[bunit]

Hi guys
first post here

First off let me start off by apologizing as I'm sure theres been many threads made similar to this, but i've searched a bit and haven't found anything recent that quite answers my questions. Okay anyways.

I'm looking to spend around $50 for a pair of cans that will serve me well for gaming and music. Specifically, games like CSS and CoDMW2, where positioning of footsteps is pretty important.

Gaming performance = Music performance for this purchase for me, in terms of importance.

If I've been informed correctly the quality of headsets for the price is often worse than their headphone counter parts, and I don't really NEED built-in mic as I have a webcam for audio, so I've narrowed down my choices after a bit of research to:

Audiotechnica ATH-FC700 (not many reviews on this? portable refresh of the FC7)

Sennheiser HD212 DJ Pro

Sennheiser EH250

I'd like to be able to purchase them from a reputable online seller, say amazon or newegg, but will look into other options of they're cheaper, like audio specialists/resellers. Oh and trustable of course.

I personally think most of the above headphones look pretty good, I'd rather not have all-black ones, but looks don't really matter that much. the FC700s look sweet in white I must say.

Anyways, any help picking or suggestions for other headphones would be great.

 

[TheSoviet]

When you said you'll be using it for gaming, I would assume that it'll not be portable; then, the JVC RX900 would be a good choice for you right on the budget.

 

[tdockweiler]

I'd suggest the Shure SRH-240. Best Buy has a sale of them right now (hopefully it's still on) for $34.99 marked down from $60. Even at $60 they're a good deal, but at $35 they're a steal. For having paid only $35 I was pretty impressed with their sound quality. They actually made me want to upgrade to the $200 Shure SRH-840!

I'm sure you can find them online for cheap too. I know you said $50 max, but an extra $10 might still be worth it just to get them locally. On amazon they are $48.88. They are very comfortable (more then the SRH-840 somehow!) and built very well for the price. When I took them out of the package I couldn't believe I paid only $35 for them despite being all plastic. I liked the SRH-240 so much that instead of returning them for my $35, just gave them to my mom.

The HD-228 from Sennheiser also sounded pretty good to my ears for the price. I had to take them back for the shure headphones because they kept falling off my head. I'm glad I did though.

 

[hans030390]

JVC HA-RX900

 

[bunit]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll be sure to check out those JVCs.

Is the isolation good on them? That's reasonably important to me. I prefer people to not hear my music..especially since I will be bringing them sometimes to say, the college library. Quiet places.

For everyday transit I have earbuds so thanks for the shure suggestion but I really want some comfortable circumaural/binaural headphones.

And any opinions on the ones I listed? Just wondering, thanks.

Oh some more. Bass isn't that important to me, good sound positioning/placement is in games is. Good isolation is preferable. That's all I think. Attractive headphones would only be a plus.

 

[tdockweiler]

BTW the SRH-240 are actually over the ear headphones and not earphones. They're very comfortable.

 

[Mr Joboto]

I'd agree with the SRH-240 suggestion. One of the best closed phones in that price bracket.

 

[bunit]

The Shures look pretty good!
I did some more research on the JVCs and they're looking great except I"m concerned that they're a little bit too large/bulky, I won't be bringing them around everywhere, but like I said I'll be carrying them around occasionally. They seem like a steal right now though @ $50 when they're normally priced @ $100?


Anyways anybody have any other recommendations? Thoughts on the JVCs, Shures, or previously mentioned Sennheiser HD212DJs/EH250s or the Audiotechnica FC700s?


Good soundstage = generally pretty good for gaming yes? positional audio wise.

edit/
I just figured out I can get the Audiotechnica ES7s for $70, within a reasonable amount of my price range. Jump on that?
Or is going portable unnecessary?

 

[Mr Joboto]

Soundstage on open models is much better than closed ones. But you said you need isolation.

The ES7s are designed to be portables, and aren't as comfortable as full-sized ones, so keep that in mind.

 

[bunit]

Oh alright thanks.
I"m a little bit torn

I feel like I should go for the Shure 240s $45 (or even the 440s, sale for $80shipped. Worth going from 240-->440?) or the JVCs $50 but am not sure if they will be too large for my needs. I mean, those things are pretty huge. That's why I was considering the ES7s for $70 shipped. Or even the Creative Aurvana Lives for $60. So many choices..
Anyways thanks for all the help

If anybody has additional input to help me make my decision that'd be great, but yeah, looks like at this point all I have to do is well - decide.

And yeah I'm trying to find a nice soundstage / isolation balance, good enough for delicate things like FPS games but still fairly isolating...I don't like it when people can hear my music ):. There's so many choices so I"m a bit confused..

I've heard that the JVC RX900s are a great closed/open hybrid, and a poor man's closed-ish version of the AD700s, which would be great for me. Price is right too...we'll see. I'd rather not have headphones that bulky and I think they're rather ugly but everything else seems good. Still undecided..

 

[tdockweiler]

I forgot about the Creative Aurvana Live. If you can get them for under $65, it's definitely worth it. I bought them last week and I like them a lot. I haven't used them enough to know if they're better then the Shure 240's though. I imagine they would be!

The Creative headphones are fairly small and one thing to point out is that they are not over the ear types for most people. For me, they are ON the ear. The Shure model is over the ear. If you don't mind paying the extra money, i'd imagine the SRH-440 is a lot better.

To me it's amazing how many good headphones there are these days for under $100. It didn't seem like this a few years back from what I remember.

 

[dennis_lcfx]

Isolation on the RX900 is pretty good. I'm a competitive COD4 player and i brought my RX900 to LAN a few days ago. It blocks most out the surrounding noise but at the same time, I could hear my mates shouting reports etc.

It's really big though

 

[bunit]

^How is the soundstage on them? And how do they work in terms of positional audio, can you hear footsteps/reloads/whatnot pretty well for COD? Basically, do they help? haha. Also, are you running a soundcard or onboard sound, and a laptop/desktop? Reason I ask is cause I might have to end up using primarily a laptop and might get a mobile expresscard x-fi with CMSS3D, but it does all the processing at a software level so its more like a DAC, and not as great as the PC cards but yeah. Haha sorry for all the questions.


I think I'm gonna go ahead and put in an order for the JVCs.
Seem like an underrated pair of headphones, good fit for my gaming/music hybrid needs. Great price too.