• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Best Cans for Me?

M

m1 grant

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2005
Messages
152
Hey

I am out and about looking for a good audio set up

Ive got my xfi handy, and about 150 to spare, so what set of cans would be best for me, (and amp if necessary)?

Im a big gamer so, positioning is important, as well as detail. However I rock out, as much as I game, so it should be able to reproduce rock,house,and jazz decently. (if any type of music though it should be rock). The choices are dizzying and so far I have only come across the sr 60/80/125/etc, the beyer dt770 as matching my needs. Could someone comment on these, or make a better suggestion?

Thanks in advance
 
From what I read I hear that the audio technica a500 and a900 are spot on choices for gaming headphones. I just ordered the a900s from audiocubes and should receive them on Monday.

I'm still learning all this stuff but from what I've learned the most important factor is soundstage when selecting headphones for gaming.
 
How important is comfort to you? Do you expect to ware the headphones more then 20 minutes at a time? Do you want closed or open? These are all questions you have to ask yourself.

Having said all that, for your requested budget, I would listen to the Sennheiser HD555 and HD580/595(bit more money), and the Beyerdynamic DT770pro or DT990pro.

I currently have the DT990pro's (older 600ohm version), and I really like them.
The DT770pro/DT990pro can be had for about 170$us, the HD555 can be had for about 130$, and the HD580/595 can be had for about 200$, all new prices.

If comfort is not a concearn, your options open up.

As always, strive to try them on and listen to them. Nothing worse then buying headphones, and after a week of using them, finding out they have too much bass for your taste. ^_^

~Hope this helps
 
I bought the Sennheiser HD280-Pros a while back based on reccomendations from this forum, and I love them. Excellent sound, bass response, and positioning, and I got 'em for $90. Good stuff.
 
I can recommend the A900s, though they exceed your budget. Sennheiser HD590s (and now the HD595s) can be had for around 150, and the positioning for those was very good. Also, obviously, they weren't too shabby for music.
 
Most reviews and user opinions i've read rate the 595's/580's clearly above anything from Audio technica, and don't even think about runing DTAnything without a headphone amp, especially DT770, and 880. Also 580's won't run well without an amp. This adds alot to the cost. So i'd probably go either 595 or Audio Technica, as both of these are easier to drive, the AT's are easier to drive then 595's but 595's have better overall sound according to my research. I don't own any of them, but i've been keeping my eye out for when I can afford it. The most recent prices i've seen for 580/595 are 146$ and 174$ from Comp-U-Plus, they seem to consistantly have the best price for Sennheiser products.

Regards,
Mike

HD 555's are 105$ not 150$. Very easily driveable, kinda little brother of 595's.
 
Elderblaze said:
I don't own any of them, but....
Click to expand...
:confused: :eek: :(
Have you at least auditioned them for any length of time... or had extensive experience with a friend's or something to support what you said?
 
where do i try these things out?

seems that people are recomending a lot of dif cans, so I guess they are all quite different, so I'd like to hear them for myself. I wouldn't sacrifice bass for mids, i don't really like that car audio, 12" woofer sound, I'm all about detail. And I will be wearing these things for atleas an hour at a time, so comfort would help. So another question is, can the cheaper Grados like the 80, be given comfier pads? And another thing, i don't mind amps, in fact I'm thinking about building the Cmoy amp into a neat tin lie others have done, so if sound a certain can could greatly benefit from that then all the better.
 
I believe there are also 2 different versions of the 595, one with low resistance and the other with high resistance (ohms). Obviously, its easier to drive the one with low resistance, so make sure you ask before buying it.
 
m1 grant said:
where do u guys go to test these things?

There are so many that im considering
Click to expand...

Your starting to talk about the professional headphones, so I would suggest you check your local professional audio shops... and no, I don't mean your local tweeter or bestbuy. The little mom and pop stores. Check your phone book. If this does not yield good results, you can go on the product websites and they usually have something like "where to buy"... and they may list pro audio shops that carry them. Only problem is, you might find you need to drive an hour or more to get to the closest one (that's the case for me, western MA).

And I'm sure you know this, but just as a heads up, when listening to headphones, consider what is driving them and what other things might be affecting the sound.

Would you belive, I once went to the local tweeter store and they had their headphones connected in this little rack, all to A PORTABLE CD PLAYER........... OMG, that was the worst thing ive ever seen as far as headphone displays go. Make sure what ever your using to listen to them, is not changing the sonic qualities too much...... such as the amp applying too much bass to the sound. This can make heaphones with good bass sound awful.

On a side note, if you find a pro audio shop with people who are truthful, tell them what you want to do, how much you have to spend, and they can point you in the right direction. Sometimes these people have extensive first hand experience and know what they are talking about.

Lastly, if you do find a few places that you want to visit, bring along a CD with good quality music your familer to.

~Hope this helps
 
towert7 said:
:confused: :eek: :(
Have you at least auditioned them for any length of time... or had extensive experience with a friend's or something to support what you said?
Click to expand...

