[TMRaven]

ibuds:  no bass
'better headphone:'  omg it has bass!  this must mean it's good, more must be a better thing!
really expensive headphone: omg it doesn't have more bass!  this must mean it's bad
 
 
And yes, actually feeling bass resonating in your cavities is something people think that more bass from headphones can produce.  About the most they get is the actual, flimsy frame of the headphone moving around on top of their skin because of too much bass pressure.

 

[bigshot]

I think that is mostly young people who subscribe to the "more is better" theory and home theater people who want the Death Star to make their windows rattle. The truth is, the most important range in rock music in particular is the lower mids and mids. That's where the vocals and guitars sit. Take those frequencies out and you might as well be listening to a CD playing in the apartment next door.

 

[medeiro]

For myself i'd say. . .the tell tale signs of cheap speakers are not being able to handle bass w/o rattle, sounding tinny and unclear. That being said for the most part I haven't heard any cheap speakers that deliver good deep bass. I also feel it is easy for a speaker to deliver crisp highs easily but bass is difficult to get right. In short BASS = Quality.

 

[bigshot]

I have a set of $100 Altec Lansing speakers on my computer that come with a weirdly shaped subwoofer. It's capable of putting out lots of deep bass without rattling. But its shortcoming is being able to cover the entire audible spectrum with anywhere close to a flat response. The crossover from the sub to the dinky ass mains has such a wide gap, it's like a firebreak in the middle of the sound.

 

[p a t r i c k]

The big problem with bass reproduction is getting quality rather than quantity.
 
Sometimes people say my favourite headphones, the AKG K702s are bass shy, but the quality of the bass with them is superb.
 
In the late romantic era of classical music there was tremendous experimentation using different combinations of bass instruments and methods of playing them to get an amazingly rich variety of bass sounds.
 
The K702s reproduce these wonderful bass sounds better than any other headphone I've ever heard, so I am amazed when I see the bass of the K702s criticised.

 

[medeiro]

Quote:

I have a set of $100 Altec Lansing speakers on my computer that come with a weirdly shaped subwoofer. It's capable of putting out lots of deep bass without rattling. But its shortcoming is being able to cover the entire audible spectrum with anywhere close to a flat response. The crossover from the sub to the dinky ass mains has such a wide gap, it's like a firebreak in the middle of the sound.

 
Well, I always prefered running low end bass on seperate speakers. Eq the low end freqs out on everything but the sub.
 
Quote:

The big problem with bass reproduction is getting quality rather than quantity.
 
Sometimes people say my favourite headphones, the AKG K702s are bass shy, but the quality of the bass with them is superb.
 
In the late romantic era of classical music there was tremendous experimentation using different combinations of bass instruments and methods of playing them to get an amazingly rich variety of bass sounds.
 
The K702s reproduce these wonderful bass sounds better than any other headphone I've ever heard, so I am amazed when I see the bass of the K702s criticised.

 
[size=10pt]I agree here. It’s all about quality and accuracy. I always ran JL subs in my car so my benchmark for bass is based on those bad boys. I most recently had a W7 13.5 in there and the bass reproduction was outstanding. Unmatched. In headphones I love Sennheiser 6 and 8s the bass is beautiful when compared to many other iems.. [/size]

 

[bigshot]

The problem isn't low bass it's a smooth response from the low bass all the way up to the mids. With tiny mains there's inevitably a break in the sound in the upper bass/low mids.

 

[Velocity]

In my experience, people who seeks rumbling bass and sparkling treble is confused about the idea of good sound.
They have never heard a smooth liquid and powerful midrange, so they dont really know what a good midrange can do to the music. 

 

[bigshot]

Velocity nailed it

 

[limpidglitch]

Quote:

Velocity nailed it

 
More by correlation than by causation, I reckon.
I think those who mentioned rhythm having a large part of this hit the nail with more precision, and that there is much commonality between people enjoying heavily rhythm-based music and people not having been exposed to high quality sound systems.
 
I prefer a bit of a warm tilt on average, but the additional bass boost I enjoy with Mastodon will sound completely misplaced with Maurizio Pollini.

 

[Strangelove424]

Quote:

In my experience, people who seeks rumbling bass and sparkling treble is confused about the idea of good sound.
They have never heard a smooth liquid and powerful midrange, so they dont really know what a good midrange can do to the music. 

 
Spoken like a true Sennheiser man 

 

[Happy Camper]

Moar is better ain't it?

 

[ukon16]

If I remember correctly.....the high range of hearing is first to go due to damage and age.
 
Plus you can feel bass.....if I "feel" treble it's my ears letting me know which parts of my hearing are damaged(annoying!).

 

[MrViolin]

Quote:

Spoken like a true Sennheiser man 

+1

 

[Destroysall]

Treble and mids leaves the auditory door open to sibilance.