[Music Alchemist]

  I have the e12 through pc, but I don't know what I'm doing with the eq either.  The bass will distort before it's too much for me, and I've never listened to bass up close outside of these headphones.  I also have sensitive hears, so I have a ways to go before I'll know what these things can really do.      

 
To avoid distortion, you need to reduce the gain in your player by at least the amount of your largest boost/cut, and control the volume with your amp. This is one of the most basic rules of EQ. If you want to learn the science behind it, you can Google it.

 

[chillaxing]

  What do you mean by clipping?  One of the things I have failed to grasp is how you can distort without producing as much bass as someone else.  It's also hard to explain what it is I'm talking about when I don't even know what it is I'm talking about.  
 
Let me try this:  
 
What things can cause distortion and why?  For example, when I ran it on my pc before I ever got an amp, I got distortion after turning it up and there was very little bass at all.  Now I can turn it up much further without distorting, but I still can't move paper before distorting with the stock pads.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm expecting too much, but then I read how that's not happening as they you'll go before they do.  
 
I'm very late to the bass party for sure.  

 
 
i'll do my best to explain this in the layman terms
 
think of it like this, gain is the strength of a signal going into a amp.  the volume is the amplification of that signal going to a driver.  so if your gain is set high, or at 0db, very little amplification is needed to amplify that signal to get it to a certain loudness.  
 
This causes distortion when we are raising the bass because the strength of the whole signal is to strong.  thats why we lower the gain's db as we are raising the db in the bass region.  Good rule of thumb is whatever db your raising the bass is the db your lowering the gain.  if you higher the bass by +3db you lower the gain by -3db.  this way we are using the amps power to push the drivers.
 
Clipping and distortion can come from different things.  your pre-amp gain is set to high, your pushing your amp to the max, or your pushing the driver beyond its power handling abilities.  Most likely your getting distortion before, is because you were pushing your motherboard's amp to the max.  Your getting distortion now, after you purchased your amp, is because you gain is set to high.
 
 
And no, you not late to the party.... never to late to enjoy bass

 

[Oregonian]

  I use SZ2000 for gaming and I tell you what: it's pretty amazing stuff. I am just looking for a desktop amp but with the slamming bass of C5. All those so called audiophile grade desktop amps out there seem to lack the bass boost function.

Vintage speaker amp.  You can get one off craigslist for $100.............and they have the tone controls and loudness switch.  I'll never understand the lack of bass boost/tone controls on headphone-specific amps.  

 

[227qed]

  I use SZ2000 for gaming and I tell you what: it's pretty amazing stuff. I am just looking for a desktop amp but with the slamming bass of C5. All those so called audiophile grade desktop amps out there seem to lack the bass boost function.

I concur, I used my SZ2K for gaming daily for over a year and it was really thrilling to use each time.  IMO,  games should all about immersion, and there is no substitute for bass here.  I couldn't care less about hearing footsteps when I have huge rumbling explosions or thumping electronic music going on instead. 

 

[expontherise]

  I haven't yet because I don't have anything else, not even a cell phone cause I'm not into that.  I just ordered the 77x's for the pads and I will be reading through the thread for players and stuff.  
 
Have you tried the SZ2000's for gaming?

SZ are on my short-list, but I currently have M100's for my bass needs. They work fantastic for gaming due to having sparkly treble with the elevated bass. I play mostly Battlefield 1 right now.. when I don't look at the mini-map I shoot at my teammates due to footsteps a lot

 

[227qed]

  Thanks for the info. I have both the X00 and SZ2K en route, so it'll be fun to compare when they arrive and see if I get the same sound/impressions out of them that you get.

That's awesome.  I'm excited for you haha.

 

[BB 808]

OK, some random thoughts about the Top 10 list...
 
I was sad to see my Fostex TH-X00 removed from the list.  Was it because the TH-X00 is semi-open/closed?  The TH600 and TH-X00 are very similar (difference being the cups and maybe the drivers and Tesla magnet) and their paper test videos played side by side show them to be pretty close.
 
The TH-X00 paper test definitely has more shake rattle and roll than the M-100, ATH-PRO700mk2 and HPH-PRO500.  
 
I know that the paper test is just one way to objectively see what's happening with headphone's bass reproduction and we can't just use that alone.  Just looking at the videos closely shows that the SZ1000 and HA-MR77X shake the paper more violently than the SZ2000, but we all know that the SZ2000 is the King of Bass.
 
