[MarkyMark87]

So I started looking for headphones back in November.  1st pair of quality headphones I bought were the Klipsch Image S4s which I loved at first but I spend 6-10hrs a day on the computer working and listening to music while doing it and after a few hours my ears get really itchy.  So I decided to go the full size headphones route.  Ended up getting the SRH750DJs based on the good reviews and although they have great mids, I don't find that it has enough bass for me and the highs can sometimes be harsh.
 
  What I am looking for is more bass, decent mids and with highs that are not extremely bright and harsh. Based on reviews the XB500s seem to be what would suit me the most.  But before buying them I have a few questions that I would like to have answered if possible, I think RPG would be the most helpful to me so hopefully he sees this:
 
1.  I read that using an E7 with the XB700 makes the mids worse, does that mean I shouldn't use it with XB500s?  I just got the E7 in like February and got it solely because I needed for the 750DJ but I figured even if I got weaker headphones like the XB500s, since I am using the headphones with my laptop only, the E7 would be neccessary to keep static sound minimal and also help with stuff like soundstage.
 
2.  This is were RPG should be able to help me the most, I know alot of people say the XB500 should be EQ'ed to sound optimal, can this be done with itunes?  I know people advocate for Foobar alot on here but I just don't like the userface and prefer itunes.  If anyone knows how to eq it using itunes, can you maybe post a screenshot of how it should look like?  Thanks
 
3.  I live in Canada so the cheapest I see it for is $70+tax but my friend works at a retail store so he can get it for $48+tax, but he lives about a $15-20 drive (both ways) from me so that makes total cost about $70-75 with tax.  Are there cheaper options for me that are new?  BHPhotovideo used to sell it for like $50 I think but they have slowly raised the price to $60.
 
Thanks guys

 

[keanex]

If you already own it use your own ears to determine what you're asking. I don't see anyway the E7 could possibly make the mids worse unless the person had bass boost all the way up. Same with the EQ.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

1. XB500 is easily driven so wouldn't require any further amping than laptop's integrated sound card but E7 should have quite a bit better DAC than what's in the laptop so theoretically it should sound better, not worse. E7 does have bass boost capabilities but I'd suggest only perhaps using L1 bass setting.
 
2. iTunes EQ is horrible, I've tried it, it's probably the worst EQ of the players I've tried and provided quite small improvement. foobar2000's EQ worked a lot better but I personally always prefer using soundcard's EQ to get it applied for everything I do and they normally have better quality than the media player's have too. However I did try tweaking the iTunes EQ and came up with a result like this: 

 
However for you I'd recommend lowering the bass (32, 64, 125 and possibly 250 just tiny bit as well and just use the Lvl1 or possibly lvl2 bass boost depending on how much bass you crave on your E7 instead), something more like this perhaps:
 

 
I'd still recommend you trying foobar2000 though, there's quite a few skins etc for foobar2000 to make it look more like iTunes for example. I personally don't care about the interface so that's not any issue for me but I'd recommend you at least give this foobar2000 config a try to see how you find the sound quality, for me it sounds so much better than iTunes with the proper settings, it's preconfigured by me so you should only need to extract it somewhere. You should notice a lot more depth in the music and more spatial sound and cleaner output and slightly better deep bass output. http://cid-87ed83e2c9fd453c.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/foobar2000/foobar2000.zip (this doesn't have any specific EQ setting for XB500 applied, just corrected the EQ slightly to counter what dolby headphone changes to make it as detailed as possible).
 
For XB500 I'd recommend using EQ like this with foobar2000: 
 
EDIT: modified it slightly

 
Or you can download the preset here: http://cid-87ed83e2c9fd453c.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/foobar2000/xb500-3.feq
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

I need an extreme amount of mid and treble boost to make the XB500 sound anywhere near decent enough, lol. I'm selling mine to a friend. I can't justify this nonsense anymore.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

I need an extreme amount of mid and treble boost to make the XB500 sound anywhere near decent enough, lol. I'm selling mine to a friend. I can't justify this nonsense anymore.

Well you're just not that much of a basshead and want a lot more balanced sound signature which is hardly any suprise after hearing D7000 I suppose. It's a shame there doesn't exist more headphones with bass similar to XB series, I want to see more of that.
 

 

[MarkyMark87]

 
Quote:

1. XB500 is easily driven so wouldn't require any further amping than laptop's integrated sound card but E7 should have quite a bit better DAC than what's in the laptop so theoretically it should sound better, not worse. E7 does have bass boost capabilities but I'd suggest only perhaps using L1 bass setting.
 
