[DADDYDC650]

New member here! I'm thinking about purchasing the HE-400 for $374 with no tax and free shipping from Crutchfield. I also purchased a Creative ZXR since I game a lot as well as watch a ton of movies. I need cans that have amazing bass and equally amazing mids and highs as well. I also need a wide and accurate sound stage for fps games. Is the HE-400 + ZXR a good combo for me? Is there a better/cheaper set of cans that are as good if not better than the HE-400?  Thanks in advance folks.

 

[kimvictor]

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New member here! I'm thinking about purchasing the HE-400 for $374 with no tax and free shipping from Crutchfield. I also purchased a Creative ZXR since I game a lot as well as watch a ton of movies. I need cans that have amazing bass and equally amazing mids and highs as well. I also need a wide and accurate sound stage for fps games. Is the HE-400 + ZXR a good combo for me? Is there a better/cheaper set of cans that are as good if not better than the HE-400?  Thanks in advance folks.

For gaming/movies, I say there are better options. First of all, comfort on 400 is rather bad. HD598 and AD900 has the sound stage of HE400 and much better comfort. Both 598 and 900 is easily amped too(HE400 is rather hard to). But for music, it's a different story.

 

[DADDYDC650]

For gaming/movies, I say there are better options. First of all, comfort on 400 is rather bad. HD598 and AD900 has the sound stage of HE400 and much better comfort. Both 598 and 900 is easily amped too(HE400 is rather hard to). But for music, it's a different story.

The AD900x as well as the AKG 702 Anny/AKG 712Pro are interesting. I'd consider them if the bass is plentiful like the HE-400.

 

[kimvictor]

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The AD900x as well as the AKG 702 Anny/AKG 712Pro are interesting. I'd consider them if the bass is plentiful like the HE-400.

900X will probably have most bass amongst the ones you mentioned.

 

[DADDYDC650]

So, I'm stuck on the DT880/DT990, HE-400 or the HE-500's..... Would my Creative ZXR's amp be able to push all of the headphones to their full potential?

 

[kimvictor]

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So, I'm stuck on the DT880/DT990, HE-400 or the HE-500's..... Would my Creative ZXR's amp be able to push all of the headphones to their full potential?

Depends on which ohm you are getting for 880/990 and probably not the HE500.

 

[DADDYDC650]

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Depends on which ohm you are getting for 880/990 and probably not the HE500.

The Creative ZXR does 600ohm so I'd more than likely buy the 600ohm 880/990. Would the HE-400 be pushed just as hard as the 880/990 using the ZXR sound card? Would the HE-500 sound the same or worse than the HE-400 using the ZXR?

 

[kimvictor]

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The Creative ZXR does 600ohm so I'd more than likely buy the 600ohm 880/990. Would the HE-400 be pushed just as hard as the 880/990 using the ZXR sound card? Would the HE-500 sound the same or worse than the HE-400 using the ZXR?

What do you mean does? It says it supports 24 bit dac, but it doesn't tell you how much power it provides. It could provide 1mw and say that it does 600ohms. I doubt the it will be able to power 600ohms. Even most portable amps can't power it. Anyways, HE500 are harder to drive than HE400. I recommend getting an external amp. Something really powerful like schiit magni would do.

 

[PurpleAngel]

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The Creative ZXR does 600ohm so I'd more than likely buy the 600ohm 880/990. Would the HE-400 be pushed just as hard as the 880/990 using the ZXR sound card? Would the HE-500 sound the same or worse than the HE-400 using the ZXR?

There are some threads on Head-fi that are dedicated to the HE-400 and HE-500.
You might want to ask on them about what headphone amplifier works well with those two headphones.
(maybe(?) the Sound Blaster ZxR does a good job of driving the HE-400 & HE-500?)
One option could be to get the cheaper Sound Blaster Z ($80-$100) and add a nice external headphone amplifier.
My Asus STX can drive my DT880 Premium 600-Ohm and DT990 Premium 600-Ohm headphones and the
Sound Blaster ZxR uses the same headphone amplifier chip (the 6120).
(The cheaper Sound Blaster Z and Zx do not use the same amp chip as the ZxR)

 

[DADDYDC650]

There are some threads on Head-fi that are dedicated to the HE-400 and HE-500.
You might want to ask on them about what headphone amplifier works well with those two headphones.
(maybe(?) the Sound Blaster ZxR does a good job of driving the HE-400 & HE-500?)
One option could be to get the cheaper Sound Blaster Z ($80-$100) and add a nice external headphone amplifier.
My Asus STX can drive my DT880 Premium 600-Ohm and DT990 Premium 600-Ohm headphones and the
Sound Blaster ZxR uses the same headphone amplifier chip (the 6120).
(The cheaper Sound Blaster Z and Zx do not use the same amp chip as the ZxR)

I really want to keep my ZXR. I might buy a separate amp late this year though. For now. I would like to pair my ZXR to the best gaming headphones available that also handles movies and music with ease. I would also like a pair of cans that can handle as much bass as I want without distortion and lots of impact. I'm probably asking for too much since my limit is $700.

 

[DADDYDC650]

What about the Audio Technica WS99 or the M-100? Are these any good compared to the HE-400? Would these 2 cans perform just as good as the AD-900 when playing fps games? I'm pretty sure what I'm looking for is something that's as good as the AD-900/K702 but capable of outputting tons of amazing bass.

 

[kimvictor]

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What about the Audio Technica WS99 or the M-100? Are these any good compared to the HE-400? Would these 2 cans perform just as good as the AD-900 when playing fps games? I'm pretty sure what I'm looking for is something that's as good as the AD-900/K702 but capable of outputting tons of amazing bass.

Purely SQ wise, both of them don't come close to HE400. IDK about WS99, but M100 is pretty good for gaming.

 

[DADDYDC650]

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Purely SQ wise, both of them don't come close to HE400. IDK about WS99, but M100 is pretty good for gaming.

This is so frustrating! I don't have any stores near me that have a bunch of headphones on display for me to try out and I don't really want to purchase a couple of cans to try out. I've done a bunch of research but I'm still left wondering as to what cans would fit my needs. I recently purchased the Sony MA-900's. and while they sound great and do an amazing job in FPS games. The only issue is when I listen to certain rap/hip hop songs with a lot of bass and I crank up the volume, I hear distortion without messing with an EQ. So hard to find cans with great highs/mids/lows that do an amazing job in fps games. I might have to return my ZXR and purchase wireless gaming headphones and be done with it.