Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide: (Updated: 5/17/13. Skullcandy PLYR 1 added) - Page 765

 

I don't think I can afford the Annie just yet, how about versus the origina; K702?

Read the Annie thread. Someone recently just reviewed both and did a wonderful job too. The drama in the review/comparison was intense.

 

I think AKG is one of those brands everyone has to try if they can. I have finally decided I just don't like their house sound in general. I am more a Beyer guy. Like how you find them to hot I enjoy them. The HE400 gives me a lot of that joy. But I had to try to them to realize that and find what I like. 

 

x2

 

They are my "default" headphone. 

 

 

x2. 

 

You get the benefits of using a headphone without the physical footprint of using one ( you don't really feel it).  I've said this before, but I'll often just leave them on my head for an hour or two even though I'm not even listening to anything anymore. 

 

 

Also the sporta pros have the KSC35 driver, and it's black (not blue like the porta pro).  It's also always $10-15 cheaper than the porta pro at around ~$22.

 

Wow, 5 pairs?  They shouldn't be that hard to fix/recable, as it's extremely easy to get to where the wires attach to the driver.  Sadly, I suck at soldering. 

 

...But I should look into rewiring them.  My KSC35 drivers are working solid though ATM so I'm lazy about fixing them.  I've just got one flakey KSC75s on deck that need fixing.

 

 

Still using the headband mod BTW.  Zero comfort issues with it.  I can still leave them on my head for hours like the clips.  I did mod the headband a little with a dremel tool to give the drivers more rotation room though.  Stock they didn't quite rotate as far as I'd like for my (weirdly?) angled ears.

I think that's solid advice, though even one of the sub-$60 Xonars (DG/DGX) would be a big improvement over on-board sound... It might be a good middle step to see if you then wanna go ahead and invest in an amp that can definitely drive the 650 to their full potential.

I definitely agree the STX is a terrific value tho, specially if you can find it for closer to $150 than $200... If you don't care for Dolby Headphone it might be a bit of a wash compared to the Magni/Modi and Schiit's amp is probably technically better (or at least more versatile).

I'd take MLE's advice before any other purchases tho badugi, listen to them exclusively for a few days and then go back to the old headset. Also, have you tried a few different games and/or music?

Well, the clarity and layering capability of your headphones helps... but yeah, kinda. The recon3D helps me out a bit too because it has a dialogue booster option which I use, but the Mixamp (or steelseries dongle? SLYR mixer?) is the only option to live-mix chat/game balance.
Thinking further though of what I have... I technically could use my Recon3D's extension cord... E5 amp... but then input/output direction problems... Meh, I haven't found an ideal solution. It actually works out ok if you're talking with someone with a loud mic (like my buddy with a TB headset) and using a judicious around of lowering "game volume" in the "voice" settings, but I tend to give up on people with quiet mics. Or in the case of one of my friends, send him one of my spare mics
V-MODA headphones include 1 or 2 cables with microphones and a call answer button. My Crossfade LP (which had a fat bottom-end that would make Sir-Mix-Alot happy and Mad surprised that I owned and liked it) had a 3 button Apple remote/mic, though I think the M80 includes an android one instead (or all three? You can always buy the cable you want and plug it in to the headphone, I loved the modular nature of the headphone). I actually miss my Crossfades, they were a great portable "fun" compliment to reference headphones, when I have disposable income again I may pick up a pair of gunmetal gray LPs again, or the smaller-but-less-comfy supra aural M80s. They're like bassy Audio Technica M50s
Yes? I like mine anyway, treble isn't too hot for me (and I'm fatigued by too much treble). The mids are quite enjoyable. There is an AKG K240 studio for sale for about $100 that is supposed to be quite great plus have more bass. Look it up on Amazon and Headroom (headphone.com, has quite a few frequency graphs and allows you to compare different models and see many different reviews). The AKG K242 has a different color scheme and a few extras like spare pads, but costs more. The K272 is closed and FWIR (from what I read) has pretty magical mids.

The DG/DGX don't have the amp though do they?, whereas the ST/STX power up to a 600ohm  headphone (with the HD650's being 300ohm)

They would be better than the onboard, but still not have the power to make the HD's sound any better than they are now without an additional amp.

Yeah, I think I got confused earlier and said the M-80 came with a mic-less cable plus a mic one w/a single button... They actually come with two mic/button cables, one's a red single button and the other's a black three-button for iPhones, but the latter actually works with the vast majority of Android phones too (the volume buttons just don't do anything).

