Found the perfect headphone for the X-Fi

B

BBA

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Apr 25, 2003
Messages
5,382
The Sony MDR-V6 (not the V600)

Has 70 Ohm impedance and they do not bog down the X-Fi outputs. The result is a match that has excellant bass and the high range clarity is amazing.

Thumbs up.
 
I just got these headphones recently. I'm currenly using the crappy built in AC97 on my audio to play battlefield 2. Is it worth going to x-fi instead of audigy 2 ZS?
 
If you have the money, then yes go X-fi. You don't even need the most expensive variety to sound better than the A2 ZS.
 
Newbify2 said:
If you have the money, then yes go X-fi. You don't even need the most expensive variety to sound better than the A2 ZS.
Click to expand...

Well I would hope so since all of the cards are the same except for the X-ram....

As for the Sonys, haven't heard them yet, I did not care to much for the v600s are they comparable
 
I had the Sony V6's, the highs were kinda harsh, but the bass was great. I decided to sell them tho becuz of the highs, and the pads not being too comfy (didnt feel like spending an extra $25 for new pads).
 
Depending on how much you want to spend you could look into the Audio Technica line.
 
Beyerdynamic is also very nice. I have the DT770 Pro/80 and these are excellent for both music and games. I get a more pleasant soundstage from these than my Sennheiser 280HD Pro and better quality. The plastic headbands on the senns has started to crack, less than 1 year old.
 
AlphaModel said:
Beyerdynamic is also very nice. I have the DT770 Pro/80 and these are excellent for both music and games. I get a more pleasant soundstage from these than my Sennheiser 280HD Pro and better quality. The plastic headbands on the senns has started to crack, less than 1 year old.
Click to expand...


I havent tried Beyers but I have tried almost every model of Sennheisers...they sound dead and lifeless to me.

As for AT's, I got a distaste for them back in the days of the shure V15 cartridge...the AT was equated to cheap over pirced crap only good for DJ use.

Maybe their haedphones are better. :D
 
Hah, this tread is shit. Sorry but you cannot "compare" ohms vs soundcards. Meh :rolleyes:
Everly headphone should sound better with an amp(anykind), "There is no such thing as too much watts"...
 
The v6 and v600 are totally different in sound quality. The v600's are just over priced, bass is real muddy, and poor extension. I would say they only go to 35Hz max, but that would be rating them too highly as they are closer to a one note sub than anything else. The mids are pretty recessed too. Trumpets sound like a bag has been placed over the horn. The v6's bass goes very low and supposedly is the best headphone in its price class as far as bass extension goes. The bass is relatively tight unamped, but with an amp it seems to give it an extra kick. The upper bass region is a bit recessed. Mids are a bit on the loud side and the highs are kind of dominant. I personally don't mind the highs, but it seems a lot of people do.

What the v6 does seem to do is accentuate any imperfections in the recording due to it's frequency response. Fingers sliding really fast on the guitar strings, present. A celloist slapping their fingers on the fingerboard, present. The coarseness of the bow coming across the string, present. A pianist stepping on the foot pedal too hard and fast, present. Piano chords not hit at the same time, present. A pop singer sitting on a creaky stool, present. Some people are bothered by listening to all the imperfections of a recording, but I'm alright with it.
 
BBA said:
...I have tried almost every model of Sennheisers...they sound dead and lifeless to me...
Click to expand...

Somebody get this man a good setup and slap some 580/600/650's on his flappers for [H]sake!

Rix2357:
Holy head-fi! You scared everyone away! ;)
 
Jodiuh said:
Somebody get this man a good setup and slap some 580/600/650's on his flappers for [H]sake!

Rix2357:
Holy head-fi! You scared everyone away! ;)
Click to expand...


Lol

NP man..you bring them and I will listen. I would like to be proven wrong but I like the hard bass techno sound and I just havent heard it from HD models I have listened to.
 
johto said:
Hah, this tread is shit. Sorry but you cannot "compare" ohms vs soundcards.
Click to expand...


