[thoughtcriminal]

We've all seen it. For some reason the uninitiated seem to think loud bass is the only thing that makes a good headphone. Even the bassheads among us will admit that bass volume isn't everything; texture, impact, clarity, seperation, coherence, and PRaT all matter greatly, often more so than quantity.
Yet it seems like every day I'm reading a post from someone who wants "earth shaking bass" and nothing else.
What about the rest of the frequency response? What about quality bass?

When I came here I was looking for a bass heavy can (played a lot of bass guitar at the time). I very quickly learned that big bass is another way of saying muted mids and highs. Now I can't stand an overly bassy sound and the cans I bought that didn't have enough bass then? I equalize the bass down now.
Feel free to share any opinions or insight but please play nice

 

[Tsujigiri]

We just had this exact thread...
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/658129/more-bass-does-not-mean-better-bass

 

[mingamo]

Totally agree for the most part.
 
However i went into bestbuy and had a nice long listening session with AKG K550's, Denon D600's, ATH ESW9's, Senn HD598's, ATH A900x's etc
 
I concluded that the K550's are way too anemic in bass and that I just cant justify 200 dollars in such an uninvolving sound. The A900x's had a fantastic midrange but sharp treble that had a good amount of sibilance on alot of non sibilant tracks. 
 
Now, When i joined head-fi it was only because i always saw past the stupid Beats hype and always knew that Bose was overrated crap; but that is about it. The FOTM at the time was the M50 and the previous one was the CAL. I ended up buying my CAL for 55 bucks shipped and i seriously have not found a worthy replacement. The sound of most of those headphones had one specific flaw that detracted from each.
 
Anemic bass was one, not balanced; anemic. The new description of balanced is incredibly bass weak uncolored sound. But i think this is artificial now. The K550 had annoying spikes in very high midrange and to me; a really whiny no weight midrange. It was like listening to a 3 way speaker with the 3rd woofer not connected. I just cant stand it!
 
My CAL has this great dynamic sound that is indeed weighted on the bass but the midrange and highs are just so pleasant as well! People are going in over their heads in my opinion. The Mids and highs are more important than the bass, but this extremely 'uncolored' sound is just not pleasant to listen to.
 
Oh, and now balanced highs are sibilant~riiiiighhhtt

 

[TMRaven]

The title of this topic sorta insinuates that bass is only 1% of the frequency range.  It's grossly incorrect.  There are such things as octaves in music.
 
What the hell is PraT? Other than being pace rhythm and timing.  

 

[thoughtcriminal]

The title of this topic sorta insinuates that bass is only 1% of the frequency range.  It's grossly incorrect.  There are such things as octaves in music.

The title is simply meant to state that "if all you care about is bass you are missing most of the music". I would assume most people who are here know a thing or two about music and understand quite clearly

 

[mingamo]

Its only noobs that only care about bass. People that own Pro900's aswell.
 
Balance and musicality are where its at. Dynamic range (loud to quiet) ability also is a big factor for me.

 

[Parall3l]

As a basshead, I think I can explain why a lot of people prefer heavy bass.

1. Just about every club you go to, the subwoofers are massive beasts that can physically move you, to get something like that on a headphone, the bass will have to emphasized by a lot.
 
2. Most common audio gear, like the ibuds, have no bass and anything with excessive bass will appeal to the masses
 
3. Loud bass is supposed to encourage your body to create endorphins or something