Wait...actually owning something's a requirement for valid opinion? :eek:
 
No i have not heard any of them. However over the past week i've spent at least 10 hours doing research, reading reviews, on Hard, ARS, NVnews, Head-fi, www.headphonereviews.org, epinions, amazon, newegg, anadtech, neoseeker, google. I looked into all of them as I wanted to decide for myself which one to purchase. The above statement was the conclusion that I came to based upon many opinions of other people, not everyone thought the same thing, but enough did to get the general idea. The most helpful is headphonereview.org, all of the reviews on that site are done by veteran audiophiles.Furthermore even if I did hear them myself im not savvy enough to know what the hell im listening to, and if you dot he same research you'll most definatly come to the same conclusions.

If you go with beyer make damn sure you get 990 (non pro's) as the Pros practically -require- an amp to come close to their poteintual. The 770's don't require one but most definatly improve quite abit with an amp, even a cheap cmoy or pimeta will do for them. Tthat said I still recomend the low impedance version of 595's.

Regards,
Mike
 
Elderblaze said:
No i have not heard any of them.
Click to expand...

Thank's for being honest. I know sometimes its hard to find time to listen to all of them. ^_^. Heck, I don't even know of a place within 30 miles of me that sells AKG anymore.

You just should be a little more cautious about saying things like:
If you go with beyer make damn sure you get 990 (non pro's) as the Pros practically -require- an amp to come close to their poteintual. The 770's don't require one but most definatly improve quite abit with an amp, even a cheap cmoy or pimeta will do for them.
Click to expand...
From a statement like this, it sounds like you have had extensive experience with using the headphones with and without an amp.

Rumor has it some guitar stores sell "special" versions of the Beyer DT770pro and DT990pro... I'm not sure what the diffrence is.... like the "regular" DT990pro's are now 250ohm, while some at the guitar shops are 80ohm........... but I have no idea what practical diffrence this makes if any.
 
m1 grant said:
thanks for the advice, I'm in Concord MA so that sounds decently close anyway
Click to expand...
Ah! your lucky, boston has quite a few places.
If you ever goto boston, check out a place called Spearitsound. They have two stores, one in boston, one in northampton, MA. www.spearitsound.com

They sell headphones like grado, beyerdynamic, AKG.

~Good luck, and keep us posted
 
For those of you in chicago, music direct helped me with my decision to purchase my Sennheiser 580's. They had a nice little setup for me to listen to my own cd. I had auditioned the 570's first, then wanted to hear the "more expensive" pair...just to see if it was worthy. WOW...I'm soooo glad I didn't walk out of that store with the 570's :eek:

It was track 9 or 10 on the first Tranceport...Oakenfold, I think. It only took 30 seconds into it to realize the power of the 580's. My mouth was agape and I was ushered into a new world of sound. Good times 4 sure.

Here's the about us page. It's been a couple years since I was there, so things may have changed. Gonna have to check em out one last time for I leave Chicago, hehe.
 
I own the Senn HD580's, Senn HD 650's and used to have the Audio Technica ATH-A900 and have at more than 1 meet heard more than my fair share of good cans.

The Audio Technica ATH-A900 are better than the HD-580 if you do not have the HD580s amped IMO. The sound stage on the HD580s shrinks quickly as a result of their high impedence for mid-range cans. And the ATH-A900 are much better than the senn HD555 in sound stage. There are other good choices too like the Beyer Dynamics DT-770 80.

Suggested cans from me will only be for you to go listen to them, nothing definative. Many people have many different opinions and we all know what opinions are like... I just don't want to spread any misinformation.

Audio Technica ATH-A900
Sennheiser HD555
Beyer Dynamics DT-770 (for the bass lover in you)
Audio Technica ATH-A500
Sony SA1000 DJ Cans
Sennheiser HD-280 Pro

If you have not heard a good set of Headphones most if not all of those will make you smile
 
I'm not hearing any love for grado, are they that bad @ soundstage, or is it something else?
 
what no love for 590/595 trey? hehe

Grado are colored and uncomfortable as hell, with poor staging.

Regards,
Mike
 
Elderblaze said:
what no love for 590 hehe
Click to expand...
Haha, I have some HD590 V3's. The build quality is the main turn off for me. The cable is cheap, and now mine have started to develop this thing where the left ear grill will vibrate at certain frequencies and make a horrible sound.... but they are the best headphones I have ever used in terms of comfrot.

What Treyshadow says is good information. Listening to them is the only way to truely know what you like. And its true, if your not familer to higher end audio equipment, most of these headphones will sound good at first ^_^. I remember several years ago when I thought some cheap sony V202 headphones and my altec lansing 2.1 speakers sounded heavenly.

Treyshadow said:
Beyer Dynamics DT-770 (for the bass lover in you)
Click to expand...
:D Soo True :D
 
I am sorry!

I did not mean to neglect the 595... I did mean to neglect the 590 ;)

My issue with Grado or Allesandro is that not everyone likes the sound. It is just that simple. Also they tend to not be very comfortable if you have them on for a prolonged amount of time. Good cans don't get me wrong. I had a set of grado SR-225, but I just didn't like the sound or their comfort or lack there of.
 
I would recommend the 580/600 if you cant afford the 650s.
Also, the 595/555 are a decent recommendation.... they are treble-happy though, so make sure you audition them first.
Other recs include the Sony SA3000, although bass might not be its strongpoint.
 
Oh and if you haven't bought yet, the 580's are in your price range at compuplus.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top