not necessarily man.... bass is NOT what its all about...i seriously have to disagree with this... coz if bass is everything then ull see DT770 and Porta Pro sales going through the roof!

quality of bass is VERY important as well... best example i can give from my own experience. Massive Attack's Angel from their Mezzanine album (which imho is a very good album and well recorded). tested on DT990 (supposed to be bassy) and the HD650 (also supposed to be bassy). the rest of the setup is in my sig (Fubar and Battery amp). and FYI Angel is NOT a fast song in case u dunno.

the intro part...where the bass first kicks in...sounds full and very impactful with the DT990. it had alot of authority. just where its supposed to be.

on the HD650 the damn bass sounds like its coming from an empty can...no im not joking...instead of 'thump' it was more like 'tong'. i was so shocked that i quickly switched headphones just to make sure.

i did the same thing again on a different setup.... X-Fi Platinum + Darkvoice 336i. same effect. so no...just having bass alone isnt enough. a headphone can be bassy but if the bass sounds like shit itll end up destroying the music. thats why its always important to know what kinda music a person listens to before recommending.

and pls define "REAL MUSIC". i listen to metal...is that real music to u? and u wanna talk about other range....just bcoz theres other range doesnt mean its good....just because the other ranges isnt drowned out by the bass doesnt mean its good.

best example... metal has everything...highs, lows, and especially mids. even the bass can be forceful and impactful. its a bass heavy genre, but does NOT depend on bass like trance or house... as for soundstage...believe it or not some metal has good sound staging effects as well. with all that in mind.... believe or not id take my Philips HP250 over the Senn HD650 anytime for metal. i even find the Senn HD595 horrendous for metal. and HD595 is supposed to be a little bass shy.

soooooooooooooooooooooooo...................again, its not just about ONE part of the sound spectrum......but most importantly, since sound is VERY subjective...it depends on the user itself and what their preferences are. if the person likes bass heavy music...then they like it...even if theyve heard whatever it is u define as "REAL MUSIC" from a good pair of headphones...but they still prefer bass heavy music... its still their preference... one man's fun is another's hell as the saying goes.

as for WHY people stress on bass when listening to music...my view on it is simple... on most songs these days, bass is what defines the beat of the songs. makes the song have energy and enjoyable. hence the reason people emphasize on bass.

goddamit that was a long post!

EDIT: forgot to mention...i also second the recommendation for the Philips SHP2700...its a good phone and quite bang for buck imho.