[YutzWagon]

Hey Y'all, I'm a major newbie and have been looking for some high-ish end headphones for gaming, some music and movies... And everything in the "gaming headset" category is garbage. So I've been doing some reading here and it appears the consensus is that a tape-modded 558 performs nicely for gaming as well as music and the like, plus generally being comfortable for big-headed gentlemen like myself.
 
Unfortunately, they're a bit out of my price range right now on Amazon, but I saw the Audio Technica ATH-AD700's are fairly highly rated and severely marked down right now on Amazon. I read that some people do use the AD700 for gaming, but I was unsure if they were using amps with them or not. I literally can not afford an amp. It pains me, but I just don't have the cash. What I do have the cash for is something in the $100 range and then maybe a zalman mic or modmic from Antlion if I can pull some favors.
 
Basically what I guess I'm asking is they AD700 going to be worth it without an amp, or should I just wait for a price drop on the 558's? I'm kind of anxious to just jump on something right now, 'cause I'm stuck with this crap-tastic headset that squeezes my ears and picks itself up on the mic at the moment after my trittons shattered.

I don't have a lot of experience in this new frontier, the closest things I owned to Audiophile headphones were some bose like 2 years ago. Yeah.
A couple other things I considered were the Astro A40 and some turtle beach sets but... Like I said, garbage. I may pick up an Astro Mixamp when I have the moneybux, but that won't be for quite a while.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hey Y'all, I'm a major newbie and have been looking for some high-ish end headphones for gaming, some music and movies... And everything in the "gaming headset" category is garbage. So I've been doing some reading here and it appears the consensus is that a tape-modded 558 performs nicely for gaming as well as music and the like, plus generally being comfortable for big-headed gentlemen like myself.
 
Unfortunately, they're a bit out of my price range right now on Amazon, but I saw the Audio Technica ATH-AD700's are fairly highly rated and severely marked down right now on Amazon. I read that some people do use the AD700 for gaming, but I was unsure if they were using amps with them or not. I literally can not afford an amp. It pains me, but I just don't have the cash. What I do have the cash for is something in the $100 range and then maybe a zalman mic or modmic from Antlion if I can pull some favors.
 
Basically what I guess I'm asking is they AD700 going to be worth it without an amp, or should I just wait for a price drop on the 558's? I'm kind of anxious to just jump on something right now, 'cause I'm stuck with this crap-tastic headset that squeezes my ears and picks itself up on the mic at the moment after my trittons shattered.

I don't have a lot of experience in this new frontier, the closest things I owned to Audiophile headphones were some bose like 2 years ago. Yeah.
A couple other things I considered were the Astro A40 and some turtle beach sets but... Like I said, garbage. I may pick up an Astro Mixamp when I have the moneybux, but that won't be for quite a while.

What source(s) are you plugging the headphones into?
 
Technical Pro HPT990 (Takstar Hi2050) sell at J&R for $44.99
http://www.jr.com/technical-pro/pe/TAE_HPT990/

 

[lennyr]

I have the AD700 and use it for gaming (mostly on PC, using an Asus Xonar U3).  It is great.  Good general sound quality, fantastic soundstage with good localization, and really comfortable for extended wear.  To put it in perspective, I also have AD900s and Q701s, but the AD700 is what I use most for games.
 
Check out MadLustEnvy's incredibly long gaming with Dolby Headphone thread.
 

 

[YutzWagon]

The source I'd be using is just a 3.5mm that came standard on my motherboard, although it has optical out as well.
Also thanks lenny, I had missed that one.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

The source I'd be using is just a 3.5mm that came standard on my motherboard, although it has optical out as well.
Also thanks lenny, I had missed that one.

I own the HD558 and ATH-AD700, as the ATH-A700 has a very light bass, it's a turn off for movies and music, never use mine anymore.
The HD558 is a good headphone, got it because it has more bass then the ATH-AD700, but the HD558 is out of your budget.
 
Technical Pro HPT990, $45
Asus Xonar DG sound card, $20 after $10 mail in rebate.
So that's $65 total, way under your budget.
 
The HPT990 come with decent Velour ear pads.
Here is a thread about the Technical Pro HPT990 (Takstar Hi2050)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/585356/takstar-beyer-oem
 
The Xonar DG should come with a better DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) then your motherboard's
and the Xonar DG comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier, which your motherboard does not have.
The Xonar DG comes with Dolby Headphone surround sound, which I'm guessing your motherboard does not have.

 

[Hente]

If you can stand the hardly any bass i'd go with the AD700s, if not go with the Senns. They're fine unamped.
I normally do not like offering additional choices to someone who already has 2 specific models in mind, but i'd agree with Purple Angel and his suggestion on the HPT990. The Superlux HD 668b & 681 are also good choices.

 

[YutzWagon]

I'm open to suggestions, I think PurpleAngel's got some very good suggestions and it's probably the best choice right now. If the AD700s have that little bass... I don't think they're right for me. I don't play any mlg pro stuff, mostly TF2, Skyrim, and Borderlands right now, and any of those lacking in bass would sound strange to me. 
And yes, my mobo just says it has "realtek gigabyte technology" in broken English. No Dolby or anything.