2. iTunes EQ is horrible, I've tried it, it's probably the worst EQ of the players I've tried and provided quite small improvement. foobar2000's EQ worked a lot better but I personally always prefer using soundcard's EQ to get it applied for everything I do and they normally have better quality than the media player's have too. However I did try tweaking the iTunes EQ and came up with a result like this: 

 
However for you I'd recommend lowering the bass (32, 64, 125 and possibly 250 just tiny bit as well and just use the Lvl1 or possibly lvl2 bass boost depending on how much bass you crave on your E7 instead), something more like this perhaps:
 

 
I'd still recommend you trying foobar2000 though, there's quite a few skins etc for foobar2000 to make it look more like iTunes for example. I personally don't care about the interface so that's not any issue for me but I'd recommend you at least give this foobar2000 config a try to see how you find the sound quality, for me it sounds so much better than iTunes with the proper settings, it's preconfigured by me so you should only need to extract it somewhere. You should notice a lot more depth in the music and more spatial sound and cleaner output and slightly better deep bass output. http://cid-87ed83e2c9fd453c.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/foobar2000/foobar2000.zip (this doesn't have any specific EQ setting for XB500 applied, just corrected the EQ slightly to counter what dolby headphone changes to make it as detailed as possible).
 
For XB500 I'd recommend using EQ like this with foobar2000: 
 

 
Or you can download the preset here: http://cid-87ed83e2c9fd453c.office.live.com/self.aspx/Public/foobar2000/xb500-2.feq
 

I'm sorry for not responding earlier, but thanks alot for the help.  Especially because of the fact that you actually took the time to come up with a EQ setting for me on itunes.  Currently with my 750DJs, I don't use the EQ bass boost at all on my E7 because some songs distort slightly even at level one and I hate it.  If the XB500 lives up to its frequency response graph I doubt I'll want to boost the bass anymore but I'll definitely try both settings you gave me once I get them and give some feedback as to which one works best.  I like using itunes cause its just so much simpler and faster, and I need to update it anyways to update my ipod so I don't really want to have to take the time to update both itunes and Foobar but I'll take your advice and try the one you setup for me.  I've decided to buy the XB500s tomorrow at BestBuy for full price which is $70+ tax here in Canada.  I find that extremely weird because in the states, its $80+tax at BestBuy, so this is actually the first time that I've seen the Canadian retailer sell something cheaper then the American one.  Either way Im gonna try it out, and I'll return it either way within the time period.  If I like it however, ill ask my friend to get it for me at discount that way I don't have to ask him to return it if I don't like it. 
 
Thanks again RPG and everyone else for that matter
 

 

[MarkyMark87]

Side-note, I noticed recently that the XB500 now comes in different packaging, or so I think, I used to see it in the "Extra Bass" black with gold/yellow packaging but now I see it with a white with green packaging that states "stereo headphones", anybody know if there is a difference in sound between the two or am I reading too much into this?
 
Thanks again

 

[legcramp]

Quote:

I need an extreme amount of mid and treble boost to make the XB500 sound anywhere near decent enough, lol. I'm selling mine to a friend. I can't justify this nonsense anymore.

Haha, well yeah the XB500 is BASS, BASS, and MOAR BASSSS. They really only sound good/fun for certain type of music (in my case trance/house). I don't even bother EQing them anymore since if I want a more balanced higher quality sound I'll just toss on one of my other sets. But they are sure fun to listen to.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

 

I'm sorry for not responding earlier, but thanks alot for the help.  Especially because of the fact that you actually took the time to come up with a EQ setting for me on itunes.  Currently with my 750DJs, I don't use the EQ bass boost at all on my E7 because some songs distort slightly even at level one and I hate it.  If the XB500 lives up to its frequency response graph I doubt I'll want to boost the bass anymore but I'll definitely try both settings you gave me once I get them and give some feedback as to which one works best.  I like using itunes cause its just so much simpler and faster, and I need to update it anyways to update my ipod so I don't really want to have to take the time to update both itunes and Foobar but I'll take your advice and try the one you setup for me.  I've decided to buy the XB500s tomorrow at BestBuy for full price which is $70+ tax here in Canada.  I find that extremely weird because in the states, its $80+tax at BestBuy, so this is actually the first time that I've seen the Canadian retailer sell something cheaper then the American one.  Either way Im gonna try it out, and I'll return it either way within the time period.  If I like it however, ill ask my friend to get it for me at discount that way I don't have to ask him to return it if I don't like it. 
 
Thanks again RPG and everyone else for that matter
 

 
You shouldn't be experiencing distortion when using bass boost on the E7, are you using Windows 7 perhaps? I think it might have to do with how you've set to volume. How does E7 work like btw, does it have own independent volume slider in windows and on top of that you can also adjust it on the E7 device itself physically? If so you should lower Windows 7 vol slider and increase it on E7 if possible. With my Audigy 2 ZS using kX Audio 3rd party drivers I get an own vol slider for the soundcard config and an separate one for windows itself and then I noticed if using the Windows slider near maximum level I get distortion whenever I try to boost any frequencies while if I lower the windows one and keep the kX Audio driver's vol slider a bit higher I can even boost frequencies by crazy amounts like 10x time above normal without getting distortion so there appears to be something fishy regarding how Windows 7 volume slider is coded (the one you find in taskbar).
 
