[madscientsit24]

You seem to be pushing for those Fischers a lot, I thought you said you haven't used them? I've been asking questions over there and they're telling me its as good as an ATH-AD700. Here's my problem though: driving it. I don't have an amp and I don't exactly feel like shelling out some more money on top of the headphones right now. Maybe in the future I might invest in a Astro Mixamp just to get that DH and mic compatibility with both consoles. But no ones seem to mention how they perform with the mixamp. Their using all type of good quality amps over there, of course its gonna sound good. From what I'm reading too, this is a new headphone. Its not exactly the best research practice to ask about a product in a thread where they obviously endorse it, especially considering the fact that its new and it may be getting a lot of hype. This happens with everything.
 
Also, I don't quite feel like going through the hassle of  having to return the Fischers. Especially considering the fact that I would have to wait several weeks to get them in the first place (they ship from Russia I believe). So if I buy them, I would most likely keep them. This is why I'm being so cautious in selecting my headphones 

.
 
I appreciate your comments, your the only one responding here so thanks. Keep it coming. Also, I don't mean to be a person about this... 

 

[AgentXXL]

With regards to using the Beyer DT770 80 ohm model, you won't necessarily need an amp. Compared to my DT770 250 ohm cans, the 80 ohm series are much more capable of being driven directly by many devices and providing a full, wide range soundstage. My 250 ohm cans do the same, but only after being coupled with a decent pre-amp/amp. If you really like the Beyer sound, you'll probably want to continue looking at the DT880 and DT990 as well. It all comes down to what you like best, not what the rest of us hear.

 

[madscientsit24]

Yea, I didn't mention it, but I was looking into the DT990. Got interested when I saw the DT770 80 Pro went for about 160. The DT990 Pro go for about 170. Only 10 difference and the DT990 are supposedly better. These are 250 ohm though so will most definitely require an amp... The lower ohm DT990 cost more... 
 
 
Also, the Superlux HD668B are supposedly really cheap headphones that try and imitate the sound of the DT990. I've read in the Superlux thread that the sound from these headphones is better or are at the level of the AD700. Who knows, maybe its true, or maybe what I said about the Fischer thread also applies to the Superlux thread, a new product that brings a lot of endorsements and slightly biased and hyped. I would like to note that my comment could be largely false... Not trying to bring down those two great threads. I'm just trying to get some opinions outside those threads to be sure.
 
 
As for your last comment, I agree. But since I have little to no experience, some advise is necessary as a starting point.
 
 
All these headphones sound great. So many too choose from!
 
 
I'm leaning towards the Fischer Audio FA-011 the most. But the Superlux are appealing due to their performance when compared to their price. DT990 Pro I would buy instantly if I can find a lower price. To bad its not the Premium model though..

 

[Alghazanth]

Quote:

You seem to be pushing for those Fischers a lot, I thought you said you haven't used them? I've been asking questions over there and they're telling me its as good as an ATH-AD700. Here's my problem though: driving it. I don't have an amp and I don't exactly feel like shelling out some more money on top of the headphones right now. Maybe in the future I might invest in a Astro Mixamp just to get that DH and mic compatibility with both consoles. But no ones seem to mention how they perform with the mixamp. Their using all type of good quality amps over there, of course its gonna sound good. From what I'm reading too, this is a new headphone. Its not exactly the best research practice to ask about a product in a thread where they obviously endorse it, especially considering the fact that its new and it may be getting a lot of hype. This happens with everything.
 
Also, I don't quite feel like going through the hassle of  having to return the Fischers. Especially considering the fact that I would have to wait several weeks to get them in the first place (they ship from Russia I believe). So if I buy them, I would most likely keep them. This is why I'm being so cautious in selecting my headphones 

.
 
I appreciate your comments, your the only one responding here so thanks. Keep it coming. Also, I don't mean to be a person about this... 

I haven't used them, but by people's reviews and impressions they sound like exactly what you want. And nothing like the AD700. One supposedly has giant bass and the other has none. At this price range AND unamped, the AD700 is really the way to go go, but again you want bass so the FA011 is the only other option I see.

