Hi,

You heard this a thousand time but I don't know much about sound quality and I'm trying to learn.

Straight to the point, I'm looking for good quality over-ear headphones with clarity, strong bass and clean highs.

I would use them on my computer w/ no amp using only the motherboard (msi z97) sound card to listen mostly to edm/dubstep/gaming (but I also like bands like muse with lots of high notes).

I have the Sony MDR-7506 at home and tried them for a week but I feel like there isn't enough bass to my preference. I love the highs/mids though and really like the quality of the bass, but I just feel like it doesn't "kick" or "boom" loud enough, it's mostly in the background... I think it's too "accurate" for me in the long term. A perfect headphone for me would be the clarity of the 7506 with a stronger bass that wouldn't distort the other sounds. I love being able to "discover" new vocals or sub-instruments that I didn't notice before, but would love to be able to feel the vibrations at the same time and go "whoah that's another bracket of quality".

I've read around that in the same price range some that other people got recommended were V-MODA Crossfade LP (and LP2) and ATH-50x, but I've also read elsewhere that the crossfade LP were muddy and that the ATH-50x could even be as flat (and accurate) as the 7506.. I don't know what to believe anymore haha. I also heard about the V-MODA Crossfade M-80 being very good, saw them used on amazon.ca... I don't know what to think, but I'm returning the sony to think more about it !

I'm not looking to pay more than 200cad (about 100 usd) but I'd like the top quality at that price. I've looked everywhere but people often contradict eachothers about the headphones (especially the m50x). Please do not recommend me even more choices as I'm already running in circle comparing all the headphones I've named up here, I need to make a choice haha !

Gemini HSR-1000, decent bass, $45 at Amazon.

God damnit not another choice to consider haha, but thanks I'm gonna read a bit about them.. If the price makes a difference I would like to add another 50$, do you have an opinion about the ones I named earlier ?

beerbossa said:

  God damnit not another choice to consider haha, but thanks I'm gonna read a bit about them.. If the price makes a difference I would like to add another 50$, do you have an opinion about the ones I named earlier ?

Click to expand...

 
If Sony put their name on the Gemini HSR-1000, I would think it would sell for over $125.
I do not know of anything, in a closed headphone, that would do better then the HSR-1000, for around $100 (USA) or less.
I own the Sony MDR-V6, the headphone the 7506 are based on, decent headphone, but never use them.
ATH-M50x, bassy headphones and the bass overshadows the mids.
 
You can read and ask questions about them here
http://www.head-fi.org/t/585356/the-takstar-technical-pro-gemini-greathon-cyberx-qpad-thread
 
Not sure which version of the MSI X97 you have, so not sure what audio processor is built into it.
But with the cash you save buying the HSR-1000, you could also get a used Sound Blaster Z sound card, off eBay.
 
The Takstar Pro 80 and Gemini HSR-1000 appear to be the same headphone, so buy whichever is cheaper.

purpleangel said:

If Sony put their name on the Gemini HSR-1000, I would think it would sell for over $125.
I do not know of anything, in a closed headphone, that would do better then the HSR-1000, for around $100 (USA) or less.
I own the Sony MDR-V6, the headphone the 7506 are based on, decent headphone, but never use them.
ATH-M50x, bassy headphones and the bass overshadows the mids.

You can read and ask questions about them here
http://www.head-fi.org/t/585356/the-takstar-technical-pro-gemini-greathon-cyberx-qpad-thread

Not sure which version of the MSI X97 you have, so not sure what audio processor is built into it.
But with the cash you save buying the HSR-1000, you could also get a used Sound Blaster Z sound card, off eBay.

The Takstar Pro 80 and Gemini HSR-1000 appear to be the same headphone, so buy whichever is cheaper.

Click to expand...

