[BigJohn]

After a week of listening to first the Grado RS2 and the 325, and mostly the Ultrasone Proline 750 with the Creek OBH 21, I have now been listening for a couple of hours again to the Audio Technica ATH W1000…
First thing I noticed was that the W1000 definitely has a more natural less exaggerated bass reproduction than the PROline.
It sounds more like listening through good loudspeakers than the Proline whose bass response is more and bigger than any loudspeakers I have ever heard.
I have to say that the Grado’s seem to be the best headphones overall…
To bad they aren’t closed…
The Prolines are great except for the big bass when driven by the Creek; they have little or no colouration and distortion in my opinion.
If you listen to mostly electronic music I don’t think you can get a finer pair of phones for the money (off course I haven’t nearly heard all the models available…)
The case is I’m listening to very different kinds of music, also acoustical, and then the bass is too heavy to be called natural.
For instance foot tapping of a guitar player sounds way too loud and bigger than live.
The ATH W1000 has the most natural bass of every closed headphone I heard so far, but they tend to add some distortion in the mids and high mids…
The Beyer DT770 has unacceptable bass in my opinion, and I ruled out that one pretty soon in the auditioning.
From all the headphones I’ve heard so far the Grado’s seem to match my taste the best.
The Prolines sound actually better straight out of the Sony than out of the Creek in my opinion…
I think that the Prolines matched with the right amp might surprise me…
The Prolines fabric irritates my head pretty fast after putting them on, but the W1000 heads up my ears so fast I have a headache after more than an hour…
The Grado’s feel a little rough on the ears but besides that comfort is great I think.
Again I’m a little confused.
Here in Holland we have a saying; I can’t see the trees through the forest, I guess that’s pretty accurate subscribing how I feel right now…

What do you people think about the bass issues I have?
Am I just bass shy or what?
How about that distortion I hear when listening to the Audio technica..?
How do you feel about the Creek OBH 21?

The combination Proline 750 and OBH 21 isn’t a great one I think, the OBH 21 matches the ATH W1000 much better…

Which amp matches the Prolines the best..?
Which amp is great with the Grado’s?

 

[ast]

I am not answering your question since I haven't heard any of the cans in your list. Maybe you want to try/audition some of the higher level cans from each of those manufacturers? Grado 1000, Ultrasone 2500/Edition 9, Audio-Technica W5000/AD2000 come to my mind....

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ast /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am not answering your question since I haven't heard any of the cans in your list. Maybe you want to try/audition some of the higher level cans from each of those manufacturers? Grado 1000, Ultrasone 2500/Edition 9, Audio-Technica W5000/AD2000 come to my mind....

Outside of their LE models, the W1000 used to be ATH's top headphone. How far its reputation has fallen.

 

[Kees]

MF X-can v3 does a lot better with all the phones you mentioned.
Or Graham Slee Solo (but that is more expensive).

 

[MaloS]

BigJohn - I am very similar on the bass stance as yourself, I actually ran hd595 with a tube amp for some time and found that to be too much bass

I am waiting to get the w5000 and see how it fits into the picture. Although unlike you I was never quite impressed with the Grado sound. The most natural bass response I have heard was from electrostatic headphones (which you might want to look into), although their high-end is brutally expensive. (But you can have a nice system for $850).