I traded my iPhone cable with someone here for the single button orange cable that comes with the M-100 (that model does come with a button-less/mic-less cable plus said orange cable). They're nice cables too, fabric wrapped, Teflon coated, with 45 degree plugs at the device end... Newer versions also have improved split mic/button sections that makes the mic work better.

The M-80 actually have the least bass emphasis of all their models, they're still warm with some treble rolloff but the bass isn't as prominent as on the LPs or even M-100.

Those two still have a discrete headphone amp... It's weaker than the STX but it's still more powerful than say, the Titanium HD or most other cards (speaking solely about the amp part). Technically speaking any card with a headphone output has some kind of amplification. Those 2 Xonars, the Essence/Phoebus line, and Creative's new Z line just have much beefier discrete amps. The other Xonars (DSX or whatever) don't have that as they're meant for HTPCs or whatever.

Edit: But yeah, I don't think a DGX would drive the HD 650 optimally, but it'd still drive it much better than on board (so it wouldn't just be a DAC upgrade of sorts) plus they're cheap and can always be paired with an external amp.

Just giving him options, personally I've enjoyed my STX a lot and I can see it serving me well for as long as ASUS updates the drivers (they had Win8 drivers pre-launch so that's encouraging).
Edited by Impulse - 1/31/13 at 12:09pm

J&R just posted the Titanium HD for $110 again. I'm sorely tempted, I'd probably take a credit card hit if I heard back about work.
By the way, "rated for 600 ohms" isn't a very concrete, precise way to judge the power and capability of an amp. It's better to see the maximum mW @ your headphone's load (300 ohm right?). You can have two "rated for 600 ohm" amps, but one has more power headroom at the ohm level you need. Honestly, more powerful built-in amps are nice, but are easily trumped by a line-out feed to a discrete headphone amp.

 Thanks for the advice.  I was thinking about the dolby headphone feature for my pc, but i'm not really a FPS gamer.  I'm just more of an RTS/ D3 gamer, and I usually listen to music while playing starcraft 2 anyways.  But I have been researching about those soundcards and I might later in the future just get one.  As an entry level amp though I think im going to just invest in the magni/modi combo.  But thanks for the advice about letting my headphone burn in for a bit longer.  I guess I was impatient, and i JUST learned about the burn in concept recently.  I will wait about a week until  I hear them again. 

Edited by badugi - 1/31/13 at 8:24am

I own this card and I don't think there is a true amp inside it. Sure, it can power headphones up to about 250 ohm Beyers decently but not to there potential. Go with the line-out and external amp option if you go with the Titanium HD.

guys, I think I've narrowed my search for a portable headphone.I'm down to either the v-moda 100 or the sennheiser momentum.

For portability, the m100 wins, since it;s built like a tank. I wouldn't be afraid of throwing it in my bag on my way to school. It also has a two year limited guarantee and v-moda has excellent customer service. Nevertheless, I get a feeling that the Momentum will probably achieve better listening levels on my phone and vita without the need of an amp.

As far as sound signature, I would probably be better off with the Momentum. My listening tastes are literally all over the place. I can be in the mood to listen to Grandmaster Melle Mel one day and then want to listen to Vicente Fernandez the next. The bass boost of the m100 might be good for electronic music but for everything else it might be a hindrance.

*sigh*, I really don't know which one to pick. I'm probably going to end up sampling both and returning one. Actually, now that I made this list, I think I'll probably be better off with the momentum. It's just that I'm not sold on it's durability...
Edited by Roger de Ceiba - 1/31/13 at 11:53am

Any1 differentiating the above two heaphones - bass/mids/treble/imaging ...

Anyone? How about... the OP who carefully detailed these characteristics in his review guide? One's got a U-shaped freq response, the other is more balanced with greater sound stage, both have good imaging.

Oh I will try so people can tell me I am wrong.

 

Bass - He400

Mids - Annies

Treble - for me HE400 lots are going to say Annies so it is a win win for everyone.

Imaging - He400

Soundstage - Annies barely it is wide but doesn't have the depth of the HE400.

 

Gaming - Annies grrrr pains me to admit that.

Music - HE400

Movies - Don't know haven't watched any with either so I am going to say DT990 to be different.

 

Annies are more comfortable to if you don't have the jaw line issue. The HE400s are just to heavy to be more comfortable unless you have the neck of a body builder.

Honestly both headphones I find I have to adjust all the time. My Beyers beat them both hands down. My KSC75/35s even more.