[PL4Y3R 0N3]

So I was going to get the sennheiser game zero for my gaming laptop, but I don't think they would be very good for music, and at the moment I don't think I want to buy a headphone just for gaming. So I decided if I'm going to get something else I want the one of the fidelio series, but I'm not sure which.

Budget: around $200 USD

Important qualities: I need some bass impact and presence, or else I'll feel like half of my song is missing. Also some amount of noise isolation if possible. I don't want to have to crank the volume to unimaginable levels to watch movies amd play games.

Also if you have reccomendations that fit my needs I'd be more than happy to listen. I chose the fidelio because it looks awesome, as does the AKG K701 but that apparently has rediculously light bass.

Thanks in advance,

PL4Y3R 0N3

 

[kimvictor]

So I was going to get the sennheiser game zero for my gaming laptop, but I don't think they would be very good for music, and at the moment I don't think I want to buy a headphone just for gaming. So I decided if I'm going to get something else I want the one of the fidelio series, but I'm not sure which.

Budget: around $200 USD

Important qualities: I need some bass impact and presence, or else I'll feel like half of my song is missing. Also some amount of noise isolation if possible. I don't want to have to crank the volume to unimaginable levels to watch movies amd play games.

Also if you have reccomendations that fit my needs I'd be more than happy to listen. I chose the fidelio because it looks awesome, as does the AKG K701 but that apparently has rediculously light bass.

Thanks in advance,

PL4Y3R 0N3

Should have dropped the K701 to begin with anyways, as they provide no noise isolation. Drop any open back or semi-open back headphones. SRH840 is a solid choice, and it has slightly boosted bass(quite noticeable compared to the K701, although I wouldn't call K701's bass ridiculously light). Isolation is decent too. Many fidelio headphones are open back(most of their recommended lineups are open back), but look around.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

So I was going to get the sennheiser game zero for my gaming laptop, but I don't think they would be very good for music, and at the moment I don't think I want to buy a headphone just for gaming. So I decided if I'm going to get something else I want the one of the fidelio series, but I'm not sure which.

Budget: around $200 USD

Important qualities: I need some bass impact and presence, or else I'll feel like half of my song is missing. Also some amount of noise isolation if possible. I don't want to have to crank the volume to unimaginable levels to watch movies amd play games.

 
The M1 is the only Fidelio that has a closed back. All the others - X2, L2, SHP9500 - are open back headphones. Not sure why you decided to zero in on the Fidelio line though - you could just get the DT770 if the goal is a bassy headphone that isolates a bit more.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

The M1 is the only Fidelio that has a closed back. All the others - X2, L2, SHP9500 - are open back headphones. Not sure why you decided to zero in on the Fidelio line though - you could just get the DT770 if the goal is a bassy headphone that isolates a bit more.

Truthfully I zeroed in because they look superb. I wanted to try open back, and they seemed to be a bit more closed than most.
Truthfully I don't want anything too bassy, I'd live to try a more neutral sound signature. But I've only owned v shaped headphones so I feel like if I went with a headphone that was too neutral I'd hate it. I feel like stepping down would be better.
Also I want something for both music and gaming, and all I have at the moment is the studio wireless which has a very, very small soundstage. So I looked into the game zero but I didn't think it would be good for anything other than gaming, and 200 seems like a lot to spend on something for only gaming when I hardly ever have time to game.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Truthfully I zeroed in because they look superb. I wanted to try open back, and they seemed to be a bit more closed than most.

 

They just have smaller grill openings/gaps than most Grados. Past that it has more to do with their color (they're blacker than Sennheisers) as well as lighting on the photos which is why you don't see what's inside, unlike for example how I used soft but direct lighting and long exposure (five exposures, HDR) to make my HD600 avatar. HD600 stock photos likely used multi-directional speedlights/strobes. Plus the distance between the grill and driver is likely shorter on these Sennheisers.

 

 

Quote:

Truthfully I don't want anything too bassy, I'd live to try a more neutral sound signature. But I've only owned v shaped headphones so I feel like if I went with a headphone that was too neutral I'd hate it. I feel like stepping down would be better.

 

The K701 isn't really all that neutral though - it has a peak in the treble (around 9000hz I think) that is taller than where it is at 1000hz, and on the other end it starts trailing off and is below where 1000hz is at just 60hz. I really wouldn't call that "neutral," considering the definition of "neutral," which is to emphasize or de-emphasize anything.