Also, just based on the paper vids, I would re-rank the bottom 3 as:

8	V-MODA Crossfade M-100
9	Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700MK2
10	Yamaha HPH-PRO500

 
Anyway boyz (and grrlz) have a nice day 

 

[Hawaiibadboy]

  OK, some random thoughts about the Top 10 list...
 
I was sad to see my Fostex TH-X00 removed from the list.  Was it because the TH-X00 is semi-open/closed?  The TH600 and TH-X00 are very similar (difference being the cups and maybe the drivers and Tesla magnet) and their paper test videos played side by side show them to be pretty close.
 
The TH-X00 paper test definitely has more shake rattle and roll than the M-100, ATH-PRO700mk2 and HPH-PRO500.  
 
I know that the paper test is just one way to objectively see what's happening with headphone's bass reproduction and we can't just use that alone.  Just looking at the videos closely shows that the SZ1000 and HA-MR77X shake the paper more violently than the SZ2000, but we all know that the SZ2000 is the King of Bass.
 
Also, just based on the paper vids, I would re-rank the bottom 3 as:

8	V-MODA Crossfade M-100
9	Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700MK2
10	Yamaha HPH-PRO500

 
Anyway boyz (and grrlz) have a nice day 

 Video is still up. It's an edit error. Happens

 
The SZ2k video is a tribute to cb3723. He was a huge part of the birth of this thread so his name in the video title is a tribute.
 
List is going to be re-edited during the month. I'm just getting over the holiday decoration crush.
Nice avatar

 

[IceOrror]

The SZ2k is tempting, but I got dissuaded by the build quality/squeaking.

 

[OldDude04]

I will only say this, don't believe everything you see or hear on the interwebs. Mine have never squeaked and they are built like tanks.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  The SZ2k is tempting, but I got dissuaded by the build quality/squeaking.

 
Some say that squeaking is a sign of superior build quality. At any rate, it's more solidly built than most headphones.
 

  Mine have never squeaked and they are built like tanks.

 
All you have to do to make it squeak/creak is do basic things like pull the cups away from or toward each other. Doesn't yours at least make a creaking sound when you put it on?

 

[IceOrror]

I was going based on: https://youtu.be/X9bm_3lwELA?t=48

 

[snellemin]

   
Some say that squeaking is a sign of superior build quality. At any rate, it's more solidly built than most headphones.
 
 
All you have to do to make it squeak/creak is do basic things like pull the cups away from or toward each other. Doesn't yours at least make a creaking sound when you put it on?

Mine squeak a bit when stretched, but my head doesn't expand while I where headphones.  Sooooo yea....

 

[OldDude04]

 

  Mine have never squeaked and they are built like tanks.

 
All you have to do to make it squeak/creak is do basic things like pull the cups away from or toward each other. Doesn't yours at least make a creaking sound when you put it on?

 
If I pull them way apart, they make a bit of a creaking noise, but no squeaks of any kind during normal use.

 

[227qed]

OK, some random thoughts about the Top 10 list...

I was sad to see my Fostex TH-X00 removed from the list.  Was it because the TH-X00 is semi-open/closed?  The TH600 and TH-X00 are very similar (difference being the cups and maybe the drivers and Tesla magnet) and their paper test videos played side by side show them to be pretty close.

The TH-X00 paper test definitely has more shake rattle and roll than the M-100, ATH-PRO700mk2 and HPH-PRO500.  

I know that the paper test is just one way to objectively see what's happening with headphone's bass reproduction and we can't just use that alone.  Just looking at the videos closely shows that the SZ1000 and HA-MR77X shake the paper more violently than the SZ2000, but we all know that the SZ2000 is the King of Bass.

Also, just based on the paper vids, I would re-rank the bottom 3 as:

8	V-MODA Crossfade M-100
9	Audio-Technica ATH-PRO700MK2
10	Yamaha HPH-PRO500

[tr] [/tr]

Anyway boyz (and grrlz) have a nice day 

Yeah, I have an idea for a more objective measurement tool of bass. It'd be tricky to implement given the wide variety of headphones.

But for anyone that's interested, I'd make a clear tube that seals over the driver. It'd have a little ball in there about the same diameter of the tube. . Once you have that, you can let the bass slam at constant frequency and the displacement of the ball would be an easy way to tell how hard it's objectively being hitten by dat bass. Pretty similar to the breathing test tunes and balls.

To take it to the next level, you can throw in some video processing software, and plot the dispacement over time/frequency during a bass sweep. .

I hope to pursue this if I can ever get out of my crap job and make some extra cheddar to fund my own bass science.