Headphone Hunt!

J

Jonesyy

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
97
Hey guys,

Long and short is that I am still on a headphone hunt to go with my Xonar Essence sound card. I do not own the sound card yet, but have decided to go for a premium choice so that when I decide to upgrade the cans I am about to buy to a top-class range I will not have to buy a new sound card, thus incurring additional costs.

I am a bit of a n00b in terms of audio but I do like good sound. Below are my estimated usage amounts and preliminary choices.

- Gaming - 50% - Mostly not FPS but sometimes, so directional sound (a large soundstage) isn't as important as performance across the board for music and movies as well.

- Movies - 20% - Would be nice to put on the cans and really enjoy the audio pleasure penetrating my ears, since I invested so much into visual tech before it.

- Music - 30% - Music is usually always playing when I am doing neither of the above. Usually only MP3 format tracks.


My choices thus far are:

Audio Technica ADH-700 - Looked great for everything but then I realised directional sound may not be my biggest worry and looked at:

AKG - K601 - also get good reviews and are meant to be better than the ADH-700's.

Any advice would be brilliant as I am wanting to start enjoying my choice in about 10 days :)
 
HD598 would be my suggestion based on your intended usage. $190 right now on Amazon.
 
For gaming I always go for closed headphones. Isolates outside noises away so your focus is more in the sounds of game. Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80 ohm is a nice choice for good gaming/movie headphone.

Decent soundstage, strong and deep bass. (not overbearing though, these are no boombox headphones) Not ideal headphone for music unless you listen a lot of rap/hiphop and such, any music that likes bass that is strong and extends deep. Midrange is bit recessed though, the achiles heel of this headphone.

I heard Audio Technica A700 and A900 (closed versions of ADx00 serie) are also good headphones, but I havent heard one myself.
 
Thank you for the replies I will have a good look at these.

MaZa I have heard the soundstage are usually quite weak on closed headphones? That said I would prefer a nice hearty bass, although would never sacrifice highs and mids for it.
 
I stopped buying Sennheiser after their 555 595 bullshit

I personally have Steelseries Siveria V2 and Sony V700s and some Rosswill 15$ headset cans

At the end of the day Pandora sounds the same on all of them, and on most flac it just sounds better with the MAudio bx8a's
 
I would say you should look into Denon AH-D2000. These are easily driven and have a very good but also fun sound, with more emphasis on the bass (these are all closed back cans).

AKG, Beyerdynamic and Audiotechnica gets thumbs up from me as well. You can get an AKG501 on ebay mint right now I just saw. But do not expect thumping bass, rather great and very precise sound (very evenly distributed frequency response curve). Regarding Sennheiser, I´d recommend that you audition a pair, they have a very unique sound character, you either love them or hate them.

I would recommend open configuration for two reasons. Sound stage and taking care of your hearing. It´s way less fatiguing in the long run for your ears. Which probably is no problem right now, but hearing degrades with age for everyone, its a fact.

Dig in deep at head-fi.org on the contenders on your short list. There is a wealth of information there.

PS: Nothing beats auditioning, but it can be difficult to get the opportunity.
 
Jonesyy said:
Thank you for the replies I will have a good look at these.

MaZa I have heard the soundstage are usually quite weak on closed headphones? That said I would prefer a nice hearty bass, although would never sacrifice highs and mids for it.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. Sound is more "closed in" but that doesnt necessarily mean soundstage is automatically small and definetly not how accurately it pinpoints directional cues. DT770 for example has the drivers quite far from your ears and this automatically makes soundstage large in size, it is just very different from its open counterparts like DT880 and DT990, less airy and more closed in as I said.
 
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nakedhand said:
I would recommend open configuration for two reasons. Sound stage and taking care of your hearing. It´s way less fatiguing in the long run for your ears. Which probably is no problem right now, but hearing degrades with age for everyone, its a fact.
Click to expand...


Here I have to disagree. Its the volume that damages your ears, not if your headphone is open or closed. Actually closed headphone can even PROTECT your hearing because you need less volume to cover up outside noise. With open headphones you subconciously turn the volume up to hear music better if there is noise. Possible noise in no way make the loudness less dangerous, your eardrums still take all the hits.

This is what is killing our hearing too, blasting music through open earbuds inside noisy busses and so on... Well isolating IEM's (in-ear-monitors, earplug headphones that is) are good to prevent that, block outside noise so you can enjoy music at moderate volume.
 
