[BattleBrat]

Quote:

And just to proof my point - going through a few first pages on high-end forum I found no questions about bass whatsoever.

 

I built a Hi-fi system (look in my profile, it is under other audio equipment) When I heard my speakers, I realized that no headphones would be enough again... ever. I simply look to headphones as a way to take a piece of it with me (note my lack of stationary headphone equipment.). I never was a bass head, my favorite all time headphones are the Sony MDR-CD2000's which are on the bright side but otherwise pretty neutral (I thought they were light on the bass, but I found out later they are pretty accurate) My speakers go down to 17hz-lower than I can hear, a subwoofer would be pointless, my speakers go down lower than most subwoofers can, headphones simply cannot touch them. I usually listen to Alternative Rock and Electronic/industrial (I started off listening to classical when I was about 12).  but I find my tastes expanding, I have recently started listening to big band/swing, my grandmother listened to big band, I like some jazz, but big band/swing does it better for me. did Hi-fi do this to me? I don't know. I do know that I'm afraid of listening to harder, more poorly recorded music on my expensive equipment. Do I crave bass? not really, I crave smooth, listen to a live classical performance and you will know what I'm talking about. I crave a touch of warmth, with good body (my tube preamp helped out greatly in this regard) I crave an expansive soundstage that puts me in the audience. Other than that, I generally like things pretty neutral.  Perhaps these kids will find their tastes expanding as well, or maybe it is just a curtain type of person that becomes an audiophile, because as you mentioned ^ Most of the audiophiles I know listen to Classical Jazz Big Band type music.
 
 

 

[deadlylover]

 
Quote:

the only reason someone could like mainstream music is if they are to lazy to search for their own music and discover what they truly like. 5 years ago i used to love mainstream until i discovered metal. i now know where my soul in music belongs. i am not hating on you or anyone for liking the music. it's just i can't see someone still choosing it after researching better bands and musicians. i personally find mainstream sounds monotonous and every song has the same beat.
 

 
Damnit, I really really really like the mainstream stuff =(.
 
I don't like particular genres of music, I just like songs which happen to be from the mainstream artists, there's no hope for me is there? ahhaahah
 
 

 

[Roller]

Quote:

 
 
Damnit, I really really really like the mainstream stuff =(.
 
I don't like particular genres of music, I just like songs which happen to be from the mainstream artists, there's no hope for me is there? ahhaahah
 
 

 
Hehe, these guys are just being unfair to you then
 
But there's also the thing that some artists used to be mainstream and aren't any longer. So, the hipster factor shouldn't be entirely discarded

 

[sml1226]

Some of the stuff on the first page of this thread got me thinking. I have no problem with you listening to music I can't stand through your headphones, or at reasonable volumes in your car, but when all you have is bass, and it's so loud it overpowers my (slightly bass heavy) music when I have it pretty loud, with my windows up, then I get annoyed. Sure you like the music, not everybody else does. Give me a choice to listen or not to.

Anyway, I would rather hear the squeal of the overdriven guitar's feedback making my ears bleed (exaggeration) over bass drum at times, so I am just against car subwoofers anyway as I find them unnecessary.

 

[AllSound]

Bass rules

 

[Brooko]

Quote:

the only reason someone could like mainstream music is if they are to lazy to search for their own music and discover what they truly like. 5 years ago i used to love mainstream until i discovered metal. i now know where my soul in music belongs. i am not hating on you or anyone for liking the music. it's just i can't see someone still choosing it after researching better bands and musicians. i personally find mainstream sounds monotonous and every song has the same beat.
 
 

 
? ? ? - sorry, totally don't get where this ^ ^ came from.  What do you classify as 'mainstream'?  I've been listening to music for well over 40 years - and my tastes are pretty varied - running the gamut from classical, opera, modern jazz, soul, blues, alternative (Porcupine Tree - loving it !), classic rock, hard rock, electronic, trance.  Heck - I even have a bit of rap I quite like.
 
However - I currently really enjoy Adele, Florence & The Machine, and a few others that are currently charting - and could be called 'mainstream'.  Why - because they are truly talented artists with fantastic vocal range and passion for their genre's.
 
Casey - your tastes are likely to change as you get older.  And when you then discover the wealth of music waiting out there, and the diversity, I think you may just change your mind.

 

[Almighty]

This thread is to be taken with a grain of salt.  (just informing )
 
The bass "discussion" increase is only an observation of the forums. Lately there have been a lot of newly created topics about headphone advice (even though the questions thread is blatantly there -_- ) asking for entry level headphones with heavy bass impact. I think the problem lies with a lacking knowledge about what bass actually is and how it translates inside of music. When people ask for bass, they're not specifying anything else other than, "I want lots of bass.". Bass to the general public (not trying to sound elitist, simply making an observation) comes in the form of impact and the BOOM effect. If you ask somebody on the street the first thing they think of when you tell them the word bass, I have a strong feeling a large majority will report sub-woofer.
 
That being said, the other big factor affecting impact requests is an over-saturated headphone market at the entry level. Quite a few of the lower end headphones don't use very high grade drivers, cables, and plastic. (aka roughly everything is a little cheap (under $50). However to boost the appeal they boost the bass to muddle out the mediocre mids/highs. Think of it like a marketing gimmick. A significant amount of portable devices have upgraded past the stock earbuds and usually they opt for what "seems" to be good. This is where the over-saturation kicks in. The ones always recommended at a best buy are going to be, Skullcandy, Sony, Beats, and Bose. They're popular and have become a house hold name. Since beats/bose are usually out of the entry level price range most opt for the lower end (under $50) IEM's or over-ears. Sony and skullcandy both carry an impacting sound signature. Same can be said for a lot of the lower end headphones. (again, all of this is taken with a grain of salt). 

