[nicolasete]

This may sound heretic in an audiophile forum, but i think it can be helpful for the new people here, and the other threads on this subject are extremely short.
 
 
So what are the best headphones (for the price) to use directly plugged in the motherboard's onboard audio system? (In my case  Realtek HD Audio)
 
 
I'm sure there are decent cans out there from around 30 to 120€ wich sound great onboard, at least for those who don't (YET) have a trained hearing as most people here. I presume onboard reduces the impedance to under 32ohms, but hey! you are the experts after all

 
 
 
 
 
* Althought it would be great that this went a bit more general, if anyone cares, my personal search is for all-round nice headphones, with focus on immersion (aka bass?) in movies and gaming, but with good positional audio to remain competitive in multiplayer FPSs, and a decent performance in music. For 32 ohms, i have been mainyl recommended the Creative Aurvana Live! headphones, wich sell for 74€ here. Any other suggestion will be very welcome ^^
 

 

[maggior]

I don't think that there is anything special about driving headphones directly from an onboard soundcard.  You're best bet would be to get 'phones with standard impedence and are easy to drive.
 
Grado (which I enjoy listening to) would fall into this category.  Plenty of other headphones would fit this need as well.
 
Beware that better headphones will made limitations in your setup more obvious.  Better headphones that expose musical detail will also expose hiss and digital noise.

 

[nicolasete]

Quote:

Beware that better headphones will made limitations in your setup more obvious.  Better headphones that expose musical detail will also expose hiss and digital noise.

You got it. Thats exactly the point of this thread. When i first came here i thought i could just buy a pair of hifi 120€ 250ohm impedance cans and just plug them into my pc for an huge improvement. But after unending sessions of reading through these forums i learned exactly that, the better the headphones get, the more and more gear you need to power them and the more expensive the whole thing gets, exponentially.
 
Thats the point of the suggestion, maybe new users have it easier to find a good pair of cans for their untrained ears and wallets.
 
Thanks for the suggestion about the grados anyways =)

 

[TobaccoRoad]

Why stick with onboard? Even the cheapest soundcard would improve pretty significantly.
 
That being said, CAL! should be a decent choice. I never heard it but I had D1001 which is supposed to be the same headphone.

 

[maggior]

Quote:

You got it. Thats exactly the point of this thread. When i first came here i thought i could just buy a pair of hifi 120€ 250ohm impedance cans and just plug them into my pc for an huge improvement. But after unending sessions of reading through these forums i learned exactly that, the better the headphones get, the more and more gear you need to power them and the more expensive the whole thing gets, exponentially.
 
Thats the point of the suggestion, maybe new users have it easier to find a good pair of cans for their untrained ears and wallets.
 
Thanks for the suggestion about the grados anyways =)

That's why I suggested "headphones with standard impedence", otherwise as you've noted, you need outboard equipment to properly drive them.  I think that there are plenty of good headphones out there that don't require an outboard amp to drive - Grado being an example.  Sennheiser have plenty of standard impedence 'phones too.
 
But even still, you will get more detail and notice flaws, if any, more.  Another option is to go with cheapo headphones that dull and blur the sound so much that even the digi-hash and hiss is deadened .
 
 
BTW, since you refer "euros" for currency, I'll assume you aren't in the US.  From what I've read, Grado are significantly more expensive outside the US, so they may not be a good economic choice for you.

 

[Drubbing]

In europe, your far better going with Alessandro's MS1. Much of the Grado hype is centred around the SQ per $ in the US. Everywhere else, their prices mean plenty of other good phones come into consideration as well.
 

 

[nicolasete]

Quote:

Why stick with onboard? Even the cheapest soundcard would improve pretty significantly.
 
That being said, CAL! should be a decent choice. I never heard it but I had D1001 which is supposed to be the same headphone.

 
Because many people here think that "the cheapest" possible soundcard is around 70-100 euros, thats not for everyone.
 
For people who are like me starting in the audio world, 70€ headphones is already a lot, and i prefer to test them and i i like it and i get the bucks buy more stuff or improve later.
 
I may be wrong but i dont think its worth to invest 30 euros in a bad soundcard that is not gonna improve much over realtek onboard. If i make that step, ill save and go for a decent soundcard.
 
 
Btw i just go the CALs, found them cheap, i just hope they are what im expecting, if they are, maybe one day ill get soundcard and amp and then get the dt150s.