Bass?

[garrad]

Ok, right now I have some Bose QC-1 head phones, they are the noice cancelling ones and are great for work.

Only problem is their bass is dreadful. Is there any closed headphones with great bass. I like mine a little above the norm and when at a nice volume I always get distortion.

Any ideas?

"I like mine a little above the norm and when at a nice volume I always get distortion."

Think something's maybe got lost in translation there?

I have Senheisser HD-25's....I love them to bits, their bass is quite possibly unbeatable in quality, and is superb in quantity. By the time they can't handle the volume pumping out of them, youre listening too loud - you could prop them down and use them as a speaker by that point...

To put into context: open-backed Grados or Senheisser consumer models are positively bass-less in comparison.

[garrad]

"I like mine a little above the norm and when at a nice volume I always get distortion."

I was meaning I like my bass slightly enchanced and with a loudish volume, not too loud and I get distortion with the bass frequencies.

I have some Senheisser HD590's but when up loud too many people here what i'm listening too... I'm in an open plan office. (you seen dilbert?)

the HD25's are closed-backed, professional headphones. they bear no resemblance to the HD590s and offer a far superior sound.

the bass isnt enhanced though - its deadly accurate. they can go extremely loud before distorting.

the only potential problem i can foresee is that they do need some current/volume to "open up" their sound because they are so neutral, flat and bassy. but they leak very little sound, so chances are it wont be a problem.

[garrad]

yeah my HD590's on my hifi at home are amazing, but in work just connected up to a little PC they are rubbish.

I guess I need some sort of power amp for the headphones. Also where could you buy the HD25's?

A dedicated headphone amp certainly isn't essential.

The headphones sound excellent through the headphone out of a CD player, and even very good just through the bogstandard 3.5mm jack on my laptop. So even if you weren't happy at work, you wouldn't need to spend much over £50 to add a soundcard to do the trick.

They are readily available: Superfi definitely used to sell them, as did Richer Sounds. All good DJ shops will carry them. Digital Village (www.digitalvillage.co.uk) is a reputable shop, with real branches, good service, and fair prices, and you can order online. I don't think any of these will take them back if youre unhappy, so as always I recommend an audition first unless you have money to burn. I don't think youll be disappointed though...

Just had another thought - if you listen for hours at a time, these 'phones will probably get very uncomfortable. simply because they rest on the ear itself. sennheiser do some new, similar models which go around the ear - look at their website under commercial headphones, these may be better for you, but im making no promises about their sound