[boz]

hey there, long time reader, first time poster

im after some new cans to replace my dying sony v700s. they are slowly surcumbing to the 'swing arm crack' death and im not sure how long they got left. they have served me for over one and a half years, getting at least 3 hours use per day so they have lasted longer than some others on the forums.

the original reason i bought em is the fact they get rid of background noise tremendously well. i use them for music listening and gaming, so i need the noise reduction at noisy lan parties. the sourse is an audigy 2 sound card, which i realise isnt the best, but it aint the worst either. as for music choice, it mainly trance/house if that makes any difference.

so far ive got two sets of headphones in my crosshairs - akg 271s and the audio technica ath-900s, however i have yet to find a uk source for the 900s as they seem to be quite new.

my budget is anywhere from 80-140 quid and im willing to stretch a bit more if its really worth it.

basically my questions are:
1. is there a uk based store that sells the ath-900s
2. should i be looking at other headphones
3. how do the 271s and the 900s stack up vs each other

thanks in advance

 

[Taurui]

The ATH-A900s are available only via Audiocubes.com ... they import them from .. uh.. Japan? so they're a bit on the expensive side, 200$
Some people said they found a store which ships them directly from Japan to you which might save you some money.

By the way, what about the Ultrasone HFi-650/700 ... ever thought about them?

-Taurui

 

[boz]

ive looked into the ultrasone ones as well but i dont think i can get them in the uk easily. importing isnt really an option either as uk customs like to slap on 10-20% import duties, and then another 17.5% vat

 

[Abula]

I havent tried the AGK271, but I have read that they need an amp to sound good. And they dont have a lot of bass, they are more accurate and analitical. I think two others that you might want to add to your list that I have listen to them direct from my audigy are Senn280 and Sony V6, both are very easy to drive and issolate pretty good, and do very good job for games, and they are ok for music.

 

[Kali]

Quote:

Originally posted by boz ive looked into the ultrasone ones as well but i dont think i can get them in the uk easily. importing isnt really an option either as uk customs like to slap on 10-20% import duties, and then another 17.5% vat

http://home.t-online.de/home/meier-audio/
sell the Ultrasones... plus in the EU so no import duty (plus delivery is included!)

 

[Kali]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kali http://home.t-online.de/home/meier-audio/ sell the Ultrasones... plus in the EU so no import duty (plus delivery is included!)

actually http://www.veronica.co.uk have the Beyerdynamic DT250-80s at a great price as well.. might be worth looking into as well.. will drive perfectly from the soundcard, plus closed cans so no interference.. (plus for games nobody can hear you sitting beside you at LANs)

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Quote:

Originally posted by Kali actually http://www.veronica.co.uk have the Beyerdynamic DT250-80s at a great price as well.. might be worth looking into as well.. will drive perfectly from the soundcard, plus closed cans so no interference.. (plus for games nobody can hear you sitting beside you at LANs)

Another place for cheap DT 250-80 is b&h photo.

 

[Kali]

Quote:

Originally posted by Andrew_WOT Another place for cheap DT 250-80 is b&h photo.

true, but not if your in the UK though .. plus they require faxing your credit card details for international orders.. never a good idea imo

 

[bangraman]

Bluetin is a good place to order the A900 from. They have a UK operation and the price is somewhere near what you're looking at. Failing that, Audiocubes using Paypal.


The K271 is a variable story. You'll need reasonably good amplification to get the most out of them, certainly more than most soundcards can provide. They will sound fine out of most cards but they will not be in their element.


You can order the Ultrasones from Turnkey.co.uk. I would recommend them highly as semi-gaming, semi-music phones.


For what you have, I would recommend the Ultrasone or the ATH-A900, with the Ultrasone being superior for LAN Gaming usage due to their isolation, sonic cueing facility, compatibility with soundcards and also their robustness. The K271 is an excellent phone, but I think you might be taking a bit of a chance. The DT250-80 is not good enough in either music or gaming stakes compared to the competition.

 

[boz]

where will bluetin ship the ath-900s from though? basically is there a chance of me being stung by import duties and various other taxes?

 

[bangraman]

Yes, there is a risk. Why not try contacting them directly?

 

[boz]

thanks for your help, ill get in touch with them

 

[boz]

rar, went for the 900s in the end and they are sitting on my head right now

bluetin were great, took the cans 2 days to get to the uk from japan which was very impressive and i didnt get charged a penny by customs

as for the cans themselves - wow what a step up from the v700s. i just need to burn them in to get the best sound out of them as they seem to sound a bit 'tinny' atm