Open headphones typically have wider soundstages than closed headphones. Closed headphones have more bass and can offer isolation and/or no sound leakage. If you need those, get a closed, the Denon is a great start, otherwise get an open headphone.

In terms of soundstage, the largest soundstages are the AD700's and then the HD598's.
 
My DT880s work great for gaming but are a little more pricey. Also, DT880s are a little more oriented towards critical music listening than gaming, but they still are excellent at all-around headphones.
 
DT880 are excellent headphones but up a few grades in $ tiers and is more analytical than some might like if they are just casual or gamers. They're also built very well, much better than most.
 
My choice is mainly looking between the HD598 and ADH-700. Although the Audio Technikas are great for gaming I have heard they lack in terms of music/movies, or is just from an audiophile point of view?

I say that because it will be the first audio source I will have listened to movies through except 2.1 speakers or TV speakers. Same for music and games really. If the HD598's are good for gaming and also good for movies/music I will go there, I think.

Also it makes sense to me that the closed earphones may protect hearing moreso than open ones. But either way, headphones don't help out your hearing. In-fact I'm sure my hearing is getting worse at 21 because of my iPod abuse :p
 
MaZa said:
Here I have to disagree. Its the volume that damages your ears, not if your headphone is open or closed. Actually closed headphone can even PROTECT your hearing because you need less volume to cover up outside noise. With open headphones you subconciously turn the volume up to hear music better if there is noise. Possible noise in no way make the loudness less dangerous, your eardrums still take all the hits.

This is what is killing our hearing too, blasting music through open earbuds inside noisy busses and so on... Well isolating IEM's (in-ear-monitors, earplug headphones that is) are good to prevent that, block outside noise so you can enjoy music at moderate volume.
Click to expand...

Stop the assumptions :)

We don´t disagree at all. Volume (sound pressure and intensity of air on mechanoreceptors) is number one factor in damaging your hearing. This is quite obvious to everyone I should think.

Then obviously there is less direct pressure on these cells, when the pressure has somewhere to go but the ear canal, which is more the case with open configurations.

Of course if people find themselves in noisy environments and therefore turn up the volume as a consequence it will have an adverse effect. This is a non-problem for most people who have their own room.

Open configuration is NOT recommended for portability.
 
Just realised the ADH-700 are £50 less than the HD598, is this reflected by audio quality comparisons? Also I think I would just go for the Xonar DG for either of those headphones.

Edit:

£80 for the ADH700
£160 for the HD 598

Both about 10-20% under retail, but is the HD 598 worth twice the price? I have heard not.
 
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HD598 has a more conventional but comfortable headband over the AD700. AD700 has a wider soundstage and weaker bass. HD598 is a more versatile solution if you want something that excels at everything. So yes, it's worth the money if you want to step up from something that is awesome for gaming but OK for music and movies.
 
nakedhand said:
I would recommend open configuration for two reasons. Sound stage and taking care of your hearing. It´s way less fatiguing in the long run for your ears. Which probably is no problem right now, but hearing degrades with age for everyone, its a fact.
Click to expand...

Stupidity causes hearing damage. I use SE530s and Westone UM3Xs daily and keep the volume set well and thus do not suffer. The UM3Xs are more comfortable than most cans I've worn, Sennheisers included. And I would argue some IEMs sound better than similarly priced cans. You can produce better base, and frankly, my UM3Xs sound amazing sound stage wise. They're not super wide, but they're well developed. To run a similar pair of DT880s, sure the price for the cans is similar, but the added cost of an amp means the end cost is higher.

IEMs if you want portability and sound isolation (read, not noise cancellation - isolation. They're ear plugs.)
 
Alright guys.

I am planning to go for the 598 tonight but I can save £50 by getting a manufactor refurb version. It seems like a reliable vendor but do not know how the refurb market is viewed by the audiophile community.
 
I only came here to warn you off the ADH-700s

They are an awful pair of headphones, I really do not understand why people here recommend them. The sound they put out is good but the headphones themselves are absolute garbage. The main problem (if you can overlook the huge cans, stupid head "flaps") is that the earcups have no verticle articulation so they will cut into your jaw like a mother fucker and stand off your head at the top of your ear.

Don't get those headphones unless your head is shaped like Hey Arnold
 
vraa said:
I stopped buying Sennheiser after their 555 595 bullshit

I personally have Steelseries Siveria V2 and Sony V700s and some Rosswill 15$ headset cans

At the end of the day Pandora sounds the same on all of them, and on most flac it just sounds better with the MAudio bx8a's
Click to expand...

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
 
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