[jordannn15]

I am building a new gaming pc very soon and was wondering what a good headphone for gaming and music would be for ~$350? I don't care if they are open or closed, I would assume open would be better for gaming especially because of wider soundstage but I may be wrong and might be better for music too... but again I may be wrong. For gaming I play games such as BF4, CS: GO, COD, and some other fps games. 
 
As for music I listen to hip-hop/rap (mostly), rock, metal, r&b, and maybe some jazz or something once in a while, but no country or classical. It would be preferable if I didn't need an amp to make them sound their best but I can save up later for one if I need to.
 
I will need these to be decently comfortable as I plan to wear them for 6+ hours either gaming or music or both. I prefer velour or alcantara, or pretty much anything besides pleather, they make my ears sweat very easily. 
 
Headphones I can think of right now:
 
1. AKG Q701/K701/K702 (one of these I'm not sure which lol)
2. Sennheiser HD598 (I find these extremely ugly but it doesn't matter too much)
 
None of those are really close to my ~$350 budget so I could get an amp right now or I could get a better pair closer to my budget that you guys recommend and get the amp later.
 
If I left anything out just ask me, thanks!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Sennheiser HD558 headphones and a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card.
If your willing to buy used off eBay and Amazon, total could be around $160.

 

[jordannn15]

  Sennheiser HD558 headphones and a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card.
If your willing to buy used off eBay and Amazon, total could be around $160.

 
I can both for a total of ~$200 brand new and I still have $150 left in my budget, isn't there a better set of cans I can get for this budget? And will the hd558's be good for my musical tastes?

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

check out Mad Lust Envy's gaming headphone guide. 
As with all things, different headphones for different needs. 
Do you play online or mainly solo games?
 
I have gamed with m100, x1, and q701. ALL sound amazing. and astro a40. Any 100$ plus set of cans sounds better than them. 
The q701 need power though. 
 
Like Purple angel said the 558. I have never touched them, but they are widely considered to be some of the best gaming headphones out there. 
I think they are too simalr to the X1s so I waiting for the 650s. 
 
I think the Beyer Custom pro seems like a damn good contender too. 
 
There are also high end gaming dedicated sets from Beyer and Sennheiser but I am not crazy about the permanent microphone. 

 

[jordannn15]

  check out Mad Lust Envy's gaming headphone guide. 
As with all things, different headphones for different needs. 
Do you play online or mainly solo games?
 
I have gamed with m100, x1, and q701. ALL sound amazing. and astro a40. Any 100$ plus set of cans sounds better than them. 
The q701 need power though. 
 
Like Purple angel said the 558. I have never touched them, but they are widely considered to be some of the best gaming headphones out there. 
I think they are too simalr to the X1s so I waiting for the 650s. 
 
I think the Beyer Custom pro seems like a damn good contender too. 
 
There are also high end gaming dedicated sets from Beyer and Sennheiser but I am not crazy about the permanent microphone. 

 
I play all online games. I just looked at that guide and what I got from it was the K701 and the Q701 were the best all around for my purposes it seems to me. The Q701's have more bass and I can get other pads to make them have more bass without making the mids and highs sound differently so that's a good thing. 
 
As for the HD558's, they aren't even recommended in his guide but the 598's are?
 
I didn't mention this before because I didn't think of it but you brought it up, so thank you. I do not want a headset because I do not always want a mic on it, I might buy a separate desktop mic something like a blue snowball or I might get a mod mic.

 

[jodgey4]

I'd recommend the X1's and a good soundcard with a low output impedance and a mic. The Q701's are probably too bass light for you, and the 598's might lack extension. The 558's are super similar, and can be modified to sound almost the same as the 598's... fantastic value, hard to beat until much higher in price!

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

Sorry. got the 558 and 598 mixed up I guess. 
 
Q701s are hard to pair in terms of finding bass. I can find it with my crappy 50$ bravo tube amp..... but noise level is higher than desired. 
 
In Terms of mic, your on PC so you can easily get a separate mic. 
I game on consoles and use Astro mix, so I may be totaly wrong, but 
Beyer Custom Pro, X1, and M100s (all vmodas for that matter), take a 3.5 jack so you can user the Vmoda inline boom mic or any inline mic with them. That is what I do. I switch it out depending if I am in a chatting mood or not. 
 
But like I said. On PC you are not limited to inline mic (actually neither am I... I am dumb, for years I didnt realize I could use a y-splitter to add a mic to my any headphone) 

 

[jordannn15]

If I wanted the most neutral/natural headphone for this price range what would you recommend?
 
The Fidelio X2's are out would you suggest those over the X1's?
 
I have been using the Shure SRH1540's for the last couple of days and I like them but the bass bleeds into the lower mids some. I got them for a little over $300 which was a good price considering they are like new condition and they sell on amazon for $500. Are these going to be good enough for gaming? I think I want a more neutral headphone than this although I do like how low the bass goes and how detailed it is.

 

[PurpleAngel]

  I can both for a total of ~$200 brand new and I still have $150 left in my budget, isn't there a better set of cans I can get for this budget? And will the hd558's be good for my musical tastes?

