pc audio recommendations

[spartan777]

i know a lot about computers, building, servicing them, etc. i don't know much about audio though, and everyone here seems to know a lot about audio. i bought some sennheiser headphones a bit ago, about $70. they're awesome, but i'm looking for some even better ones, as i'm going to college in a few weeks. i wanted to spend maybe $150 on some amazing headsets. looking on http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826106303 apparently since the thing has 300 ohms, i need an amp. if there's a guide out there, or if someone has suggestions on what headset/amp pair they would recommend, i would love to hear. i will use them especially for my pc gaming and listening to music. I have an sb audigy 2, i'll probably upgrade to an x-fi extrememusic. i will also use the headset for my mp3 player.

also, i want to hook up my pc to my home theater. we have an rca receiver. i got an optical cable, not realizing i needed the front panel for the audigy 2 to use it. is there another way to hook up the audigy 2 to the reciever? thanks for the help and patience in advance, please don't be offended by my apparent noobishness.

 

[mshan]

If you add your musical and listening tastes, I think others can recommend some awesome headphones that fit your budget.

As for pc audio, sound card output is typically pretty good, but pc audio rigs are best as a digital out to an outboard dac and also from a convenience point of view (musical jukebox).

Good luck and I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[spartan777]

well, i like to listen to some hard music typically (norma jean, underoath, the chariot). i listen to a range of music, but most of it tends to be 'harder' and louder. i actually do listen to some classical music though too. chopin, rachmaninoff. for games, i play shooters mostly, along with some rpgs, namely oblivion. for those who don't play games, shooters have explosions, so bass definition makes a huge difference, as well as general oomph (i wish i knew the technical term for that). a game like oblivion has lots of dialog, and symphonic type music.

so i guess i need headphones that are very all-around. bass definition, and power, but the ability to handle soft and quiet when the orchestra plays.

thanks again for any help in advance.

 

[Rempert]

While the HD580 may be good for your computer system, I'm not sure you will want to use it portably with your mp3 player. For one thing, you would probably need a portable amp. For another thing, they are fullsized headphones. And lastly, they are open (you can hear the people around you, and they can hear your music). It's still an option, but most people would choose something smaller and closed (or an earbud/canal phone) for portable use.

Regarding the digital from an Audigy 2, your Audigy 2 should have a digital out on the back that will look like a mini-jack just like all the analog outs. You can connect this to a coaxial digital input using a cable with RCA connector at one end, and a 3.5mm connector (mono, but I think stereo would probably work as well) at the other. Or if you can't find such a cable, you should be able to get an RCA cable and an adapter to change one end into a 3.5mm connector. Note: the only time you will actually get surround sound with this setup is when using SPDIF passthrough with movies. You can not use a digital connection with an Audigy2 to get surround sound in games or such.

 

[spartan777]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826106324

these are the headphones i use now. i use them when i go mountain biking. they actually do work well for me. is Circumaural the same as open? they're great (and now $15 cheaper than when i bought them), but i want something even better. for college, which i start in a few weeks, i should probably get something that is 'closed' perhaps, so i don't drive my roomate nuts. maybe open would be fine though. maybe i could use the above 212pro for the mp3 player, and the higher-end amp-powered headset for my pc and hometheater. again, i'm totally open to suggestions. i'm not (yet) the audiophile here.

thanks again.

 

[003]

I would look into the Beyerdynamic DT880, if you want something thats great for rock, classical, and games.

 

[spartan777]

003, thanks for the suggestion, but it seems too pricey for me. oh, a good place to buy these things (headphones/amps) would help a lot too. i see headphone.com is pretty good, any other suggestions?

oh, are wireless headsets ok? i've heard wireless surround sound speakers are always horrible.

i looked at
http://www.headphone.com/guide/by-bu...hd-280-pro.php
i love the idea of a 'surround sound option,' but the wireless thing isn't too necessary for me, especially if its adding $30+ to the price.

 

[003]

If it's to expensive new I would try and get one used from the for sale section here. I really think it would be perfect for what you said you would be using it for. A great place to buy headphones/amps? Anywhere that sells them at a good price.

