Quote:
I think you really need to preface a general comment like that, that you are primarily concerned with the Magnitude of Bass. At the expense of everything else. Its all you really talk about in your review. If I was rating earphones solely on that I would agree with you ratings of the headphone. But if was rating them on anything else, for example the Quality of the bass I would disagree with your ratings.
Slightly off topic I wonder its to do with that you listen to. I notice on my Car head unit, which as a bass head EQ setting some modern CD's sounds great. Because the albums have been mixed for huge bass at the expense of everything else. Theres often no mids on the tracks at all, this is modern pop or dance tracks. Switch to some classic hard rock or classic or acoustic and this basshead setting destroys the music as its loses vast amounts of detail across the rest of the spectrum. You actually can't hear half the music at all. I notice the same thing with the CX300's I had many years ago. To the point where a review of the CX300 is my baseline for reviews sites. If they give it a general great view I know I won't agree with their options on other phones. If they give an accurate review, that its huge bass lacking in detail, then I'll consider their other reviews. I think you should do a reverse of what I do. because you are looking for the exact opposite of what I am.
Okay just a preface regarding my tone I'm never angry but I may be slightly miffed but it's more like laughably harmless. Now I'm just happy that I get nontrivial criticisms and I really appreciate that.
I did write a preface in my (quick) review, but since it's TL;DR I really do need to put more sign posts.
I honestly am confused with the "audiophile" jargon of "boomy" and "muddy" bass as descriptions of the quality of bass (could you please clarify/give an example of its usage? I honestly don't know how). This is why I used onomatopoeia in my (quick) review such as "TUUD" and "TUHD" and "PFDT". Those aren't mere intensity; as I said, the onomatopoeia is very efficient in communicating the quality--even the approximate timbre--of the bass (if I wanted to be a smartass about it I would rationalize the acoustics of onomatopoeia). Perhaps the "UU" means boomy, and the tight "PFDT" means punchy but muddy?, and the "TUHD" means uncontrolled and airy boom.
The CX870 for example advertises "Precise Bass", as opposed to the "Enhanced Bass" of the CX300 and CX400. I did notice that the bass in CX870 is less boomy than the CX400 and the CX400 has slightly greater punch. I realize that I do want that boom in my music. So maybe this is where we diverge in our definition of quality.
My overemphasis on bass is just the bare minimum: It must be able to drive quality bass sound ("TUUD") and maintain its quality at the highest intensity that my loudness threshold allows. After that, I must be able to hear EVERYTHING ELSE (mids and highs) and they should not be drowned out. This seems like a pretty ambitious demand but the Sennheiser CX300, CX400, and CX870 meet my needs.
I listen to everything. I love different instruments. I love different timbres, especially the variety of voices. I mainly love Japanese composers such as Yoko Kanno, Joe Hisaishi, Shiro Sagisu, etc. I do listen to dance tracks a lot, but they are of a different nature: Denpa music. They are pretty much the audio equivalent of the Akihabara experience, and they mix chiptunes and kawaii singing with dance beats and electronica. I love piano, play piano, and my favorite is Debussy. Above all, I love Heavy Metal. I love the double pedal. I love the adrenaline rush. I love heavy metal voices that can sweep a wide range.
The test music I used is
Blind Guardian - The Wizard (Uriah Heep cover). Uriah Heep is definitely classic progressive rock, and among the first to be. They were progressive rock while The Beatles were still playing. Blind Guardian is known for "over"production and filling all frequencies with orchestra and choir, but this particular file starts out acoustically, which is great for testing detail. When the bass comes in, you'll know if the intensity of this clarity drops. I noticed that the player plays a most critical role here, since in my Sansa Clip+ the mids drop when I turn on the bass, while in my old android phone that I converted to a dedicated mp3 player using Cyanogenmod and Jetaudio, it doesn't. The CX870 sounds perfect.
This other test file is a mix of Nightwish and a little Dream Theater, which is representative of the music I listen to and I plead you to try it so that we have more common ground other than the CX300 which renders our conversation fruitless. In Nightwish, each bass kick has an accompanying orchestral hit. That is just their style. Beautiful piano melodies are layered with orchestra and choir and power metal (chugging rhythm guitar, melodic leads, double pedals) and operatic singing. I know if the headphones drown out the delicate atmospheric piano.
I did say I made a quick review, and so it was not meant for people who wanted graphs and jargon. I honestly don't understand them fully anyway. I just followed my hunch that I am not alone in my bass preferences, and that my heuristic (Kahneman and Tversky) is efficient in helping bassheads like me.