 
You had the HD598s listed as a headphone option, just want to point out something almost as good (HD558), for a lot less cash.
The HD558 do not have a lot of bass, just enough to be called decent bass, but otherwise I think they are good headphones.
Just wanted you to know some lower priced option, making sure you make an informed final decision.
 
Another option is to get the Q701 headphones and a Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card.
That combo should come close to your budget .

 

[jordannn15]

You had the HD598s listed as a headphone option, just want to point out something almost as good (HD558), for a lot less cash.
The HD558 do not have a lot of bass, just enough to be called decent bass, but otherwise I think they are good headphones.
Just wanted you to know some lower priced option, making sure you make an informed final decision.

Another option is to get the Q701 headphones and a Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card.
That combo should come close to your budget .

No problem, I just wondered but thanks for the clarification. You guys are all recommending sound cards instead of amps, is there a reason? I didn't think sound cards were as good as external amps.

 

[gr34td3str0y3r]

   
You had the HD598s listed as a headphone option, just want to point out something almost as good (HD558), for a lot less cash.
The HD558 do not have a lot of bass, just enough to be called decent bass, but otherwise I think they are good headphones.
Just wanted you to know some lower priced option, making sure you make an informed final decision.
 
Another option is to get the Q701 headphones and a Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card.
That combo should come close to your budget .

I want to add something to this... today infact I just saw a mod on head-fi that is SUPER easy to do with the HD558 that supposidly makes them sound closer to the 598s if not better. 
Don't quote me on this, but they said the drivers in the 558 and 598 are 100% identical. The only things different is the price... no just kidding sort of. The housing is different 
It is scary to think that these guys make worse sounding headphones and sell them at lower prices just because they can, but sometimes that is the reality of it. 
I mean just look at the Fostex TR50s or what ever they are called. With some cotton balls, model clay, and new ear pads people have turned them into cans that sound more 10x the price. 
The 558 mod is basically taking off a piece of tape. I **** you not. 
I looking to buy the 650s but have the 558 on price watch, and if they hit a low enough price I just might pick them up and try this mod. They look so good. I am so shallow but its hard to buy ugly headphones. Sure and Sony. Not even on my radar. so ugly. so plain.  
 
EDIT: about the X2s. I don't know I have not heard them. But from what I have read they have a "better" or "smoother" response curve but lower base. 
To be honest if my X1s broke, I would probably buy them agian instead of the X2s... I really am not sure. 
The X2s have removable pads. I coudlnt care less. If I wear them that much and that long... its time to live a little and get a new Can. They have a SLIGHTLY better cable. The X1s have a SUPER high impedance cable. Looks amazing, but sounds like crap. But agian... doesnt effect me. I have a bunch of awesome v-moda cables laying around so use them for my X1s. 
Honestly... I am no audiophile, but honestly for gaming I would stick with the X1s for the slightly supposedly extra bass and get the X2 for music. You are probably talking about a 2% difference in sound. just my 2 cents. 

 

[jordannn15]

What's the most neutral/natural sounding headphone in my budget? I assume the hd 558/598's are pretty neutral is there anything better than those in my budget?

 

[carotis]

i have a sound blaster z and hd 598 combination and i am happy with it except the usage of headphones. i dont like to wear them. but there is so much difference between on board audio and sound blaster z. you should get an sound card if you are going to buy headphones like hd 598.

if you are not interested in headphones, you should buy speakers. using headphones for a long period of time is not good and comfortable. but also there is people that use headphones/headset for a long time period and headphones dont annoy them. i dont understand how they do that. :S

also you can easily find used sound card easily. i got my sound blaster z at $55 including shipping but buying used headphone might be different. you should ask for pictures of it.

 

[PurpleAngel]

No problem, I just wondered but thanks for the clarification. You guys are all recommending sound cards instead of amps, is there a reason? I didn't think sound cards were as good as external amps.

 
USB DAC/Amps like the FiiO E10K ($75) would offer you good sound quality, but as it's USB, so it bypasses sound card features.
S/PDIF (optical & coaxial) dac/amp would work with sound card features, but DAC/amp with S/PDIF usually cost more.
Like the FiiO E17 Dac/amp, it costs around $130-$140 and you still might end up buying a sound card for headphone surround sound features.
So going with external DAC/amp will eat up a lot of your budget.

 

[jordannn15]

USB DAC/Amps like the FiiO E10K ($75) would offer you good sound quality, but as it's USB, so it bypasses sound card features.
S/PDIF (optical & coaxial) dac/amp would work with sound card features, but DAC/amp with S/PDIF usually cost more.
Like the FiiO E17 Dac/amp, it costs around $130-$140 and you still might end up buying a sound card for headphone surround sound features.
So going with external DAC/amp will eat up a lot of your budget.

So if I didnt get a sound card and just got an amp, say an O2, and plugged it into the the back of my motherboard it wouldn't sound as good as just plugging my headphones straight into the sound card?

Also I'm confused why people say sound cards make the sound better after watching this video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d1rXcJuEsy0