 

If what you need is something that actually just produces the bass without much emphasis, there's the Beyer T70. It still has a taller treble peak but the bass reaches down to 10hz without getting too far below or above where it is at 1000hz. Generally smoother curve from 10hz to 1000hz. It's closed back also to keep the ambient noise out a little bit better, but of course it's still not as good as an IEM.

 

 

Quote:

Also I want something for both music and gaming, and all I have at the moment is the studio wireless which has a very, very small soundstage. So I looked into the game zero but I didn't think it would be good for anything other than gaming, and 200 seems like a lot to spend on something for only gaming when I hardly ever have time to game.

 

The soundcard DSP has as much if not more to do with gaming surround than the headphone's soundstage though, although you'd have to leave Dolby Headphone or whatever running even on stereo audio to get more of that out of head imaging. Even my Xonar U3 + Superlux HD330 on my gaming rig (but obviously this is not my reference system for audio) had me reaching for the volume control on the speakers just because the YouTube vid I was watching seemed to have the audio coming from where the monitor is.

 

As for audio with no DSP, for around $200 there's nothing better than the K701, however tonally it has issues like the early bass roll-off, which sometimes is made worse by amps that are already piling on some audible distortion with it (unless that distortion or loss of damping factor as in the case of the Burson Soloist for example actually ends up boosting the bass), so what you save on that headphone just ends up going to the amplifier.

 

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

The K701 isn't really all that neutral though - it has a peak in the treble (around 9000hz I think) that is taller than where it is at 1000hz, and on the other end it starts trailing off and is below where 1000hz is at just 60hz. I really wouldn't call that "neutral," considering the definition of "neutral," which is to emphasize or de-emphasize anything.

Yes that's one of the reasons I stopped looking at it. I looked at the frequency response curve and noticed the bass roll off, which I felt would not suit my music. It is also one of the reasons I stated looking at the fidelio which I believe is slightly v-shaped.
I also want to mention that the source is my Alienware 17 r3 which has a sound blaster recon 3di sound card. Not sure about it's specs though, although I'm assuming it is similar to the recon 3D. As this is a mobile rig I was hoping to do without an external dac/amp seeings how I'll be in a dorm.
So my important features list stands, a bit of bass impact and presence for my metal, some isolation so that I don't have to crank the volume to hearing loss levels, and also some spatial imaging so that I can have directional audio.

.
The soundcard DSP has as much if not more to do with gaming surround than the headphone's soundstage though, although you'd have to leave Dolby Headphone or whatever running even on stereo audio to get more of that out of head imaging. Even my Xonar U3 + Superlux HD330 on my gaming rig (but obviously this is not my reference system for audio) had me reaching for the volume control on the speakers just because the YouTube vid I was watching seemed to have the audio coming from where the monitor is.

I had that happen once with my beats. I was so convinced that my laptop speakers were the ones playing that I could have sworn I felt the vibrations from the table. I had connected my headphones via Bluetooth and I thought there was a problem with the pairing so I went to YouTube and played the same song an I knew it was coming from my headphones but when I went back to iTunes it sounded like my speakers. But then I took my headphones off and both disappeared. I was so confused because I thought my beats couldn't possibly have the soundstage to pull that off.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Yes that's one of the reasons I stopped looking at it. I looked at the frequency response curve and noticed the bass roll off, which I felt would not suit my music. It is also one of the reasons I stated looking at the fidelio which I believe is slightly v-shaped.
I also want to mention that the source is my Alienware 17 r3 which has a sound blaster recon 3di sound card. Not sure about it's specs though, although I'm assuming it is similar to the recon 3D. As this is a mobile rig I was hoping to do without an external dac/amp seeings how I'll be in a dorm.

 
Ask Alienware or Creative and check what the output impedance is on that specific laptop's sound card. That will be one clue as to what headphones you might want to avoid, for example the very low impedance of the Fidelios.
 

So my important features list stands, a bit of bass impact and presence for my metal, some isolation so that I don't have to crank the volume to hearing loss levels, and also some spatial imaging so that I can have directional audio.

 

Regarding isolation, if it's in a dorm and especially if you have a room mate, a closed headphone will always be the safest bet for not annoying the roommate.
 
