[TheEldestBoy]

Which has more bass, the Sennheiser HD 600 or the Hifiman HE400S?
 
My set-up is as follows:  
iPhone 6S  ->  Fiio Q1  ->  Sennheiser HD600's
 
I don't listen at loud volumes.
I find myself using the Q1's bass boost almost all the time, as there's very little bass without it.
I don't feel like the bass boost muddies the sound, or anything negative like that.  Instead, it adds a good bit of warmth and presence down in the lower frequencies, while still allowing the detail in the mids to come through.
 
I'm just wondering if the 400S might be a "bass upgrade" over the HD600's?

 

[TMRaven]

Maybe you should be looking for a used HE-400.  HE-400 has the best quality bass (in my opinion) south of LCD-2.  The mids through treble though is love or hate.
 
 HE-400i is not so bad in the bass department either, though not as good as the 400.  Its midrange and treble will be more agreeable to most people.

 

[Denon2010]

People really need to stop using this "in my opinion" its so irritating.
 
Either it has better bass or it does not how hard is that? assuming you heard both.
 
Ooh look beating a barrel gives bass, but its still inferior to a real drum.
 
It is either a headphone can deliver 20hz frequency or it does not.
 
It's either the bass is tight and punchy or its trash.
 
The only bass I have ever experienced that was lower and deeper than headphones that I owned was from a car. I think it was a HCCA Orion Sub woofer. It was around 23hz my ear drums had never experienced anything this low and deep so yeah it was a bit like a blind person seeing for the first time
 

 

[TMRaven]

You can't approach this hobby with that type of mentality, as it's entirely based around subjectivity.  Some person might think the bass of a Sony XB700 is better than an HD800, and some people might prefer the bass of the HD800 to the XB700-- that is an extreme example.
 
On a purely objective front, open planar magnetics have the best measuring bass of nearly all headphones, so they would be a good start, but many planars with equally measuring bass portray the low end in entirely different ways.  IE, an LCD-X and HE-560 sound totally different in the low-end, but both measure to be ruler flat down to 20hz with near 0 distortion.

 

[lugnut]

  People really need to stop using this "in my opinion" its so irritating.
 
Either it has better bass or it does not how hard is that? assuming you heard both.
 
Ooh look beating a barrel gives bass, but its still inferior to a real drum.
 
It is either a headphone can deliver 20hz frequency or it does not.
 
It's either the bass is tight and punchy or its trash.
 
The only bass I have ever experienced that was lower and deeper than headphones that I owned was from a car. I think it was a HCCA Orion Sub woofer. It was around 23hz my ear drums had never experienced anything this low and deep so yeah it was a bit like a blind person seeing for the first time
 

Everyone has a their own opinion ! Everyone hears differently, so it is a valid statement, in my opinion.

 

[Denon2010]

  You can't approach this hobby with that type of mentality, as it's entirely based around subjectivity.  Some person might think the bass of a Sony XB700 is better than an HD800, and some people might prefer the bass of the HD800 to the XB700-- that is an extreme example.
 
On a purely objective front, open planar magnetics have the best measuring bass of nearly all headphones, so they would be a good start, but many planars with equally measuring bass portray the low end in entirely different ways.  IE, an LCD-X and HE-560 sound totally different in the low-end, but both measure to be ruler flat down to 20hz with near 0 distortion.

Why are Planar headphones so expensive though? they are all in the $400 price range.
 
You could buy a pair of bookshelf speakers a powered sub woofer and an amp with that price and create a serious loud speaker setup with that price or heck you could even buy 2 floor standing speakers from klipsch or polk audio with that price plus an amp. And I mean just think of the manufacturing cost of the wood for those floor standing plus shipping huge units like it around the world.
 
In comparison I wonder how much those planar headphones cost to build.

 

[TMRaven]

Partly because the current state of the headphone market's price gouging is very disturbing, partly because planar magnetics are an esoteric tech compared to regular dome drivers, thus needing more R&D, which is multiplied by the fact that it's boutique companies making these headphones.
 
 
A pair of bookshelf speakeres and powered subwoofer at 400 would not give you linear bass down to 30-20hz with next to no distortion.  Not even the best subwoofers achieve such low distortion numbers.  

