Looking to upgrade

[shrik450]

After a long, long time with my M40Xs, it's time I moved up. While I've been really happy with the M40Xs so far, there's three things about it that annoy me:

1. The weak bass.
2. The cramped sondstage
3. The sharp treble that often left me fatigued

So, with a bit of cash in my hand, I'm ready to move up. My options so far are:

 

The CHEAP(er) bucket: Both of these pairs are around the same price!

1. DT770 Pro (32Ohm): I keep hearing about these as being very comfortable closed back headphones with better than expected soundstaging, but I'm not so sure if I'll be able to handle the treble.
2. HD598 (SE or SR, depends of which is cheaper at the moment): The one I was saving for initially, I love the idea of open backs, but I'm not sure if the bass will be satisfying, and I've not been a huge fan of the only Senns I've had (the HD 202 II)

The EXPENSIVE bucket: Almost all the pairs here are 2x as expensive as the cheap ones!

1. Crossfade wireless:  I've heard a lot about the M100s, and when wired the Crossfade is supposed to be equivalent to an M100. The wireless is a sweet bonus. I'm not sure if I'll enjoy the signature, though, as I prefer details over fun sound.
2. K7XX: Thank god for Massdrop's international shipping! This is the one I'm most positive about, but I want to know if the jump in cost is worth it, and if my measly Fiio K1 can drive it.
3. Fostex T50Rp: Someone suggested it elsewhere, and it's available, so I'm keeping this open.

Other details: I live in India, so demoing isn't really an option. I listen mostly to Metal (Prog, Melodeath, some Death and Gothic) and the occasional Anisong. I play a lot of JRPGs, so footsteps and the like aren't important to me.

 

[EsaT]

Neither ATH-M40 or M50 is bass light with M40X only missing strength in lower bass.

https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/audio-technica-ath-m40x.php

And open dynamic driver headphones have even harder time with lower bass, with Sennheiser HD598 being pretty bass neutral to start with.

(AKGs aren't only bass/no mids/treble cans either)

Also if that Audio-Technica's treble is too much...

Well, guess tiny sound stage could increase its feel like it does to bass.

But sounds really like you're not after anything resembling even remotely accurate sound, but metric sh*t ton and another of bass boom cans like some Sony XB.

 

As for Fostex while planar drivers can do strong lower bass also in open design, only older T50Rp version have that missing treble frequency response with later version being more balanced.

 

[Reckless95]

Do you already have an AMP? and what's your budget?

[shrik450]

7 hours ago, Reckless95 said:

Do you already have an AMP? and what's your budget?

I have a Fiio K1, which isn't really much. My budget is ~200 USD, but availability is a bigger concern than budget given my location.

 

10 hours ago, EsaT said:

Neither ATH-M40 or M50 is bass light with M40X only missing strength in lower bass.

https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/audio-technica-ath-m40x.php

And open dynamic driver headphones have even harder time with lower bass, with Sennheiser HD598 being pretty bass neutral to start with.

(AKGs aren't only bass/no mids/treble cans either)

Also if that Audio-Technica's treble is too much...

Well, guess tiny sound stage could increase its feel like it does to bass.

But sounds really like you're not after anything resembling even remotely accurate sound, but metric sh*t ton and another of bass boom cans like some Sony XB.

 

As for Fostex while planar drivers can do strong lower bass also in open design, only Naholder T50Rp version have that missing treble frequency response with later version being more balanced.

 

Nah, I've demoed a bunch of Sony cans and they've all been too bass heavy for me.

[xtroria]

If your head isn't super large (meaning you don't have to set every headphone to it's farthest notch), K7xx is a great headphone for you.

 

I love the headphone but my head is super large to the point of needing to get DT880 otherwise I get headache from the top pressure especially when my hair is long and thick

[EsaT]

6 hours ago, shrik450 said:

Nah, I've demoed a bunch of Sony cans and they've all been too bass heavy for me.

While K7XX is more bass emphasizing than K712 it really shouldn't be any treble smoothing can.

K712 which I have certainly is still very detail oriented despite of above neutral bass.

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK712.pdf

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK7XX.pdf

That site lacks ATH-M40X but has M50X:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudioTechnicaATHM50x.pdf

 

Which when comparing these have more treble than M40X

https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/audio-technica-ath-m40x.php

https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/audio-technica-ath-m50x.php

 

So unless it's small soundstage of those closed Audio-Technicas making treble feel stronger you're looking for some very hefty bass emphasis.

 

What headphones would you have chance to try besides those Sonys?

Or are those consumer/supermarket headphones only ones available in local shops?

 

If you're using PC as signal source equalizer could be used to tone down treble of some headphones.

(like 8kHz band being good for toning down treble of Beyerdynamic DT990)

[shrik450]

On 6/11/2018 at 1:49 PM, EsaT said:

While K7XX is more bass emphasizing than K712 it really shouldn't be any treble smoothing can.

K712 which I have certainly is still very detail oriented despite of above neutral bass.

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK712.pdf

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AKGK7XX.pdf

That site lacks ATH-M40X but has M50X:

https://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudioTechnicaATHM50x.pdf

 

Which when comparing these have more treble than M40X

https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/audio-technica-ath-m40x.php

https://reference-audio-analyzer.pro/en/report/hp/audio-technica-ath-m50x.php

 

So unless it's small soundstage of those closed Audio-Technicas making treble feel stronger you're looking for some very hefty bass emphasis.

 

What headphones would you have chance to try besides those Sonys?

Or are those consumer/supermarket headphones only ones available in local shops?

 

If you're using PC as signal source equalizer could be used to tone down treble of some headphones.

(like 8kHz band being good for toning down treble of Beyerdynamic DT990)

Sorry I'm late to respond, work is busy.

 

Yep, the sony ones I've demoed are all low to mid tier. I don't remember the model numbers for all of them, but I didn't like any.

 

Funnily enough, I ran into a thread elsewhere on EQing the M40X, and 1 - 1.5 dB on the low end of my M40X puts me in a pretty comfortable zone overall.