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XB700 first impressions....I think I need the 1000?
Jul 9, 2011 at 6:28 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 19
DerangedGoose

DerangedGoose

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Just got my refurbished XB700s in. I had to leave shortly after trying them out, but the bass didnt really blow me away. It has a lot (at least, for most people), but didnt really have THAT much more than my AKG K518, and I got the feeling that if the 518 had the same cushions to keep the sound pressure high, they would have sounded just as good or better. I did notice that the XB are ridiculously low impedance, so it was way louder when switching between the two sets at the same volume level on my ipod (bass booster EQ). Honestly, I want more bass.
 
Could these be weaker because they are refurb? Its an official sony refurb from an authorized dealer. Debating whether to return, or keep and sell once the 1000 hits the states...
 
Jul 9, 2011 at 7:32 PM Post #2 of 19
Ya, the XB is very deceiving.  They deliver a decent amount of bass, but fall very short of being considered extra bass.  I was expecting more bass, but since I got mine they have become a favorite go to for me!  They are SO much more balanced than I thought they would be.  I just love the balance.
 
Jul 10, 2011 at 12:14 AM Post #3 of 19
If you want more bass out of a weak source, XB500 is among your only options besides JVC HA-M5X which is a bit worse sounding than XB500. Yea it shouldn't be a huge difference between AKG K 518 DJs and the XB700 in quantity but it should be a big difference in the kind of bass you're hearing. AKG K 518 DJs might even have a little more mid/upper bass but it loses A LOT in very deep bass <100Hz. Try comparing on dubstep with some 30~60Hz bass or so. :p
 
XB500 then again is like bassier in the whole range, well maybe a little punchier in the mid/upper bass but also a lot stronger in deep bass. I think due to XB700 having such a deep/slow/"soft" kind of bass focus is what's putting some people off that just wants a good slam which midbass is for especially at 90 ~ 170Hz or so.
 
Jul 10, 2011 at 6:11 AM Post #5 of 19


Quote:
derangedgoose said:
so the 500 really hits harder than the 700? how much more notably so? and how will the 500 compare to my 518s?
Click to expand...


Oh, I was comparing the XB500 to AKG K518 in my last sentence, perhaps you interpreted it as XB500 vs XB700 which I wouldn't blame you for the way I wrote it.
 
To try put things into perspective let me illustrate a bit:
 
Bass quantity
 
Bass neutral |-----M50---------------------K518--XB700---------XB500-| Most bassheavy
 
Deep upper/bass ratio, tonality of the bass (relative only to the headphone's own deep/upper bass skew, nothing about strength and can't be compared between the different headphones)
 
K518: 35/65 % (deep/upper) 
 
XB500: 45/55 % (deep/upper)
 
XB700: 70/30 % (deep/upper)
 
The AKG have more impact than XB700 from typical bass notes, in subbass like dubstep genre the XB700 excells AKG K518 greatly but this kind of bass is still "softer" sounding and to many get confused when comparing mid/upper bass vs subbass as different headphones have such different emphasis in the bass range. Then again XB500 has like a bit more mid/upper bass as well as A LOT more subbass compared to K518 and compared to XB700 it has about same or just a tiny bit less subbass while having significantly more mid/upper bass. I concider XB700 to have more of subbass than AKG has more mid/upper bass than it so therefore I'd put XB700 as being slightly above AKGs but since XB500 has about the same amount huge subbass amount of that of XB700 + LARGE amount more mid/upper bass then it becomes siginicantly more bassy than those two.
 
Finally here's some graph from headphone.com but the graph isn't telling the whole story, the AKG K81 (which is the same as K518) is a lot bassier than the graph may suggest comparing to XB700/500.
 

 
I was slightly dissappointed with XB700 regarding mid/upper bass as several of my previous headphones had more impact due to the stronger mid/upper bass as I prefer a balanced deep vs mid/upper bass which XB500 has, only the whole bassrange is boosted greatly but it's very evenly so (well to nitpick boosting it evenly all the way to 300Hz causes some issues as that's already whereabouts the lower mids starts and this will lead to some midrange bass bleed unless taking care of it with EQing, optimally it should have started rolling-off somewhere in the 200~250Hz region).
 
Jul 10, 2011 at 7:53 AM Post #6 of 19
I love a good subbass. Im used to my car and my desktop speakers, both of which have good sub response and there is a very tangible tactile sensation associated with the sub bass. With the 700, I felt that low note way in the back of my ears (it sounds so awesome, its like its injected past your eardrum), but it didnt have that same physical impact. I want to feel the cushions amplifying it. Is this crazy? Am I asking to just fry my ears? I feel like treble is what gets so harsh and painful...I need to bring my ipod to the sony store and try the 500. I tried it once in the store but it was on my phone jack, I didnt feel like it hit particularly harder than the 518. But just to be sure, are there any other super bassy headphones I should be looking for?
 
Jul 10, 2011 at 7:57 AM Post #7 of 19
Not really when we talk about these kind of quantity, especially regarding the comment about the highs I think XB500 would be a perfect fit for you cuz it both hits physically harder as well as having a bit more smoother highs. XB500 has got the bass with biggest bass impact of all headphones I've tried by far. It'll depend a lot on the source/amping as usual and phones aren't good for this purpose. On my setup these can output bass in such manner that "Bass I love you" and other tracks are giving an ear-tickling feeling sensation that XB700 didn't even do for me.
 
Jul 10, 2011 at 8:02 AM Post #9 of 19


Quote:
derangedgoose said:
can I expect the 1000 to just be more of the 700? or perhaps the best of both worlds
Click to expand...


XB1000 is the opposite what you want, I can assure you of, it's more going towards the other direction that what you're looking for. Besides XB500 you could take a look at Audio Technica ATH-PRO700MK2, not quite as bassy as XB500 but close and is like a more balanced version of it.
 
EDIT: If all else fails, just get the ZO Personal Subwoofer amp, this will fix your bass cravings with room to spare as well as granting other audible improvements.
 
 
Oct 15, 2011 at 11:46 PM Post #15 of 19
I'm particularly interested in this post.  I had the AKG K518 and although you could definitely feel the bass vibration when playing trance and techno there was no sub bass as everyone is talking about here.  I bought the JVC HA M750 and I love the bass extension they have it hits harder and extends deeper than the AKG K518 with EQing around 250 and 500 it's a pretty powerful headphone but it doesn't really get much talked about on here.  I love it for Psy Trance and Techno and when the drivers get warmed up it s an awesome can!!  Would like some feedback from RPGWIZaRD about this as he is the bass king around here :wink:
 
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