[ostewart]

little mod update: a tiny bit more bass, but i just found them to sound more neutral. i didnt need them to have more bass, as i found them fine as they were, but empty cups? why?! so i got some adhesive window sealing foam and damped the cups, plus a lil blu-tak to the back of the driver, then i liberated the driver a bit (punched 2 more holes in the back of the driver), here are the photos:
 

 

 
Try this and tell me what you think
 
Oscar

 

[ostewart]

I have now mastered the Mod posted before. Instead of Foam, Use dynamat or similar acoustic deadening material in the cups, then only have 2 holes open on the back of the driver.
 
now better treble, with as good bass if not better, and the mids do not get sucked out.

 

[KimLaroux]

Quote:

I have now mastered the Mod posted before. Instead of Foam, Use dynamat or similar acoustic deadening material in the cups, then only have 2 holes open on the back of the driver.
 
now better treble, with as good bass if not better, and the mids do not get sucked out.

 
Adding holes in the back of the driver didn't turn them into bass monsters like removing the center plug does?
 
I thought it would have more or less the same results. Only you can refit the plug in, but you can't really fix the holes in the material ring.
 
How did you go from 3 holes to 3? simply placed a piece of tape on one of the holes?

 

[ostewart]

Yes, just a bit of tape. No it does not increase the bass.

 

[irzekk]

neutralll

 

[muzikfrrrik]

Quote:

 
Adding holes in the back of the driver didn't turn them into bass monsters like removing the center plug does?
 
I thought it would have more or less the same results. Only you can refit the plug in, but you can't really fix the holes in the material ring.
 
How did you go from 3 holes to 3? simply placed a piece of tape on one of the holes?

 
What do you mean precisely?

 

[KimLaroux]

Quote:

 
What do you mean precisely?

 
I was making reference to the "foam plug mod".
 
Many people didn't like this modification because it apparently bloated the bass. I personally liked the result, and I still to this day haven't reinserted the plugs back. The added bass makes the SRH440 more fun, and they complement my Q701 quite well.

 

[sacrifice13]

Just replaced the stock pads on these to the pads from a pair of Audio Technica ATH-TAD300 and they are so dang comfy now! Shame I don't use these that much.

 

[ahujasid]

I totally disagree with this review. I own these headphones and they sound GREAT unmapped.
Well, if you listen to 128kbps mp3 then that's another issue, but with high quality songs these sound AMAZING.

 

[KimLaroux]

Well the review compared the SRH440 with the XB700.
 

 
As you can see from this graph, it's not really a fair comparison. The XB700 was designed for personal portable audio using the keyword "bass" while the SRH440 was designed for studio use with the keyword "true". The SRH440 is a popular headphone in radio station studios, and I would openly laugh at any studio that uses the Sony XB line.
 
To be fair, I'd say these two headphones complement each others. It would make sense to own both, and use one or the other depending on your mood and the genre you're gonna listen to. Comparing these two is simply silly. One is analytical while the other is a subwoofer.
 
I still use my SRH440 on a daily basis, just as much if not more than my Q701. The 440 do sound alright without an amp, but they sound even better with one. Or is it the DAC? Anyways, they sound better out of a real DAC/amp than out of a PC sound card. But then anything would. For me the most significant difference was the noise floor. The 440 is very sensitive, and reveal the noise floor out of everything. They have a constant white noise out of my laptop's HP out, but are black out of the NFB-12. Don't consider using a Starving Student amp with these, as this amp is simply too noisy. My Starving Student has been in a constant state of upgrading ever since I fired it for the first time, all in the goal of lowering the noise so I can use my SRH440 with it. Strangely the Q701 has no trouble, and is quiet out of my laptop and the Starving Student. At the last Montreal meet, people were drooling over the Bryston BHA-1, a brand new 1400$ headphone amplifier. They said it was dead quiet at any level... "Challenge accepted!" I connected my SRH440 to it and turned to volume to the max while nothing was playing, and I could clearly hear background noise. I admit though that at this level I would have destroyed my hears if something was playing, and at normal listening level it was dead silent. It just goes to show how ridiculously sensitive the 440 is.
 
I did revert the foam plug mod to stock. I have to admit that they sound cleaner stock. But now I am at a loss, as both my headphones are bass light. Maybe next summer I may allow myself to get a 3rd pair to complement these two, with the keyword "bass". Just for fun.

 

[xnor]

Instead of owning both it would make more sense to own a headphone with the bass extension of the XB line and the flat response of the SRH440.

One could also EQ the bass down quite a bit with the XBs.

 

[KimLaroux]

Quote:

Instead of owning both it would make more sense to own a headphone with the bass extension of the XB line and the flat response of the SRH440.

One could also EQ the bass down quite a bit with the XBs.

 
Yeah... right. In the world of fairies and ponies. 

 
Even if such an headphone existed, it would be ten times the price of both the SRH440 and the XB700 together. So no, I don't think it would be more reasonable. Especially since you're gonna want better bass extension with one type of music, and flatter response with a different type of music. Rarely will you need both of these in a single album, even a single playlist. So owning two different headphones for two different purposes seems like a sensible thing to do.

 

[xnor]

Well it might cost more (for a reason), but such headphones are available. You could also use a bassy headphone (not necessarily eXtra Bass) and cut the bass using EQ if listening to genres where realistic amounts of bass are needed.
 
I owned the SRH440, but I couldn't live with the bass response. No, I'm not listening to electronica.

 

[ostewart]

I found the bass response pretty good myself, got some Sony ZX700 on loan to review, they have no sub-bass whatsoever.

Try the mod I suggested above, punch 1 more hole in the back of the driver, not 2 like I first did, and damp the cups with dynamat or similar.

 

[JohnnyCrash8]

I wouldn't say bass is overly present, but there is plenty there for my taste. I care more about the mids and highs, and this set of cans delivers. These aren't the ultimate headphones, but for $100, it's hard to beat the value. I use mine to listen to tunes at work, in a relatively quiet office.