[gr33nhorn]

Well, we could always start a new basshead list. I have already created one, and I'd like to amend that on a regular basis. I'm not sure how users will take to a new/different thread, though. This one already has hundreds of pages of history in it.

In other news, I have just pounced on a really awesome deal for a brand-new Klipsch HP-3. I should be getting them soon!

Thank you for that list. Some cans I would request you to add to it are
Sony XB 950 Variants (AP, N1,B1), 1More Triple Driver Over ear

 

[MaggotBrain]

Any recommendations for some closed back cans that have nice extension and maybe a bit of extra bass, but otherwise are relatively flat? Looking to use for mixing and tracking, plus some general gaming. Currently own some old HD598 and love the sound, just looking for less leakage and more subbass.

Also, apparently I'm poor, so under $400 would be great.

Ultrasone makes some nice closed backs with great bass - signature is a touch V shaped but the best value in hifi I ever bought was a used Edition 8 for around $600 7-8 Years ago -so by now that might be in the wheelhouse of your price range.

 

[FeedYourHead]

You know, the more I think about it, it seems a shame to spend all this money on closed backs when i only need the closed back isolation occasionally for tracking. I should probably just grab a cheap pair of closed backs for tracking and not confine my search. I do absolutely love how open my HD598s sound, plus my ears stay nice and cool.

I feel like the headphone i should probably buy is the DT1990, but it's pretty hard to find cheaper than $450, and I'd love to be spending closer to $250-300. The Sivga Phoenix seems nice except for the small dimensions, maybe the P-II's are worth a look? The Fostex T60rp are absolutely gorgeous, and maybe with the Argon mod they would get me where I'd like to be sound-wise.

Also, they don't have to be completely neutral up top, i wouldn't mind a few extra db's from say 10k-20k hz, to help my aging ears out a bit.

 

[skeletor_bass]

Open backs lack bass and i prefer isolation, since it gives you more immersive feeling - but it is highly subjective ^^

 

[OldDude04]

Open backs lack bass and i prefer isolation, since it gives you more immersive feeling - but it is highly subjective ^^

I used to feel the same way about open backs lacking bass, but no longer. After modding my M1060, and open back modding both my M1060C and TH-X00 Mahogany I am a full believer in open back being very capable basshead headphones. The M1060C paired with my Emotiva BasX A100 amp hit harder than so many closed backs I've owned or tried, plus give me stage and separation closed can't come close to. But yeah, the isolation is crap, lol.

 

[skeletor_bass]

I used to feel the same way about open backs lacking bass, but no longer. After modding my M1060, and open back modding both my M1060C and TH-X00 Mahogany I am a full believer in open back being very capable basshead headphones. The M1060C paired with my Emotiva BasX A100 amp hit harder than so many closed backs I've owned or tried, plus give me stage and separation closed can't come close to. But yeah, the isolation is crap, lol.

Yup, i guess you don't know about something, until you find it

 

[Bmxant]

Trying to decide on something new here without breaking the bank, I'm going to give my DT 770's to a friend as I think they're quite overrated and too bass light for my liking.

M-100's or Drop Noir?

My ISN D10 IEM's are pretty enjoyable, but apparently all IEM's cause my ears to get sore and bleed, so I'd like another pair of headphones.

Ideally I'd like the Teak's, but I need a phone too

 

[freeshoes]

Love this thread. Taught me a lot so far after spending the better part of yesterday afternoon reading through it.

Got a question for you professional bassheads. I am currently running a Soundblaster G5 into a pair of VModa Crossfade II's. The sound is crystal but the bass leaves me wanting more at times, and even with the Wicked pads they tend to hurt my ears. I miss the roomy pads of my old AT's. Is there a pair of cans that have the spacious ear room and will still chatter my teeth? Alternatively, if I moved to a better amp would the VModa's produce more? I have heard they are decent in terms of bass production but I'm not feeling it.

 

[StarTreker]

Love this thread. Taught me a lot so far after spending the better part of yesterday afternoon reading through it.

