[smodtactical]

Has anyone ever heard a headphone with bass that could rival even a small subwoofer?

 

[DiscoProJoe]

your rockbox eq is great, and i havent even figured it out yet. i heard bass in CCR that i never heard before. im using a sony player.

Glad you like it! Does Rockbox on your Sony player have a separate bass-boost feature of +12 dB? And does it also have a "bass cutoff" selection in the sound settings, as well, that can be set to "1"?

If you can afford to get the same equipment I'm using (which my app was designed for, that is, a 6th Gen / 7th Gen iPod Classic, V-Moda M-100 headphones, and a Cayin C5 portable amp), then it'll alllllllllllllllllllllll make sense, my friend!

Near the bottom of my technical article, there's a couple of embedded videos of mine that you can check out, which can help with the learning curve a little.

Anyway, I haven't been on Head-Fi since June. Is there anything new in the portable basshead headphone world I might be interested in? Or is it just more of the same wireless, planar magnetic, and DAC-amp stuff?

 

[Funambulistic]

Has anyone ever heard a headphone with bass that could rival even a small subwoofer?

Any quality headphone will have a response of at least 20-20K Hz, which is very difficult to reproduce in a room environment without a sub woofer. The headphones listed on the first page are akin to having two large, high quality sub woofers in a listening room. Now, I may be misunderstanding your question - is that what you were asking?

 

[Funambulistic]

If I were looking for the best bass headphone with no EQ at all, which should I try first?

Also, where do the Campfire Cascades fit in this thread, if at all?

I'll let the Bass Gurus further answer your first question as to the subjective "best", but for me, the V-Moda M100 has outstanding bass without any EQ.

As for Campfire Audio, I do not have any experience with them, do not know if they have gone through the "paper test" and are not listed on the front page, so...

 

[bobbypete]

Glad you like it! Does Rockbox on your Sony player have a separate bass-boost feature of +12 dB? And does it also have a "bass cutoff" selection in the sound settings, as well, that can be set to "1"?

If you can afford to get the same equipment I'm using (which my app was designed for, that is, a 6th Gen / 7th Gen iPod Classic, V-Moda M-100 headphones, and a Cayin C5 portable amp), then it'll alllllllllllllllllllllll make sense, my friend!

Near the bottom of my technical article, there's a couple of embedded videos of mine that you can check out, which can help with the learning curve a little.

Anyway, I haven't been on Head-Fi since June. Is there anything new in the portable basshead headphone world I might be interested in? Or is it just more of the same wireless, planar magnetic, and DAC-amp stuff?

ive been more interested in soundstage recently. i got the headphone bug bad, but i only bought 1 headphone and i intend to keep it that way. yea i almost got the m-100 but it wasnt on sale unlike my ws1100is was, and it had more 1% reviews. im almost thinking i shouldve got the t50 argon but im not sure if theres justification between the more than 2x price. i bought my bro shp 9500 (S?) a few months back for $50 but i returned it bc his friend got him vastly inferior headphones, and now they are at least $80 but on amazon they are $200 lol. not saying theyre basshead or anything, but i guess i value other things as well like specifically the closed modded version of those. tbh i cant really tell a difference in soundstage between my hd500s which are 13 years old and my ws1100is.

you know whats funny when i first installed the rockbox and was getting 24 db bass, i thought great now i dont need my amps anymore. but now that im using your eqs im stuck with them. your article even explained how to eq, because i have a zishan z3 and i thought the eq was broken because i would try to boost the bass, but now that i copied what you did, i realize it works althought not as good as rockbox.

i noticed immediately that i did not have bass cut off, nor treble one, and i read your note on that the other day. im assuming the separate bass boost feature of 12db your refering to the one which is next to the treble and balance? i got a question, if im bass boosting with amps which give 7 db, should i use your cayin c5 eq, or the other one?

 

[Peicille]

Anyone care to give me a comparison between the Sony XB-1000 and the Fostex TH-X00/TR-X00's?

 

[smodtactical]

Any quality headphone will have a response of at least 20-20K Hz, which is very difficult to reproduce in a room environment without a sub woofer. The headphones listed on the first page are akin to having two large, high quality sub woofers in a listening room. Now, I may be misunderstanding your question - is that what you were asking?

