mbyrnes
500+ Head-Fier
These are a decent upgrade, but the Sparkos really destroy them. Better in every way, and it's immediately noticeable. Some may prefer their sound, but the Sparkos to me are just transparent. X7 with the Sparkos, will compete easily with a DAC/amp combo of similar cost. Not a cheap upgrade, but it is worth it.
The best? Smyth Research Realizer A16. It hasn't released yet, but very soon. There's a HUGE thread here. Current pricing is $2200 I believe. It does 3D audio by measuring the sound in your ears, and can mimic, pretty much any sound system in the world (you can record a room, and the A16 will work it's magic). There will be an exchange, where people can download different setups from other owners. It also does head tracking, and people who have demoed the A16 said the effect is unreal. That's the best, but it isn't cheap. I know me and a few others (Evshrug) here are waiting on ours. I'm sure a gaming A16 thread will pop up once it's in our hands. I'm buying it for gaming and movies, and apartment life doesn't suit my very loud listening habits. I'd be evicted with a surround setup (my old 5.1 system could hit 120db without distortion). When I sold my house, I sold my home theater gear. I miss it dearly and this will be even better! Way cheaper than buying a full Atmos setup (my stereo speakers were $3,000 almost 10 years ago). I can actually setup the A16 using my stereo speakers, to create an Atmos setup, as if I had an entire room full of them. I would never spend $20,000+ to build a system). Should be fun, but I'll be honest if I'm not happy. Because I bought early, I could sell and break even. I really doubt I'll need to.
I would say next is the Creative Sound Blaster X7, with Sparkos op amps. That's about $500 if you can grab the base model at $250 on sale (don't bother with the SE unless you plan on driving speakers regularly). Nice thing with the X7 is you can upgrade over time. Adding an external amp is easy, swapping op amps is easy. So you could add a OTL tube amp for high impedance headphones, and still use the SS amp in the X7 for everything else. Win, win! This is a good starting point, and really the only device I'd buy for console gaming. Astro Mixamp sucks, AX720 sucks, because they use low quality amps, that can't drive a good amount of headphones that many want to use here. Double amping introduces noise that is really hard to get past. Fine for a young person without much experience, but if you're serious, skip the entry level stuff and grab an X7.
I have all kinds of headphones. Honestly I really like the Sennheiser PC-37X. For $120 you get a super efficient headset that holds it's own. Perfect when I need chat. Half the time I just plug into the controller, as these are really that easy to drive (I listen a lot louder than most, and this setup is fine for me). I honestly haven't gamed much online with chat. Lost most of my old gaming buddies to life (stupid wives, children, jobs, etc, lol).
AKG K702 65ths (Massdrop K7XX is close) is a great headset for sound whoring. Just enough bass where it isn't overwhelming, clear highs, and a good soundstage. A good balance for competitive gaming. Not the most fun for single player. I used these for years and was really happy. Should pull them out for old times sake.
I love my Hifiman HE-X V2s, they just destroy anything else I have when it comes to overall sound. HUGE soundstage, really good bass and mids, and crystal clear. Bought mine used locally for $875 about a year and a half ago. They may be cheaper (I did get a good deal).
My one regret is buying too many cheaper headphones and not just going for it early on. So many side grades, not enough improvement. Try to hit a local meet and listen to some headphones. That's where I found the Hifiman HE-X V2, and I was able to listen to just about every headphone you could think of.
This may help others (I know you personally probably know this). Impedance is important, as it will tell you what your amp can put out into a particular headphone. The FAR more important number is sensitivity. Here are two examples:
25ohm, 110db/mW
100ohm, 90 db/mW
Which will play louder with the same amp? Every halving of impedance doubles wattage. Great right! Well in reality, doubling of power equals a 3db increase in volume (really not much, and one reason I don't understand why 99% of people think huge power is needed for easy load headphones)
For the example above:
25 ohm, 110db
100ohm, 90db (halving resistance, 50ohm gains 3db). Halving again, 3db increase would total 96db versus the 110db of the 25 ohm load at the same power level.
It can work both ways. A higher resistance headphone can be more efficient than a lower ohm headphone. It's confusing. Speakers are simple. Almost all speakers are designed at an 8 ohm load, some are 4 ohm (which makes receiver and amp choices much harder, lowering the resistance increases heat (more current). Headphones require a fraction of the power (power numbers are 1/1000th of the speaker world). I also think higher impedance headphones were partially created to deal with how receivers powered their headphone jack. The step down process of the speaker amps supposedly had something to do with it. Basically high impedance cans worked great with AVRs, which were the main Headphone setup until Sony launched the Walkman in the 80s, and honestly headphones were a niche until the last 20 years or so, with extreme growth the past 10 or so years (thank you internet!)
Hopefully that helps the newer folks a little. It's all Ohm's law (V=I*R). Resistance goes up, current (I) drops. Voltage goes up, current drops. Current is what creates heat. Efficiency is very important, probably the most important, when choosing a headphone and figuring out amp requirements.
Another good thing to see visualized.
Let's say we have a 90db/mW headphone. First, this is already 5db above the safe listening limit, at ONE MILLIWATT!. Doubling of amplifier power, nets a 3 db gain.
90db/1mW
93db/2mW
96db/4mW
99db/8mW
102db/16mW
105db/32mW
108db/64mW
111db/128mW
114db/256mW
117db/512mW
120db/ 1,024mW (basically 1 Watt)
123db/ 2,048mW
126db/4,096mW
129db/8,192mW
You can buy some very nice amps for very little money, that can put out a clean 1 Watt of power into a broad range of impedances. Schiit Magni 3 for $99 will easily exceed what most people need. As you can see, it really doesn't take a lot of power to drive a 90db headphone, which in reality, is low for many headphones. Most are more efficient than that. Some aren't, and they're infamous for it.