Got a question for you professional bassheads. I am currently running a Soundblaster G5 into a pair of VModa Crossfade II's. The sound is crystal but the bass leaves me wanting more at times, and even with the Wicked pads they tend to hurt my ears. I miss the roomy pads of my old AT's. Is there a pair of cans that have the spacious ear room and will still chatter my teeth? Alternatively, if I moved to a better amp would the VModa's produce more? I have heard they are decent in terms of bass production but I'm not feeling it.

Well, I looked up your Creative unit, and I gotta say, I remember when that company was top notch for desktop computer sound cards, before when built in audio really sucked bigtime. I gotta be honest, I really don't trust a company who doesn't state the specs of their device in detail, such as how many amps the amp puts out. They can state their unit as being audiophile grade all they want, but in my experience audiophile gear states the amps, your unit does not, so I don't believe them.

In my personal experience, using my V-Moda LP2's for at least half a year now, they are 32-OHM can's, so a little harder to drive then your standard 16-OHM can. And I tried the Fiio A5 amp with them which put out about 1-watt for any real use. My can's did sound good for sure, but I still felt like they were possibly lacking, in other words, if I could get more power into them, they might wake up some more. Thats when I got the S.M.S.L SP200 amp, and these cans really woke up once I got 3-watts into them in high gain.

Additionally, I eventually got around to getting the S.M.S.L M200 DAC which improved the sound even further with a high end DAC. If you go on S.M.S.L's website, you will see they clearly list the specs for everything that they make, and in their AMP and DAC section, its not exception. Creative could learn a lot from S.M.S.L and other audiophile component companies. It was clear when I was looking at their website, their selling points were 7.1 audio support and 120DB. Ya well, all that is meaningless when it comes to rating quality sound.

A horn speaker could push 120DB and pop your ear drums like a balloon. But it could also do so, sounding like complete crap. DB doesn't matter. Amps, Watts and THD is what matters more. How clean the noise floor is as well, which THX amps do very well with low noise floor. If your really asking us all for recommendation on what you should do with your setup. In my personal opinion, you should ditch that device, and graduate to a S.M.S.L SP200 AMP and M200 DAC.

 

[Malevolent]

Trying to decide on something new here without breaking the bank, I'm going to give my DT 770's to a friend as I think they're quite overrated and too bass light for my liking.

M-100's or Drop Noir?

My ISN D10 IEM's are pretty enjoyable, but apparently all IEM's cause my ears to get sore and bleed, so I'd like another pair of headphones.

Ideally I'd like the Teak's, but I need a phone too

I'm something of a V-MODA fan, so I'm going to cast a vote for the M-100 here. They look better IMO, and are built like a tank.

The Teak isn't heavy in the bass, though. If you found the DT 770 Pro bass light, you'd probably think the same of the E-MU headphone. It has really good bass, just not a lot of it.

 

[freeshoes]

Well, I looked up your Creative unit, and I gotta say, I remember when that company was top notch for desktop computer sound cards, before when built in audio really sucked bigtime. I gotta be honest, I really don't trust a company who doesn't state the specs of their device in detail, such as how many amps the amp puts out. They can state their unit as being audiophile grade all they want, but in my experience audiophile gear states the amps, your unit does not, so I don't believe them.

In my personal experience, using my V-Moda LP2's for at least half a year now, they are 32-OHM can's, so a little harder to drive then your standard 16-OHM can. And I tried the Fiio A5 amp with them which put out about 1-watt for any real use. My can's did sound good for sure, but I still felt like they were possibly lacking, in other words, if I could get more power into them, they might wake up some more. Thats when I got the S.M.S.L SP200 amp, and these cans really woke up once I got 3-watts into them in high gain.

