Bassless

[NWBasser]

Excuse me for venting a bit of frustration and disappointment here.

You see, in my music listening world there are too many situations where the bass just isn't there. As much as I love playing bass, I also enjoy hearing it in music which isn't happening too often.

The reasons are multiple; for example on last night's flight from Boise the turbo props drown out all the bass in my iPod headphones. My wife listens to her iPod touch with the built-in speakers which contain no bass whatsoever. The computer speakers at work have no sub and no bass content.

The biggest offender though is my car where I do most of my music listening. The road noise (un)fairly eliminates much of the bass frequencies. Yes, I could upgrade the stereo, but then I'd be cranking up to damaging SPLs.

Now I'm going to fire up the amp and grab my G&L to make myself feel better.

[R_of_G]

I have the same issues at times.

When we go anywhere as a family I usually insist on taking my car instead of my wife's because mine has a better sound system, especially with regard to the low end.

I also refuse to see concerts at the St. Petersburg Times forum and not solely because I'm not really a fan of arena shows but because that place eats up pretty much all the bass. Great venue for hockey but terrible for music.

[Eric***]

I thought you were going to say you didn't have a bass, to which my first reaction was "yeah, right!"

One thing I have learned from using different music encoders, headphones, and speakers is that not all bass seems to be created equal. Sometimes the same song can sound really bass-heavy, but it's all mushy. It sort of begs the question of how the performer intended it to be originally.

I usually try to stick to over-the-ear headphones when I'm listening to music on any sort of personal device, which helps to attenuate outside noise at least a little. Then again, I like the sound of guitar more than bass, so unless it's really flagrant, I don't usually have the same complaint as you.

I realize I had no point in posting this. Just rambling, I suppose...

[Robert****]

I know what you are saying.

I also find it hard to get good bass in most ipod-style headphones.

Finally, finding a good bass player around here is also impossible! Most of them play them 4 strings like it were a guitar. Oh, if only they had listened to Pastorius and Jamerson a bit more...

[NWBasser]

I know what you are saying.

I also find it hard to get good bass in most ipod-style headphones.

Finally, finding a good bass player around here is also impossible! Most of them play them 4 strings like it were a guitar. Oh, if only they had listened to Pastorius and Jamerson a bit more...

Yeah, I hear that a lot too. A lot of guys approach the bass like a low-tuned guitar with less than satisfactory results. It really takes a different mindset and approach than guitar.

Eric, I love listening to guitar too! I just happen to prefer hearing the whole enchilada rather than just everything over 2 khz.

[FrankenFretter***]

You claims are bassless.

[Ch0jin]

Regarding the plane issue, I used to be a frequent flyer, and short of prescription muscle relaxants, nothing makes flying better than a good set of noise cancelling headphones. You can cut all the "whoosh" and that means you can enjoy music and whatever at substantially lower volume. Good cans will give you the bass you want too.

[NWBasser]

I realize I had no point in posting this. Just rambling, I suppose...

[kiteman]

Good thing you have your bass to support your habit.