Quality Headphones at Decent Value

M50's for music and HD555's for gaming. 

You might also wanna consider the Denon HP700 for music, which seems to be a serious competitor against the M50, though I think it's been mentioned that they want amping, while the M50 doesn't.

The Ad700s with the Astro Mixamp are highly regarded around here for gaming. The Ad900 beat the Ad700 in every aspect, except maybe comfort. I don't think you'd be let down buying them. I use mine solely for music and absolutely love them.

you can buy the 555's and mod to 595's. 

I do like my ATH-AD700s,

But whatever you get, go for open headphones, I would think open headphones would do less damage to your hearing compared to closed headphones.

Assuming you game for hours and hours (like I have).

My suggestion is to get the HD-598. They're very good for gaming and have lost that veiled and muffled sound that some Sennheiser's have had (at least for me). Right now they're a second favorite for music. They've got some mids that sound slightly forward, a decent amount of bass and the highs aren't too bad. Very slightly rolled off maybe, but the sound signature is quite smooth. Comfort is very good. The soundstage and imaging is the best part of course.

It takes awhile to find them for under $200, but my suggestion is to call JR.com and ask if they have any sales. I was able to score a pair for around $175. They've dropped in price a bit, but I think they're $225 elsewhere and that's still a bit high. For me the HD-555 are just not as good.

AD700 might be better for competitive gaming, but not as good for music to me. I think that's only the 2nd headphone I've ever had that didn't have enough bass for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdockweiler 

My suggestion is to get the HD-598. They're very good for gaming and have lost that veiled and muffled sound that some Sennheiser's have had (at least for me). Right now they're a second favorite for music. They've got some mids that sound slightly forward, a decent amount of bass and the highs aren't too bad. Very slightly rolled off maybe, but the sound signature is quite smooth. Comfort is very good. The soundstage and imaging is the best part of course.

 

It takes awhile to find them for under $200, but my suggestion is to call JR.com and ask if they have any sales. I was able to score a pair for around $175. They've dropped in price a bit, but I think they're $225 elsewhere and that's still a bit high. For me the HD-555 are just not as good.

 

AD700 might be better for competitive gaming, but not as good for music to me. I think that's only the 2nd headphone I've ever had that didn't have enough bass for me.

X2 on the HD598 for GAMING (my recommendations are always with Dolby Headphone when gaming, so if you don't use DH, disregard this). They're like a baby K70x without the ridiculous need of amping (though they do need amping, IMHO, just not as much), and better balanced. For gaming, they are orgasmic.

As for your OP's genre of music... umm, I don't think the HD598 has the bass. I'd say the DT880s fit better, but they aren't as good for gaming, and require amping regardless of ohm version.

I've owned the DT770's 80 ohm  for a few month's now and have used them for most of the things you mentioned. They excel at bass it's powerful and at times rather potent which makes them great casual gaming cans as they bring the presentation forward and explosions have a nice weight to them however for positional awareness they aren't that great. Hip Hop and Electronic do really well on them. Vocal presentation is good but it feels a bit subdued at times due to the expressiveness of the Bass it's something you can ignore but it's prominent and there are times where to me it's a bit intrusive.

That being said I enjoy the Beyer's greatly for several factors. They are rugged I can't speak for the newer variations of the 770 as I own the bulky black model. Most of the parts on them are easily replaceable and readily available. Taking them apart isn't that difficult at all (With the exception of  putting pads on them as it's a bit tricky at first). The comfort in my opinion is outstanding.

Overall I think the DT770 is a good hardy can it's not however optimal as the end all do all can. However it's design to me is very practical and the comfort along with ease of maintenance really made me a fan of Beyerdynamics. It should be noted however that an Amp is practically required for Beyers if that isn't in your current budget it would be best to look at other more easily driven headphones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NitroxideOG 

appreciate all the feedback.

 

I was wondering if soundcards provide any kind of amplification?

The Asus xonar essence Stx does.