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skeith34 said:

Ahhhh alrigfht then guys Well so I think I am sold on the M50s definitely! Any other last thoughts?
 
Oh! How are the warrantys with Audio Technica? As well as the chances are of them breaking?

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The warranty is one-year. The chances of them breaking are very small. As long as you take proper care of them, you won't even have to worry about breaking them.

So today I was looking to upgrade from a pair of cheap $30 headphones and was looking for headphones under $100. Stumbled across this thread that is fairly new and am happy about what im reading because I saw these headphones on amazon yesterday for around 180 and am hearing that I can buy them for a lot less.
 
Anyways im hooked on these headphones too and will try getting them no matter what!
 
But one thing that I know is headphones aren't everything as you also need a soundcard don't you?
Im stuck with Realtek HD audio at the moment. Anyone know if that sound card will hold up to the quality that these headphones can pound in my ears? Or do I have to pay a little extra for a new sound card?
 
Thanks.

You'll need a DAC and amp later on. Try the fiio E7 DAC and amp combo later on when you are no longer happy with the sound.
 
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eriktheg said:

So today I was looking to upgrade from a pair of cheap $30 headphones and was looking for headphones under $100. Stumbled across this thread that is fairly new and am happy about what im reading because I saw these headphones on amazon yesterday for around 180 and am hearing that I can buy them for a lot less.
 
Anyways im hooked on these headphones too and will try getting them no matter what!
 
But one thing that I know is headphones aren't everything as you also need a soundcard don't you?
Im stuck with Realtek HD audio at the moment. Anyone know if that sound card will hold up to the quality that these headphones can pound in my ears? Or do I have to pay a little extra for a new sound card?
 
Thanks.

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My apologies, but I have never heard of a DAC or an amp before.. I'm only common with the terms Headphones and Sound Card haha.
So if you may explain, that would be great!
Oh and this is all for playing audio through my computer. No extreme home theater setups or anything will be involved.

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eriktheg said:

My apologies, but I have never heard of a DAC or an amp before.. I'm only common with the terms Headphones and Sound Card haha.
So if you may explain, that would be great!
Oh and this is all for playing audio through my computer. No extreme home theater setups or anything will be involved.

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DAC. to Analog Converter, Basically a by-pass for your computer's soundcard to a better device, think of it like an external sound card.  I wouldnt explain it as good as this guy did here
 
 
Amp stands for Amplifier, a headphone amplifier is basically a device (portable or not) that will help you to drive powerful headphones, sometimes a digital media player or a PC could be insuficient to drive a specific set of headphones. although this rarely happens with headphones under 100$, but some amps besides provide amplification also ads some characteristics to the sound, some make it bassier, brighter and so on...
 
 
dont be afraid to search the forums and reading/posting around. one can learn a lot hanging around here.
 
there is a whole part of the forum only for computer audio, this is a very helpful thread there. 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/410022/before-asking-about-digital-audio-read-this-digital-audio-primer

 
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eriktheg said:

So today I was looking to upgrade from a pair of cheap $30 headphones and was looking for headphones under $100. Stumbled across this thread that is fairly new and am happy about what im reading because I saw these headphones on amazon yesterday for around 180 and am hearing that I can buy them for a lot less.
 
Anyways im hooked on these headphones too and will try getting them no matter what!
 
But one thing that I know is headphones aren't everything as you also need a soundcard don't you?
Im stuck with Realtek HD audio at the moment. Anyone know if that sound card will hold up to the quality that these headphones can pound in my ears? Or do I have to pay a little extra for a new sound card?
 
Thanks.

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I think you shouldn't worry about Amps/DACs yet, especially if you're just getting into things.
 
Yes, having onboard (motherboard) audio will be worse than having a dedicated sound card. Onboard audio has a tendency (though it has improved much over the years) to be noisier and dirtier than having a sound card. Plus it uses a few (minimal) CPU cycles to do its job, and upgrading to a dedicated card will free your mobo/CPU from having to do audio duties. I'd suggest even trying to find a used sound card (Amazon, Forums, etc) or a decent one from Newegg. Either way, even a cheap PCI / PCIe sound card upgrade will be much improved over onboard audio. I think you'll find that the dynamic range and cleanness/crispness of the audio will be much improved.
 
Most headphones under the $100 mark will have a low enough impedance rating (Ohms) and high enough sensitivity that you should get the volume and performance you need out of them without issue. Only a certain few sets under $100 would improve sonically with additional hardware (amp/DAC). Just go for a better sound card when you decide to upgrade the headphones (or do it even now, because it's almost a given that sound cards are always better than onboard audio).

I just bought a pair of these new off someone here in the classifieds for $110 shipped so you should be able to find them relatively easily !

Okay guys thanks.
I will make my way around the DAC and sound card stuff later...
 
As of now I just noticed that the M50 has a straight cable as well as a coiled cable.
Any ideas? Is the coiled cable just as durable?
 
Also, I will be hooking it up to the back of my computer, so this may be a problem with the coiled won't it?

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eriktheg said:

Okay guys thanks.
I will make my way around the DAC and sound card stuff later...
 
As of now I just noticed that the M50 has a straight cable as well as a coiled cable.
Any ideas? Is the coiled cable just as durable?
 
Also, I will be hooking it up to the back of my computer, so this may be a problem with the coiled won't it?

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yes, you might have to get the straight, or an extension.

okay thanks for the help guys.
I might wait a little until the straight version will get back in stock for either B&H audio website or UniqueSquared website.
Or if I'm lucky, I will get it on ebay hoping its not a Chinese knock off.
 
Thanks for the help. I sure will serf the forums for more info.