Help confused noob find ~$200 bassy headphones

Headphones Headphone Discussion / Help
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Hi there, lately I have been reading many reviews and asking questions here and there but I just couldn’t find the perfect pair of headphones for my needs , either if it’s a cause of the sound signature or the availability in my country.

I personally mostly and almost solely listen to pop and EDM and never have experienced any high quality audio in my life before. I own two pairs of speakers (both 2.1) and I’m used to the bass cranked on them. I bought a gaming headset quite awhile ago before I learnt which was a huge mistake because it has a sound profile which is useless for music consumption. It’s a Corsair HS 35 and I tried using eq correction from this https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq and it does help with it but I guess I want an upgrade.

I tried playing with the eq and I also find that I found too much bass on an headphone is obnoxious and I have never experienced it on a speaker before and my old headphones just can’t go so low. So I was on a quest to find good enough bass headphones for 100% music only.

I found many headphones but I quickly narrowed it down to a few due to the availability in my country. I can get the fidelio X2HR , beyerdynamic 770 80/250 ohm, M40x , MSR7 and HE400i for a reasonable price here but I’m also highly considering HD58X (harder to get cheap) and Sony mdr1am2.

I hit a wall when I learnt that beyerdynamic have good bass but isn’t that great for detail and may be slightly flat, Fidelio might have things all over the place , HE400i might just lack some bass and those Audio technicas don’t seem to be a big upgrade. I was really eyeing the HE400i but I’m really scared that I will be disappointed by the bass output of it.( I can’t try it here in my country and I might be satisfied with it I’m not sure)

So I am currently looking at the Sony mdr1am2 but it’s kinda out of my budget. I found after a month of saving since my post for help on Reddit when someone recommended me this, I can actually afford it now but I’m still quite reluctant, but if it is the deal then imma get it.(r/headphoneadvice)

I can’t seem to find anymore headphones in that category also I am not sure how much bass do I need and how much is too much. My dilemma doesn’t end here yet, I am having another headache from pairing a good enough portable DAC amp but after watching some latest z reviews I will probably get the shanling up4 as some other review says it’s like a btr5 sound and its cheaper for me here and I can’t get the qudelix 5k here.

Now I end up with the Sony mdr1am2 and shanling up4 as my current final choice so I appreciate any input from you guys on is this a good choice or not or you can recommend me something cheaper because I really don’t want to spend more than like a he400i.

PS : Should I get the he400i and just forget about everything, I am really attracted to it and if its really unfortunate that I don’t like it , I sell it? I have a extremely strong feeling I will love everything about it but might be disappointed in the bass???

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Welcome!

Are you able to get AKG 361/371? They are more Harman consumer tuned and closed back as another consideration, but I wouldn’t expect that you’d be disappointed with the bass on the 400i.

Surprised by this, as detail (or the illusion of it due to elevated treble) is kinda what Beyer is known for. While the 770 is known more for the bass, there’s still some good detail to be had. Go for the 250 ohm if at all possible, and hopefully you have or will get an amp that can handle them (BTR5 probably ok, but is likely bare minimum). Some of the headphones you listed can be run on anything, but benefit from an amp while others like the 770 and 400i pretty much require an amp to sound close to their best.

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This might not be helpful, but your perfect headphone appears to be the LCD2C… It’s just really above the budget you suggested. Maybe try a lower tier used Audeze? Audeze also tends to have amazing Black Friday deals.

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Could you elaborate on “EDM”? Maybe give some examples as the electronic genres are a very open field.

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Wub wub bro, come on :wink: love me some trance and dubstep :slight_smile:

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Do you listen to Infected Mushrooms or similar?

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Oh , thanks for the info. I think the detail thing is from someone’s opinion when comparing it to others around the same price range (I read somewhere).

Edit: I think the reviewer ment clarity, woops I misread.

Also I heard some people say studio headphones might be less musical? I have someone really recommend the he400i because I only listen to music.

If what you say is a big impact (need bigger amp) , then I have to probably get something else then the beyer or hifiman cans because I’m more into a on the go setup and I can’t seem to find cheap desktop ones with a integrated DAC. Maybe the Fiio Q3 will work?

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Yeah that’s way off the ballpark. Im really attracted to planars tho but bass might be a problem in lower tier ones.

Yeah these are the ones I will probably get when I can afford. But I’m leaning towards sennhiser stuff like hd600.

Anyway I will still check cheaper ones out, thanks :slight_smile:

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Oh didn’t realize that will affect much.

I mostly listen to drumstep,dnb, future bass, trap, dubstep and electro/electro house. I always listen to like “less noisy” songs and mostly melodicall??

I have a few examples of songs like San Holo-Hold Fast,Rouge-Rattlesnake , Droeloe- Kintsugi, Taska Black- We would never do and like old marshmallow songs, Summer ect (really loved them when they were released, stopped listening to marshmallow quite a long time ago).

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Be careful with HD6xx. Unless you have something exotic to adjust the frequency response you may not like them as they have no bass or treble.

I have have only heard them with solid state mid-if or lower electronics, and I can’t stand them.

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Sorry bro , unfortunately trance really puts me in trance (no joke, I feel like I’m in space or something). That’s why I don’t listen to it. I need the rise and drop.

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Yikes, then probably won’t get those “great” headphones because people are more for detail I can kind of see in the audiophile world.

I probably have to really look closely in the future, thanks.

But anyway idk how long it will take me to afford high end stuff , probably more than 5 years.

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Unfortunately not infected mushroom, I feel it’s kinda “noisy”. I’m more into melodicall stuff.

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Well, I actually really like my heavily modded NAD HP50. Here in Canada they’re only $90 CAD on sale. You need a soldering iron if you want to hear them at their best, but with a little soldering the bass slams harder than my lcd2c in some ways.

Z did a shootout with them several years ago, and I know the audiophiliac did a review of them.

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considered a meze noir or neo?

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To @RenEH and @RiceGuru

Unfortunately it’s another “exotic” headphone. Not available in my country. I really wanted some things but I can’t get it here like micca speakers and monoprice stuff.

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Might be worth looking at IEM’s they’re mostly easy to drive and are a bigger bang for buck compared to HP’s…Good bass IEM’s start at $30, there’s 4 recs for bass…

Thor Mjölnir
FiiO FH3
Ikko OH10
Blon 03 and the soon to be released Blon 03 MKii

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I strongly agree with Ohm! My headphone reccs for bass are compromised typically so going for the safer choice of IEMs is preferred IMO.

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Oh did not know that, I thought headphones were better. I was finding IEMs at one point too because they are really portable and “cool” in a sense that they aren’t common (usually don’t see people wearing in public) and settled on the ikko oh10 (after watching couple of z reviews)

Anyway, how different do IEMs sound compared to headphones? Is it drastic like comparing a 2.1 speaker with headphones?(like you can feel bass in chest with speakers)

As much as I like the idea of IEMs, I just feel like it might lack something. I already gave up getting speakers for more detail and I don’t feel like sacrificing more.

I’m settling the Sony mdr1am2 with a ifi Zen DAC (changed my previous selection for something better, previous was shanling up4, willing to give up portability, still kinda portable tho). Any thoughts? Also if you don’t mind, can you recommend a few DAC amp combos if it’s possible under $200? Thanks.

PS: Yikes I reached reply limit. Now what? I can only edit…

Edit: I ment dac and amp that pairs well as combo is only ifi Zen DAC, other DAC amp combo off my budget. Sorry :sweat_smile:

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Sorted, lifted your reply restriction you should now be able to carry on with longer replies :+1:

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