Which brings us to the topic at hand. When the majority of low end headphones have impactful bass and people think that music actually sounds like that, they've become desensitized to impactful bass. Now when they decide to upgrade, they want something that carries the relative same sound signature but of higher quantities. They want impact, but MORE of it. 


I'm not saying it's a bad thing to want bass, but it would be nice to see some more research and thoughtful questions coming from these new comers. Simple things like researching what characteristics are contained within the term "bass". I really don't think it's the individual who's being ignorant and music being a culture shift, I think it's more of a case of desensitization to quantities of impactful bass.


But what do I know? I'm just an IT guy -__-


Regards,
 
iMatt

 

[Audio-Omega]

I used to like overpowering bass like those in nightclubs.  

 

[Roller]

Ok, so far we've had several hypothesis about what could be bringing a flood of new users asking for headphone advice. The hypothesis are:
 
- shift in demographic profile
- change in music culture
- lack of knowledge by the individual
- desensitization to bass
 
Any thoughts on these theories or suggestions for new ones?

 

[CEE TEE]

-looking for contrast/impact from what was bundled with their player  (something full/bassy)

 

[Alghazanth]

Quote:

Ok, so far we've had several hypothesis about what could be bringing a flood of new users asking for headphone advice. The hypothesis are:
 
- shift in demographic profile
- change in music culture
- lack of knowledge by the individual
- desensitization to bass
 
Any thoughts on these theories or suggestions for new ones?

I think this is by far the biggest one. I don't think anyone who comes in here looking for ridiculous bass listens to genres that aren't Rap, Hip Hop, Dubstep, DnB, R&B, and the like. 
 
Lack of knowledge would come right after. As for "desensitization of bass", no idea, as I've personally only gotten more sensitive to overblown bass. 
 

 

[Alghazanth]

Quote:

-looking for contrast/impact from what was bundled with their player  (something full/bassy)

This too for sure. The S4i's bass was like a whole new world of sound coming from iBuds. 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

For me it's a sign that people are starting to crave more bass response than before as time changes, music changes, lifestyle changes, speaker's and equipment's ability to reproduce bass have changed etc. The average young person today will crave more bass today than say 20 years ago for sure. Perhaps in 20 years most people even see that a flat response may not be more than good for studio use and maybe in 50+ years people have become bored of the OMGWTFBBQ bass and found "neutral" listening as something new and fresh again, who knows.  Ofc there will always be people with different tastes and will derivate from the average joe but for sure bass presence is something people have started to crave more of if you look at the average of a group of people.
 
Market usually gets what market wants so I also expect to see more bass headphones from now on. Beats, Sony XB series, lowcost JVC Xtreme Xplosion series etc. is a good sign so far.

 

[blacknile]

Dear moderators, IMHO:
 
It is fine for people to like whatever music they prefer. It is fine if most people on this forum seems to come in and ask the question:
 
"Hi, I'm new, what's the best headphone for dubstep and the one that gives me the absolute highest amount of bass?"
 
HOWEVER...
 
This website's tagline is "[..] meeting place for headphone hi-fi enthusiasts".
 
Many people come here to discuss and pursue hi-fi. Or at least they hope to. Hi-fi means trying to achieve as close as possible to an unadulterated sound signal from the source to the human hear.
 
MANY of us come here and would like to engage in constructive discussions on hi-fi topics. Artificially bloating frequencies to please a particular subset of users is not hi-fi.
 
Therefore I kindly ask:
 
1) why are there no sticky threads for newbies/dubsteb/moar bass etc
2) why can't the forum be split into subforums. E.g. "beginners", "hi-fi", "general discussion", "bass-head"
 
This way those of us actually interested in hi-fi wouldn't have to wade through hundreds of identical posts.
 
I just say this because this forum is quickly losing support from people that are interested in quantifiable measurements, objective reviews and balanced opinions on equipment. If things keep being like this, the forum will become a meeting place for fanboys and advertisers. Hi-fi people will move elsewhere.
 
Just my 2c

 

[kingtz]

Quote:

 
? ? ? - sorry, totally don't get where this ^ ^ came from.  What do you classify as 'mainstream'?  I've been listening to music for well over 40 years - and my tastes are pretty varied - running the gamut from classical, opera, modern jazz, soul, blues, alternative (Porcupine Tree - loving it !), classic rock, hard rock, electronic, trance.  Heck - I even have a bit of rap I quite like.
 
However - I currently really enjoy Adele, Florence & The Machine, and a few others that are currently charting - and could be called 'mainstream'.  Why - because they are truly talented artists with fantastic vocal range and passion for their genre's.
 
Casey - your tastes are likely to change as you get older.  And when you then discover the wealth of music waiting out there, and the diversity, I think you may just change your mind.

I, too, love Adele and Florence+the Machine, and I think we can both agree that they aren't really "mainstream". Mainstream, at least for me, is music that has been manufactured specifically to generate the widest appeal and usually performed by no-talent artists who rely heavily on studio modifications and enhancements such as autotune. I'm referring to the likes of Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Rhianna, etc. Adele and Florence are pretty much the complete opposite of these "pop" singers. If you merely want to categorize "mainstream" as whoever is on the Top Hits charts, then Adele and Florence are still two really obvious exceptions that stand out from the rest.