blorg t1_j6e0aw7 wrote on January 29, 2023 at 6:05 PM

Strange you don't feel planars have rumble and sub-bass, they usually have better sub-bass extension than dynamics. The Clear is punchier than most though. And I do get what you are saying with "weight", they tend to have less of that, with maybe an exception in Audeze.

I would still pick a planar over the Clear for sub-bass in electronic music, for pure bass with no other consideration- LCD-X. It not only has the rumble, it has punch that rivals the Clear. Upper mids are much too dark and also wonky, but can be fixed up fine with EQ while keeping what is the best bass of anything I have heard.

Clear also has a clipping issue in very low sub-bass, although I don't listen loud enough for it to be an issue. It's just the last headphone I'd think of for sub-bass specifically, if anything it's a weak point. It's more mid-bass slam.

For still great sub-bass but otherwise tuned correctly through the mids (i.e. more like the Clear)- Arya Stealth, HE6SEV2, Edition XS.

Not trying to dissuade you, the Clear is a great headphone, and I think it's a better all rounder than the LCD-X, I'd take it over that. I pick it up more for rock than electronic music though. Just a different view on it.

The_D0lph1n t1_j6e4ls5 wrote on January 29, 2023 at 6:33 PM

Depending on the kind of electronic music, the tracks might not have that much content in the true sub-bass (e.g. <50 Hz). Most electronic drum hits, and even many rumbles, in my music collection are somewhere between 50 and 150 Hz in terms of fundamental (I run a real-time spectrum analyzer in my music player). So a lack of sub-bass extension might not affect bass perception that much, as a hump in the 70-150 Hz region boosts the parts of bass that matter most. And that's before psychoacoustic effects like missing fundamental can boost the perception of the sub-bass, even if the sub-bass tones aren't actually being reproduced.