For Games/DVD and Classical: Sennheiser, Grado, or AKG?
Nov 5, 2001 at 4:21 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 19
Grifter

Grifter

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I have been doing a lot of reading on headphones lately and this forum is perhaps the most knowledgable I have found yet. I am looking for a little advice on a set of cans for mostly PC gaming and DVDs. I am currently using a Hercules GT XP which is the best soundcard I have ever used and a 4.1 system from Altec Lansing called ATP5. I am looking for a wide soundstage in my audio and obviously positional sound is important for games. I like all types of music, however when I am at my PC I mainly listen to classical and rock.

I only have about $150 to spend and I am very interested in the Sennheiser HD 570s, AKG k501s and the Grado 225s. I have heard for games and positional audio that the Sennheisers are great and easily the most comfortable of the three listed, however they do benefit from a headphone amp or Senn's DSP Pro which is out of my price range. I am not ruling out a headphone amp but is it really worth it is the question?

Any suggestions or arguments in regards to my dilemma would be appreciated but please keep in mind that I will be wearing the cans for 4 or 5 hours at a time.
 
Nov 5, 2001 at 4:24 PM Post #2 of 19
If any of you are considering a Hercules GTXP for your PC I highly recommend it. The new Windows XP drivers are very stable and it now has support for 6.1 audio: WOW! The only unfortunate thing is that the very cool breakout box does not have a built-in headphone amp, it does have both types of optical connection though.

Ok, I'm done now
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Nov 5, 2001 at 4:32 PM Post #3 of 19
Hey Grif,

I just went through this...with the same soundcard.
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By the way...Hercules.com has new 6.1 drivers for the card if you check out the website.

I wound up with the HD600's...probably not the best move. Grado's are out because the general opinion is that they're very difficult to wear for long periods of time.

My advice would be to not look at a little less high end. You don't want to be driving it with an amp. And if you get something like the Senn HD600/580, your ears will bleed next time you listen to your mp3s.

Maybe the Sennheiser 495's would be a good fit.
 
Nov 5, 2001 at 5:03 PM Post #7 of 19
I read somewhere that the 495 were better for 3d positioning in games. You start looking at the 570's and you need to start looking at amps.

...and I wouldn't put too much weight in GameSpots' reviews.
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Nov 5, 2001 at 5:22 PM Post #8 of 19
Nominal Impedance: The average resistance to the flow of current through the circuit going from the amplifier into the speaker and back to the amplifier.

I think you may be a little off on the power requirements of the hd570 which is only 120 ohms whereas the hd600 is 300 ohms!

It looks like they require more than twice as much power because they are working against twice the resistance. I could be wrong cause I am still a newb but that is how it looks to me.
 
Nov 5, 2001 at 5:36 PM Post #9 of 19
I think the Sony V6's may help with Games much better than the Grado's. From past threads that i have read, the Sony's have better positioning (ie you can tell where a shot is being fired from in a fps). The Grado's lack this, i dont know about the 325's, but they are open cans, the Sony's are closed. However with classical, i have no clue, i never really tested that genre out with the V6's. Also, you wont need a amp for the V6's, and they do sound really sweet with just everything i listen to (ie. rock, metal, eighties pop).

George

ps. here is a link to the yahoo store:

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/hogwildstore/mdrv6.html
 
Nov 5, 2001 at 7:40 PM Post #10 of 19
Grifter,

You aren't one of the few Grifters I've seen playing UT are you?

Of all my headphones, by far my favorite for gaming and TV/Movies is the Sennheiser HD545. It has great comfort, wonderful soundstage and positioning capabilities for games, and is easy enough to drive from soundcards and headphone jacks on computer speakers. Great sound for music too. My second favorite is probably Sennheiser HD570, which is what I currently use for gaming because I have the HD545s at work for music.

The HD570 is incredibly comfortable and also has a wonderful soundstage and positioning. It's not as good for music and is harder to drive, but I don't use a headphone amp with it and it works just fine. I plug it into the headphone jack of my computer speakers for gaming and the headphone jack of my mini-system for watching TV/Movies.

By its specs it should be easier to drive than HD545 and much easier than HD600, but those specs are false. It is harder to drive than HD545 and nearly as hard to drive as HD600. It must have less sensitivity than claimed. As I said, however, it gets plenty loud for me without a headphone amp for games and movies. A portable CD player is quite another story however. I don't think a dedicated headphone amp is worth it if you are using these mainly for games and movies.

Also note that the DSP Pro is not a headphone amp -- it has no gain. It can be used as a preamp (i.e. volume and tone control) but it does not amplify the signal at all. This is usually fine when it is connected to a VCR/DVD/CD player since they have fairly powerful line-outs to start with. Connected to a portable or soundcard, however, you may want some gain. It does do the nifty surround sound decoding and multi-channel virtualization, of course.

I didn't like my Grado SR-125s at all for gaming compared to the Sennheisers. Comfort and positioning were both worse. I think AKG K401 would be a good headphone too, although it is probably similar to HD570 in that it is harder to drive than most.

That Gamespot review is quite good actually, not too disimilar to my own findings although I can't figure out why they thought the SR-125 didn't have enough bass. For games and Movies the HD570 are indeed very good headphones, with excellent comfort and soundstage, and the convenience of a detachable single-sided cable. Personally I would probably buy a HD535/545/565 instead, just because they are easier to drive and sound more balanced overall, especially for music.
 
Nov 5, 2001 at 8:42 PM Post #11 of 19
Wow, thanks for all your help Scott. I thought the DSP Pro had 15% more gain, guess I was wrong. I just got back from the store where I tried out the Sennheiser HD-570. It sounded excellent and they were more comfortable than any other cans that I have tried. You said you own both the HD-545 and the 570... my question for you is which do you find more comfortable?
 
Nov 5, 2001 at 10:02 PM Post #13 of 19
For games, you want a closed or any high end open but grado, for dvd's, you want an open or a closed that has a godly soundstage, for classical, you probably don't want closed or grado.

So, look at Sennheiser, Beyer, and AKG. Ideally, get an open circumaural pair and an amp to drive them. Also, look for something with a BALANCED sound, not one that is especially bright or muddy. The fact is, there aren't many big open nice headphones that are good for all of these and easy to drive, sadly. The discontinued Sennheiser HD565, which your GTXP can probably drive, would most likely be one of them.
 
Nov 5, 2001 at 10:09 PM Post #14 of 19
grifter: that article fails to even mention Sennheiser 495s.......
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