 

[madscientsit24]

Ok, I'm kinda jumping around here, but I think I've settled on the Creative Aurvana Live! I've already noted my complaints with all the other headphones. Was really leaning towards the Fischers, but the amp requirement just kind of made me not want to get it. The Superlux HD668B seemed to lean more towards classical and jazz music enthusiasts. The bass is thin. They might not work to well for games, movies, and rock/rap type music. I might get them later on anyways since they are cheap. Just to see for myself. Same for the JVC HARX900... Cheap, headphones that can be modded.
 
 
The Aurvana aren't necessarily the best, but apparently their decent enough for almost everything. Furthermore, their comfy, don't require an amp, can be modded to for better sound quality and are at my price range. They also work really well with the Astro MixAmp if I decide to get one later on. Any comments on the selection?

 

[AncientWsidom]

I've learned about he FA-011 on this thread (LOL considering how big their thread is), which I found in my search of an AD700 alternative WITH bass, that is good in both competetive and immersive gaming, as well as music (psy trance, rock, blues and roots, and metal) and movies (might as well get the most out of such an investment).
 
The FA-011 requirement for a good amp has me also thinking hard whether is worth it.... together with a good amp it will be like $400AU !! If I was positive it was worth it, I'd get them, but I have the same doubts as you about the hype in their thread.
 
My other options are DT440s (not overly comfy) or AD900 (again not great with the bass, but probably my safest bet).
 
Planning on using my Xonar DX btw.
 
So how do you find your Creative Aurvana Live! ?

 

[Tacoboy]

 
Quote:

Ok, I'm kinda jumping around here, but I think I've settled on the Creative Aurvana Live! I've already noted my complaints with all the other headphones. Was really leaning towards the Fischers, but the amp requirement just kind of made me not want to get it. The Superlux HD668B seemed to lean more towards classical and jazz music enthusiasts. The bass is thin. They might not work to well for games, movies, and rock/rap type music. I might get them later on anyways since they are cheap. Just to see for myself. Same for the JVC HARX900... Cheap, headphones that can be modded.
 
 
The Aurvana aren't necessarily the best, but apparently their decent enough for almost everything. Furthermore, their comfy, don't require an amp, can be modded to for better sound quality and are at my price range. They also work really well with the Astro MixAmp if I decide to get one later on. Any comments on the selection?

I own the Audio Technica ATH-AD700s, JVC HA-RX900s, CALs (Creative Aurvana Live) and now the Superlux HD-668Bs.
The AD700s are great for quiet easy long stretches of listening (with light bass), but you hear every bit of noise around you.
CALs have great sound, but the cups are small, barely fitting around the ear, pushes (really nice) bass straight in your ears, not as comfortable for long term listening (to me).
The JVC RX900s are fairly comfortable, pulled them apart 6 months ago for doing mods, never finished, so can't really compare them right now.
Been using the Superlux HD-668Bs for the past 8 days, like to think they do the best all around job for the price.
Most average Joes can be very happy with them, not quite as good as those $150-$200 headphones, but for the price, who cares.
And for the money you save, you can buy on eBay a decent single tube headphone amp. for $50, from China.

 
 

 

[AncientWsidom]

Quote:

 
I own the Audio Technica ATH-AD700s, JVC HA-RX900s, CALs (Creative Aurvana Live) and now the Superlux HD-668Bs.
The AD700s are great for quiet easy long stretches of listening (with light bass), but you hear every bit of noise around you.
CALs have great sound, but the cups are small, barely fitting around the ear, pushes (really nice) bass straight in your ears, not as comfortable for long term listening (to me).
The JVC RX900s are fairly comfortable, pulled them apart 6 months ago for doing mods, never finished, so can't really compare them right now.
Been using the Superlux HD-668Bs for the past 8 days, like to think they do the best all around job for the price.
Most average Joes can be very happy with them, not quite as good as those $150-$200 headphones, but for the price, who cares.
And for the money you save, you can buy on eBay a decent single tube headphone amp. for $50, from China.

 
 

Well for their price I'm sure the Superlux can't be beaten, but I think I'd go with the DT440 or AD900.
 
Thanks for the input.
 
PS what is a "decent single tube headphone amp"? I thought as a rule of thumb all cheap tube amps are crap?

