[Happy Bullets]

Quote:

So the Best gaming headphone in the $0 - $300 price range is the Philip X1 I guess?

They are my hands down favorite from all I have tried in their price range.

 

[Change is Good]

I personally think a safer bet would be the new flat headband K702 and order some memory foam pads from AKG. It all depends, however, on what your sound preference is.
 
For under $300 the X1 and K702/Q701 with memory pads are my top two recommendations for gaming... 

 

[mpawluk91]

I need to find an external dac that does virtual 5.1 or 7.1

Kind of like how astro has the mix amp and turtle beach has the dss, but if I were to buy one of those I would have to double amp it because I play games with my arrow 4g

I'm gonna hook the sound processor up to my ps3 via optical cable and then run my arrow 4g from that to my ue 6000, (it'll be awesome for battlefield 3)

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

There are none, that anyone knows of. You're stuck with something like the Mixamp. You could score an older marantz receiver which is a good source and powerful-ish internal amp also with Dolby headphone.

Hmm, not sure how I feel about the HP-800. It's like dark. DARK. Like even darker than 650/Mad Dogs dark. The bass, while strong isn't overwhelming, but the mids are distant, and treble is pretty soft...

Gonna have to wait for my E12 to come in... running unamped right now, though these are stupid easy to drive. 30mw max input power. That's like NOTHING.

 

[mpawluk91]

There are none, that anyone knows of. You're stuck with something like the Mixamp. You could score an older marantz receiver which is a good source and powerful-ish internal amp also with Dolby headphone.

Hmm, not sure how I feel about the HP-800. It's like dark. DARK. Like even darker than 650/Mad Dogs dark. The bass, while strong isn't overwhelming, but the mids are distant, and treble is pretty soft...

Gonna have to wait for my E12 to come in... running unamped right now, though these are stupid easy to drive. 30mw max input power. That's like NOTHING.

What do you think about double amping the mix amp? No need probably

 

[daleb]

Quote:

What do you think about double amping the mix amp? No need probably

The mixamp isn't really much of an amp at all. The main use for it is Dolby. If you're getting a high end headphone, you usually need a secondary amp to use it at its full potential.

 

[mpawluk91]

Damn I can't believe it, either I'm a genius or sol

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

That's what I've been saying to do for ages. Even on the first post of the guide...

I'm really thinking people don't read it.

 

[autoteleology]

I don't know why someone doesn't just make a small, portable Dolby Headphone effects box that doesn't interfere with the signal elsewhere. I really dislike the Mixamp's inline amp.

 

[mpawluk91]

My ue 6000 is 50 ohms and the cable has an inline mic

If I plugged it into the headphone jack of the mixamp would I have microphone support?

also does the mixamp have enough juice to power 50 ohms?

Thank you

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

My ue 6000 is 50 ohms and the cable has an inline mic

If I plugged it into the headphone jack of the mixamp would I have microphone support?

also does the mixamp have enough juice to power 50 ohms?

Thank you

Ohm level is not a number to go by how hard a headphone is to drive. You have a 250ohm beyerdynamic that is nowhere near as hard to drive as the 38ohm HE-4 (which demands a specialized or super powerful amp to get going), or AKg K70x line with is around 60ohm and need a good chunk of power to get going as well. That being said, I'm sure the UE6000 is designed with ipods and iphones in mind, meaning it will be highly sensitive/easy to drive.

The Mixamp should be fine for chat. If not, you can buy an adapter that splits audio and chat, then use the y adapter that comes with the Mixamp to join them back into one port. I'm positive you won't need to though.

 

[mpawluk91]

Sounds like I'm getting a mixamp then, I do not like the astro headphones though

 

[Change is Good]

MLE, since you're getting the E12 soon will you be adding a review for it in the amp section for good measure?

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Hmm, though I can't test how much more volume the E12 raises over the Mixamp for harder to drive cans (since I only have very easy to drive cans), I MIGHT.

On the Nuforce HP-800: I'm absolutely surprised by how good these are for gaming through Dolby Headphone. Very good soundstage for a closed headphone, and the fact that the mids up to the treble is relatively linear, make the HP800 a very good sound signature for gaming. Color me surprised.

They are quite dark, and it may initially put you off, but once you adjust, there really isn't anything missing. Not the most detailed headphone, and while the bass is big, it's actually pretty good bass, it doesn't force itself over the mids. So all in all, you get QUITE a competent closed headphone for all around use, assuming you get over their darkness.

I'm surprised at how incredibly well it keeps noise from leaking out. This would easily pass the 'girlfriend is sleeping next to me' test. It doesn't isolate that well (marginally better than the CAL at keeping external noise out), but in terms of not bothering anyone else, these are a huge win.

I have much, much more testing to do with them.

It's crazy. Not crazy about them for music, but for fun and competitive gaming, these are very good, in terms of closed headphones.

Upon today's testing, I'm feeling a 7.5fun, 7 competitive, 6.75 for comfort (this score for comfort is personal. I think those without an aversion for pleather or with smaller heads may find them quite comfy) as incredibly early scoring. Of course, this can change.

 

[Sidiun]

Having a lot of trouble with deciding what headphones to get at the moment. The highest I'm willing to pay for an amp/DAC is less than £60 ($100), so the Fiio E10 is the best I can probably get (would the E10 be able to drive all the headphones listed below?). I was trying to decide between the M50 and DT770s, but after viewing this thread you've made my dilemma much harder - I'm coming from a pair of broken Sennheiser HD555s, which I found to be flimsy (I've had two pairs, and they've both broken the same way, with a crack near the ears holding them together) so I'd like something sturdier than them, and possibly somewhat less boring, good for various games and music/movies etc.
 
Here are the prices of various headphones I've narrowed it down to in my local currency:
 
Fidelio X1 - £270 ($412)
Q701 - £230 ($351)
K702 - £215 ($328)
K701 - £200 ($305)
DT770 - £130 ($198)
DT990 - £120 ($183)
ATH-M50 - £90 ($137)
Creative Aurana Live - £53 ($81)
Sony MDR-V6 - £49 ($76)

 
The Fidelio X1 sounds really great from your review, but do you really think it's worth more than twice the price of the DT990? You obviously have a lot more disposable income than me, so keep that in mind.
 
Another question: you only review the K702 'annie' from what I can see, which is too expensive for my liking ($600!). How much worse do you think the regular K702 is? I know you specify the improvements it makes over it, but, like, the annie is 5th on your 'all-arounder' rankings - how much lower do you think the K702 would be on that list, if it was on there at all?
 
Thanks.
 
edit: As for importing, well, I'd have to pay import taxes, shipping and a 20% Value Added Tax (living in Europe is fun!) so it'd only be marginally cheaper or the same price, I'd imagine.