracks. Nicely mastered tracks sound natural, some may be pretty crispy, some slightly smoother. I personally wouldn't want crispier highs, this to me is suitable as I pursuit realism, not more crispiness than exist in real life which I feel a lot of headphones. They have a good mix of softness vs harshness, in this regard they are pretty in-between, not soft but not harsh either, maybe slightly towards the "soft" side.

 

[dakanao]

Quote:

 
I would call them pretty neutral so it sounds roughly how it would sound live too (only rolls off quite steadily up top above 14kHz+ where music doesn't use the frequencies that much but it removes some airiness). They have a bit crispiness but not overly much, it depends on the mastering of the tracks. Nicely mastered tracks sound natural, some may be pretty crispy, some slightly smoother. I personally wouldn't want crispier highs, this to me is suitable as I pursuit realism, not more crispiness than exist in real life which I feel a lot of headphones. They have a good mix of softness vs harshness, in this regard they are pretty in-between, not soft but not harsh either, maybe slightly towards the "soft" side.

And if you boost the 16KHz up in your EQ, will they have more airiness to them that way?

 

[blueangel2323]

I don't find the highs to be crisp on my pair. I wouldn't consider treble and airiness to be strengths of this can; what they do have is amazing bass and smooth, rich mids. The highs are not lacking, but they are laid back and never harsh. It's playing it safe I guess. With brighter headphones, some tracks sound amazing, but with sibilant tracks it gets painful.

 

[dakanao]

Quote:

I don't find the highs to be crisp on my pair. I wouldn't consider treble and airiness to be strengths of this can; what they do have is amazing bass and smooth, rich mids. The highs are not lacking, but they are laid back and never harsh. It's playing it safe I guess. With brighter headphones, some tracks sound amazing, but with sibilant tracks it gets painful.

And what if you boost the 16KHz up in your EQ?

 

[blueangel2323]

Quote:

And what if you boost the 16KHz up in your EQ?

So this is quite surprising. Even with a 6db boost at 16k and a 4db boost at 8k, there is added shimmer and air to cymbals, a little bit of extra crispness to guitars, and slightly more prominent S's in vocals, but the effect is more subtle than dramatic, and it never gets harsh. In fact, I quite like this sound. I have no idea how, but with other headphones that kind of EQ would probably create a lot of sibilance and painful treble. Not here.

 

[dakanao]

Quote:

So this is quite surprising. Even with a 6db boost at 16k and a 4db boost at 8k, there is added shimmer and air to cymbals, a little bit of extra crispness to guitars, and slightly more prominent S's in vocals, but the effect is more subtle than dramatic, and it never gets harsh. In fact, I quite like this sound. I have no idea how, but with other headphones that kind of EQ would probably create a lot of sibilance and painful treble. Not here.

Are you using the EQ of the Realtek HD onboard soundcard?

 

[blueangel2323]

Quote:

Are you using the EQ of the Realtek HD onboard soundcard?

Nope, this is using an app on my iPhone. I don't like the Realtek EQ. It volume-normalizes your sound in real time, which destroys your music. For example, if you boost the bass, your song will be louder during bass-light parts, and softer during bass-heavy parts, so that it's always the same average volume. Makes no sense at all. In my iPhone EQ apps, the overall loudness is decreased when EQ is on to prevent clipping, but at least the decrease is consistent.