[Trastan]

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but honestly I think that certain home audio receivers aren't given the praise that they deserve. I'm using a Yamaha RX-V430 right now to power my HD 650s and it's amazing. Clear highs, smooth mids, and plenty of accurate, punchy bass. Not only that, but it has many more options than a dedicated headphone amp does, has a built-in DAC, and does a fantastic job of powering my twin tower speakers and subwoofer.

All that, and I got it for roughly $150 used at a Best Buy knockoff.

They're big, I'll grant you that. But for the sound quality, versatility, and price/performance ratio, even a mediocre home receiver could do loads of good for your listening, in my opinion.

 

[Chri5peed]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trastan /img/forum/go_quote.gif They're big, I'll grant you that. But for the sound quality, versatility, and price/performance ratio, even a mediocre home receiver could do loads of good for your listening, in my opinion.

The 650s are big? Not really, they're not small but neither are they behemoths.

Get some Audio Technicas to experience 'big'.

 

[bigshot]

You should be able to correct for that with equalization. I'm not familiar with your player's EQ though.

See ya
Steve

 

[Trastan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chri5peed /img/forum/go_quote.gif The 650s are big? Not really, they're not small but neither are they behemoths. Get some Audio Technicas to experience 'big'.

Noooo, I meant that home receivers are big! The 650s are actually very nicely proportioned, in my opinion.

 

[uraflit]

i find the hd595 to be lacking in the bass department too. the xp amp you have is supposedly very warm and bassy already... so upgrading to another headphone would be your best bet on getting more bass if EQ/software can't get it in enough.

you run the risk of changing the sound signature you like though.

 

[mrarroyo]

For about $100 you can get the Equation RP21 or RP22. Great bass out of those cans.

 

[chelrob]

Get the foobar VST bridge: foo_dsp_vst and try some of the many free VST EQ's.

I like classic eq for general boosts and cuts and AIXcoustic Creations - Electri-Q (posihfopit edition) for more precise EQ.

 

[TheVinylRipper]

If you want lots of bass then you can try EDGE

EDGE is a VST plugin

http://fat-ass.tk/

EDGE is a subharmonic synth, which in lay man's speak means that if you feed it audio the resulting output will be your audio plus extra low bass.

Unlike most bass enhancers, it doesn't just boost the bass or shape the lower frequencies. What it does is takes the input signal and creates a bass signal one (or even two) octaves lower than the original.

Because not every signal is a simple sine wave, there is input filtering which effectively gives the plugin a more simple waveform to process. It's free, so why not give it a go?

 

[bigshot]

Oh man! That's the digital filter they used to destroy the Frank Sinatra CDs!

Yow
Steve

 

[TheVinylRipper]

You definitely lost me there..

Destroy Frank Sinatra CD's?

 

[bigshot]

The last remasters of the Frank Sinatra Capitol records had the oddest sounding bass. When you listened to the original LPs or the first CD releases, the bass sounded like an acoustic bass, with a sharp pluck and a bloom to the sound as the string vibrated. The recent remasters sounded like a synthesizer had been substituted for the standup bass. The sound was deep, but there was no definition to it. It was like a low frequency buzz instead of a plucked string. When I first heard these CDs, I tried to figure out what they had done to them. My guess was that they had filtered out all of the non-bass frequencies, sampled what was left down an octave or two and then pasted it back over the top of the original track. Here is a VST plugin that does just that.

Don't use that thing on acoustic music, man. It ruins it.

See ya
Steve

 

[TheVinylRipper]

Hmm.. This plugin is a freebie.. I seriously doubt that any major recording studio would use it.

I've found that a lot of vinyl recordings have a great deal of rumble cut right into the master, getting it out is a real chore because regular white noise reduction doesn't do much at bass frequencies.

On some records I've found the best thing to do is cut the bass sharply at about 150 Hz and then use the EDGE to synthesize the lower frequencies. EDGE is actually fairly tricky to use and overuse will definitely sound crappy.

DSP is just another tool and like any tool can be used incorrectly or in the wrong circumstances.

Can you point me to some samples of the Sinatra recordings you are talking about? I'd like to hear that for myself and take a look at an FFT..

 

[Chri5peed]

My Fat ass looks like this, like on the site.

My 650s have mucho bass...

 

[bigshot]

Any of the current Sinatra Capitol albums have that problem.

A better way to get rid of rumble is to use a dynamic pattern filter like SoundSoap. You sample a section of silent groove and the software uses that surface noise as a pattern to eliminate. Then you can dial it in and it dynamically adjusts the noise reduction- more for silent spaces, less for modulated ones. Dynamic filters used to have problems with "pumping" in the analogue era. Computers have completely solved that.

See ya
Steve

 

[baglunch]

I just wanted to say thanks a lot to everyone that's contributed to this thread. Some wonderful free suggestions, and good advice on upgrades if the time comes. I'm liking the FatAss Width VST plugin best so far with my setup.