[spanks]

Hey everyone!

Nice site. I am new here, and somewhat unfamiliar with the whole audio side of things.

I just got my hands on a nice x-fi sound card, and it has really amazed me as to how much better my music sounds. I have sennheiser hd 555's right now. I never use them for anything other than my computer for music and gaming.

I have done some reading, and there is a lot of talk about amping and such, and cans sounding much different than they did pre-amping.

I don't think I would go as far as getting into amping, but I was looking for some new headphones. I have had mine for quite some time, and I think they might be wearing out a bit. I can't put too much bass to them otherwise the have a crackle.

I am open to suggestions as to what is the headphones for my application. I have really enjoyed my sennheisers, but from what I read they are pretty much entry level to higher grade headphones.

I am looking to keep the price range relatively low, probably around $150-200, but I am willing to buy them used to get a nice price on some higher priced cans.

Thanks,
Spanks

I forgot musical taste, I like mostly indie and college rock, but as any fan of the genre knows that is pretty much anything and everything.

I really like the feeling that the music is coming from a swell of sound around your head rather than headphones (if that makes sense to anyone). It feels like an intense pressure of sound just around and inside my head...makes it so I can just get lost in the music. I think the light and comfy feeling of the hd 555's gave that sensation at the beginning, but I haven't really had that sensation with these headphones for quite some time now. I think they don't have the same sound and range they used to.

Right now I am running my headphones into a volume/tone controller for my 2.1 logitech speakers. I haven't used my speakers pretty much since i got my headphones since they sound so much better.

 

[spanks]

ok, so I've done some more reading and it sounds like either some beyer dt 990s will be a good choice? I've heard grados are good for rock, and are just good all around headphones, but I can't find these fabled ms-1's that people keep talking about.

Also, the over ear design is important to me. I don't find the on ear or in ear to be comfortable.

Can you run an amp in line with a computer? I haven't seen anything saying one way or another.

Would either of those headphones be a noticeably better sound than my senn hd 555's? Would they still sound ok un-amped? Think about your answer to the previous question as if you've never heard headphones running through an amp before. Thanks

 

[b0dhi]

The 990 is a good choice for the type of "outside the head" sound you want, but they definitely need to be amped. They would be a strong improvement over the HD555.

And yes, you can run the output of your sound card into your amp.

 

[mADmAN]

Audio Technica A900. good for movies and good for gaming...doesnt need to be amped too.