Best unamped cans... < £200

[Gilly]

Hi there, (first post w00t)

I have some Sennheiser HD515's at the moment, they seem to be serving me well, but im interested in what im missing out on

I therefore am in need of some advice.

First of all,

The cans are gonna be running out of a 6.3mm headphone jack on the front bay of my Xfi sound card, it has a variable attenuation output, but will not be going through any auxilary amp for sheer practicality reasons

it seems to cope well with the current 120 ohm load that the HD515's have.

This one:

http://www.creative.com/products/pro...&product=14000

I need them for gaming use on PC games, such as Counter Strike: Source, Quake 4, Unreal Tournament, Crysis (when it comes out hehe). Basically i need some where the directionality (if that is the correct word) is easy to pinpoint).

I also wil be feeding them from an xbox 360 fed into my PC via optical (DD 5.1) but upmost sound quality here isnt my largest concern

I like rock music ranging from Muse and Audioslave to Trivium and Slipknot, so i need deep but not boomy bass tones, good midrange, basically just good overall audio quality. I dont listen to an excessive amount of music, although when i do it isnt for short periods, so i do get chance to just sit doing nothing whilst listening).

I would prefer cans like my 515's, as in one where the pads go round the whole ear (none of the cup resting on the ear). I have no preferance of open or closed, although closed might be awkward for long gaming sessions, the open ones i have atm seem a bit too leaky (inwards hehe).

I have looked at:

HD595, HD600, HD650 (but heard the later need amps to get best, and the former could benefit from another cable)

Audio Technica ATH-A900 in particular seems good from reviews here, that is well under my budget (which is awesome) and they seem good

I have been steared to some Grado ones (no models were mentioned) by a friend at work, and also the Beyerdynamic ones (770 and 880 is it) seem to be good also, although Beyer as a company are poor to deal with (our work gets Cue remote controls from them (UK branch)).

So there you are, plenty of good cans i have heard about, which in your opinion would suit me best????

ty, Gilly

 

[patrox89]

i just bought the hd595s and i love them. i use them amped but i suppose its not necessary. gaming is amazing with them and sound leakage isnt really a problem for me as im in my own room and no ones disturbs me much. you would need an amp for the beyers you talked about and grados would be very harsh in first person shooters (automatic gunfire would be very shrill) and theyre not as comfortable as senns and beyers. actually, if you dont like phones to rest on your ears then grados prob arent for you. as for the a900s im not qualified to comment on them, never even seen them in person.

(i just like german engineering better, so i bought the senns)

 

[Gilly]

I agree about the comfort factor on the Grado's, the cups do look really small compared to my 515's. And thanks for the warning on the Grado's and gunfire, probibly not for me on both counts.

Also, what are the Sony's (not sure on model number) like in that price range? (atm £200 is nearly $400 US BTW)

ty for speedy response Patrox

 

[patrox89]

sony mdr sa1000 but those def arent for gaming, again too harsh i suppose, going on what others have said about them. they also have the mdr v6's which might be good but ive never heard them or seen them recommended much for gaming. other than that im not really sure.



whatever you do, do not buy "gaming headphone 5.1 surround sound" garbage.

 

[kaushama]

I did some search on this few weeks back. Though I have not auditioned HD595 seem to be the winner in this category.

 

[TomH]

HD595

Best all-round unamped multi-purpose cans in my experience, unless they are run out of a receiver or integrated amp with higher (120ohm) output impedance, then they go boomey and bloated. Particularly nice out of portable amps (Micro, TBH in specific) and PCDP and iPod. I like them more and more over time. Super comfortable.

 

[facelvega]

The title question of this post is, I'm afraid, already logically insensible. By the time you get up to 200 pounds, the best unamped can will still be trounced by a 100 pound headphone with a 50 pound amp. There's no point in improving the end of the chain and leaving the rest behind.

 

[Firevortex]

A900LTD and LDM+ cant go wrong with that combo. those cans are closed too so if your into LAN then its one of the best closed cans for your price range. i played some FPS (fear combat) the other day and got accused of using wall hax

 

[stewtheking]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firevortex A900LTD and LDM+ cant go wrong with that combo.

With a $200 budget, there's a lot wrong with that combo.

 

[Kirium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilly I have been steared to some Grado ones (no models were mentioned) by a friend at work, and also the Beyerdynamic ones (770 and 880 is it) seem to be good also, although Beyer as a company are poor to deal with (our work gets Cue remote controls from them (UK branch)).

Don't let a lame distibutor keep you from trying the 32ohm DT770/DT880/DT990s... They are by all reports excellent unamped straight from portable sources.

I've heard good things about the AT A900LTDs also. AT cans are usually quite easy to drive unamped..

 

[Firevortex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewtheking With a $200 budget, there's a lot wrong with that combo.

thats around $400USD...saw a few LTDs sold for $280-$350 on the FS section. LDM+ is about $60-$70, i got mine new for $55 shipped. so tell me whats wrong with that combo?

 

[Gilly]

so a few votes for the HD595 unamped, or was that a subtle hint that the rest of the money should be spent on an amp???

and some for the ATH-A900's. the price dif between the 595 and A900's is like £15 at the most. Whats the diff between the A900 regular and the LTD, and where do you get hold of the LTD's because the UK is crap place to get the standard ones. Audiocubes doesnt seem to carry the LTD model ones, and thats my best place to get stuff.

And the LDM+ amplifier, would you seriosuly recomend that with the A900, despite their low (40 Ohm) impediance. the cans will be used at a LAN (hopefully i29 for those who follow such things) so closed may well be a godsend. But because of portability reasons (my case is a Thermaltake Tai Chi, which alone, without monitor, keyboard and stuff is nearly 30kg) so i gotta travel light

ty

 

[3lusiv3]

I don't know if it matters, but the A900's are quite big.

 

[Firevortex]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gilly so a few votes for the HD595 unamped, or was that a subtle hint that the rest of the money should be spent on an amp??? and some for the ATH-A900's. the price dif between the 595 and A900's is like £15 at the most. Whats the diff between the A900 regular and the LTD, and where do you get hold of the LTD's because the UK is crap place to get the standard ones. Audiocubes doesnt seem to carry the LTD model ones, and thats my best place to get stuff. And the LDM+ amplifier, would you seriosuly recomend that with the A900, despite their low (40 Ohm) impediance. the cans will be used at a LAN (hopefully i29 for those who follow such things) so closed may well be a godsend. But because of portability reasons (my case is a Thermaltake Tai Chi, which alone, without monitor, keyboard and stuff is nearly 30kg) so i gotta travel light ty

you should do a search..there is ALOT of threads covering best gaming cans. most ppl prefer A900s and DT770pro although DT770pro needs an amp. A900s sounds great with out one.

LTD is limited edition with better drivers, pads and cables. only problem is they're out of production so its really hard to come by.

if you want a HD595 go buy your self a Koss A250 for $40

general feed back has been its about as good.

 

[Roger.McMurphy]

I heard the HD555 sounded better unamped than the HD595. Anyone really tried them both? The HD555 is supposed to have a wider soundstage than the HD595 too. Anyone has both?