Hey everyone.
I'm back in the world of headphones after selling most of my old stuff. I've been through an AD700, HD598, and HD558, all through a Mixamp. After listening to my crappy Logitech 2.0 speakers for the better part of a year, anything is an upgrade. At first, I tried to resist spending more than I deemed necessary ($100 lol). I bought a few pretty subpar headphones, to which my ears responded negatively. I went through a few PC headsets (Corsair 1500, Logitech G35), and they didn't cut the mustard, so I decided on skipping any 'universal' headsets.Now it's time to find a closed set of cans fit for gaming (pc, 360).
Fast forward a bit:
After some deliberation, I bought a Beyer DT770. It was well reviewed pretty much everywhere (including here), so I bought one. Initial impressions were good. After the AD700 and the HD598, I finally understood what bass was. The treble was a bit harsh, but not mind-melting. The mids were definitely recessed, but I could deal with that. After all, the main attraction is the 'subwoofer' Beyer somehow managed to fit in these things. They are really comfortable, isolate pretty well, and don't leak enormously.
However, for some reason, these cans just don't agree with me. I'm not alone in feeling this way about the 770s. See here for a post I made in the Headphones forum:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/640876/closed-headphone-blues
Even listening to music, I couldn't take more than 20 minutes of using it. It wasn't the treble that was fatiguing. Something about them just required me to remove them to constantly take a break. I loved their directionality and soundstaging, but I just can't wear these for long without discomfort. Don't get me wrong: they are very comfortable (fluffy padding/clamp-wise), it's something about their signature that doesn't work for me. Why they don't work might have to do with the copious amounts of mind shattering bass, though I can't really pinpoint it.
So, I've decided another pair is in order. If anyone wants to take the DT770 off my hands, pm me. As much as I want them to, they don't agree with me
Any help with some recommendations? I really don't care for competitive gaming accuracy. While I will be doing some multiplayer (BF3 mainly), I don't care about bass obscuring footsteps. I want a fun pair of cans
I've narrowed my decision down to three: Pro 900, A900x, or the D2000 (if I can find them). I'm also looking for a USB dac/amp to serve for portable use and as a standalone dac, as well as 'home/desktop' amp to power any phones I might get. I'm really eyeing the iBasso D4 and the Objective2 (or a Little Dot amp, still undecided). The Schiit Magni posted above looks kind a cool too.
I could not find a Mixamp for sale on the Astro site. Almost all ebay auctions included the AX0 headset, which I just plain did not want. I had to 'settle' for a usb Recon3d, since that's what I could find. Not a huge deal, but I'm looking for a Dolby Headphone capable device so I can A/B the two, and compare them for myself I can't stand any noise/hiss, so the DSS and the 720 box are probably out of the question. Looks like I'll have to wait it out for a good deal on a Mixamp. I game from my laptop, so I don't have the luxury of buying a PCI sound card