 

[executioner]

Quote:

I own the HD558 and ATH-AD700, as the ATH-A700 has a very light bass, it's a turn off for movies and music, never use mine anymore.
The HD558 is a good headphone, got it because it has more bass then the ATH-AD700, but the HD558 is out of your budget.
 
Technical Pro HPT990, $45
Asus Xonar DG sound card, $20 after $10 mail in rebate.
So that's $65 total, way under your budget.
 
The HPT990 come with decent Velour ear pads.
Here is a thread about the Technical Pro HPT990 (Takstar Hi2050)
http://www.head-fi.org/t/585356/takstar-beyer-oem
 
The Xonar DG should come with a better DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) then your motherboard's
and the Xonar DG comes with a half-way decent headphone amplifier, which your motherboard does not have.
The Xonar DG comes with Dolby Headphone surround sound, which I'm guessing your motherboard does not have.

 
Hey PurpleAngel need your input on something, how would you compare the HD558 agains the Technical Pro HPT990 (Takstar Hi2050)? 
 
I was about to buy a Xonar DG + HD558 but a Xonar DG + HPT990 combo is better for my wallet, just want to know if the $135 difference is really worth it.  I plan to use them as all arounders mainly for movies and games.  Later on for console gaming will pair any of them to a mixamp pro and I don´t have an amp, maybe a Fiio E11 later on when budget allows.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

Hey PurpleAngel need your input on something, how would you compare the HD558 agains the Technical Pro HPT990 (Takstar Hi2050)? 
I was about to buy a Xonar DG + HD558 but a Xonar DG + HPT990 combo is better for my wallet, just want to know if the $135 difference is really worth it.  I plan to use them as all arounders mainly for movies and games.  Later on for console gaming will pair any of them to a mixamp pro and I don´t have an amp, maybe a Fiio E11 later on when budget allows.

I think for most people they would take the HPT990 because the HPT990 at only $45 are a better value.
With the HD558 you usually have to use the 1/4 female to 1/8 male adapter, slight negative.
The HD558's do have a (very) slightly better sound quality and their quality build should make them last longer.
But the HPT990 $45 price wins out and you get $135 to spend on something else.

 

[bravobs]

  The HD558's do have a (very) slightly better sound quality and their quality build should make them last longer.
But the HPT990 $45 price wins out and you get $135 to spend on something else.

An old thread but, does this hold true? the hd558 is just slightly better than hi2050/hpt990? Thanks

 

[bravobs]

PurpleAngel. bump^

 

[PurpleAngel]

  An old thread but, does this hold true? the hd558 is just slightly better than hi2050/hpt990? Thanks

Yea, that about true.
If your using an unamped jack, then it's really better to just save a few dollars and get the Hi2050/HPT990.

 

[bravobs]

  Yea, that about true.
If your using an unamped jack, then it's really better to just save a few dollars and get the Hi2050/HPT990.

that's what im thinking too. that's about $70 difference. thanks.

 

[holodor]

(delete this please posted a link and it made it block it)

 

[holodor]

(This thread is 8 years old but the forum won't let me make a more appropriate topic, it's the same problem though just different gear due to the time passed)

I used to have Sennheiser PC350 headphones, now I have Sennheiser HD800S... Problem is, these output to:

• 6.35 mm jack plug
• OR
• balanced 4.4 mm jack plug

Whilst my motherboard (Asus X570-E) only outputs in Optical S/PDIF or standard 3.5mm audio jacks (though it does have 5: one standard green headphone one for Line Out, blue for Line In, pink for Mic In, orange for C/SUB, and black for rear)
(supposedly "120dB signal-to-noise ratio stereo playback output, Dual Op Amplifiers, Impedance sense for front and rear, SupremeFX S1220A audio codec chip implements industry-leading codec and DACs, which even rival some prosumer solutions: exceptional RMAA performance reaching 113 db. 10 DAC channels, simultaneous 7.1-channel playback, independent 2.0-channel output, and multi-stream stereo to the front-panel outputs."

"All SupremeFX audio solutions provide decent audio amplifiers with an impedance sensing feature to maximize the potential of most headsets from 32 ohms to 600 ohms for exceptional gaming-audio and music-listening experiences. SupremeFX may not be able to drive some headsets with extremely low sensitivity. Please check with the headset manufacturer for more details regarding your headsets.")
(apparently Crosshair VIII Extreme has separate ESS Tech SABRE DACs, so I should've bought the more expensive motherboard. Oops. Still fixable by getting an external one maybe, or better to just make a whole new computer to improve the source?)


When I look at most HeadphoneAmpDAC boxes they seem to either be designed to input from:
Balanced XLR
or Single-Ended RCA (relay switched)
or USB-C (for portable HeadphoneAmpDACs - but these have the problem of relying on unreplaceable lithium-ion batteries which always die out in a few years)
(But the motherboard outputs in neither of these, only 3.5mm, or Optical S/PDIF)
So if I get a HeadphoneAmpDAC, I guess I'm going to need to buy a cable that has 3.5mm on one end from the motherboard, and one of the above on the other (which I'd still need to do if I wanted to plug it straight into the motherboard)? Is there a choice that would be better? Thank you for any help