I have a software called cinema soundblaster that opens whenever I plug a headphone so I assume I have something from that brand haha! Thanks for the infos on this headphone, I'll try to wait for more opinions / reviews about the models I named (I'm actually kind of in love with them because I looked around so much) then make a decision after!

beerbossa said:

I have a software called cinema soundblaster that opens whenever I plug a headphone so I assume I have something from that brand haha! Thanks for the infos on this headphone, I'll try to wait for more opinions / reviews about the models I named (I'm actually kind of in love with them because I looked around so much) then make a decision after!

Click to expand...

 
I'm guessing your motherboard has a Realtek audio processor
and are using Creative's Cinema software that has been ported over for the Realtek processor.

beerbossa said:

I've read around that in the same price range some that other people got recommended were V-MODA Crossfade LP (and LP2) and ATH-50x, but I've also read elsewhere that the crossfade LP were muddy and that the ATH-50x could even be as flat (and accurate) as the 7506.. I don't know what to believe anymore haha.

Click to expand...

It's hard to know because people say a headphone is neutral, balanced, basssy, bright, warm, etc. But that's often based upon what they like, instead of some common reference standard.

I have the Sony MDR-V6 and original ATH-M50. Based on my experience with them (the M50X and 7506 are supposed to be somewhat similar to their counterparts) and looking at measurements, I'd think the M50X should probably give you a bit more bass. And certainly some deeper sub bass extension.

The other headphone you might consider is the Soundmagic HP150. I think it's a better all around headphone than my ATH-M50, and about the same price for you as the M50X.

cel4145 said:

It's hard to know because people say a headphone is neutral, balanced, basssy, bright, warm, etc. But that's often based upon what they like, instead of some common reference standard.

I have the Sony MDR-V6 and original ATH-M50. Based on my experience with them (the M50X and 7506 are supposed to be somewhat similar to their counterparts) and looking at measurements, I'd think the M50X should probably give you a bit more bass. And certainly some deeper sub bass extension.

The other headphone you might consider is the Soundmagic HP150. I think it's a better all around headphone than my ATH-M50, and about the same price for you as the M50X.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I've looked it up and read that it's supposed to be very rich and defined amped, which I wasn't planning to do.. Do you think you would still consoder it over the m50x unamped on a phone / computer?

Do they sound better with an amp? Yeah. They can often benefit. If you are running the HP150 off a smartphone, yeah. You might want more volume. Computer? Not sure if your computer would drive them OK or not. But they definitely need some more power than the M50, IMO.

My way of describing them is if you took my Sony V6, added some good sub bass extension with a bit of bass emphasis over neutral. Then significantly improved the detail resolution of the bass, mids and highs, that reminds me of the HP150.

cel4145 said:

Do they sound better with an amp? Yeah. They can often benefit. If you are running the HP150 off a smartphone, yeah. You might want more volume. Computer? Not sure if your computer would drive them OK or not. But they definitely need some more power than the M50, IMO.

My way of describing them is if you took my Sony V6, added some good sub bass extension with a bit of bass emphasis over neutral. Then significantly improved the detail resolution of the bass, mids and highs, that reminds me of the HP150.

Click to expand...

Man this is hard for me haha, sadly where I live they don't even have any ATH so you can forget the soundmagic.. I'd love to try them both unamped / with amp to see the difference, but nah I have to buy them over amazon and pray... Arggggggg alright thanks I'm noting everything, but I'm even more lost than before! Being on a "budget" really sucks when it comes to headphones!

My guess would be that they would probably get about half as loud in perceived volume as your 7506 can with your computer when you crank it up. That's just a rough guess.

If your estimate is accurate then it wouldn't be TOO bad but I must admit I'm used to the sony being to 100% on my pc (probably a bad habit...).

Final question, if we had to come back to only the m50x vs MDR-7506, do you think I would notice a big difference in term of quality between the two ? I know the m50x are overhyped so I'm trying not to be too much influenced by all the good things (and bad thing) that I've heard... The best quality I had yet was the sony so I guess I couldn't be "underwhelmed" if any improvement is made right ?

I think my M50 are a step up from my V6, although the mids are a bit recessed