HE400i

My closed back Sony MDR 7520. Not the most transparent, not the best bass, pretty narrow soundstage but easy to EQ and drive with my Qudelix 5K. Decent noise isolation, too. I’ll be taking it with me on an extended tour through Asia and Europe. The Hifiman HE400i comes a close second. Pretty neutral and easy to drive. (My Hifiman HE6SE v2 sounds remarkable but it’s too hard to drive with anything portable)

I used to use Bluetooth headsets until I got a good DAC with a pair of Hifiman 400i open ear headphones and I literally can’t go back. The experience is just that much better. I’ve never considered myself an audiophile but I’m also not looking for a sub-par experience.

The bass sounds pretty huge to me, I did get a bit of that car with too many woofers feeling without the rattling. The vocals are still very clear and up front. At no point did it get muddy or fall apart at louder than I am comfortable with volume. IMHO the sound stage with these are decent but my HE400i is noticeably wider. But I am not familiar enough with the song to know what the staging should be. I also listened to Long Live the Chief - Jidenna which is something I am a little more familiar with (Thanks Luke Cage Netflix series). It doesn't seem to go near as deep as your suggested track but was still tight and never muddy or took over the mix. Shake Your Rump - Beastie Boys sounded pretty huge with that Bass synth part. I also checked out some Daft Punk tracks and can say the same thing about the bass sounding big to me but never taking over the mix. The bass does seem to be a bit volume dependent, lower volumes did not "hit" but was still there. One of my favorite tracks to test bass on is Talk to Me by Joni Mitchell, but for a completely different criteria. Jaco plays an amazing part in it but its typically understated in "flat" headphone\\speakers. It may be what is intended but I really like it when it's more pronounced and MDR-MV1 are just amazing for it. Also for some older Jazz that have stand-up acoustic bass that seem to get lost in the mix. Hope that helps.

I just tried the FT1 today and thought the bass was meh, but that that with a grain of salt. I've looking for something a little more v-shaped to have an option to my HiFi Man HE400i. Honestly to my ears the FT1 were a little lack luster over all and too pronounced in the mid to upper midrange. I am sending them back. I agree with others that you are probably used to the JBL sound signature (nothing wrong with it, if that is what you are going for) but I am a little confused about how you are comparing them to the 6XX. I would think that you were somewhat used to a more neutral sound signature. IMHO if you are already looking "correct" them with EQ maybe just send them back and hunt for something that is closer to what you are looking for. I use EQ all the time to tweak for certain tracks but never to correct something I don't like about them. As of now the Sony MDR-MV1 are winning in my comparisons. But I need to hunt some close backs for the office.

Starting to get the itch for an upgrade. Right now I kind of swap between 6xx, HE-400I, 990 pro, and occasionally a pair of modded T50rp’s (I think mrspeakers or something, I need to replace the pads). I mostly game these days but still like to do all kinds of music when I can (limited time these days so when I do have time I go gaming instead of music). I think the answer of “what you have is fine” is acceptable, but just kind of curious if there’s been anything more recently that is above this level I’m at now and worth it? Haven’t really shopped for headphones in 7-8 years I’d say.

i actually an fine with the build quality outside of the cord, if i managed to break the he400i maybe i'd have a different opinion. i don't like the headband but it's fine it works for me at least.