Serious Question

[Innerwebs]

Hmm I wonder what I'll go for next. I was thinking of just buying the xb700s again if they died but apparently Sony discontinued it. Now you can only get the xb 800 which is an on ear design with mud on mud on mud [and less bass].

Only real reason I'm going for Vmodas is because they have memory foam in their huge ear-pads and it feels like you have clouds on your ears. Avicii also uses them, so it'd be pretty cool to have headphones that a good musical artist uses. And besides that, they're made for listening to music, unlike the Sony x-series, which are monitor headphones, meaning that they're hugely neutral.

[Alevity]

The xb-700 isn't very neutral, it's signature makes a V shape. [so in comparison my EQ makes a W like shape]. They have amazing ear cushioning, dunno if it's memory foam...the problem though is that they are huge. So they either give a "I have good sound and u don't" look or "im nurd that listen to loud muzic" look.

I have yet to see how far they can go though. I might buy an amp. I would recommend the 700 purely for listening to loud bass because it's fun and they vibrate and rumble errwhere. But they aren't $80 any more and don't exist any more. You'd need an EQ to get them to thump as much too.
==

I'm not sure about the Vmodas, but a nice thing to have when listening to music is a LARGE sound stage and instrument separation. Something that beats don't have [instrument separation mostly]. It gives a sense of depth or 3D space which something like earbuds can never do. Sound stage means if you closed your eyes the sound come from outside the area of the drivers and in different direction.

[Leonartist]

I've heard Beats are heavily bassy. Do they really sound that way?

[Innerwebs]

Beats are bassy, but in a bad way. When you set it to a louder volume everything becomes distorted.
Oh, and I thought we were talking about a different pair of Sonies- the 200 dollar digital monitor ones.
And as far as how the Beats sound, I have a few equalizers running in my sound options that makes it feel like they have separations, but it's not the same. The equalizer I currently run also really gets my 40-dollar Technicas to sound like something a lot more expensive. It's mostly a bass-boosting eq, but it really does also improve other aspecs. I really need to get an amp tho and update my soundcard.

[Alevity]

I've heard Beats are heavily bassy. Do they really sound that way?

To be honest, the bass on beats [I have studio and had Solos for 5 days then returned them] isn't anything compared to my Sonys. Not saying there isn't any. If you are stepping from apple earbuds or some other cheap type of headphone, then beats do sound booming. The drivers have a little rumble to them at high volume, but is more smooth. The mids are still ok on it too regardless of the bass. The treble is ok but it mashes together and doesn't come off so crisp at the ends. EQ'd beats came go up to +12 but any more on a heavy bass song makes them distort. At +12db of bass they become even more smooth with a nice feel to them, but don't rumble as much any more.

They take batteries which is a down side, and when the battery is low the sound will be distorted until the batteries die. Sudden movements when battery is low will cause there to be white noise and skips in the song. Also the noise isolation makes a hssing noise that won't go away. They don't work without being turned on.
For $300 and the cost of batteries it's not really worth it. Though arguably the look can make up for some of the cost. The noise cancelling is a joke though.
==

Solos [HD] have more bass than studio but it's forced so the bass is...annoying. Like it gives headaches because it tries to be loud but it's too muddy and the on ear design doesn't feel good. Mids are mudded out and the treble is distorted. For $200 they aren't worth it. They sound worse than a $20 pair of philips I have...

==
Compared to Xb-700. UnEq'd the bass sounds about the same but the 700's kick will have more thump. Once Eq'd to +12db there is a HUGE difference. It thumps, rather it rumbles literally vibrates and you can feel every sound it's pretty cool. The mids stay clear and the treble is bright and comes off crisp. Though unEq'd the treble on high volume can sound harsh. The mids are good throughout except some specific vocals sounds can get drowned out specifically female voices [some Miku frequencies can get drowned out by instrumental] though I doubt you will listen to music with singing like that. At +15db the bass is booming and it can be really loud. Maybe overwhelming to some but it never gives a headache or is muddy. Regardless of how loud the bass is you can still hear the mids and highs and having the instrument separation helps with finding individual sounds even when one end of the spectrum is EQ'd more than the other. The bass is very deep and goes very low to 3db where at around 10db of bass it just rumbles [because you can't hear below 20db]. I like how you can feel bass more than you hear is in some deep bass genres like trap.
For $130 you get more than what you paid for. Especially when they were only $80.

==
Just referencing.
Lows = Bass, Kick
Mids = Vocals [usually], Guitar, Snare, Keyboard[middle register obv], other instruments
Highs = High vocals, high any instrument, mainly cymbals go here

I mean if you were messing with an EQ you can tell which instruments are changing.

/end long post




xb 700 is ridiculously large though RT.

[Innerwebs]

I personally think it all depends on your equalizers.
I have 115hz boosted by 6Db and it really makes the Beats more bearable, but they're still not as smooth as my Technicas though
Another really big fault on the Beats is that they leak a lot, especially on a high volume.

[Alevity]

I have:
100hz +15db
300hz +5db
1 khz +10db
3 khz +10db
10 khz +5db

As you can tell I listen to my music pretty loud. On my computer I just go with the bassboost preset on iTunes lool. [which only goes to 12db] My computer sound card is bad so more than +12 it distorts even with the Sonys which is why I mostly go with the default bassboost and want to buy an amp. Using the EQ above with the beats it just distorts the bass can't go that high. Beats have a kinda full smooth kinda thing at the bassboost. Beats just aren't very clear though.

They do leak A LOT. Though the Sonys leak too because they literally have vents on the cups lol.

[Innerwebs]

It's weird how the Audio Technicas I have are only on-ear, have 50mm drivers and are open back, yet they leak way less noise and do a ton of noise canselation when actual sound is played.

[Alevity]

It's weird how the Audio Technicas I have are only on-ear, have 50mm drivers and are open back, yet they leak way less noise and do a ton of noise canselation when actual sound is played.

It's the on ear design so it only goes to your ears. Also beats have an opening on the cups if you swivel them you can see it where it connects to the band. Sound can come out of there.

[Innerwebs]

But shouldn't a closed back design that goes over the ears have less sound leaking, at least in theory?