[kaderhashmi]

Hi All,
 
I desperately need advice on what headphones to get for films (60% use) and games (40%) - no music at all. I am currently torn between the Beyerdynamic 880, AKG 701/2, Audio Technica A900 ( as i would prefer open back). Currently I have the Sennheiser 595s but am looking for something on the next level from these and am completely lost in the reviews I've read online. I have a budget of around £250 to £300. What can you guys recommend? 
 
One final question - I hope not to buy a dedicated headphone amp and instead use my onkyo (sr875) AV receiver. Will this be sufficient? Unfortunately there is nothing on the onkyo website telling me the impedance on the headphone socket so I don't know if it will be sufficient to power any of the above headphones! Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[David.M]

dt880,  but if you're not serious about amping them, go with the 32ohm variant.

 

[kaderhashmi]

 will the av receiver not be powerful enough for the 250 ohm or 600 ohm versions of the dt880 then? I wouldnt mind getting an headphone amp but only so long as i can connect it to the av receiver. is this not possible? was considering something like the astro mixamp or would this also not suffice?

 

[TheWuss]

Quote:

 will the av receiver not be powerful enough for the 250 ohm or 600 ohm versions of the dt880 then? I wouldnt mind getting an headphone amp but only so long as i can connect it to the av receiver. is this not possible? was considering something like the astro mixamp or would this also not suffice?

put it this way - buying the amp makes spending the $300 on the phones worth it.
today's average home theatre receiver is not designed to drive higher impedence cans.  and, power issues aside, they just don't have the finesse of a separate dedicated hp amp.
 
yes, i've listened to my 600 ohm cans from my yamaha amp.  and it sounds alright.
but, you wouldn't be spending $300 on a dt880, and then turn around and handicap them so they'll only sound alright...
that's the thinking.
 

 

[kaderhashmi]

Quote:

put it this way - buying the amp makes spending the $300 on the phones worth it.
today's average home theatre receiver is not designed to drive higher impedence cans.  and, power issues aside, they just don't have the finesse of a separate dedicated hp amp.
 
yes, i've listened to my 600 ohm cans from my yamaha amp.  and it sounds alright.
but, you wouldn't be spending $300 on a dt880, and then turn around and handicap them so they'll only sound alright...
that's the thinking.
 

Thanks for the swift responses from you both. I understand the logic but i simply dont think my budget can stretch that far to buy an appropriate amp. Reading briefly about tube amps, their initial cost and replacing tubes etc is more hassle than i want to take on as well. Are there no other headphones that offer a performance upgrade from my sennheisers whilst being easy enough to drive so they dont require a separate amp?

 

[Mr Joboto]

AD900s, done.

 

[JayB18]

AD900. DT440 if you want something a bit more bass.

 

[IDK]

quick question:
 
If a receiver support optical, and you hook a headphone amp up to it via RCA...would SQ thru Headphones degrade or improve?

 

[kaderhashmi]

Many thanks for all your replies. I have been considering the AD900 and it would be easier to power and therefore my av receiver should suffice. But I am still drawn to the bass of the 880 600 ohm. Following on from IDKs question, is it possible/ok to use my receiver as a DAC and use an amp like the Audio G C-2C to power it? If not, would a Nuforce HDP be good or do you have other recommendations. 

 

[kaderhashmi]

anyone?

 

[Omega17TheTrue]

Denon D2000 if you like shaking bass with a boost, can be great for movies with their enveloping 3d sound.
 

 

[loopfreak]

For games and movies d2000 is a real gem !

 

[The Big Sleep]

Quote:

Many thanks for all your replies. I have been considering the AD900 and it would be easier to power and therefore my av receiver should suffice. But I am still drawn to the bass of the 880 600 ohm. Following on from IDKs question, is it possible/ok to use my receiver as a DAC and use an amp like the Audio G C-2C to power it? If not, would a Nuforce HDP be good or do you have other recommendations. 

Im in the exact same conundrum as the OP, I do all of my listening via a Yamaha Receiver connected optically to my PS3/Xbox 360. I've had D2000 and D5000 and they sounded better out of my receiver than they did out of my Little Dot tube amp IMO. Im tempted to bite on some 600Ohm beyers to see if the Yamaha can suffice.

 

[ExpatinJapan]

I bought some headphones for gaming last year after exhaustive research, I chose the ATH-A900 (I wanted closed cans as not to annoy other members with sound leakage), the open cans are meant to sound more full.
 
I am very happy with my purchase and I also bought a JVS SU-DH1 amp with an optical cord to get dolby and pseudo 5.1 sound.

 

[MichealAngelo]

Check out the Ultrasone HFI2400 or pro 2500 both are excellent headphones, they dont need an amp, I liked both of these just how they are unamped more than other phones paired with amps, they made me question if amps are really necessary, I liked the 2400 a little more but both are great