Upgrading from a ATH-AD500X to somthing better?

[Ceclya]

Hey there

I'll be honest from the start.. i dont have alot of knowledge about sound hardware.
I mainly use my headphones for Gaming + Music, i currently have a pair of ATH-AD500X, just plugged into my motherboard (Asus - Maximus VI Hero)
-https://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/4caf27591c432dd2/index.html
-https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/MAXIMUS_VI_HERO/

I've had my AD500X for about a year+ now and they have been my first pair of headphones, have had 'gaming' headsets in the past but im happy that i made the switch,
but the last couple of weeks i've had some thoughts about if i should upgrade to something with better sound quality and maybe get a dac or whatever those things is called, as i understand that the ones i have is pretty much some entry-level stuff?


So yea is there anything i should take a look at where i'll also be able to tell the diffrence and the upgrade would be worth it? or is it really minor the upgrades i would notice for it to be worth it to spend alot of money on it?

have currently not laid out a budget, but dont wanna go above 4000DKK = ~630$ for the entire thing (headphones & Dac/soundcard or w/e is best)

 

[PurpleAngel]

An Audio Technica ATH-AD900X would be an upgrade and be way under your budget.
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card (used is fine).

 

[serman005]

You might also consider an HD598 (Sennheiser is the brand). I don't think it is particularly better than the AD900X--just different. Maybe read about it and see what you think. It is possible it could work as well.

 

[Rhamnetin]

With that kind of budget, I would say goodbye to dynamic headphones and move up to planars--get either the ZMF Classic or Argon MK3, Objective2 amp, and ODAC. As for which headphone, I will be comparing both so I can't suggest over the other yet. See which one has more reasonable shipping cost.

 

[Ceclya]

thanks for all the replies will take them into consideration, but my phone just died yesterday so getting a new phone is gonna be prioritised over some new headphones :/

 

[Ceclya]

Sorry for necroing my old thread, but if i pull the trigger on a HD598CS and a fiio e10k olympus 2, how much better sound quality should should i expect compared to my setup now with the 500x just plugged into the mobo? is it just a minor improvement so that's it just a stupid 'side-grade' and not an upgrade?

 

[serman005]

The biggest difference will be that the AD500X is open-backed and the HD598CS is a closed headphone. So, they will likely sound very different. It is possible you may actually prefer the AD500X over the 598CS.

 

[Ceclya]

Think im just gonna start with a usb Dac/amp then tbh

 

[Zworks]

how about electrostatic earspeaker?
stax2170 or stax3100, sounds somewhat like ad900x. I got a great deal on stax3100, 400 dollars (srm-252 and l300)