[Gfreak]

Hey y'all! I'm very new to the headphone game and the only "decent" pair i've owned is the shp 9500's.

Before that I had a kraken 7.1 pair, and didn't realize how bad they sounded until I got the SHP's lol. Now, since i've only owned that headphone, i don't KNOW that i don't like another sound signature. But i do know i don't want muddy bass like what was on the kraken, and clarity for vocals/music is very important to me. (i listen to genres of music, from classical to metal)

But i'm looking at getting a closed pair for certain games that I play when I need to be able to hear voice comms well without external sound distracting or making it hard to understand what's being said. Must be able to use a mod mic as that is what I already have.

That said, I absolutely can't spend more than 150 right now, and 100 or less would be ideal.

The ones i'm looking at so far are the.

ATHm50x - I'm leaning away from these since people have been saying that clarity isn't as good on these because of how bass heavy they are? Not sure how true it'd be.

HD598c's - Leaning TOWARDS these since they're supposedly pretty clear, and still have a decent soundstage for closed backs.

DT770's - These are a bit more expensive, but I can get the 32ohm version for about 120$. Are the 32's worse than the 80 ohm or 250ohm version? Is it worth spending another 40$ to get the 80/250 versions over the 32's? If so I could save up for another month and get those if REALLY worth it. (plus i'd have to buy an amp to drive those correct?)

I only have my onboard motherboard audio atm, no amp or anything like that. (alc887)

Any others that'd be worth it as well that y'all could recommend too that'd be great. Thanks!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Of those three, I think I would prefer the HD598CS (closed) headphones.
DT770 (all Ohm versions) really need to be used with a decent headphone amplifier, to sound their best.
Maybe later on get a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card (used is fine).
Better DAC chip (& op-amps), then the DAC (& op-amps) function provided by the ALC887.

ATH-M50X is are great if all you care about is bass and a headphone rugged enough for traveling with.

 

[Gfreak]

Of those three, I think I would prefer the HD598CS (closed) headphones.
DT770 (all Ohm versions) really need to be used with a decent headphone amplifier, to sound their best.
Maybe later on get a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card (used is fine).
Better DAC chip (& op-amps), then the DAC (& op-amps) function provided by the ALC887.

ATH-M50X is are great if all you care about is bass and a headphone rugged enough for traveling with.

Yea, while I enjoy bass. I'm not obsessed with just having more bass. I prefer clarity over it (I LOVE the shp9500's, and every review i've read about them complained about them having 0 bass lol). Would the DT770's be ok until i could buy a sound card a bit later down the line? how would they compare to the 598's w/o the card, and then how would they compare with the card? Is there a major difference between the 32/80/250 dt770's?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Yea, while I enjoy bass. I'm not obsessed with just having more bass. I prefer clarity over it (I LOVE the shp9500's, and every review i've read about them complained about them having 0 bass lol). Would the DT770's be ok until i could buy a sound card a bit later down the line? how would they compare to the 598's w/o the card, and then how would they compare with the card? Is there a major difference between the 32/80/250 dt770's?

This thread has info on the difference between all versions of the DT770.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/guide-sonic-differences-between-dt770-dt990-models-more.513393/

In general, would the 32-Ohm version of the DT770 be ok to plugged directly into the motherboard's on-board audio, I would assume so.
It's really not know how much power the headphone jack on the motherboard will provide to headphones, might even decently drive 250-Ohm beyer headphones
Chances are the headphone amp built into the SB-Z card, will provide better power, then the on-board audio.

 

[Gfreak]

This thread has info on the difference between all versions of the DT770.
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/guide-sonic-differences-between-dt770-dt990-models-more.513393/

In general, would the 32-Ohm version of the DT770 be ok to plugged directly into the motherboard's on-board audio, I would assume so.
It's really not know how much power the headphone jack on the motherboard will provide to headphones, might even decently drive 250-Ohm beyer headphones
Chances are the headphone amp built into the SB-Z card, will provide better power, then the on-board audio.

Gotcha, very useful thread, thanks!

I'm definitely leaning more and more towards the Sennheiser's atm... are there any other closed back headphones around that price range that you'd recommend? Also, i know they're closed, but how would the soundstage on any of those 3 that i linked compare to the SHP9500's? I know the 598 opens are supposed to have an insane soundstage, do the 598c's have a good one compared to other closed backs as well? One review i read claimed they had 80% of the open's soundstage... but that number means nothing to me as i haven't listened to them haha.

Also, the 598c's would work with my vmoda mod mic right? I'm reading some things about the 598 SE's having a locking mechanism that you'd have to take a part and mod in order to make it work... is this still a thing?

Edit: So i'm dumb...what i've been calling a mod mic, is not the antlion "modmic". It's the Vmoda boompro... so the dt770's wouldn't work with that

 

[Gfreak]

Actually, upon further research. I found the Sennhesier HD380 pro's for only 100$... would these be a better option than the other ones linked above? Anyone have experience with them?