[Millsie]

Hey guys, I've been looking around for about a week now for some good Mid level priced headphones I've narrowed it down alil' but still not enough. =D

ATH-ES7
HD-550
Logitech G35
...
Beyerdynamic DT770 but I'm not sure if I want huge bass whores..

Anyways there's a few others but I just can't remember the names of them.
Here's a few things I've been looking for or want in the 'phones
*Good sound quality(Obviously!!!)
*Conformable
*The headphones must cover the ear as well.
*Cool-looking would be a plus cause I really don't want to be forking out money when it looks like I've just taken a crap on my head =]]
*Don't really give a **** about the cable.
*Don't really care if they are closed or open headphones I'm not really in a loud environment.
*Needs an amp or doesn't.. Doesn't would be preferred but in the end it doesn't matter.
*Costs around $200NZ, $150 USD or $100Euros.
*I don't know if 5.1 or 7.1 really makes a difference but I do want to know where the enemies are coming from.

Main uses for these headphones will be allooot of gaming with also very heavy movie watching.

Thanks for reading any help will be very appreciated

 

[Kursah]

What is your sound card/output source?

I do a lotta gaming, using my X-Fi as my sound source. For the last couple years I used the Turtle Beach HPA2 5.1 gaming headset, good little headset for sure, plus a great little adjustable and removable boom mic. Then my fiance took them because her headset broke...I decided to get into headphones and give them a shot. I ended up going with the JVC HA-RX700's for $33 shipped and was blown away at how much better they sound than any gaming headset I've heard, which is many between what I've owned and listened to.

Now to get 5.1, or positional audio, I had to (in Vista) set the Windows Sound Control to 5.1 speakers, then Set my X-Fi control panel to Headphone Mode (some do 2.1 speaker mode), and enable CMMS-3D, then either set the game to windows default or 5.1. Voila, I had a larger soundstage with the closed back JVC's than I did with the smaller, crammed with speakers, open-backed turtle beaches...and it seemed better positional audio along with much better defined distance...especially in CoD4 which is my primary game of choice still.

I have since upgraded to an Auzen X-Fi Forte for a better quality sound card, but it also has an integrated headphone amplifier which is a plus and also made a nice difference in comparison to my older X-Fi Xtreme Music (now a part of her rig too lol). I watch a lot of movies, but I mostly play games and listen to a lot of rock music...these JVC's kick ass for sure...especially after the felt removal mod and Graphicism's foam mod to give the pads more cusion, makes them more confortable and gives them a slightly improved soundstage and at least to me, better seperation.

For a cheap set of cans they do kickass...I'm considering stepping up to the JVC HA-DX3's as I've read (especially from fellow head-fi'er ourfpshero) that they have a larger soundstage, crisper and more defined mids and hi's along with better quality bass. The HA-RX700's have more punchy bass...but the HA-RX900's seem to have more bass and a larger soundstage...but from what I've read it seems the DX-3's are a solid upgrade...but at 3X the price I haven't decided if they're that much better ot me. Some food for thought, if those don't work and like you said, open back doesn't matter...look at some Audio Technica AD700's (open), they won't have the bass that the JVC's have from what I've read, but their soundstage is much better, and very popular among gamers. I'm still fairly new to this arena of using headphones for gaming, but so far I'm impressed what a $33 pair of cans can do in comparison to a $80+ set of 5.1 gaming headset from the same source...no contest, the JVC's win, hands down. Though the HPA2's were a little more comfortable after a few hours...that doesn't bother me as the JVC's are a lot more comfortable after the mod, I'm good for 3-4 hours of gaming which is usually my max free time for gaming recently anyways. Hope this helps, and I'm sure you'll see a lot of other great suggestions from more experienced ears than my own, this is just my 2 cents from what I've learened over the last few weeks.

 

[miloxo]

AD700s, very comfortable, really great soundstage (in games i can pinpoint others pretty easy), i love their looks.. but this is subjective

 

[Millsie]

Hahaha, honestly I'm still gaming with my normal Mobo out.. Its an average to high end mobo though so yeaah... Back in my youth(4years ago) I had headphones almost identical to the JVC HA-RX700 they were very cheap as well like $30ish..(On special) They were nice, 'cept then they broke. =[ I do enjoy COD4(I fail though) too, although I've currently acquired COD5 from a lan recently.. but they don't like me too much 'cause I'm one of the best players there.. Only problem with the DX3's they look OK but they don't really look that kick ass =] I'll still look into them though.. Haha

Subjective xD Have you ever tried the AD900s before?

 

[RicHSAD]

I'd get a good soundcard first. It will improve the sound quality and stuff like Dolby Headphones or CMSS-3D helps a lot with sound positioning when gaming.

