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Hey guys. I am interested in buying a good pair of headphones. I will be adding a microphone to these. Either mod one on the side or use a desktop one. Currently I am choosing from the DT990 Pro 250Ohm for $215 or the Audio Technica AD700 for $125. I do not have a sound card or amp although anything will upgrade my crappy $40 headset I use at the moment. Any advice would be really appreciated as I am new to headphones. Thanks guys!
Heya,
The DT990 is going to sound exciting, rich, full, bassy. It will feel great, snug, but comfortable. Build quality is very durable.
The AD700 is going to sound flat, lifeless, hallow, all mids & treble, no bass, anemic. It will feel good maybe, if you have a big head. Build quality is so-so.
Between the two, I would get the DT990 if you want a complete headphone. If you are gaming online and all you are doing is listening for foot steps, then consider any headphone you want.
I will say that it's smarter to buy a good headphone that is complete (the AD700 is not complete, it cannot do bass tones worth a hoot, so it's half a headphone in my opinion), and simply equalize it to your taste for online gaming if foot-step listening is your goal. Any headphone can do this (you simply equalize down the bass so that the mids & treble are the focus, and boom, you are now doing what the crippled AD700 basically does). That way you can also enjoy music and other audio from them, without missing out. Make profiles for gaming and music for example that way, so you can run an equalizer profile for each. Way better option than buying a crippled headphone.
That said, some other headphones to consider:
Sony MA900
Beyer DT880
Ultrasone HFI 2400
Hifiman HE-300
And since you don't have a soundcard or anything, consider:
Asus Xonar DG or DGX (PCI or PCI-E)
Creative Titanium X-fi HD
Creative X-fi USB (external)
Fiio E10
Fiio E7
And if you want to make any of those a headset, add an Antlion ModMic.
Very best,