Your not an electronics tech kind of person I can tell.

It's called impedance matching and the X-Fi card doesnt like really low impedance headphones.
 
Ah, the ol V6. Went through 2 of them back in my working in radio days, they were a popular model at my station. After my last one needed replacing, I went with a Senn 535, it's lighter weight. I'd still use the V6 if I was carrying my headphones around since they fold up and come with a bag.
 
johto said:
Hah, this tread is shit. Sorry but you cannot "compare" ohms vs soundcards. Meh :rolleyes:
Everly headphone should sound better with an amp(anykind), "There is no such thing as too much watts"...
Click to expand...

After some discussion here, let me give you a little better explanation to validate my argument.

The problem here is the X-Fi has a high output impedance. Low impedance headphones greatly reduce the power transfer efficiency to the headphones when driven by a high output impedance amplifier, in short you get max power transferred to the headphone with a slightly higher impedance headphone.

In the case of the 40 mm Sony driver with the 70-80 Ohm coils, the efficiency is even much better than most 40 or 30 mm drivers with 30 ohm coils that are both underdamped (electrically/magnetically). Coupled with the lack of transfer efficiency due to headphone impedance lower than output impedance, the sensitivity of most low impedance headphones does not make up for it.

I can explain it with formulas if you like, but the X-Fi works better with slightly higher impedance headphones, as evidenced by people complaining about poor sound with 30 ohm headphones, as well as people complaining about no power with high impedance headphones.

Given the fix for both low and high impedance headphones is to use a headphone amp, but the fix with anything short of an amp is using a medium impedance headphone, and the MDR-V6 just happens to be a really good fit for that scenerio, and when the cost is factored in, it's hard to beat the match.

This post is to help anyone in the particular situation, there is nothing useless about the post.

Johto, I don't know if you meant any offense in your reply, but I did not take offense because it's not worth the effort, there are just too many other things to spend that energy on. But thanks.

Oh, almost forgot: There are MANY headphones that do not sound better with an amplifier. Just look at noise cancelling headphones, they are limited to their battery power source and usually sound like crap no matter what, even the highly acclaimed Bose QC2's, an amplifier makes no difference because it won't fix the built in one.



:cool:
 
So then why wouldn't the AKG k1000 headphones sound very good out of the X-Fi? At 120ohms I would consider them a medium impedance headphone.
 
Try them, they might sound good with it, I am not saying they won't.

I actually wanted to try some of the AKG models but I havent been able to yet.
 
I've mated my X-Fi with these true 5.1 headphones....the difference is incredible! Creative just has to work out some driver issues yet.
 
Majeztik12 said:
I've mated my X-Fi with these true 5.1 headphones....the difference is incredible! Creative just has to work out some driver issues yet.
Click to expand...

:confused:

Surround Headphones are a gimmick.
 
UltimaParadox said:
:confused:

Surround Headphones are a gimmick.
Click to expand...

Ya know I'd really like to see a head 2 head with some Beyer 770's/AT 900's (properly amped of course) against the siberia/zalman 5.1 setups.
 
Jodiuh said:
Ya know I'd really like to see a head 2 head with some Beyer 770's/AT 900's (properly amped of course) against the siberia/zalman 5.1 setups.
Click to expand...
I've compared my HD-650/PPA/EMU 0404 to my Zalman 5.1/0404 or Audigy2 many times. The Zalmans are true crap. Soundstage is only a TINY bit better than the HD-650, but they sound absolutely horrible. I feel sorry for anyone that uses them :( (and yeah, I have tried the Zalmans with the Zalman brand amp)
 
lol.. and some pc/gaming magazines rates the zalman's as the "best headphones" :p
 
aZn_plyR said:
lol.. and some pc/gaming magazines rates the zalman's as the "best headphones" :p
Click to expand...
Wow! I'm surprised they rate them above the Bose Triports! :p
 
I was half expecting for him to say the only cans that work best were garbage cans. Atleast it was a serious post.
 