 

[Millsie]

Ugh, Don't "Good" sound cards cost lots though?

I really really don't have a lot of money. Even $200nz is really stretching it..

Want to suggest some soundcards?

 

[tenzip]

"You get what you pay for", and "Garbage in, garbage out" are two cliches that apply in this case.

If you start with a crappy source, how do you think good headphones will improve it?

 

[deadly55]

the creative x-fi xtremegamer isn't bad for gaming, also sennheiser h212s were awesome for gaming imo.

 

[Millsie]

You see, the original list Idea was
1. Get decent headphones that I can listen to at night..
2. Figure out if I needed an amp/soundcard.
3. Decide what amp/soundcard I needed.
4. Save up and buy that.

=]]

 

[Kursah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Millsie /img/forum/go_quote.gif You see, the original list Idea was 1. Get decent headphones that I can listen to at night.. 2. Figure out if I needed an amp/soundcard. 3. Decide what amp/soundcard I needed. 4. Save up and buy that. =]]

My first time saying it, but welcome to Head-Fi, sorry about your wallet.

A soundcard will definately make a difference man...I noticed a huge difference on my JVC's between my P5Q Deluxe's onboard AD2000 and my Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music (can be found for around $50 in the US). Then I noticed a difference between the Xtreme Music and my recently purchased Auzentec X-Fi Forte 7.1. No way I could go back to onboard...but there are external DAC/AMP setups that might treat you just as well...dunno about the gaming side though.

Maybe you should consider going with something to get you by gaming-wise till you're ready to invest into better would output to appreciate headphones...the cheap Cyber Snipa Sonar 5.1's come to mind, a single USB connection, has built in sound card, amp and 5.1. Unfortunately it's got 4 speakers per cup, but it's fairly cheap and seems to be popular for budget gamers before they make a more expensive jump with sound cards, amps, dacs, headphones, etc. I guess it depends on balancing what you want to do and what you want to hear within your budget. Personally I'd spend a little more now on a X-Fi and sub-$100 headphones to se if this is the route you want to go, if you like what you hear, cost only multiplies from there, but that doesn't mean you need it.

 

[Millsie]

Gah, 150 and 250.. Yeah, My wallet really can't handle much since I just finished building my new computer xD Can't I just get AD700-AD900s then a few weeks later get a Creative or Auzentec card?

Oh yeah and thanks for the welcome =]

 

[Kursah]

Sure you could try it out, it won't hurt to see how it sounds from the onboard. Just don't expect something truly amazing...but it shouldn't be complete garbage either. And as long as you don't mind bass, which really isn't needed in extreme amounts, those AT's should do very well. I wanted decent bass and gaming, which is why I went closed, sure I sacrificed sound stage, but I still gained soundstage from my old gaming headset so to my ears I win. You could get a pair of JVC HARX700s + Creative X-Fi for around 80-90US, or go with the RX700's + Auzen Forte (I recommend over the Xtreme Music, the headphone amp made a noticable difference to my ears) for around $160. So it'd be within budget...but if you go AT's, the 700's run around what? 80-100? even with the Auzen at $130, it'd still be below your top budget of 250. Or just snag an X-Fi Xtreme Music, still a damn good card that does decently output, maybe get an amp in the future if it's not enough and call it good. You have a lot of options, and if 150-250 is your budget, you have a lot of good options!

 

[Millsie]

Mhhmm so I pretty much can't get the HARX700's since I can't find anyone that imports them to NZ.. Bugger.

(Btw Creative X-Fi = $150nz)

I'm really not looking for too much over the top bass.. Just enough to notice gun shots, explosions.. Do you think the HD-555 would do the trick? 'Cause they look very niiiiceee XD Although they do cost 180 over here ='[

 

[RicHSAD]

The X-FI XtremeMusic was discontinued a long time ago I believe. It was pretty much replaced by the XtremeGamer. X-Fi Forte would be a good choice .. hell I could buy it on sale here for less than the XtremeGamer and it is clearly a superior product.

I have not heard the HD555 myself, but most people seem to agree that the ATH-AD700 is superior. They are bass shy, but they respond well to EQing if that is an issue for you.

I guess it doesn't really matter if you go for the headphones before the sound card. It'll probably sound like crap either way until you have both.

 

[dreadful]

If you need something imported you might want to try MyUS - US Mail Forwarding, Worldwide Shipping just heard about it on the new Tekzilla. I have never used it myself since I live in the US and it cost. (Tekzilla has never lead me wrong tho) Here's a link to the episode its in Revision3 > Tekzilla > Episode 98: Safe Backups: Drobo, FreeNAS, RAID, UNRaid! Best Twitter... - Revision3, Patrick Norton, how-to