 

I had that happen once with my beats. I was so convinced that my laptop speakers were the ones playing that I could have sworn I felt the vibrations from the table. I had connected my headphones via Bluetooth and I thought there was a problem with the pairing so I went to YouTube and played the same song an I knew it was coming from my headphones but when I went back to iTunes it sounded like my speakers. But then I took my headphones off and both disappeared. I was so confused because I thought my beats couldn't possibly have the soundstage to pull that off.

 

Did the vibrations go with the beat or not? If it didn't it could have been your HDD.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

Ask Alienware or Creative and check what the output impedance is on that specific laptop's sound card. That will be one clue as to what headphones you might want to avoid, for example the very low impedance of the Fidelios.

Did the vibrations go with the beat or not? If it didn't it could have been your HDD.

I already asked creative, who told me to ask Alienware. I'll ask Alienware tonight.
What about the ATH-a900x? How would those do?

And I didn't notice if it was with the beat as my dad was on the phone behind me and I was more worried about that. XD

 

[ProtegeManiac]

What about the ATH-a900x? How would those do?

 
They're closed back so they'll isolate well enough and you'll hear more of what bass it has...but if you need a lot more bass it doesn't have that much of it to begin with.
 
For positional audio though they're great considering they're closed back, but still your DSP will matter more than the headphone.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

   
Ask Alienware or Creative and check what the output impedance is on that specific laptop's sound card. That will be one clue as to what headphones you might want to avoid, for example the very low impedance of the Fidelios.
 

So surprise surprise, not even Dell knows the tech specs for the Recon 3di. Now I'm considering a Schiit magni/modi stack. I cannot believe that the manufacturers do not even know what they are manufacturing, but according to Dell Technical Support that is the truth.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PL4Y3R 0N3 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

So surprise surprise, not even Dell knows the tech specs for the Recon 3di. Now I'm considering a Schiit magni/modi stack. I cannot believe that the manufacturers do not even know what they are manufacturing, but according to Dell Technical Support that is the truth.

 

As long as your laptop has SPDIF output then using the Modi2 Uber with it will be fine. This means you will utilize the DSP chip instead of bypassing it via USB, which means you'll get to utilize its other features, like Virtual Surround on headphones.

 

Personally though I'd much rather keep everything simpler and just use a relatively high impedance but very high sensitivity headphone like the Beyerdynamic T70 Pro (there's a 250ohm version, the T70P is the 32ohm I think) and then just EQ it. This has one advantage over the Modi2Uber and Magni2(Uber) as you can still get virtual surround and less distortion out of the built-in soundcard without having to lug around the Modi2Uber and Magni2(Uber). Any response issues I don't like in the T70P - primarily its treble peak - will be dealt with using EQ. Same reason (plus low price) why I have a Superlux HD330 and Xonar U3 on my gaming rig, and similar logic as to why I use a 125mW sensitivity, high isolation IEM with interchangeable cables (ie one of mine has a mic) for use with my smartphone rather than a DAP.

 

[PL4Y3R 0N3]

As long as your laptop has SPDIF output then using the Modi2 Uber with it will be fine. This means you will utilize the DSP chip instead of bypassing it via USB, which means you'll get to utilize its other features, like Virtual Surround on headphones.

Personally though I'd much rather keep everything simpler and just use a relatively high impedance but very high sensitivity headphone like the Beyerdynamic T70 Pro (there's a 250ohm version, the T70P is the 32ohm I think) and then just EQ it. This has one advantage over the Modi2Uber and Magni2(Uber) as you can still get virtual surround and less distortion out of the built-in soundcard without having to lug around the Modi2Uber and Magni2(Uber). Any response issues I don't like in the T70P - primarily its treble peak - will be dealt with using EQ. Same reason (plus low price) why I have a Superlux HD330 and Xonar U3 on my gaming rig, and similar logic as to why I use a 125mW sensitivity, high isolation IEM with interchangeable cables (ie one of mine has a mic) for use with my smartphone rather than a DAP.

I'm sure the Recon 3di can drive the beyers well, just annoys me that Dell has no info on the recon 3di. They said something about an older sound card and started listing specs but that is no use to me whatsoever. You'd think that with it being, you know, an important part of the computer they would have specs for it.
Okay. Rant over.