[dxanex]

Quote:

70mm, thats big.

 

[JamesMcProgger]

I read Sony is releasing 2 new headphones this year
 
MDR-XB3000

 
and MDR-XB7000

 

[Very Legal]

Guess this is the Sony MDR-XB10000

 

[Scytus]

haha...ahhh, jokes

 

[maverickronin]

The jokes are getting pretty old....

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

Funny. The problem with big drivers is that it is hard to cover the whole frequency accurately and you can run into some terrible problems with sibilance or other inaccuracies when you use a big driver. I have tried to use speakers like that, and they sound very wrong. Probably the closest thing to that is the Audeze LCD-2 which have about 6.17 square inches of orthodynamic driver. When i calculate the size of the XB1000 driver, it is about the same or a little bigger, due to the driver being an inverse cone and not flat as the Audeze is. So those headphones are definitely close to the size limits of current driver tech. 
 
Just thought I would give the jokesters and the serious ones something to think about. I find this kind of stuff fascinating.

 

[maverickronin]

That's really more of a problem for dynamics though.  Planer transducers like orthos or 'stats and electrets have a much more even distribution of force across the area of the driver so you don't get distortion from the diaphragm flexing where it shouldn't.

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

Quote:

That's really more of a problem for dynamics though.  Planer transducers like orthos or 'stats and electrets have a much more even distribution of force across the area of the driver so you don't get distortion from the diaphragm flexing where it shouldn't.

True. OK, Sennehiser, with some of the best engineers in the world, tried to make a big dynamic driver, and only succeeded in making a 56mm driver with a hole that they were happy with.  And that headphone will only give you bass if you balance it, give it a good amp, or put a better cable on it, preferably all three. I have heard it single ended out of a Bottlehead SEX, and it had almost no bass. The people who are attracted to this thread would listen to it and laugh. I hear the bass does get better with a good cooper cable and balancing, however.
 
Sony obviously isn't going for the accuracy that the Sennehiser engineers achieved. I wonder what Sennehiser could do to please this crowd if they tried. The HD650 is OK for the casual audiophile basshead, but I have heard that albeit single ended and it has nowhere near the bass of the XB series.

 

[maverickronin]

Quote:

True. OK, Sennehiser, with some of the best engineers in the world, tried to make a big dynamic driver, and only succeeded in making a 56mm driver with a hole that they were happy with.  And that headphone will only give you bass if you balance it, give it a good amp, or put a better cable on it, preferably all three. I have heard it single ended out of a Bottlehead SEX, and it had almost no bass. The people who are attracted to this thread would listen to it and laugh. I hear the bass does get better with a good cooper cable and balancing, however.
 
Sony obviously isn't going for the accuracy that the Sennehiser engineers achieved. I wonder what Sennehiser could do to please this crowd if they tried. The HD650 is OK for the casual audiophile basshead, but I have heard that albeit single ended and it has nowhere near the bass of the XB series.

The HD650s are a pretty poor choice for audiophile bassheads.  The bass is only slightly boosted and doesn't extend too deep.
 
The HD800s actually measure fairly flat through the bass but it didn't really sound that way when I heard it myself.  Either that stupid treble peak is limiting the volume or Headroom runs their tests with stronger amps than what I've heard them on.

 

[Trysaeder]

Headroom has already said that ss amps don't change the frequency response.

 

[maverickronin]

Well, normally they shouldn't but you can't know for sure without getting some measurements of the amp in question.  Also, I was going on the assumption that whatever Headroom was using for its tests was the properly designed one.  Unfortunately I don't remember the "good" (i.e. expensive) SS amps I heard the HD800s on at canjam last year.
 
I did listen to a pair out of my Maverick D1 (which powers my HD650s fine) and thought they didn't have much bass which would make me suspect the treble peak was just limiting my volume, but on the other hand it has that =863&graphID[1]=&graphID[2]=&graphID[3]=&graphType=7&buttonSelection=Compare+Headphones]wacky impedance curve which might just make some circuits misbehave in unexpected ways.

 

[Katysax]

I'm really curious about the xb1000.  I've been comparing the xb500 to the xb700 and it seems like the xb500 has more bass.  The xb700 seems more balanced, and is actually a pretty decent sounding set of phones for the price, but it isn't amazing.  Other headphones I have like the DT 770 pro, the D5000 and the m50 offer more, or better bass, than the xb 700 while offering overall better sound.  A big problem with the xb series is that it doesn't handle speed very well and gets muddy.  One thing I do like about the xb500 and xb700 is that they actually seem better without an amp. Another thing about them is that they are incredibly comfortable, and I also like how the design is semi-open - the sound leakage is fairly minimal unless you blast them but the sound stage and comfort is more like an open headphone.   Also a great thing about the XB series is that they are inexpensive.  Even if the price gets down to $200, the xb1000 is going to have a lot of competition.  If the price gets to $120 I'm getting a pair.  Otherwise they've got to be amazingly good, especially when you consider that the m50 is amazingly good and already $120.

 

[Ouspensky]

Quote:

I'm really curious about the xb1000.  I've been comparing the xb500 to the xb700 and it seems like the xb500 has more bass.  The xb700 seems more balanced, and is actually a pretty decent sounding set of phones for the price, but it isn't amazing.  Other headphones I have like the DT 770 pro, the D5000 and the m50 offer more, or better bass, than the xb 700 while offering overall better sound.  A big problem with the xb series is that it doesn't handle speed very well and gets muddy.  One thing I do like about the xb500 and xb700 is that they actually seem better without an amp.

Dear Katysax: I respectfully disagree. An amp is ABSOLUTELY necessary to get both cans to their optimal performance, more so on the xb700, they need more juice to pump that ocean of bass they have.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I agree about XB500 with Katysax though, it actually sounded worse for me with FiiO E5 and Gary's PA2V2 than using no amp connected to an Audigy 2 ZS. The XB700 was more difficult to say, didn't like how Gary's PA2V2 sounded slightly artificial with the bass though so didn't end up using it either. They don't seem to play well with amps that colors the sound to be even warmer because you start losing details so they probably need a more neutral amp. With Audigy 2 ZS using kX Audio drivers and XB500 and some EQing you can get bass that resembles car sub-type of bass. It's crazy how powerful it can be but it still sounds so great and it's only there when called for and when there's no bass all instruments sounds realistic and gentle and unaffected by it like they should sound like. I wish more people would be able to try it, would gladly send my kX Audio config to any1 that wants to "feel" bass they've never heard or felt before. Sounds much more speaker-like than coming from a headphone, I need to daily listen to this song cuz the bass is simply so awesome http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCp3VzoL53o (sorry quality sux)

 

[DjAmTraX]

Just quick note on the MDR-XB1000. The iPhone 4 has enough power to drive the headphones to deafening levels, but the bass is not controlled. My Lehmann Audio Black Cube drives it very well. Bass is smooth and controlled, but the headphones are slow by design.