New here - Headphone advice please.

[Spooningod]

Hey guys, I've lurked this forum from time to time in the past but only just making an account now. Hoping I can get some advice.
 
As far as my exposure to "decent" audio quality goes. I was given an old NAD Amplifier with some Mission 701's which I absolutely loved. At the same time I had a pair of Astro A40 headphones paired with the Mixamp. The Audio quality just didn't compare to the speakers. I'm now aware that gaming headsets aren't all that good in terms of audio quality when compared to "audiophile" cans.
 
I like to do a lot of gaming. I'm also really into music, I listen to pretty much all genres of music.. I can't be all that specific when it comes to describing the sound signature I like the most. I would like something that is quite neutral, with a fairly good soundstage and separation. Not lacking in bass but not sounding muddy either.
 
Because I now live in Australia, I no longer have the speakers/amp or the Astro's and I no longer have a PC.
 
All my gaming is done on a Playstation 4 at the moment and all music listening is done from my phone and I'm currently using Xiaomi Hybrids for both.
 
With my budget in mind, ($250-300 AUD) I've been weighing up AKG K702's which I can get from DWI for $279 aud or the AD900x for the same price. I know the AD900x's are easier to drive and I wouldn't need an amp immediately although I was planning on buying the Fiio E17 eventually anyway. I'm wondering if it's worth getting the k702'S knowing that I would have to run them from the PS4/Phone with no amp for a while but pair them up with the E17 eventually.
 
Sorry if this thread is a bit of a mess and hard to follow. Please could this be moved into the appropriate forum once approved.
 
Thanks.

 

[Giupy]

Hey!

First of all welcome!

Second: Don't worry about posting here, it's a good category and I don't think it needs to be moved.

Aaand here comes the cool part - the headphones.

The ATH-AD900X:
Huge soundstage and excellent for gaming due to their positional sound.
They're nice and comfortable, very light, but if you have a small head, the wings support may not be for you and they tend to move around quite a lot.
Great for music and easy to drive.
Bass isn't incredible (but I have the LCD-XC and the HE-400, so I my standards are a bit high on this one)
Like pretty much every ATH, the cable does that annoying thing when it stays in its packaging shape for weeks until it finally straightens out.
 

AKG K702:
Wide soundstage as well, but not as easy to "locate" things as it is with the AD900X.
Very, very analytic, you can tell these were made with studio monitoring in mind. However the downside to this is the fact that it's a bit unforgiving with lower quality recordings.
Very comfortable, velour pads and detachable cable (one-sided, which I think is a good thing).
Can be a bit tiring for music since they're overly-detailed sometimes.
Bass isn't incredible, either, feels a bit "thin", but other than that is fine.

That's pretty much what I have on these. None of them are really suited for outside usage because you'd kinda' look like an alien with them on your head and they leak sound.

My advice? Go with the K702. I don't own AKG headphones anymore and I am biased towards Audio Technica, but I think the AKG would be better in this situation. Also I don't feel that the ATH gain all that much from amplification, but I do know that the K702 will receive a considerable boost in what is easily audible.

Hope this helps.

 

[Monsterzero]

Think you should also look into Philips Fidelio X1 or X2.

*easy to drive
*excellent soundstage
*very strong bass for an open back
*excellent for gaming
*in your price range
*very comfortable

 

[Giupy]

  Think you should also look into Philips Fidelio X1 or X2.

*easy to drive
*excellent soundstage
*very strong bass for an open back
*excellent for gaming
*in your price range
*very comfortable

Indeed, Fidelio X2 is a great headphone. It's the Senn HD650 killer for me