Also I noticed iTunes quickly starts distort when you try boost the frequencies in whatever plugin or EQ you use which is why you should adjust the preamp to the left which I did in those settings I posted above to be lower and then it can take more boost to the frequencies without distorting. This is again one thing I don't like about iTunes, the output just is so much cleaner in foobar2000.

 

[arkanchyl]

i'm new around here, but i've had my dt770/80 + Fiio E7/E9 setup for a while now and am getting the xb500's tomorrow because i had enough ebay bucks to essentially make it free  
 
from what i've read they should be perfect for about half of the music i listen to, which is techno/trance/dance/house/electronica. i'll be keeping the 770's for gaming and movies, etc, no matter how the xb500's sound... anyway, the point of me posting this was to remind myself to update you guys on my experience with the xb500 and my Fiio setup. i'll also briefly compare it to the dt770 but i'm not really qualified to do a "review" so much as just post what i hear. i'm a mac guy so i'm basically stuck with itunes, but that's not the end of the world for me. at any rate, i'll be back tomorrow with some insights. 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

That's interesting because these two headphones are nothing alike except they both have highly emphasized bass, chances are you'll either like em or hate them depending on your preference. DT770 Pro/80 is laid-back/analytical/cold/thin/bright sounding, XB500 is forward/colored/meaty/warm sounding.

 

[DigitalFreak]

Hey RPGWiZaRd hope I'm not being a pain in the butt but since you threw up a pic of EQ settings for the XB500 I'm curious about something. My settings on my iTunes EQ with the exception of the preamp being set slightly higher and my 2K, 8K, and 16K sliders being set just slightly higher also are practically the same for my XB700. Does that sound right to you? Considering the XB500 is a more in your face sound I'm surprised our EQ settings would be so similar. If you have a EQ pic of the XB700 handy could you please post it I'm curious to see if our settings match up the same.

 

[Tacoboy]

I got a really good deal on refurbished Sony XB500 headphones and I do not really like them, they have loud and mushy bass, their ear pads are mushy, spend a few extra dollars and get some CALs (Creative Aurvana Lives) or JVC HA-RX700 or RX900s. I think the Sony XB500s are for someone that has never heard good bass with headphones, so they do not know any better. I listen to my headphones using a Muse 6922EH tube headphone amp. How about some used Audio Technica ATH-A700s or even check out the Superlux brand.
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

 
Quote:

Hey RPGWiZaRd hope I'm not being a pain in the butt but since you threw up a pic of EQ settings for the XB500 I'm curious about something. My settings on my iTunes EQ with the exception of the preamp being set slightly higher and my 2K, 8K, and 16K sliders being set just slightly higher also are practically the same for my XB700. Does that sound right to you? Considering the XB500 is a more in your face sound I'm surprised our EQ settings would be so similar. If you have a EQ pic of the XB700 handy could you please post it I'm curious to see if our settings match up the same.

Sorry don't have any for XB700, not for iTunes at least as I use my soundcard's EQ which is much better working. Based on my memory from comparing XB500 and XB700 how they sound like, I'd probably keep 125Hz - 2kHz range higher in comparision to XB500 and 4 - 16kHz a little lower as you want to mainly boost the lower mids - mid range (500Hz - 2kHz especially) on XB700. If I was to guess roughly how I'd EQ iTunes on XB700 in comparision I'd think it would look a bit like this:
 
First XB500 as comparision:
 

 
And XB700 maybe something like this:
 

 

[arkanchyl]

Quote:

That's interesting because these two headphones are nothing alike except they both have highly emphasized bass, chances are you'll either like em or hate them depending on your preference. DT770 Pro/80 is laid-back/analytical/cold/thin/bright sounding, XB500 is forward/colored/meaty/warm sounding.

That is exactly what I was hoping; I should have made myself more clear! I got the XB500s with the idea that they would be a companion phone, NOT a replacement for the 770s. After only a few hours of use I can definitely say they will fill this role. The 770 is the clear winner in terms of soundstage, treble, and the ability to really listen analytically, and I will definitely continue to use them most of the time. However, the xb500 has proven to be really fun, especially when EQ'd as lots of people have said. I followed your EQ mostly, with a few tweaks... I didn't bump the lower frequencies quite as much because I'm using this with just the E7 (no need for the e9 as these can be powered easily from an iPhone... plus the whole POINT of these is bass so why not take advantage of the E7's eq!) I dunno. I'm just having fun at this point, listening to some house/dubstep in the XB500s and then putting on the 770s to watch a movie or game. 
 
Out of curiosity... what made you sell your 770's? Clearly it wasn't the XB500's, or was it? I suppose a better question is, if I'm looking for a phone that's got the same imaging/soundstage/analytical qualities (if not better) of the 770, but has a better midrange, what am I looking for? I clearly like bass, but I'm willing to sacrifice a bit. From what I've read it seems like I might be talking about the DT880, but I'm not quite sure. Any advice is appreciated as I am still just feeling my way around all of this stuff.