[hagatha]

Greetings...

New to the forum... and need a little advice...

I'm looking a good set of cans in the 2-$300 range... maybe a little more.

I do a lot of gaming and would like the surround sound, but I also enjoy my collection of vinyl (moved to digital)...

My home is pretty quiet, so would open be better for my needs?

Whats the main differences between open and closed?

Can you recommend an E-tailer that carries a good selection of audio equipment?

Thanks
hagatha

 

[Ze_Blitzkrieg]

Amazon has a decent selection at good prices. I prefer open to closed for gaming mainly b/c my ears get hot and sweaty from closed cans during extended sessions.

 

[Tympanum_Plan]

Let me just start this by saying I am not an expert. I just made this decision recently myself, though, so I thought some of my input might be useful to you.

I moved to open 'phones from various IEMS due to the fact that people say that open-styled headphones create less distortion, have a more natural "open" sound and do not isolate. I was looking for accurate, non-fatiguing sound without isolation. So I chose open, and I am pleased with it so far.

 

[Head Injury]

Open - Typically a better soundstage (the feeling of sounds coming from outside the headphones), though there are exceptions to this rule. Literally a more "open" feeling, where the music has air around it and feels more like speakers on the side of the head. Comfortable for long listening sessions unless it's supra-aural (on the ear).

Closed - Obviously isolation. Hard to find a great soundstage because sounds bounce off the back of the phones making a noticeable wall for the sound to be enclosed by. Can get hot during long listening sessions. Typically better bass response, a lot more punch and volume. Again, isolation is probably the biggest selling point. Even in a quiet environment it can be nice.

If you're gaming I'd recommend open. Soundstage can really help. Most people consider open headphones to sound better for the price, too. That's debatable though. Certainly it's easier to find quality low-end open headphones because low-end closed can have poorly designed resonance. A $200 budget is going to cure that problem though. High-ends like Denon are very popular and competitive.

If you can, go to a brick and mortar store with a wide selection. Nothing like comparing yourself. Since you game I'll recommend AD900 (or the cheaper AD700) for a famous soundstage. But I think everyone here's going to need to know what you like to listen to and what you've owned before good recommendations come rolling in.

 

[joomongj]

I'd recommend open back cans since you have a quiet room and generally open cans have wider soundstage and you just said you game a lot. Also people here will tell you surround sound in headphones is gimmicky maybe w/ the exception of Ultrasone ED8 that has S-Logic. Since I haven't heard it I won't speculate any further. Useful readings on open vs closed:

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/gen...closed-475835/
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/ope...phones-309583/

 

[phangtonpower]

I don't game at all, but another difference between open and closed, for music at least, is that bass on open headphones don't have as much impact as closed.

 

[joomongj]

Also as I have said on the other forum, Audio Technica ATH-AD900 will give you a run for the money. Its forte lies in the airy soundstage which is just perfect for gaming, but then again if you prefer warm sounding cans it perhaps isn't your cup of tea. In that case, I'd be lookin' at Denon AH-D2000 or similar.

 

[Coupe]

speakin of forte.. GET A FORTE sick for gamin!

 

[Mochan]

For gaming there is no substitute for a good x-Fi bases soundcard. Forte is a great choice!

I will give a vote to Open as well echoing the good point brought up already in This thread.

 

[KCChiefsfan]

"Surround Sound" with stereo headphones is all done with processing by the sound card. As such, you'll definitely want a sound card that offers this type of processing (CMSS 3D, available on the higher end X-Fi cards like Mochan said)

My vote is in for Amazon (make sure you are buying from Amazon and not one of the third parties by mistake), as well as an open backed headphone. Unless you want overbearing bass, or isolation, there is no reason to go for closed over open.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Go open unless you really need the isolation. Closed cans usually have a bunch of compromises just to keep them closed. The only closed headphones I've really enjoyed have been the Sony R10, Stax 4070 and Beyerdynamic DT48. For everything else, I'd rather have open headphones.

 

[Ze_Blitzkrieg]

If you go with open cans. . .check out the Sennheiser HD555's if they are in your price range. . .they are right there with the AD700's ($100 and $90 respectively when I just bought my 555's a few weeks ago).

 

[SillyHoney]

Err I don't think HD555 is good for gaming. It's kind laidback and bass is pretty weak (it sounds nice tho).

 

[Mochan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCChiefsfan /img/forum/go_quote.gif "Surround Sound" with stereo headphones is all done with processing by the sound card. As such, you'll definitely want a sound card that offers this type of processing (CMSS 3D, available on the higher end X-Fi cards like Mochan said) My vote is in for Amazon (make sure you are buying from Amazon and not one of the third parties by mistake), as well as an open backed headphone. Unless you want overbearing bass, or isolation, there is no reason to go for closed over open.

One more thing -- you can use players with DSP effects to achieve a surround effect as well. For gaming X-Fi's "CMSS-3D Headphone" is really the only way to go, nothing else on the market today can create a precise 3D positional soundscape like it.

For general music listening though I strongly prefer Dolby Headphone to CMSS-3D Headphone. For music you can get Foobar and configure it to use Dolby Headphone. Sounds marvelous.

For movies I am not sure what to do; I always watch movies with 5.1 surround speakers.

 

[Mochan]

I thought the AD700s also had weak bass?