[Zephyrus]

I work long hours in front of a computer, and have decided to get a decent pair of phones to listen to music at work. I'm into metal / rock / hip-hop, and like a lot of bass.

When I began my search I went to best buy like a n00b and tried out bose and those dr. dre beats. I liked the beats a lot, and wanted that kind of sound, and knew I could get something as good as (if not better) from a real company (sorry Monster, you're a huge ripoff, and having Dr. Dre as your spokesperson is lame)

I did some research and read lots of reviews and between the AKG 181dj's and the Sennheiser HD 212 pro's, I went with the cheaper. I got the sennheisers yesterday and was underwhelmed by their bass output. Although the sound quality is good, I'm looking for something that "hits hard" or is punchy.

Is my problem the sennheisers are lousy? or is my problem not enough amplification from the source. I've tried the phones out on both my Ipod classic (60gb 4th ed) and from computer's 5:1 sound card (although its an onboard card, so is probably lousy as well)

I've done some reading on Headphone amplifiers and am wondering if this will fix the problem and give my 212's that punch I'm looking for, or should i return them and get something different? If its an amplifcation problem, what amp should I buy? Most articles online are tutorials on how to build them, and from experience in college in classes with circuits... screw that, i'd prob kill myself before I got a working amp.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Zephyrus]

80 views and no suggestions? I'm just looking for some good advice on what direction to take here.

I want hard hitting punch in my bass, and will scrap everything I have here and start over if need be, just need to learn some more about phones and apparently DAC.

I want to end up with headphones that sound better / hit harder than Dre. Beats, because I would be very satisfied

 

[Zephoku]

That's odd, because I have a pair of HD212pros too, and the bass on mine are VERY hard.
Have you tried upping the volume a bit, or letting the phones burn in? That might help.

 

[Lando3000]

I believe that the 212 will have about as much bass as you'll get from non-novelty phones like the Beats. Too much bass drowns out mids and highs so phones like the Beats aren't considered audiophile (and for good reason).

 

[Li Ching Yuen]

Don't get Sennheiser's if you want overbloated bass.

 

[Zephyrus]

I'm working on the burn-in process, but it seems the beats with an onboard amplifier can drive the bass much harder.

Do the 212s need an AMP/DAC to get enough power to drive the 32 ohm phones?

 

[Folex]

Honestly.. just grab a pair of skullcrushers and forget about highs and lows and really any freq in between. If the 212's do not satisfy your need for bass then nothing will. Every single person I've let use my 212's has said "I love the bass" or "there is way too much bass." The 212's in my mind is the highest quantity of bass you can get under $100 and still have the mids and highs sound acceptable.

As much as amping or a sound card this should not matter. The bass should always be there reguardless the source or amp. Although these might tighten up the bass and make the other freq sound better.

In short if the 212's aren't enough bass then nothing is. I assume these are your first pair of headphones. If so I'd advice trying out any other headphone for a week and then putting on the 212's again and realizing, wow the 212's do have too much bass.

 

[Zephyrus]

Maybe I have a defective pair then?

Even though Monster's Dre Beats aren't considered "Audiophile", they hit literally 10x harder than my 212's. I can literally feel the bass with those. Would this be correct in your guys observations as well? My 212s honestly don't sound better than my friends $10 altec lansing headset headphones =(

 

[Folex]

Beats = $300 and 212's = $50.. You honestly think this is a fair comparison ?

 

[Zephyrus]

I'll spend $300 if that's what it takes to get that kind of sound. I just know that Monster charges $80 for $3 cables, so why not do the same when it comes to headphones? So I figured with the ridiculous reviews that the 212s had when it came to bass, I could see them being about the same in quality as the ridiculous overpriced monster beats.

What is the legitimate comparison phones to the beats NOT made by a garbage company like Monster.

 

[Folex]

Try the Beyerdynamic 770's ($200). If you have a Guitar Center near you, you can try them out.

 

[ekliptiko]

Im gonna have to go ahead and recommend Audio Technica's ATH-M50. Lots of bass, got some punch. Id also recommend an amp, as they do respond positively to amping, the bass cleans up and becomes more controlled. I picked them up at Guitar Center, price matched to geartree.com

 

[Lando3000]

If the OP thinks the 212 doesn't have enough bass then for sure the M50 won't satisfy him. If you want all bass and nothing else with some vibrating mechanism to make you feel them go with the Beats. There comes a point where the bass is too much and they become novelty one-trick headphones.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Have a look at http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/my-...k-here-474794/

If you think the HD212 Pros are bass-shy, your best bet would be to get another sound card for the comp at least. Don't underestimate what software tweaking can do, I think basicly any headphone doesn't live up to my bass needs unless EQ'd and preferable with a non-onboard soundcard.

I can get the HD212 Pros to vibrate my head and put some of my friend's subs to shame if I want using Creative Audigy soundcard + kX Audio driver.

EDIT: and yes don't get the M50, it actually got less bass than the 212 Pro (not THAT much difference though). If you want a good cheap bassy headphone go for AKG K 518 DJ, got mine today and I love it already.