Where's the bass?

[TenaciousO]

I just picked up the Beyer DT250-80 from a fellow Head-Fier, and it sounds great except for....no bass! Well, actually, it's there (I think) but it's very very soft. I'm really not exaggerating when I say that my E3s have more bass. Granted, I'm driving these directly out of either my Dell DJ and my laptop so I expect the sound to be a bit thin. However, I plugged them into my mini system and also a marantz amp and, while the bass does improve a bit, it's still not what I would expect from a full size can. The DT231, which I got rid of so I could upgrade to these, had 20 times the amount of bass. Don't get me wrong...I'm definitely not a basshead, but it's just strange because the entire bottom end seems scooped out.

I'm not sure if the DT250-80s are bass shy or if there is something wrong with this particular headphone. I really don't think it's the latter though because the rest of the spectrum seems just fine. And yet, I've been scouring old head-fi posts all day, and I find plenty of posts saying that the DT250-80s have good bass. If this is good bass, then the K501 must have absolutely no bass at all.

I don't get it. Are the 250-80s just hard to drive?

Should I expect a dramatic improvement in the bass when I get my go-vibe? Any ideas?

 

[Wodgy]

Interesting. Commando has reported a similar lack of bass. In absolute terms, the DT250-80s have a medium amount of bass. See here for a comparison with some other headphones:

(I wonder if that will work...)

But bass perception depends on your own ears and perceptions. An amp won't make a huge amount of difference in this.

 

[TenaciousO]

Interesting indeed. I'm just hoping that these headphones simply need some juice to start rocking as I really don't want to go through the hassle of looking for another headphone.

 

[Smurf]

My guess would be that they're underpowered, have you tried hooking them up to other sources (PCDP, receiver)?

 

[Geek]

The E3s (and most of the shure products) are supposed to have pretty bloated midbass. The DT250-80 has a neutral sound, with a slightly boosted midbass and a good extended bottom end.

You are still in basshead mode, imho. The DT250s are almost too bassy for lots of people! I think they are pretty neutral with a very smooth rolled off high end and one heck of a good midrange.

Cheers,
Geek

 

[slug]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TenaciousO Should I expect a dramatic improvement in the bass when I get my go-vibe? Any ideas?

With my SR225's, I wouldn't say the bass got louder or bigger when I got my go-vibe, but it is definitely "improved." The bass is a lot tighter and controlled, and you can hear the separation between quick bass drum kicks a lot more clearly. It makes my already fun SR225s.... funner.

 

[TenaciousO]

Thanks for the response everyone but...um...nevermind. Hehe. I just tested them out of another receiver, and the bass did come out just fine. In fact, they sound a little bloated. I guess the the DT250-80s need a little more power than advertised.

Hehe, I'm definitely not a basshead. I actually don't like too much bass because it drowns out the rest of the music, but it's also disturbing when the bass is almost nonexistent. The shure e3s have decent bass for earphones, even though some people here complain that they are bass shy. However, transfer that bass to a fullsize can, and it is inadequate. I was getting less than that on the 250-80s so I knew there must be a problem somewhere.

Well, thanks for all your help. I'm glad I can keep these now. Being a member of head-fi is really stressful!