Hi guys, I got these yesterday after a lot of deliberation (I was actually so tempted to get the 449 because they're exactly the same price here, but glimpsed 2 posts around these forums saying the 439 was the "cream of the crop" and that the 449's lacked bass).
I like the impact of bass, instrumental hip-hop beats, any EDM music,m but also the drums in rock music as well.
When I first got these I found them really weird. I've been using Steelseries Siberia V2's for over a year, and while the 439's bass had more 'impact', every other detail sounded more tinny than what I am used to. I kept swapping the headphones over on tracks and preferring my existing Steelseries.
This lead me to have another play with my sound card equalizer settings and...wow. Any audophiles on here will probably say I've committed a terrible crime against sound but this equalizer setting is amazing bass-wise. I suppose I now understand why the word 'warm' is used to describe bass.
So now that that EQ setting, the HD439's beat my Steelseries. The Steelseries improves with it as well, but the bass is not as punchy and I can tell there is some detail missing with it.
Now, about the bass mod... that sounds interesting, but how reversible is it if I don't like it? And what exactly do I do, I hear some people say to remove some tape, others to what, punch holes in the tape?
Would you recommend it for a Rock/Metal listener who needs a lot of instrumental clarity?