Sub bass equalization (wow) - HD800S, HD650
Jul 22, 2018 at 11:27 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 8

smodtactical

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I enjoy my HD800S for classical, ambient, space ambient, vocals, celtic / medieval music and my HD 650 for EDM/techno and jazz. But I wished for a headphone that had the amazing detail and imaging of the 800S but with the thump and warm low end of the HD650.

I was exploring many headphone options and am considered the ZMF Auteur or Atticus but then I decided to give equalization through foobar a try. I am listening to flacs. The results were shocking! I turned up 55 hz, 77 hz and 110 hz so it was a pretty steep decline from left to right and the 800S gave me a thumping rumbling sound from the earth in my techno tracks! I had no idea the 800S could produce such impressive sub bass. Put my HD650 in with the same settings and I thought maybe I had been listening to a beats by Dre or something lol... jk of course.

I had no idea equalization could sound so good. I have now made my bass ramp much more modest as it seemed to take detail away from mids and strangely the upper end even when it was so aggressive. But with my mild ramp it gives the 800S a beautiful touch of warmth and musicality while still preserving tons of detail. The HD650 now sounds like what I imagine a basshead can would sound like with my EQ ramp.

Just thought I'd share my experience. Would love to hear yours.
 
Jul 22, 2018 at 11:42 PM Post #3 of 8
Jul 23, 2018 at 8:36 AM Post #4 of 8
I updated my link to include a graphic equalizer subbass ramp. I find the graphic equalizer to be even better because you can go down to 20 hz which I have amped very high and then have a curved slope going down so it levels out at about 315 hz. I find this to give a nice subbass rumble and fullness to the sound while still preserving pretty much all the detail.

I also found the graphic equalizer settings had no impact on mids or treble at all with classical or other detailed treble/mid centric music. You can get graphic equalizer below.

http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_dsp_xgeq
 
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Jul 24, 2018 at 1:06 PM Post #5 of 8
Upon further experimentation and listening it seems my sub bass boost does compromise the mids and it seems maybe even a bit of low treble (it softens them and makes them less detailed or clear). So it seems I can't just subbass boost my way to warmth while still retaining all the detail. But this boost can still help sometimes if Im listening to music that is too hot on the 800S in the upper frequences... I guess you can say it just adds a softer more musical feel to the 800S with a more full thick low end. Not necessarily a bad thing but would have liked to retained full detail.
 
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Jul 28, 2018 at 12:33 AM Post #6 of 8
After a bunch of testing and experimentation I made my subbass and bass ramp more modest and now have the best balance between giving the 800S a rich colour while still preserving probably 95% of the mid and treble detail. This is at least on my burson conductor SL 9018. I also use it for my HD650 which makes a bass thumpin party headphone! :D Also I do have the taction kannons coming so I'll probably think even the 650s are bass light soon lol.

In case anyone wants the subbass ramp (you know the foobar graphic equalizer plugin) its here: http://www.diabolicaldesign.net/SmodsbassHD800S_650.xgeq
 
Apr 20, 2023 at 10:48 AM Post #7 of 8
Hey @smodtactical any chance you can re-share your bass-related EQ for HD800s? the links are dead
 
Apr 23, 2023 at 11:27 PM Post #8 of 8

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