More bass? That's hard to believe. With single-driver cans like these JVCs you can't decide to have the mid/treb at 2, the bass at 5 and have another knob to control the gain. Bass distortion levels are far beyond comfortable listening ranges on the HPA2s. I listen mostly to bass-driven music like house and DnB and if nor my dt880s or my akg 181s will match the bass of the HPA2, I don't see what hope the JVC have.
True, but that's what an EQ is for in the end it'll make a better sound change than the level controls do, at least in my experience. But yes, much more bass, you're comparing a cramped open-backed headset to a large close-back headphone, as I have learned, big difference. Just the flat sound, EQ flat, sure the TB HPA2's can sound better because you have the sub control, so less need for EQ or bass boost, but I usually ran my sub at 3-3.5-ish, 4-5 if I really wanted some thunder. Usually ran the rest around 3. Well some EQ and bass boost adjustment, it's night and day, and then I'm going Turtle wha? True the distortion levels are beyond normal listening levels, it's still there and on the rare occasion it happens can still be annoying.
I've heard dt880's have less bass than the dt770 80's, which some compare the 700's to but of course less, that's comparing $250+ headphones to $33 headphones. None-the-less, there's plenty of options and that's what I'm trying to get acroos my my POV, and to my ears the JVC's sound much better out of the same source w/o an amp...sure the EQ is much different, but the overall sound is much better, more defined, much clearer (imo), and as much bass as my x-fi can put out...which is a lot more than the HPA2's can handle at similar listening volumes...I tried recently to do a kind of comparison after a couple weeks on the JVC's. I just can't stand behind the HPA2's as strongly when a $33 headphone can actually be an upgrade to an $80-100 headest. Sure you gotta mod in a mic, I just use the HPA2 mic...same clear, crisp recording, better headphones to my ears for music, movies and gaming, win-win for me. There's some huge threads about the JVC's, part of why I got them, please refer to this thread:
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=97395
Most notably, this post:
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showpost.php?p=1452648&postcount=67
As you can see I really stood behind my HPA2's, as I said, I've had them for years, but they just aren't a match for the JVC's to my ears. I was also expecting crap from the emulation, but it's actually quite decent, even the dolby stuff is pretty damn good, but it depends on what kind of headphone you get, and that's where things can get technical and specific, but on a budget even including extra mic and mic cables, and a couple of zip-ties, I saved a ton of money over getting another set of HPA2's for her (or myself however it would've went), and I've had a more enjoyable time listening to music and enjoying games w/the clan, while still having the same solid mic recording from the HPA2. It's a good 5.1, if someone must have a true 5.1 headset, those are what I'd recommend bar-none (see a link to a thread, I'm the 2nd or 3rd poster boasting them...it's just after the OP in this thread).
Doubt all you want, my ears aren't lying to me, but again this is my opinion from the experience I've had with both, not saying you're wrong, not saying I'm right, as it differs too much between different sets of ears and expectations tbh.
but razer on the other hand, i absolutly love there products and that why i recommend the megalodon!