[mashedpotatoes]

I'm a fairly casual gamer and huge on music, and only recently have I realized that I'm probably not enjoying my music as well as I could be, so I'm looking to get headphones and a sound card for my computer. Could anyone help me out?
 
As far as gaming goes, I play rts here and there and shooters like bad company 2 infrequently, so I can live without cans that are absolutely fantastic for gaming. My main usage for the cans would be music. I mostly listen to electronica, acoustic, symphony or orchestra, pop, and R&B, and my FAVORITE songs tend to be slower paced with strong vocals (usually female vocals, if that helps anything). I'm looking for headphones that play vocals clearly while really giving some life to the background music. I also don't care much for bass. I appreciate it being there, but I don't particularly enjoy it overpowering the vocals and background music. 
 
I've been leaning towards Audio Technica's ATH-A900 because I've read great reviews on it, but then i came across JVC's HA-RX700 for about 1/7th the price and liked its reviews.. and unfortunately, I'm a pretty cheap guy.
 
I also plan on getting a Xonar Essence STX because I've read good things about it and I figure it's going to keep me happy for a long time, but I'd gladly go with something less pricey if it's not recommended for what I use my computer for. 
 
Any recommendations? I'd rather not spend $200 on headphones if it can be avoided, but I'm alright with going up that high. I also have my mind set on getting that stx, but if anyone's got any objections about that card fitting my needs, I'd gladly hear em out!
 
Oh, and my preference would be for closed-back sets that are fine without amps so I can use them more casually with stuff like my ipod while I'm on vacation. 
 
Thanks in advance!

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
First of all, I would avoid the STX. Not because its' not good, but because of the price tag. You can get a better amplifier that can travel with you that doesn't have to be seated in a computer for under $200 that will do a better job of amplification. If you're set on a sound card no matter what, maybe start with the Xonar DG (it's usually $35 or so and has a decent enough headphone amp to drive most headphones you'll be looking at; I mention this since you mentioned cheapness which inspires budget to me, spend more on your headphones than your amp if you're on a budget!). However, if you can be persuaded to not use a soundcard with an amp, maybe just use your soundcard/onboard as a DAC and output the signal to an external amp. Something like the FiiO E9 ($130 new). It's quite a beasty amp for the price and will drive most headphones that are going to be in your budget range (whatever your budget is, but again, you mentioned cheap, so I'm starting here instead of recommending things in the $200ish range to start).
 
Looks like you're willing to spend $200 on headphones. That's good. That gives a lot of opportunity. You mentioned you don't want overwhelming bass, but that you're more into mids and vocals. This right away says open air headphone. I think you should consider comfort as well. A lot of headphones can be attractive and fit the bill but may simply not be comfortable to you. Have you tried on headphones with different style pads? I for example cannot stand any headphone that isn't using cloth/velor pads. That's just me. Some people on the other hand love wearing the plastic/leather pads. I find them to be too warm and get sweaty which feels nasty to me often times over long listening periods. I listen anywhere from 4 to 8 hours a day pretty often, so it matters to me. Keep something like that in mind. It will help shape your preference in headphone.
 
Since you mentioned female vocals, I can't help but start to mention something like Grados (SR225i for vocals?) or Sennheisers to you. I have a pair of HD580's that I use as my mains when listening to a lot of stuff that has female vocals and it's really amazing (compared to my DT770 Pro's which are not as good at representing the female vocals). You can usually get HD580's in the $130~150 area used (they're not made anymore). Alternatively the HD600 is basically the same headphone remade and can be found for around $200 used, or close to it new sometimes too. I don't have Grados so I cannot advise you there with experience and will defer to someone else (I simply mention because they supposedly are pretty bright when it comes to mids/highs so it would make sense it would work well with female vocals). Either way, in my experience, an open-air can tends to do a lot better with mid/high frequencies to take the sharpness and edge off yet allow it to be really pronounced and beautiful and not lost in other frequncies (such as bass overwhelming it). If you get a decent amplifier, you could explore the AKG series too (701?).
 
Here's a comparison of a few with frequency response curves:
 
http://graphs.headphone.com/graphCompare.php?graphType=0&graphID[]=2141&graphID[]=703&graphID[]=3051&graphID[]=373
 
In that chart, it looks like you'd enjoy any of those headphones likely for frequency (with the Beyers being the bassiest).
 
Anyhow, hope it gets you started.
 
Very best,
 
 

 

[nakaroxx]

i think beyerdynamics dt990pro or dt880pro will be what you look for