 

[spartan777]

ok, thanks for the reply. i did find a couple places selling the dt880 for about $200. that is really stretching the budget, but i will see. i still need money for that x-fi soundcard. could buying headphones used really be safe? i know some things you just don't buy used, perhaps someone noticed some defect on his headphones and threw it on ebay? i dunno. i don't think i'd get those wireless headphones anymore, but i found this;

http://www.headphone.com/products/he...ser-hd-555.php

its $120, which probably is pretty much the sweetspot in my budget. also, reading about the dt880, the guy said he needed an amp for some sources, and i definately could not afford $250 for an amp (the one he mentioned, the little). the sennheiser seems to do fine w/o an amp, which is something i might consider next summer or something. perhaps i could get the dt880 for now and upgrade to the amp later?

i do have to say the 880 does look and sound (from the guy's review) amazing. its a matter of if its worth the extra $80 over the sennheiser.

comparing the hd555 and the dt880 the freq. response charts on headphone.com show the dt880 has better bass and high freq stuff, and just has a smoother line.

 

[lini]

spartan777: I'd recommend you to try and compare the Creative HQ-1300, which to me seems surprisingly good for its modest price (25 Euro over here). It's also fairly efficient, which would be good for your applications (especially with the mp3 player).

And just btw, frequency response charts of speakers and headphones are hardly comparable - i.e., a flat response doesn't necessarily have to be a good thing for a headphone. Hence I'd recommend not to interpret a lot into fr charts for headphones until you've tried a few and learned how the fr charts would correlate with your sonic impressions.

Concerning the soundcard/receiver question, your Audigy sports an electrical SPDIF output, which you could connect to your receiver, if that has an electrical (aka coaxial) SPDIF input available. Mind you that you won't get multichannel gaming sound over that connection: If you want that, too, you'd either have to alternatively or additionally connect the multichannel analogue outputs of your Audigy to the 5.1 analogue input of your receiver, if available. As another alternative, you could also add Creative's DTS encoder box DTS-610 to the setup, which encodes everything from the analogue outputs to DTS 5.1 and additionally sports electrical & optical SPDIF passthrough and conversion. The same basically goes for the X-Fi Xtreme Music - however, for this card you could use Creative's SB digital i/o module (~ 30 Euro) to get an optical SPDIF output.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[spartan777]

the dts 610 looks like it could work, but if i get the x-fi elite pro (about U.S. $160) it has the front panel with the optical out. would this get me 5.1 with everything, games included? i don't see why not, unless its my receiver thats lacking in something.

i checked out the hq-1300's, and they're only about U.S. $30. my sennheiser's were $60, could the hq's be better? i assume you get approximately what you pay for. my budget, again is about $100-170, or about 80-130 euros. i want something more high end than the sennheisers. i could just use the sennheisers for the mp3 player, and some full headphones for the pc gaming and movies.

thanks for the input lini, and hello from Wisconsin in the USA!

 

[003]

The DT880 would be far better than anything mentioned here. The only thing is that it probably would need an amp. However, there is a 32 ohm version of it, which would not need an amp, but I dont know where you could get it.

 

[lini]

spartan777: Sorry, but no, even with the Elite Pro you won't get multichannel gaming sound via SPDIF. Creative probably doesn't want to pay extra license fees to either Dolby or DTS for every soundcard - and I'm not even sure whether the X-Fi chip would be fast enough to do DS3D with EAX and transcode the result to Dolby Digital or DTS in realtime. Whereas a software realtime DD or DTS encoder (as included with the AuzenTech cards, for example) wouldn't make much sense, for cards sporting DS3D & EAX hardware acceleration...

Regarding the headphone, it's often surprising how bad some of the well known brand manufacturer's lower and middle class models actually are - i.e. a lot of the moderately priced AKGs, Sennheisers, Sonys et cetera really aren't worth it, I'd say.

Greetings from Hannover!

Manfred / lini

 

[spartan777]

so lini, you're saying that the $30 creative headphones (creative, a lesser known company as far as headphones are) could very well be better than the $60 sennheisers? i guess that would make business sense. thanks, i understand the audigy/dd/dts issue now.

003, wouldn't the 880 with the lower impedence be weaker or something? if the 32 ohm is as good as the 300 ohm version, whats the point of the 300 ohm one? i guess i don't understand what the higher impedence gets you. is it a bigger cone/tube in there that needs more juice? thanks anyway.

so many choices.

 

[003]

32 ohm just means it does not need as much power to be driven. The higher impedence 880 has been said to sound slightly better (for what reason I do not know), but keep in mind you would need an amp.