Right. What I'm saying is, taking the best bassy headphone you can... lets say a perfectly amplified Abyss. Is that bass and listening experience as good as even a modest 2 channel setup with a modest 8 inch subwoofer in terms of bass detail, impact, texture etc.

From what I read many people say a headphone will never even come close to such a system with even a modest 8 inch sub woofer.

 

[Funambulistic]

Right. What I'm saying is, taking the best bassy headphone you can... lets say a perfectly amplified Abyss. Is that bass and listening experience as good as even a modest 2 channel setup with a modest 8 inch subwoofer in terms of bass detail, impact, texture etc.

From what I read many people say a headphone will never even come close to such a system with even a modest 8 inch sub woofer.

I guess you are referring to the visceral impact of a subwoofer pressurizing a room. No, no headphone is going to do that other than pressurize one's skull (although an amped JVC HA-SZ2000 can almost feel like your whole body is vibrating). I have a HSU ULS-15 MK2 (a 15" subwoofer) in a relatively small room and the pressure wave from the bass is incredible: the walls shake, the sofa shakes, my pant legs flap, my body melts. A headphone cannot do that. Now, they are totally different animals, so neither one (speaker/sub vs headphone) is better than the other, just different. Just as stereo imaging from a pair of speakers is different from the imaging in a set of headphones, bass from a subwoofer is a different experience from bass from headphones. It is all a what one's preferences are. I happen to like both! The advantage to headphones is the designer took care of work for us and they do not (from the most part if they are well designed) suffer from odd room nodes and resonances.

Now to go a different direction: one has to spend a lot of money on some BIG, quality subwoofers to get the same experience in a regular sized room that one can get from a modest subwoofer in a car!

EDIT: As far as bass detail and texture go, I would say a well amped headphone will walk all over a "modest" 8" subwoofer. It is the physical impact I was referring to.

 

[snellemin]

Right. What I'm saying is, taking the best bassy headphone you can... lets say a perfectly amplified Abyss. Is that bass and listening experience as good as even a modest 2 channel setup with a modest 8 inch subwoofer in terms of bass detail, impact, texture etc.

From what I read many people say a headphone will never even come close to such a system with even a modest 8 inch sub woofer.

Well, I used to listen to my headphones with a 10" subwoofer connected. I can get the clean deep subwoofer bass with my planars and JVC headphones. But that chest pounding impact to go along with that, required a subwoofer. I'm guessing a Tactile transducer would work as well.

 

[Funambulistic]

Well, I used to listen to my headphones with a 10" subwoofer connected. I can get the clean deep subwoofer bass with my planars and JVC headphones. But that chest pounding impact to go along with that, required a subwoofer. I'm guessing a Tactile transducer would work as well.

 

[ReaperZzZ]

I have two velodyne SPL-1200 ultras, and looking to buy a PB16 Ultra... The JVC SZ2000 paired with an iFi micro Black Label with heavy EQ is literally like strapping Subwoofers to your head. It's beyond anything I've come close to experiencing with any other headphone, and I've owned many of the top 10 in the list here.

I do prefer my Th900mk2 though, as they deliver more of an overall package and still hit decently

 

[DiscoProJoe]

ive been more interested in sounstage recently.

My EQ-preset app produces incredible soundstage with M-100s and the equipment I'm using. Sounds like I'm right there -- live -- at the show, or am listening in a wide open space with amazing depth.

i noticed immediately that i did not have bass cut off, nor treble one, and i read your note on that the other day. im assuming the separate bass boost feature of 12db your refering to the one which is next to the treble and balance? i got a question, if im bass boosting with amps which give 7 db, should i use your cayin c5 eq, or the other one?

Yes; the Rockbox bass-boost feature is in the "settings" > "sound settings" menu. It's separate from the EQ and can be combined with it.

In my app, the "EQ presets 1" folder is designed to work with the sound signature of the M-100 (which has a natural bass boost of +8 dB), plus the Rockbox bass-boost feature set at +12 dB (except for special cases, explained in the article).

