[gopanthersgo1]

Hello head-fi members, i heard you guys know a LOT about sound so i need to ask you some questions.
 
i have recently RMA'd my creative sound blaster recon3d professional (sucks) and am looking at buying the ht omega claro halo, and will later buy the xt "daughterboard" and want to know some good OP AMPs and where to buy them, and want to know a great pair of $200 audiophile range headphones, please help me out.
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                         beginning audiophile,
                
                                                                                                                                                                                                          Mark K.

 

[mac336]

You should hold off on soundcard, amp, and DAC until you know what headphone you want, then build your equipment to complement them.  You might want to look into getting a DAC instead of a soundcard.  You could go the DAC/AMP combo route.  As for your headphones, what kind of music do you listen to and what will you mainly be using them for?  You want headphones for home use, or do you want portable ones,  do you want opened or closed?  The best way find information on here fastest is by using the search bar at the top of the page.  You can't find "audiophile grade" headphones for $200, but you can find some good ones.  Many of the headphones in your $200 price range don't even need dac/amp to sound good or even great.  In the $200 price range my 2 general suggestions would be Denon AH-D 2000 or the Audio Technica AD700. 
 
I was in your shoes about 2 months ago, and I have 2 notes of advice for you--don't make an impulse purchase on your headphones, do your research on here and make an educated decision.  Don't pay retail prices for your headphones/equipment and don't be afraid of purchasing second hand--it will save you lots of $.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

thanks, i listen to pop, dance, and best of all dubstep.  my friend has beats studio and i loved the sound, but wanted something better with a 3.5 port.  i also game alot, but would rather have high quality music where i can hear the "recording flaws"
Thanks
Mark K.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

i "might" spend $300 on the headphones btw

 

[gopanthersgo1]

is the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Audiophile Headphones as good as the beats studio with a little extra bass "bump" in anequalizer

 

[mac336]

Have you heard any other headphones besides beats?  When I listen to beats at bestbuy, they are terrible.  Its pretty much all bass, and not even good bass, just overpronounced midbass with everything else (poor mids and highs) hiding in the background. The denons are good bass headphones, excellent range.  But it won't be that overpowering boomy bass like the beats.  no the ad700 aren't big on bass.  If you like dubstep type music then I highly recommend denon AH-D2000, but don't expect any "bassy" headphone recommended to you on here to sound like the beats. If you loved the way your friend's beats sounded, then you should just pick up a pair and not waste your $, because no good headphone will sound anything like the beats

 

[obobskivich]

These two headphones are world apart; I'll refer you to measurements:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/AudioTechnicaATHAD700.pdf
http://www.innerfidelity.com/images/MonsterBeatsStudio.pdf
 
I'll also tell you that you cannot make headphone A into headphone B with an EQ - you're acting on one of about a hundred variables that you'd need to change to produce the results you're after. 
 
I would also not consider the Beats Studio a "benchmark" for audio quality (there's a few reasons for this, the biggest being the ANC circuitry and what I suspect to be a high-Q design that gives them their signature "boomy bass").
 
Now lets break up some other mythology:
 
- There is no objective or logical criteria for something to be "audiophile grade" - it's a pure marketing fabrication, and it's easiest if we just dispense with it. You can waste a lot of money trying to get to "audiophile grade." 
 
- Don't even start worrying about opamps, DtoAs, etc - it's a big hole that you can put a lot of money into for not a whole lot of reason. If you have a bone to pick with me about this, don't go down that road unless you've also got numbers to go with it. 
 
To what you want:
You mentioned liking the Beats Studio, because of the bass. Well, there's quite a few options that can get you bass. However, none of those options will get you "recording flaws" (why on EARTH would you want to listen to that?) - for that, we need to take a trip over to the studio monitor department. You then get to make a choice: bassy and "fun" or flat and "accurate" - you don't get both (because they're opposed to one another). I'd very seriously re-assess your music library before you take a jump here; if most of your music is in that 64k-192k range that seemed so appealing ten years ago, I would *highly* suggest you avoid the "flat and accurate" camp unless you enjoy the sound of compression artefacts. 
 
Very broadly, and yes I realize I'm making a lot of suppositions about what you want and what you're trying to accomplish (but just go with it, okay?), give the Ultrasone HFI-2400 a shot; they're around $200 on Amazon when they go on sale (which is frequent), and will gladly run from various "headphone amp" soundcards, as well as other devices properly equipped to drive headphones (lots of A/V equipment, headphone amplifiers, etc). The Denon AH-D2000 (which are not $200) are not a bad choice, my complaints with them relate to build quality above anything else - they're simply not put together as well as a $300 product should be (then again, neither are the Beats). If you're very gentle with equipment, the D2000 are not a bad choice, although I do find the treble quality a bit harsh; they are very much a "happy v-curve" though. 
 
I wouldn't suggest getting too wrapped up in reading about everything you can possibly find; you'll probably go mad. Pick something and try it out, if it doesn't work, try something else. You'll at least have a better frame of reference with respect to what doesn't work for you, which will let people make more realistic suggestions that aren't built on a straw-man. 
 

 
Quote:

is the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Audiophile Headphones as good as the beats studio with a little extra bass "bump" in anequalizer

 

 

[gopanthersgo1]

what about the Audio Technica ATH-A900 closed back headphones? (i liked the beats cause of noise cancelation, only mid range headphones i have tried.)

 

[xenochimera]

Your headphones are the most important part of the purchase, you are better off spending as much as you can on those, and not worry too much about DAC/AMP.
 
If you like closed phones, the HFI 580 is great, very easy to drive, no need for a dedicated amp. DT 770-PRO is great too, but depending on which version you get, might need amp.

 

[obobskivich]

You seem to just be picking random models off of Amazon or some other source. At least it's a start.
 
First up:
ANC is a very specific feature that only a few headphones come with, and even fewer do well. Bose is generally regarded as the master in this field, the QC3 and QC15 run around $300. There is absolutely no good reason to buy an ANC headphone for home use; and honestly I don't even see a good reason for mobile use (passive attenuation is so much...cheaper; I hate devices that eat batteries). 
 
Second:
The A900 are probably going to be closer to what you're after. The biggest complaint is probably the durability of the earpads (this is a common problem for all of the ART monitor series). 
 

I'd establish what kind of environment you're going to use these headphones in, and then move forward. The A900 is a very large headphone (it will dwarf any Monster product, it weighs less than most of them too - putting 2 and 2 together tells us they're also likely fragile, and that means they're not an ideal candidate for mobile (ab)use), it's also not a high-isolation pro setup; it's intended to be used at home. 
 
Quote:

what about the Audio Technica ATH-A900 closed back headphones? (i liked the beats cause of noise cancelation, only mid range headphones i have tried.)

 

 

[gopanthersgo1]

@ xenochimeria i will probably only spend 200-300 dollars on the sound card anyways

 

[gopanthersgo1]

i will only use my headphones at home on my computer, but the cords need to be strong so my rolling chair doesn't break them. (i have a decent pair of $80 razer carcharias which just aren't cutting it for the sound quality)

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Is the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Audiophile Headphones as good as the beats studio with a little extra bass "bump" in anequalizer

ATH-AD700s are very light bass.
 
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80-Ohm headphones.
Asus Xonar DX PCI-Express sound card.
Total around $280
 
 
 

 

[gopanthersgo1]

dangit, the post to xenochimeria i ment speakers not sound card sorry

 

[gopanthersgo1]

i've decided i want closed headphones instead of open, sorry.