Seeking advice - over ear headphones for 40-70 euro
Jul 20, 2017 at 11:43 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 7

blackborg

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Hello, I'm from Lithuania. Currently i have Sony over ear open back headphones for around 20-25 euro, sadly they don't have any model written on them, got them a couple of years ago. They sound kinda ok, but i want to get something better.
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I'm willing to spend 40-70 euro on new ones. 3m cable would be very nice, to lay on the couch with them. Usually i play some casual games (no fps), watch movies, listen to music. So i guess i need them to be balanced, between low's mid's and high's.
I'm a bit worried about getting closed back ones, because people say they have worse sound quality and need to sit tight, though at night they might not disturb other people in my room.
I have Realtek® ALC1150 Codec on my msi z710a gaming m3 mobo, if that's important.
Went to local stores, found only a few headphones to try out, so i can't really judge anything, from listening perspective.
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I've found this website with some tests:
http://www.pcgamer.com/we-tested-23-mainstream-gaming-headsets-to-find-the-best/7/
Interesting that Turtle Beach Ear Force Z60 have all 3 categories on a high level and they only cost 42 euro in my country, while on this website it says 80$.
Also the brand states that this is a: 7.1 Channel Surround Sound PC Amplified Gaming Headset, Delivering incredible bass response.
Microphone Removable Omni-Directional (don't really need a second one..)
Cable length 0.91 / 2.1 m ( so as i understood the cable can be extended, which is super nice to switch between sitting at desktop and lying on the couch )
Driver units 60 mm with Neodymium magnets ( i've read that after 42mm drivers, sound may get a bit weird on high bass)
Frequency Range 20Hz - 20kHz ( quite typical ).
All in all, the price is very low and sounds too good to be true, considering it's a headset, not headphones, with all that "7.1" nonsense (which i read is only an advertisement move), and increadible bass? does that mean they are more focused on low's but bad at mid-high's?
Any experience on them and any thoughts?
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The only thing that catched my eye in stores was Audio Technica AVA400 for 70 euro, they look very comfy, especially those ear pads mmmm yeah. Wonder about sound quality.. are they worth it, because quite expensive.
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Other brands that i've read should be good, except the one above, should be AKG, BEYERDYNAMIC, CORSAIR, JBL, SENNHEISER, SONY?, STEELSERIES?, SUPERLUX to name a few. Am i right? Anything else, any suggestions/models?
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And my last part, i would like to clarify some points:

Frequency response - higher is better right, usually they don't go below 20k, but is there a big difference, lets say 20 and 25k, and what should i look for, is 20k quite good enough or 22-25 something should be a must have to sound good/great?
If it is stated (-3db) what does that give me exactly?

Driver size - well i guess i'm going not less than 40mm, but is 60 too much?

Impendance - this is resistance or power consumption? so higher is always better? differs too much on sound quality or not?

Sensitivity - so as i understand the higher this is the better, if one headphones have 110 db and others 90, at the same volume you will hear more loudly with the 110 ones right? That should make them more louder on max volume and barely noticeable sounds should be heard more clearly/easily? Is this correct?
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Any advice is highly appreciated, sorry for the long text. Thank you.
 
Jul 20, 2017 at 3:09 PM Post #2 of 7
I'd say get either the Hyper X Cloud 2 or one of the Audio Technica M30X/M40X.
1) Closed back doesn't mean worse sound than open back. If anything, closed back cans have more detail at lower volumes.
2) Impedance is a measurement of how much the headphone resists current. This basically means how much power it needs. Over 50 ohms and you'll likely need an amp for the headphone to sound right.
3) 7.1 advertising is stupid marketing and doesn't really mean much.
4) Frequency range is almost meaningless. Ad long as it goes from 20hz-20khz you'll be fine.
5) Sensitivity isn't much help, it just means how loud it'll get if you put a certain amount of power into it.
6) Driver size doesn't matter much either. 40 is a fine size

Overall I'd recommend Hyper X Cloud 2 or something by Audio Technica like I said above. Very balanced and clear, and they don't need amps. Hyper X comes with a removable microphone
 
Jul 20, 2017 at 6:26 PM Post #3 of 7
I'd say get either the Hyper X Cloud 2 or one of the Audio Technica M30X/M40X.
1) Closed back doesn't mean worse sound than open back. If anything, closed back cans have more detail at lower volumes.
2) Impedance is a measurement of how much the headphone resists current. This basically means how much power it needs. Over 50 ohms and you'll likely need an amp for the headphone to sound right.
3) 7.1 advertising is stupid marketing and doesn't really mean much.
4) Frequency range is almost meaningless. Ad long as it goes from 20hz-20khz you'll be fine.
5) Sensitivity isn't much help, it just means how loud it'll get if you put a certain amount of power into it.
6) Driver size doesn't matter much either. 40 is a fine size

Overall I'd recommend Hyper X Cloud 2 or something by Audio Technica like I said above. Very balanced and clear, and they don't need amps. Hyper X comes with a removable microphone

Thanks for replying.
Those headphones cost up to 100 euro, a bit too much, is there any cheaper alternative? Or is there a huge difference between 50-70 and 100 euro headphones?

2. I'm using headphones with my pc, do i still need amp for some?
5. Didn't understood entirely, was i right? Higher db in spec means sound is more louder at any volume? So it's better?
 
Jul 20, 2017 at 7:42 PM Post #5 of 7
Louder doesn't mean better. I'd say try the M20X like suggested above, they should be affordable. Headphone sensitivity spec won't matter to you because you aren't trying to pair it with an amp, and for lower cost headphones it doesn't really matter anyway because they're typically easy to drive
 
Jul 21, 2017 at 11:23 AM Post #6 of 7
Thanks for your answers.
I've been looking and reading etc, decided since i'm not spending hundrends, don't need to worry too much. So i came down to these 2 options:
ATH AVA 400 and ATH m20x, would like to stop on these. Found them for 56 and 74 euro respectively.
Just need to choose which one. Both have good reviews, pro's and cons. Hm..
 

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