 

[Tacoboy]

 
Quote:

Well for their price I'm sure the Superlux can't be beaten, but I think I'd go with the DT440 or AD900.
 
Thanks for the input.
 
PS what is a "decent single tube headphone amp"? I thought as a rule of thumb all cheap tube amps are crap?

I like my ATH-AD700s, so you should be happy with the ATH-AD900s, but they are open, so you get to hear all noise around you.
With ATH-AD900, you should hear the bass fine, but not really feel the bass.
 
As "decent" as $50 can get you, you can't really build something with namebrand parts and you get an assembly technician that works for $3 (or less) an hour (China).
But I'm guessing Russia and China having warehouses full of never used 20 year old military grade vaccum tubes helps keep costs down.
I would not be surprised if these surplus military grade tubes are "liberated" from their dusty old warehouse and wholesaled for cheap.
I would not classify these Military grade tubes as crap, usually military grade stuff is over engineered and is more reliable then consumer grade.
The guys over in China that make these tube amps. have been redesigning and improving their amplifiers with better PCBs and namebrand parts
and these China tube amplifers are so low price that if they break, just throw it away and buy new.
Not worth the hassle of shipping costs and the month long around time for dealing with any warranted products at these prices..
And my Indeed 6922EH tube headphone amp. ($88) sounds better then Asus Xonar DX ($60), when it come to headphones.

 
 

 

[Sylafari]

I wonder how the newly announced Razer Tiamats will fare for gaming. Although Razer Audio products have usually been pretty subpar but it just seems like an interesting concept with 10 individual drivers positioned for "true 7.1 Audio".

 

[AncientWsidom]

 
Quote:

 
I like my ATH-AD700s, so you should be happy with the ATH-AD900s, but they are open, so you get to hear all noise around you.
With ATH-AD900, you should hear the bass fine, but not really feel the bass.
 
As "decent" as $50 can get you, you can't really build something with namebrand parts and you get an assembly technician that works for $3 (or less) an hour (China).
But I'm guessing Russia and China having warehouses full of never used 20 year old military grade vaccum tubes helps keep costs down.
I would not be surprised if these surplus military grade tubes are "liberated" from their dusty old warehouse and wholesaled for cheap.
I would not classify these Military grade tubes as crap, usually military grade stuff is over engineered and is more reliable then consumer grade.
The guys over in China that make these tube amps. have been redesigning and improving their amplifiers with better PCBs and namebrand parts
and these China tube amplifers are so low price that if they break, just throw it away and buy new.
Not worth the hassle of shipping costs and the month long around time for dealing with any warranted products at these prices..
And my Indeed 6922EH tube headphone amp. ($88) sounds better then Asus Xonar DX ($60), when it come to headphones.
 

Interesting... although I've learned that with cheap stuff you almost always get what you pay for (admittedly sometimes with better value for money), and in my case it seems like I always end up buying more expensive stuff - so these days I try and cut straight to the expensive stuff that fills my need/satisfy me, hoping that eventually it saves me money, if that makes sense.
 
As someone I know once said: I'm not rich enough to buy cheap things....

 
Of course with the Superlux, that can be bought for what, like under $60 from amazon (I've seen them for $40 somewhere too) that doesn't really apply as they are dirt cheap, and can always be given away or used as a spare.

 

[Juto]

I've heard that the ATH-AD700's are unbeatable headphones at the price range they are offered at.
 
By the way. If you don't feel like paying 130 for the astro mixamp you can always buy the Earforce DSS from turtle beach.  I paid only 60 for mine and it pretty much does the same thing as astro's mixamp (only real difference is the mixamp offers seperate voice controls and the dss doesn't... but you can just adjust this via the xbox console... assuming ur using these for xbox). The DSS is smaller (the mixamp is the Hulk compared to the DSS which would be Bambi haha) and offers a bass boost dial for added bass. The DSS also has a extra Auxillary Input for connecting other devices to it as well as a usb port for USB powered headsets.  I've read that the Earforce DSS actually has more stable frequencies with less distortion at max and min ranges... but I haven't tested since I dont wanna buy a mixamp haha.
 
Using the Earforce DSS + HD598's + xbox chat headset around my neck is good enough for me. Im no competitive gamer... so I don't care for a mic that much and this setup can hold me over for now.
 
