I like rich base. Do open-back designs lack this? I have heard ’bright’ and a lack of base.
With the latest, better open-back designs I don’t think you’ll be at all disappointed at either end of the spectrum and whatever little you might give up will be more than made up for in benefits in other areas.. Just my take. BTW, The Anandas I recommended above I believe come with a generous trial period.
Could I put some RCA Y-splitters on this cable before it goes to the sub and then add a headphone amplifier? The amp would be close to where I would listen with headphones.
In theory I suppose this could work, although you’d obviously have to turn the subs off while listening to headphones, which isn’t a big deal. Another option, just to get started, would be to use a headphone cable extender and just use the headphone output from your Mac. Here’s one that might be long enough and doesn’t cost too much…
https://www.parts-express.com/Grado-15-ft.-Headphone-Extension-Cable-1-4-M-F-232-470
All depends on how much you wanna spend getting into this. Do I think running a y-splitter into a good separate headphone amp will sound better assuming you use a quality splitter? Yes, absolutely. But it will obviously cost quite a bit more going that route. If I’m you I might start with the $69 Grado extension cable into a good set of ‘phones and go from there until you get “the itch.” Plus it’ll give you some time to determine what sound characteristics you’re looking for in an amp and research what amp would work best. But if you wanna go bigger you’ll certainly get no argument from me. Last thought, if you’re concerned with audio, noise-cancelling and/or Bluetooth headphones should not be in your vocabulary. Period.
Last point, if you have a good store in your area it’d be best to go listen to some headphones if you can. But, that said, many online places offer return policies so definitely take advantage of this if you can.