 

[shortstuff]

  People really need to stop using this "in my opinion" its so irritating.
 
Either it has better bass or it does not how hard is that? assuming you heard both.
 
Ooh look beating a barrel gives bass, but its still inferior to a real drum.
 
It is either a headphone can deliver 20hz frequency or it does not.
 
It's either the bass is tight and punchy or its trash.
 
The only bass I have ever experienced that was lower and deeper than headphones that I owned was from a car. I think it was a HCCA Orion Sub woofer. It was around 23hz my ear drums had never experienced anything this low and deep so yeah it was a bit like a blind person seeing for the first time
 

I had one of those subwoofers in my house running off a Numark Dimension 4! 1500w bridged. It was epic!

 

[Denon2010]

  Partly because the current state of the headphone market's price gouging is very disturbing, partly because planar magnetics are an esoteric tech compared to regular dome drivers, thus needing more R&D, which is multiplied by the fact that it's boutique companies making these headphones.
 
 
A pair of bookshelf speakeres and powered subwoofer at 400 would not give you linear bass down to 30-20hz with next to no distortion.  Not even the best subwoofers achieve such low distortion numbers.  

I don't think so, Yamaha has a 25hz Sub for $129 or even better yet you can buy a Car Audio Sub from HCCA or a Rockford Fosgate and buy an enclosure for it I have heard these car audio do crazy deep lows without breaking a sweat. Could even shake a neighborhood in the process.
 
https://www.amazon.com/YST-SW216-Watt-Powered-Subwoofer-Black/dp/B000FJ89UO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1479350380&sr=8-3&keywords=subwoofer+powered
 
And you can get a pair of these Polk Audio on Amazon for $240 and you won't even need floor standing since micca bookshelf can do it for far cheaper and use the money for an even better sub
 
So you are saying that a planar magnetic headphone has a special kind of bass that you won't get from normal headphones? or a speaker setup?
 
https://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-T50-Theater-Standing/dp/B013LIN5W2/ref=sxbs_sxwds-rbp2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2662058622&pd_rd_wg=6kVO1&pf_rd_r=DXT7JD0WSHR1S49GRKM0&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-bottom-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B013LIN5W2&pd_rd_w=Onyru&pf_rd_i=klipsch+floor+standing&pd_rd_r=9TDNNC7QKZSNDDT5PCD0&ie=UTF8&qid=1479350472&sr=2
 
And well the benefit of sound stage on this is as you know on an epic level
 

 

[Denon2010]

  I had one of those subwoofers in my house running off a Numark Dimension 4! 1500w bridged. It was epic!

Yeah a friend of mine has the HCCA Orion in his car, the thing does insane crazy low bass deep and hard as hell I never even heard a headphone sound like this. I am sure it can do bass so low that many us here may not even be able to hear.
 
I remember when I had my Logitech Z5500 speaker and I blew the sub, I ended up buying a used rockford fosgate from a guy who had it in the trunk of his car. It was insane how much better than sub performed than the one that came with the logitech and I only paid him like $60 for his sub lol. It was a HUGE enclosure aswell like a massive floor standing speaker with one 12 inch sub on the complete opposite end AND it even had a slotted port. I connected it to the Logitech Z5500 AMP on the back of the sub. Was amazing and that amp wasn't anywhere near as powerful to power those rockfords

 

[TMRaven]

With harmonic distortion as low as a planar magnetic? I think not. Anywyas, it's painfully obvious what full sized subwoofers can do that headphones can not, but that's not the point of this topic.

 

[mid-range]

 There are many variables associated to auditioning audio. What you perceive as deep bass may be perceived as bottom end distortion by others. No one person has identical ears. Age has a huge bearing on what one can hear. Obviously the music source and equipment is another variable. For a person to flat out state one audio product is better than another is just wrong. The reason for "in my opinion" is a warning, considering the variables, to the person reading the review that he/she may not like the product as much as you do.
 That's just my opinion.

 

[qrtas]

I never saw the answer to the first question. I am also interested to know. Which one has more bass the hd600 or He400s?

Please don't include other headphones os speakers to the answer.