[WrxSTI]

Hi everyone, just registered here, I have a question to ask as I am seeking to upgrade my current -setup- (not much of it at the moment) a step higher, I believe my ears deserve it after all this time. Here is what I am coming from; for about 3 years I owned a Creative T6060 budget 5.1 speaker set, sounded "OKish" to me (my standards weren't something back then). Finally decided I needed something better, bought the Logitech Z-5500 (which wasn't that great a move I admit, but I game quite a lot, and they do a rather good job at that) and I was and still am pretty impressed with the SQ. The speakers will stick for a while as I'm just starting college and don't have a job yet, so I can't do much better right now.
 
The thing that I really don't look forward to every evening is having to put my current set of headphones on. They are a really lame 5.1 gaming set which cost about 60$ (Trust HS-6200), truly terrible and they sound godawful compared to the Z-5500; If I can make that comparison. So, I really need something better. I've only recently started to upgrade all my music collection to FLAC files but I do have a fair bit already.
 
Unfortunately, my budget isn't -that- great, so I am looking at a set of headphones in the 30-40$ range for music/gaming (50/50 use in all honesty), and I was thinking about the KOSS Porta Pro's which I see get very good reviews for their price range.
 
I am wondering if there is anything better suited for my requirements in this price range or are they really the way to go (keep in mind I can't buy them locally so I have to also pay shipping from eBay). The PC doesn't have a dedicated souncard, it is a Realtek ALC889A (which is the top of the line Realtek chip to be fair) - and as far as onboard sound chips go, it does sound -pretty- good. It does say it has a headphone amplifier for all the 6 ports in the back, not sure if that works for the front panel then as well, because I read the cable on the Porta Pro's is not that long. Still I reckon the amplifier probably will be more than enough for the Porta Pro's or similar headphones, no?
 
Thanks

 

[absoluNewbie]

by gaming you mean fps games? by music, what kind? different headphones for different uses, how do you feel about open/closed headphones? is noise a problem?
 
edit: not sure how they would sound for 'gaming' but soundwise, these are some good choices:
JVC HA-RX700
DBI pro 700

 

[WrxSTI]

FPS, RPG, racing, a bit of everything actually. Music: trance, rock, some rap. No classical/jazz/blues stuff though.
 
Noise? Not much, my room/house is relatively quiet during the day, the PC case does have some not-so-subtle fans but they can be tamed down, and I could always place the case a bit further. So I don't mind open headphones, certainly not if they have better sound quality.
 
Do you reckon the ones you mentioned are better than the Porta Pro, as far as SQ goes?

 

[WrxSTI]

Anyone else feel like chiming in? The JVC HA RX-700 are 90$ shipped

and I can't find the DBI Pro 700 anywhere on eBay - don't they retail for ~$200 ? They do look great though.
 
Also I have a question regarding the amps...as I mentioned the ALC889 apparently has headphone amps on the back ports, but I am not sure if they are enough power for the higher impedance headphones...if I wanted to add a Cmoy amp later on would it hurt that there are two amplifiers in play?
 
Thanks

 

[absoluNewbie]

have not heard the portapros, but from what i know is they are made for the portable market? since they are foldable/carrying case, another plus side with koss is lifetime warranty, you break it, they replace it, no question asked.
 
$90 shipped? where are you!?!?
 
http://www.amazon.com/JVC-HARX700-High-Grade-Full-Size-Headphone/dp/B0013OWPV4
 
have seen dbi pros go for $40 on ebay, periodically.
 
no clue about soundcards, but around how high impedance?
 
only have laptop, but i use cmoy from the headphone out just fine, seems like the case with desktop with soundcard as well, can't see an alternative other than not using cmoy at all

 

[WrxSTI]

Croatia, Europe. It costs that much to ship and Amazon won't ship to me at all. Yep, it's BS. What can I do, I live in a small town and the only place where you can check out some decent hi-fi headphones is some 37 miles off.
 
To be honest if I have the dough I'd get the Senn's HD 650... hmm, maybe sell the Z-5500 and buy them, but then I'd need a good amp and a better DAC than onboard, and then that suddenly costs a heck of a lot more

Ugh, wish I was in the US, would have so much more options...
 
So from what it seems, I can get the Koss for $40 shipped and those are about the only ones I can get off eBay which I have heard have great sound, unless I can find/someone can recommed something else.

 

[absoluNewbie]

mmm try to source somthing from europe, if you can increase budget to $100 then suddenly a whole new market opens up (ath m50 vomes to mind)

 

[absoluNewbie]

urgh, cant edit, edit: or ATH-AD700(~$100), $30-40 is really nothing to go with, mid-fi is where the changes really start to become noticeable, the ad700 is open back so, better soundstaging ( sound positioning - so you know where the footsteps are coming from), and i said europe cause, croatia's EU right? so one rate shipping right? try to find another headfier in europe for advice
 
edit: is saving up out of the option?

 

[WrxSTI]

Well there is actually a DBI Pro up for $40 right now, but not sure if the guy would ship here, we'll see what he says. Saving up, heh, not really sure where to cut corners, I'm already on a pretty tight budget so it isn't like I go around wasting money, in a month I could save up maybe 50$. Like I said the only way would be to sell the speakers, I know they aren't great but they cost a lot and are good for gaming and when people come over and you wanna play some games or watch a movie, can't do that with headphones.
 
I guess I'll wait for a while longer, maybe something turns up locally, or at least closer so I don't have to pay 1.5x the item price in shipping. Thanks for the advice

 

[freestyler]

For that price look no further than the superlux hd668B. http://www.headfonia.com/superlux-hd668b/ http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/485039/superlux-hd668b-are-they-really-that-good-or-just-a-cheap-copycat I ordered them from thomann.de since i'm from europe as well. Also got the akg240 velour pads to add extra comfort.

 

[WrxSTI]

Looks very interesting. How do you like them so far? Could you say a few words about the perceived sound quality and what kind of music you listen to on them etc.? Thanks

 

[absoluNewbie]

get em, and report back here.
 
the real question is, how do i get myself a pair...

 

[WrxSTI]

Just ordered the Superlux 668B, can't wait to get them. I'm sure they'll blow me away, this being my first audiophile-grade headphone and coming from a cheapo Trust "gaming" headset (oh if only it were, but the only cheap thing was the build quality, the Trust headset cost as much as the 668B shipped

). I'll make sure to leave my impressions you can count on it. Unfortunately I won't have much to compare them to, so don't be surprised if my review is in the form of "awesome, awesome, and did I mention awesome"

  Should take 6-10 days to get here so we'll see.

 

[WrxSTI]

I bought them, you can read my review here: http://www.head-fi.org/products/superlux-hd-668-b/reviews.

 

[WrxSTI]

Bumped if certain people are interested.