[Fendaun]

Hi!

So, I'm looking for a setup complete with a pair of cans, a dac, and an amp. Preferably, keep it down to $300 as much as possible, I can't go any further than that. To be clear, I'm going to use the setup mainly for gaming and listening to music.

As I spend most of the day with headphones on, I'm also considering comfort. Closed or Open? Definitely Closed. But if there are any good semi-opens out there, I'm willing to consider. Also, I listen mostly to chill, electronic, and house. Lastly, not really a bass head because of preferences.

Ah yes, I'm just going to put it out there hoping it helps, I'm playing Rainbow Six Siege where being a sound whore is game changing. With that said, something along the lines of the sound being clear and neutral will be appreciated, although my opinion can change.

Anyways, thanks! I'm hoping for everyone's two cents to drop in. :^)

 

[Lurk650]

Basically you want a DAC and full size cans, you are connecting via PC and in your price range the DAC will have plenty of built in amp power for your headphones.

Monoprice M560 for $220 shipped and the Fiio E10K is about $75. Bam at $300

 

[ProtegeManiac]

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-STRIX-S...d=1493306905&sr=8-2&keywords=strix+sound+card

https://www.amazon.com/Focal-H5006-...93306903&sr=8-1&keywords=Focal+Spirit+Classic

 

[Fendaun]

Basically you want a DAC and full size cans, you are connecting via PC and in your price range the DAC will have plenty of built in amp power for your headphones.

Monoprice M560 for $220 shipped and the Fiio E10K is about $75. Bam at $300

Oh, now that you've said that, I don't actually use a PC. I use a laptop, Acer Aspire F5-573G-71GR to be exact. Also, how well do the M560s perform? I've read about them and believe me or not, didn't strike that much of an impression in me. And that DAC/AMP, currently on massdrop and extremely tempted, haha!

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-STRIX-S...d=1493306905&sr=8-2&keywords=strix+sound+card

https://www.amazon.com/Focal-H5006-...93306903&sr=8-1&keywords=Focal+Spirit+Classic

As stated above, I don't have a PC and unable to use a sound card, looking into the headphones though!

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Oh, now that you've said that, I don't actually use a PC. I use a laptop, Acer Aspire F5-573G-71GR to be exact. Also, how well do the M560s perform? I've read about them and believe me or not, didn't strike that much of an impression in me. And that DAC/AMP, currently on massdrop and extremely tempted, haha!
---
As stated above, I don't have a PC and unable to use a sound card, looking into the headphones though!

Er...technically that's a PC. What you don't have is a desktop PC.

Use this instead.
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Sound-C...93310743&sr=8-28&keywords=external+sound+card

 

[Fendaun]

Silly me! I meant that, haha! Anyways, you got the point. What are your thoughts about the pair you just suggested? It seems like a hidden gem among most as I barely see anything worth reading.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Silly me! I meant that, haha! Anyways, you got the point. What are your thoughts about the pair you just suggested? It seems like a hidden gem among most as I barely see anything worth reading.

The Spirit Classic is fairly easy to drive and either of the soundcards would do well enough. If your priority is competitive advantage in gaming audio you'll really need a DSP that handles virtual surround.

 

[Fendaun]

Virtual Surround? I don't really like virtual surround, I don't even know if it's good to have it on. If I remember correctly, I read something saying that having surround sound in Siege is no no. But I'm not sure, since I haven't tried it out or anything.

About those Focal cans, I read something about durability issues, especially in its hinges. So, at the moment, I'm leaning towards the Monolith M560, which is a good entry level planar can for such a price.

I've until today to decide since the drop for the E10k is almost at its end. Anyways, thanks for the replies!

 

[Alu]

I own the Focal Spirit Classic, and as much as I like them, they are pain incarnate.
So if you value comfort, I would look elsewhere.

I kind of got used to them, but they're definitely not for long listening sessions.
YMMV of course, but my head isn't particularly massive.

 

[Lurk650]

Yeah laptop is a PC lol. You plug the DAC in via USB and it's overrides the built in sound card and you plug the headphones into that.

The 560 are amazing bargain. Closed up the mids pull back a bit and sharpen up the highs and focus the stage a bit. When open the mids pull forward and everything sound more expansive. Great imaging and micro details.

They can sit a bit loose but twisting them gets them to tighten up also using double sided tape and applying Sony XB500 pads gives a lot of cushion and helps to stay on the head. Got both ideas from Z Reviews on YT. Here's mine:

 

[Fred Wang]

For the price range, I would prioritize spending more on the cans themselves rather than dac/amp. I'm curious about why you don't want open-backed headphones; usually they will sound better than a closed back at the same price point at the expense of sound leaking.

So, I would probably do something like:
Schiit Fulla 2 DAC/AMP ($99) OR Audioquest Dragonfly Black DAC/AMP (~$99) --> Beyerdynamic DT880 PRO Semi-open headphones (~$200) OR Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO Closed--back headphones (~$150) OR Fostex T50RP Mk 3 Semi-Open headphoens (~$150)

 

[Fendaun]

For the price range, I would prioritize spending more on the cans themselves rather than dac/amp. I'm curious about why you don't want open-backed headphones; usually they will sound better than a closed back at the same price point at the expense of sound leaking.

So, I would probably do something like:
Schiit Fulla 2 DAC/AMP ($99) OR Audioquest Dragonfly Black DAC/AMP (~$99) --> Beyerdynamic DT880 PRO Semi-open headphones (~$200) OR Beyerdynamic DT770 PRO Closed--back headphones (~$150) OR Fostex T50RP Mk 3 Semi-Open headphoens (~$150)

You're absolutely right about the open back cans, as they definitely will sound better. But I don't want to bother anyone at home as I usually stay late at night gaming with a bunch of friends. Also, I figured that a closed pair would enable me to hear the crucial sounds during I play because of the seal and isolation. Nonetheless, after a thorough thinking of the topic at hand, getting an open pair wouldn't be THAT bad.

Oh, about the T50RP suggestion, I love how they sound judging from Zeos' sound demo. Of course, it isn't the actual sound but still, it's a good reference point. But how exactly should I drive this? They're pretty hard as far as I've heard and would both of the dac/amps above suffice?

Anyways, thank you so much for the suggestions guys! Appreciate it. Let this be of use for other people to use when their budget is at least $300.

PS: M560s, I'm tempted.

 

[buke9]

Unless your getting a lot of noise from your computer a dac is not real crucial at that price point. A amp would be needed for the Fostex's though. A Fiio A5 would be one that can drive them no problem. I had a E12 with a pair of Alpha Dogs (modded T50RP's for the most part) and drove them with ease.

 

[Fred Wang]

Open-backed headphones do leak sound, but generally speaking, unless you're within the same room as someone else, they won't hear anything unless you have the volume at ridiculous levels. When I game, I'm always using open-backed headphones unless there's a lot of extra noise in the environment. The spaciousness makes it feel like the sound is actually more directional; but your mileage may vary.

I'm not sure about how well the Fulla 2 would drive the T50RP's, but when I borrowed a pair from a friend before, they were driven decently from my DAP as well as straight off of my secondary system. That being said, using a better amp made them MUCH better.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Virtual Surround? I don't really like virtual surround, I don't even know if it's good to have it on.

I can't see how else you can get a competitive advantage with the sound apart from hearing footsteps coming from behind you or something like that.

If I remember correctly, I read something saying that having surround sound in Siege is no no. But I'm not sure, since I haven't tried it out or anything.

Maybe it has headphone specific audio, which basically means it has virtual surround embedded in it already, so you're supposed to disable the feature on soundcards when you play this.

Not all games have that however.