The "EQ presets Cayin C5" folder is designed to work with the sound signature of the M-100 (which has a natural bass boost of +8 dB), plus the Rockbox bass-boost feature set at +12 dB (except for special cases, explained in the article), plus with the physical bass-boost switch on a Cayin C5 portable amp turned on (which boosts the bass by 6 dB).

If you're boosting the bass with a switch from an amp besides a Cayin C5, then the sound signature of that switch will probably be somewhat different than the switch on a Cayin C5. So you'll just have to play around with both sets of EQ presets and see which one sounds best.

As for your Sony player lacking the "bass cutoff" feature of the iPod Classic in Rockbox, you'll first have to try setting the bass feature at +12 dB and hearing it. Then try turning it off (set to 0 dB) and use the "special cases" presets in my app, explained in the article, and compare how that sounds.

Hope this helps! You definitely should try it with a pair of M-100s if you get the chance.

 

[bobbypete]

My EQ-preset app produces incredible soundstage with M-100s and the equipment I'm using. Sounds like I'm right there -- live -- at the show, or am listening in a wide open space with amazing depth.



Yes; the Rockbox bass-boost feature is in the "settings" > "sound settings" menu. It's separate from the EQ and can be combined with it.

In my app, the "EQ presets 1" folder is designed to work with the sound signature of the M-100 (which has a natural bass boost of +8 dB), plus the Rockbox bass-boost feature set at +12 dB (except for special cases, explained in the article).

The "EQ presets Cayin C5" folder is designed to work with the sound signature of the M-100 (which has a natural bass boost of +8 dB), plus the Rockbox bass-boost feature set at +12 dB (except for special cases, explained in the article), plus with the physical bass-boost switch on a Cayin C5 portable amp turned on (which boosts the bass by 6 dB).

If you're boosting the bass with a switch from an amp besides a Cayin C5, then the sound signature of that switch will probably be somewhat different than the switch on a Cayin C5. So you'll just have to play around with both sets of EQ presets and see which one sounds best.

As for your Sony player lacking the "bass cutoff" feature of the iPod Classic in Rockbox, you'll first have to try setting the bass feature at +12 dB and hearing it. Then try turning it off (set to 0 dB) and use the "special cases" presets in my app, explained in the article, and compare how that sounds.

Hope this helps! You definitely should try it with a pair of M-100s if you get the chance.

why did you put the rockbox bass boost to 12db, and not say 20db or 24db?

do you know which eq is for max soundstage?

i think the next step up from ws1100 / m100 is the fostex argon. its hard for me to justify buying it as my ws1100 were on sale for $129.

 

[twiceboss]

Anyone care to give me a comparison between the Sony XB-1000 and the Fostex TH-X00/TR-X00's?

heard both. Had th600. Fostex is another league in terms of detail and sound quality. But be aware that Sony has more forgiving treble

 

[DiscoProJoe]

why did you put the rockbox bass boost to 12db, and not say 20db or 24db?

Because the range for the treble and bass features on a Rockboxed iPod Classic is from -10.5 to +12 dB. I hear that other Rockboxable music players (such as Sonys, Sansa Clips, etc.) have smaller and larger ranges than that, depending on the player model.

do you know which eq is for max soundstage?

For some songs, it'll be the "Wicked" midbass category, and for others, it'll be "Ultra Lite" (or anything in between), depending on how the song was recorded and mastered in the studio.

That's why my app has more than 600 EQ presets per set. The varying amounts of sub-bass, midbass, and treble (highs) from song to song are unimaginably vast in their differences. We're talking 50 dB of variations in sub-bass, 20 dB of variations in midbass, and 30+ dB of variations in treble.

You change the song, you change the sound settings. Starting from the age of 16 (in the U.S.) when I had my first "little big" car stereo, that's how I've always done things. Back then, it was the "Treble," "Bass," and "Subwoofer" gains I'd adjust for each song. Now, with my much-much-much-much-much-much cheaper portable headphone system, it's a midbass category, then a treble subcategory, and then, finally, a sub-bass increment that gets chosen for each song.

The more things change...the more they stay the same.