Additionally, I eventually got around to getting the S.M.S.L M200 DAC which improved the sound even further with a high end DAC. If you go on S.M.S.L's website, you will see they clearly list the specs for everything that they make, and in their AMP and DAC section, its not exception. Creative could learn a lot from S.M.S.L and other audiophile component companies. It was clear when I was looking at their website, their selling points were 7.1 audio support and 120DB. Ya well, all that is meaningless when it comes to rating quality sound.

A horn speaker could push 120DB and pop your ear drums like a balloon. But it could also do so, sounding like complete crap. DB doesn't matter. Amps, Watts and THD is what matters more. How clean the noise floor is as well, which THX amps do very well with low noise floor. If your really asking us all for recommendation on what you should do with your setup. In my personal opinion, you should ditch that device, and graduate to a S.M.S.L SP200 AMP and M200 DAC.

Thank you man! Exactly the answer I was looking for. I was hesitant to replace the headphones due to the lingering doubt I had with the amp/dac in the first place.

One more question if you dont mind. I dont think this DAC has any EQ, and I notice a lot of the higher end equipment omits EQ as well. I suppose my reliance on EQ in the past could be due to the fact that my gear was under powered, but without it will I still get enough of the low end to satisfy me? I've done everything I can to crank up the bass on the gear I have now, specifically going after the VModa's for this reason, and without the ability to manually up the bass I wonder how it will sound with a flatter profile.

 

[squeakez]

Thank you man! Exactly the answer I was looking for. I was hesitant to replace the headphones due to the lingering doubt I had with the amp/dac in the first place.

One more question if you dont mind. I dont think this DAC has any EQ, and I notice a lot of the higher end equipment omits EQ as well. I suppose my reliance on EQ in the past could be due to the fact that my gear was under powered, but without it will I still get enough of the low end to satisfy me? I've done everything I can to crank up the bass on the gear I have now, specifically going after the VModa's for this reason, and without the ability to manually up the bass I wonder how it will sound with a flatter profile.

I would strongly recommend you look into getting a Schiit Loki for $150. I have two systems and have 2 Lokis that I couldn't live without. It is a tone control that gives you 4 knobs to control the different frequencies. I think it sounds more natural to me than software EQ.

 

[Bmxant]

I'm something of a V-MODA fan, so I'm going to cast a vote for the M-100 here. They look better IMO, and are built like a tank.

The Teak isn't heavy in the bass, though. If you found the DT 770 Pro bass light, you'd probably think the same of the E-MU headphone. It has really good bass, just not a lot of it.

Thanks! I was looking for your list, but I couldn't find it through the search.

Everyone has always said the Teak's are the most comparable to the X00's, are they really that bass light? I'd still love to add them to my collection one day though

 

[StarTreker]

Thank you man! Exactly the answer I was looking for. I was hesitant to replace the headphones due to the lingering doubt I had with the amp/dac in the first place.

One more question if you dont mind. I dont think this DAC has any EQ, and I notice a lot of the higher end equipment omits EQ as well. I suppose my reliance on EQ in the past could be due to the fact that my gear was under powered, but without it will I still get enough of the low end to satisfy me? I've done everything I can to crank up the bass on the gear I have now, specifically going after the VModa's for this reason, and without the ability to manually up the bass I wonder how it will sound with a flatter profile.

Your welcome!

I agree with your assessment, which is why years ago, I bought a vintage Realistic 12-band hardware equalizer unit, and I am running my sound through that, after the DAC, and before the AMP. Here's a picture of my EQ box!

 

[Bmxant]

I got a pair of M100's hooked up to my JDS Atom / JDS Dac and they're not too bad! I definitely prefer them to my DT 770's, but I'm definitely too spoiled by my X00 Ebony's to really appreciate them. Going to play with Peace EQ a bit and see how they handle EQ.

Bass is a step up from the DT 770's
Clarity is good
Vocals are slightly recessed, but not bad.
Bass quantity is just "okay", there's some rumble, but it's nothing like I was expecting.
Bass quality is good
Headache from the pads / clamp is quite high

For $232 shipped with the XL pads, I can't say I'm too impressed, but I'm not disappointed either.