I know what you’re saying, but I think that mainly applies to FPS gaming. I only really play one game and it’s an MMO, (I’m a casual gamer, not competitive) and I either mute the game sound or keep it on low volume most of the time. So it’s not the same situation as you’re describing.
It’s more like driving, it requires some attention but doesn’t distract from appreciating a high end car audio system.
That’s a really, really important precision. 
Yeah I got nothing to say against the DT177Xs.
For the SU-8, hmm, the V2 is better, and the SU-9 will allegedly be available soon (like, this month). Some people complained about THX’s harsh treble, and SU-8 has ESS chipsets, known for their sharp treble too (I mean, it’s subtle but it can still be a problem – then a not-so-subtle problem if you listen to music loud). Be aware all THX dac-amp combos I’ve seen come with AKM (smoother sound) instead of ESS chipsets (sharper). Like this one.
And yes, definitely lol.
That’s good to know about the DAC differences. Someone also linked a DAC thread earlier here but I haven’t bothered to review it, as I’m not quite there in terms of needing to differentiate subtleties in DAC performance.
Hopefully the DT 177X GO doesn’t arrive with a damaged driver like one of the reviews I read. I think I might have damaged mine on my DT 1990 Pros from trying to play them too loud, as the low end causes them to produce a rattling/vibrating sound. It’s like the driver is going beyond its excursion limit resulting in distortion. I don’t think that’s technically clipping since that’s created from the signal, whereas this is created from the driver physically distorting under stress it’s not designed for ?
It’s pretty disappointing though given I paid $600 for them, but have to constantly turn them down when anything around 30 Hz plays at loud volumes.
You might need to purchase a sound meter to see what is the volume of your headphones in decibels, because if you listen to music loud enough to break 600$ headphones, you won’t be able to hear anything soon, heh.
I don’t know… maybe start with the M200 and the DT177Xs… both easy to re-sell if needed if you want a 500$+ DAC and a 500$+ amp and the 4000$+ Final D8000 Pros after lol.
Or I might have defective drivers? That’s what I’m trying to figure out, is what the possibilities are here. If it’s unlikely they should be reaching their design limits when producing low end bass loudly, then something else is at fault.
I definitely like the reviews of the D8000 Pros. My hope is that they, or some other headphone, will let me achieve the sound signature I want in terms of low end response, through EQ adjustments. Without “complaining” and distorting.
This might be a controversial suggestion, but the Sony MDR-Z1R could be a really good option.
Neumann NDH20s are also really bassy…
Meze Empyreans are bassy too apparently. 
I wouldn’t call the ndh20 bassy… Time for me to pull them out for a test!
I know a few people tried em and returned em because of this (in the official NDH20 thread) and the Crinacle graph I found yesterday even shows like +10dB sub-bass or even more.
It might depend (a lot) on the seal, though!
It’s not seal dependant. I know that headphone is surprisingly amp dependant. I am very curious to hook them up to a tube amp and see how the NDH20 sounds.
Update: I have the SMSL SU-8 DAC hooked up via balanced cables to the SMSL SP200 THX888 amp, and I’m testing out the DT 177X Go headphones.
They sound very similar to the DT 1990 Pro and have only a little more bass impact since they’re getting more power (32 ohm instead of 250 ohm)… The low end is similarly missing which was a big disappointment.
My real concern however is not the lack of bass but the strange blurry distortion I’m getting with bass, with either headphone. Is this normal?? When music is loud enough, bass booming causes the rest of the music to become blurry and echo. The low end is barely produced though when this happens, and the driver makes a rattling or “whiffing” sound like it’s trying to create the sound but fails.
It’s like the effect of talking in front of a large fan and your voice gets blurry and echoes.
What is going on?
I will say one thing though, the SMSL SU-8 DAC really boosted the volume. And the balanced cables finally got rid of the horrendously loud noise (it was like the volume of someone talking next to you). I keep the amp at 12 o’clock most of the time instead of 3 o’clock or cranked all the way up. (This applies to either DT 1990 Pro or DT 177X Go) Then I just adjust the volume from my keyboard which has a volume slider.
Is this a bad amp? I did request a return of this amp to an Amazon seller, but instead of canceling the item they created a shipping label and let it sit in the warehouse a few days before shipping. So before they shipped it, they knew I wanted to cancel/return the item. Apparently, as a result, what I got was a used box that was banged up from being opened. The packaging covering the amp was missing. And I also had that horribly loud noise, which my Schiit Magni 3 does not have. Could the amp be at fault here for causing the weird distortion with bass, and the lack of bass? (Unfortunately I don’t have RCA cables to hook up my Schiit Magni 3 to test this theory)
Not sure if trolling or serious… 
I just read some reviews, they all say it’s an extremely flat sounding headphone “especially in the low end.” 
How loud are you listening?
At some point the drivers in the headphone will simply not reproduce sound cleanly, but that’s generally at volumes a lot louder than most people would be comfortable listening.
I very much doubt what your describing is going to be the amp.
I don’t have a way to measure dB, but it’s very loud. But it can get a lot louder, so it’s not uncomfortably loud. For example I switched out from my 250 ohm DT 1990 Pro to the 32 ohm DT 177X Go without lowering the volume, and I nearly had a heart attack from the volume difference lol. I definitely would not listen to it at that level.
The problem is that some of the frequencies are louder than others so I have to turn up the volume for some music to hear the bass punch or rumble loud enough. (The rumble is non-existent though)
There are apps that will give you a decent idea of volume available for most smart phones, they’re not very accurate, but it would give us some idea.
I honestly don’t think you are going to get what you want in bass from headphones.
Most lower bass frequencies are felt as much as heard, and a headphone simply cannot do that.
I assume you’ve tried using EQ to reduce the rest of the frequency range, to effectively boost the bass to see what you can get.
The thing is, I did get what I want from the Sennheiser HD8 DJ headphones, they had bass for days. I could even EQ the bass even further, but it just got really muddy. But the drivers never complained like you were asking 3.5" midrange speakers to produce low end. That’s how the Beyerdynamic drivers act like.
The HD8 DJs had powerful, skull shaking bass. 100% satisfied. The problem is their midrange is absolute shit, it’s so unpleasant that it ruins the listening experience. Even EQ’ing didn’t help much, and I spent many weeks trying to fix it.
The problem I’m getting is almost 32 Hz exactly is when the drivers on the DT 1990 Pro give out at decent volume. I haven’t tested the DT 177X Go but by the sound of it I would guess it’s the same frequency limitation. The bass is very punchy, especially on the DT 1990 Pro which has a lot more slam to it (like with ZZ top drums). Basically the low end is just missing which seems very wrong given the price range of these headphones.
It’s not a sensitivity issue that EQ’ing can correct, it’s more of a driver limitation it seems. On bass test tracks there’s plenty of bass, but I have to turn the volume down to only a moderate level or else the drivers start to rattle and make that horrible sound like they’re being damaged. The rattling sound increases as the volume is turned up… 
The HD8’s have as tilted an FR response as I’ve seen, the bass is boosted 15dB’s over the treble, I don’t think your going to find anything like that in the audiophile space.
I don’t think the T20’s will give you what you want, they have a big boost around 100 Hz, but it drops off like a stone below that.
Your best bet is probably looking for something that measures flat through the sub bass, that won’t fall apart when you EQ it. Something like the Dan Clark closed backs might work.