PS: I was in the same boat as you are now... I wanted something good for games/movie/music. I was considering the AD700's as u were. I ended up moving up my price range and bought the HD598's which just arrived today.  Keep in mind these are open headphones so sound will leak significantly.  I've played music, games, and movies through them (pre burn-in) and I'm so happy with my purchase.  I can hear footsteps so easily and I'm hearing things in music I have yet to hear haha.  The bass is not bad for me... ppl say they have light bass but it's not all that light... I think its perfect for what I want out of them. If your wondering I paid 170 for my 598's... so you have to ask yourself "Am I willing to pay another $50?" I can't compare the AD700's to the HD598 but I'm sure someone on here has done it.
 
Hope you find what your looking for.

 

[Tacoboy]

 
Quote:

 

Interesting... although I've learned that with cheap stuff you almost always get what you pay for (admittedly sometimes with better value for money), and in my case it seems like I always end up buying more expensive stuff - so these days I try and cut straight to the expensive stuff that fills my need/satisfy me, hoping that eventually it saves me money, if that makes sense.
 
As someone I know once said: I'm not rich enough to buy cheap things....

 
Of course with the Superlux, that can be bought for what, like under $60 from amazon (I've seen them for $40 somewhere too) that doesn't really apply as they are dirt cheap, and can always be given away or used as a spare.

The cheap single tube headphone amplifier could easily power the fischer FA-011, which would work fine for stereo music or stereo sound on a computer.
But using the single tube amp. blocks the use of Dolby headphone and 5.1 gaming.
 
 

 

[AncientWsidom]

Quote:

I've heard that the ATH-AD700's are unbeatable headphones at the price range they are offered at.
 
Using the Earforce DSS + HD598's + xbox chat headset around my neck is good enough for me. Im no competitive gamer... so I don't care for a mic that much and this setup can hold me over for now.
 
PS: I was in the same boat as you are now... I wanted something good for games/movie/music. I was considering the AD700's as u were. I ended up moving up my price range and bought the HD598's which just arrived today.  Keep in mind these are open headphones so sound will leak significantly.  I've played music, games, and movies through them (pre burn-in) and I'm so happy with my purchase.  I can hear footsteps so easily and I'm hearing things in music I have yet to hear haha.  The bass is not bad for me... ppl say they have light bass but it's not all that light... I think its perfect for what I want out of them. If your wondering I paid 170 for my 598's... so you have to ask yourself "Am I willing to pay another $50?" I can't compare the AD700's to the HD598 but I'm sure someone on here has done it.
 
Hope you find what your looking for.

 
Have you listened to the AD700s? they are good headphones, but completely not right for me!
 
actually the 598s are also on my list, thing is they need an amp, I don't have one, but maybe the Essence STX would be enough to power them... hard to tell.
 
lol at your prices, we pay so much more here, the HD598s are like over $300 (AD700 just got a price drop to $140, still $50 more than amazon), and that is with the australian dollar worth 1.05 american dollar... go figure!
I can buy from the states, but than warranty is messy...
 
what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do... what to do...

 
Quote:

 
The cheap single tube headphone amplifier could easily power the fischer FA-011, which would work fine for stereo music or stereo sound on a computer.
But using the single tube amp. blocks the use of Dolby headphone and 5.1 gaming.
 
 

Not having Dolby Headphones would sort of ruin the point. I'm trying to find out if the STX might be able to drive the FA-011, but even if the answer is yes, I don't know if I should buy headphones without listening to them... internet forums are so tricky!!!
Here's an interesting read on the subject: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/23/confirmation-bias/
 
BTW I have listened to the AD900 and I do like them (open is what I'm looking for), I'm just trying to sort out all my options before making a (hopefully informative) choice....
 
Someone has just suggested (in a private message) to check out the D2000 (over the FA-011 which he also has),  which are another really overpriced (here in oz) hp, that I can't listen to...
 
Someone should open something like an apple store, but for headphones, with branches in every major city in the world

 

[AncientWsidom]

PS
Does anyone know if you can return the Fischers if unhapy with them? this thread seems to suggest so, but I can't find anything like that in their site.