Jodiuh said:
Somebody get this man a good setup and slap some 580/600/650's on his flappers for [H]sake!

Rix2357:
Holy head-fi! You scared everyone away! ;)
Click to expand...

Amen, i dont even have the 580s(got 570s) and couldn't be happier!
 
The Sony MDR-SA5000s are the best electronic headphones I have heard, defined bass, and a slightly bright sound and absolutely insane detail.

They need an amp to sound their best though. Spending any amount of money on good headphones then running them out of a soundcard headphone jack is a shame.
 
saturnine2 said:
I've compared my HD-650/PPA/EMU 0404 to my Zalman 5.1/0404 or Audigy2 many times. The Zalmans are true crap. Soundstage is only a TINY bit better than the HD-650, but they sound absolutely horrible. I feel sorry for anyone that uses them :( (and yeah, I have tried the Zalmans with the Zalman brand amp)
Click to expand...

I don't suppose we could get some pics? It sure would be nice to "link" folks to a page with that and some comments :eek:
 
Jodiuh said:
I don't suppose we could get some pics? It sure would be nice to "link" folks to a page with that and some comments :eek:
Click to expand...
Cant right now, camera is completely dead :( There are some pics around here somewhere, I'll see what I can do :)

Oh, btw, I dont own the HD-650 right now. Downgraded to the HD-580 for a while :(
 
The V600s are not bad headphones. I get very solid bass, not too tight, not too boomy, just accurate, with mine, full midrange, relaxed highs that don't hurt, all the way around they are a good set. Sound a hell of a lot better than the Senn HD280s I replaced by them.
 
Smokin' deal. You'll be impressed. If you tire of the pleather getting hot on your ear, give beyerdynamic a call and order some dt250-80 velour "love muffs" for this:

V6swithBeyerPads4.jpg


Should be about $30 bucks shipped. Transplant's easy enough and your ears will thank you ;-)
 
I second the velour ear muffs, since you don't seem to be as worried about sound quality from your other posts.

The hardest part of that was telling myself it was ok that I was snipping up a perfect pair of pleather pads to get the piece of fabric to cover the drivers with :p.

The pads can be found at bhphotovideo.com. I found them to be the most hassle free and price with shipping is decent.

Finally, I suggest plugging them directly to the X-fi, but I don't like any of the cmss, virtual3d, or crystallizer effects. The only thing the X-fi needed was a little more power for a bit more bass omph, which was why I started exploring headphone amps and ultimately decided to build my own.
 
BBA said:
Your not an electronics tech kind of person I can tell.

It's called impedance matching and the X-Fi card doesnt like really low impedance headphones.
Click to expand...

Just like every other CHEAP amplifier.

Hey, I'm not just ragging, i bough an x-fi platinum today.
 
eastvillager said:
Just like every other CHEAP amplifier.

Hey, I'm not just ragging, i bough an x-fi platinum today.
Click to expand...

I am in aggreance with you there...but I wonder if it is not so much the fact the whole thing is driven by the PCI bus voltage and current limitations of both running the APU and driving the output stages?

I agree an external amp would definitely make a difference, or even a video card style 12 volt connector to power a better output stage ( only if CL would have thought enough to do that).
 
aldamon said:
Thanks BBA. I'm going to give the MDR-V6 a shot with my X-Fi. Picked up a refurb for $58.23 shipped:

http://www.simplycheap.com/sonymdrv6.html
Click to expand...


Thats a good price for new ones. I paid about $100 for mine back in 1987, and my ear pads are definitely ragged but the sound is still great.

I found info to get original pleather pads from Sony:

Description: Pad Assy, Ear
Part Number X-2113-124-1
Price $5.95 each plus shipping and tax
You can order by calling them at
1-800-488-7669 or from the web at
www.sony.com/accessories
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top