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Need Help Choosing

A

Alex41290

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 20, 2004
Messages
1,570
Well, I'm not exactly an audiophile nor have I really been into headphones, but I want to "take the plunge" and buy a good, non-20-dollar pair from Best Buy. I've been browsing a few forums and reading some reviews trying to find a pair that looked good to me. I've been debating between Sennheisers and Grados simply because I've read they are some of the best. The HD595s are probably a bit expensive, and I like the SR60/80. This is one of my questions. Are the SR80s worth the extra money from the SR60s? And will they need an amp to sound good? I will be mostly using these for gaming and also mostly rock music (which, if I remember correctly, people recommended Grados for these). I don't mind spending a bit more money on headphones if the quality will really be that much better than, say, a $75-100 pair.

So, if you guys wouldn't mind helping me choose a great pair of headphones :D.

Alex
 
Since they would be used for gaming, the Grados may not be comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. Also, the 50ohm rating on the HD595s make it easy to drive.
 
not to mention the aweful soundstage on grado's make them especially not appropriate for gaming. Though they are awsome for rock. I second the 595 recomendation, i'd also recomend pairing it with an amp somtime down the line. Even if only a Go Vibe or Portaphile X3.
 
Well, I'm in love: :D




Click for full size. Ran straight from an X-Fi Xtreme Music... and brings tears of happiness. :D
 
Hmm...so the consensus so far is for the HD595s...I was hoping I could get away with not spending a lot of money. I suppose I was wrong :x.

Any other suggestions or are these the best I am going to find for what I need?

And suggestions on a sound card?
 
Yep, you could get an X-Fi Xtreme Music and an ATH-A500 for $225... It's what I have and I love it. I've only ever used onboard and shitty 2.1 Labtecs... so this setup makes me drool :D
 
Isnt their like a $40-$50 pair of Sennheiser headphones that do a REALLY good job for the price, i am currently looking for new headphones too. But i would deffinately recomend the X-Fi for a sound card!
 
I would like to suggest the SONY MDR-7506
I was looking for a 100 dollar pair of cans about 2/3 years a go and after demoing all the Sennheiser available (and soome Grados, and some AKG and BayerDynamic) I had to settle on these Sony's
Cumfort level plus sound level wise, only one pair of AKG came close to these.
(I should metion that I was looking for a closed pair of cans)

This is a bit impirtant, if you want closed cans, then the soudns will be a bit different from open ones, but on the bridght side, you wont hear anyone :D
 
ewww.. someone's got somthing nasty on the brain... :D All sennheiser cans do great for their price pretty much. Avoid 497's though unless you like headaches.

Megalomaniac said:
I would like to suggest the SONY MDR-7506
I was looking for a 100 dollar pair of cans about 2/3 years a go and after demoing all the Sennheiser available (and soome Grados, and some AKG and BayerDynamic) I had to settle on these Sony's
]Cumfort level plus sound level wise, only one pair of AKG came close to these.
(I should metion that I was looking for a closed pair of cans)

This is a bit impirtant, if you want closed cans, then the soudns will be a bit different from open ones, but on the bridght side, you wont hear anyone :D
Click to expand...
 
Are the SR80s worth the extra money from the SR60s?
Click to expand...

Yea, I think so.

And will they need an amp to sound good?
Click to expand...
The answer to that question depends on your source.....
If for instance you are using a 4 year old Live card nothing is going to sound good. :p

Seriously.... the Grados will improve with an amp but it's not like they sound like trash without one.
 
Elderblaze said:
ewww.. someone's got somthing nasty on the brain... :D All sennheiser cans do great for their price pretty much. Avoid 497's though unless you like headaches.
Click to expand...


just your opion vs mine
i demoed about 10 pair of cans before picking mine
and out of those 10, almost half were sennheiser
they weren't my cup of tea
 
Mister X said:
Seriously.... the Grados will improve with an amp but it's not like they sound like trash without one.
Click to expand...

Well, according to what people said about comfort levels for extended periods of time and the soundstage of the grados, do you think it is a good idea to go for them?

I just want to get the best price : performance ratio that I can, without going over about $200, and you guys know better than I do.

Alex
 
Thanks for the link, I've been reading a lot on there trying to figure out what to do. It's fairly helpful, but a lot of times, just like here, there are many conflicting suggestions and it makes it hard to decide.

I'm sure anything I get will be a tremendous step up from what I'm using now, but I would like it to be a good step up.
 
Alex41290 said:
Well, according to what people said about comfort levels for extended periods of time and the soundstage of the grados, do you think it is a good idea to go for them?
Click to expand...

good question. :)

I am still on the fence about suggesting them because of their comfort.
I can't stand my Grados for more then a couple of hours but then again I have a pretty big head to so....the catch is they do rock music so well that it's amost worth it. :D


Have you considered the Sennheiser HD 485s?
They are decent rock cans (athough I think they are better for hip hop), they are much more comfortable then the grados, they have a single cable vs the grado y split cable, they have a pretty slick 1/4" adapter, they even come with a hanger/headphone stand and they cost less then $90.

You can find a local review here---->

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=935166



Alex41290 said:
It's fairly helpful, but a lot of times, just like here, there are many conflicting suggestions and it makes it hard to decide.
Click to expand...

Doesn't help much when the people offering those suggestions don't have any first hand experience with the product does it?
 
ATH-A500's here been wearing 'em for 3 hours now... big head... comfy comfy. Nice sounding headphones too.
 
Mister X said:
Have you considered the Sennheiser HD 485s?

You can find a local review here---->

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=935166
Click to expand...

Coincidentally, the last post in there was recommending the same cans that mdameron has been suggesting throughout this entire thread! :p

They seem like a good deal, and since I really have no experience with sound quality, maybe those would be the best choice.

Thanks for the link, and other suggestions are welcome.
 
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