stumpy624
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2013
- Posts
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- 0
Questions are at the bottom in bold, if you don't want to read the background.
Hello,
I am thinking of getting a set of the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 headphones, I have been on a bit of a whirlwind tour getting a new gaming headset and I think I may have finally found what I'm looking for.
First off, a little background on what has been going on in my gaming headset world lately.
I have had two Steelseries 4H gaming headsets in a row which have been fine for the price... $60 for 2 years of service, ok thats reasonable, but the left ear died on both of them and I decided I would get the Razer Carcharias headphones for my new set.
My brother talked me into abandoning getting the 70-80 dollar headsets because he had gotten a pair of Sennheiser PC350's and been very happy with them.
So I got a nice amped soundcard and some PC 350s. I HATED Them. Not for the sound quality because that was excellent. I hated them because I have an enormous head and they felt like a vice trying to extract my grey matter. In addition to this they are closed headphones which became like a sauna, as well as noise canceling which made me feel like I was talking underwater while I was talking in VoIP while gaming.
After I sent these back, I got a pair of the Astro A40's with the wired mixamp. Some of my friends had these from years back and I thought they were extremely comfortable when I tried them out and for $250 you would think there would be no problems right? WRONG. I had a defective mixamp and it was feeding back static into my ears as well as the dreaded low mic output problem even after updating firmware. This really bummed me out because I thought the audio quality was fantastic with the mixamp using optical from my soundcard. I tried using the PC audio splitter and they were usable, but the quality wasn't even as good as my Steelseris because I had to use onboard sound. Why you ask? because my soundcard would make them so loud that they would blow out my eardrums unless I set the volume to <10%. After what I can only refer to as a NIGHTMARE dealing with the Astro customer service department (or lack thereof) I decided to send them back and not try to get a replacement because I didn't want to go through that again and for $250, I expected better.
That brings me to my current situation. I was reading online and considering with just going with my original decision of getting the Razers, but at this point I had been spoiled by quality headphones because the 2 I tried out had been excellent. I read around online and was inspired by FraGTaLiTy's mic mod of the AD700's (link below), so I thought I might give it a try.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/446329/fragtalitys-audio-technica-ad700-boom-mic-mod
So, this brings me to a few questions I had about the headphones:
1. How bad is the noise bleed from these? If I'm using them for ventrilo and maybe listening to some music quietly in the background while gaming, will that be heard in the next room or 10 feet away? I have read anywhere from "You hear these 20 feet away" to "You can use these in a library, no big deal."
2. How much will I hear outside noise. In other words, will these let in EVERYTHING as though I'm not even wearing them? or will I be able to hear someone talking to me directly if they are next to me so I don't need to take them off, but not be distracted by the TV if someone is watching it on the other side of the room?
3. Is the bass really that lacking? I am coming from crappy $60 headphones. I am not really a bass head by any means, but I would like some. I listen to all sorts of music, rock, rap, classical, and trance a lot while gaming. Do these lack bass for the seasoned audiophile? or for anyone?
4. For anyone who may have done this mod, how well did it work out for you and what advice do you have? Also what, if any cable sleeving did you use to finish the mod?
Thanks for reading and helping me out in advance. I am new to hi quality headphones as well as this forum, but I figured if I needed answers, this was the place to go!
Hello,
I am thinking of getting a set of the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 headphones, I have been on a bit of a whirlwind tour getting a new gaming headset and I think I may have finally found what I'm looking for.
First off, a little background on what has been going on in my gaming headset world lately.
I have had two Steelseries 4H gaming headsets in a row which have been fine for the price... $60 for 2 years of service, ok thats reasonable, but the left ear died on both of them and I decided I would get the Razer Carcharias headphones for my new set.
My brother talked me into abandoning getting the 70-80 dollar headsets because he had gotten a pair of Sennheiser PC350's and been very happy with them.
So I got a nice amped soundcard and some PC 350s. I HATED Them. Not for the sound quality because that was excellent. I hated them because I have an enormous head and they felt like a vice trying to extract my grey matter. In addition to this they are closed headphones which became like a sauna, as well as noise canceling which made me feel like I was talking underwater while I was talking in VoIP while gaming.
After I sent these back, I got a pair of the Astro A40's with the wired mixamp. Some of my friends had these from years back and I thought they were extremely comfortable when I tried them out and for $250 you would think there would be no problems right? WRONG. I had a defective mixamp and it was feeding back static into my ears as well as the dreaded low mic output problem even after updating firmware. This really bummed me out because I thought the audio quality was fantastic with the mixamp using optical from my soundcard. I tried using the PC audio splitter and they were usable, but the quality wasn't even as good as my Steelseris because I had to use onboard sound. Why you ask? because my soundcard would make them so loud that they would blow out my eardrums unless I set the volume to <10%. After what I can only refer to as a NIGHTMARE dealing with the Astro customer service department (or lack thereof) I decided to send them back and not try to get a replacement because I didn't want to go through that again and for $250, I expected better.
That brings me to my current situation. I was reading online and considering with just going with my original decision of getting the Razers, but at this point I had been spoiled by quality headphones because the 2 I tried out had been excellent. I read around online and was inspired by FraGTaLiTy's mic mod of the AD700's (link below), so I thought I might give it a try.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/446329/fragtalitys-audio-technica-ad700-boom-mic-mod
So, this brings me to a few questions I had about the headphones:
1. How bad is the noise bleed from these? If I'm using them for ventrilo and maybe listening to some music quietly in the background while gaming, will that be heard in the next room or 10 feet away? I have read anywhere from "You hear these 20 feet away" to "You can use these in a library, no big deal."
2. How much will I hear outside noise. In other words, will these let in EVERYTHING as though I'm not even wearing them? or will I be able to hear someone talking to me directly if they are next to me so I don't need to take them off, but not be distracted by the TV if someone is watching it on the other side of the room?
3. Is the bass really that lacking? I am coming from crappy $60 headphones. I am not really a bass head by any means, but I would like some. I listen to all sorts of music, rock, rap, classical, and trance a lot while gaming. Do these lack bass for the seasoned audiophile? or for anyone?
4. For anyone who may have done this mod, how well did it work out for you and what advice do you have? Also what, if any cable sleeving did you use to finish the mod?
Thanks for reading and helping me out in advance. I am new to hi quality headphones as well as this forum, but I figured if I needed answers, this was the place to go!
