[noremac]

OK got the right section this time lol. I am very tired tonight.

Alright before you all start screaming at me, I just want you to know that I spent the last 6 hours just reading stuff on the site, and have done research before posting. The bulk of the reading being the massive 70 page thread on the JVC HA-RX series. And I am still left with unanswered questions thus leading to my post here. Right now I game on a crappy stereo headset and on-board audio. After reading all these reviews on various headsets I am left at a fork in the road. I guess with a subject such as audio equipment where most of the end-user feedback is based off of their personal preferences, you get a lot of conflicting opinions.

What I am looking for is the best sound card/headphone combo that will give me the best bang for the buck and meet the following desired requirements:

1. Positional audio in gaming: I play pretty much FPS and mostly the CS and COD series on a competitive level, so it is imperative for me to tell where players are around me.
2. Excellent sound quality in music: I listen to most everything - classic rock, alternative rock, metal, techno, some rap, etc.
3. Decent noise isolation: I would use them in moderate volume rooms and maybe occasional loud LAN events, so open back is most likely out of the question.
4. Minimal or no sound leakage: Again, open back is most likely out of the question.
5. Excellent sound quality in movies: I like action movies so I want those explosions to have realistic sound and I like dialogue to come in very crisp and clear.
6. Pretty durable: not too much flimsy plastic, but not so well built that it feels like a brick on my head.
7. Circum-aural: This one is probably not a big deal if they are VERY comfortable supra-aural headphones, I just don't like the hard pressure over my ears.
8. Comfortable: I game for hours upon hours, so I don't need something that's going to slow down my flow.
   
9. Runs without amp: Maybe I will invest in an amp later on, but right now it is not in my budget really.

There is no one thing on my computer that I do "the most." I do everything from gaming to video production, and most of the time I listen to music while doing those things. That makes it so that I can't really sacrifice quality in any one area because I do everything about evenly. So now on to my choices. For the budget I would like to keep it under $200 for both the sound card and headphones, and I already have a clip on mic so that is taken care of, and of course less than that budget would be greatly appreciated as well.

I really have heard rave reviews of the Audio Technica ATH-xxx series but my main conflicting issue was the uncanny similarity between that and the JVC HA-RX series, almost like the same headphone. This made me think to myself why would I pay over $100 when I can get something very similar for $40? In fact I was almost set on buying the ATH-A700 until I was shown the thread on this forum (thanks chinesekiwi).

As for the sound card I am also in a bind. It seems that all the X-Fi reviews say it is good for games but not as good in music as other cards, and the other cards like ASUS or Auzentech are good in music but not as good as the X-Fi in games. So I have no idea what to do here, as long as it is somewhat cheap and can do what I want I am open to all recommendations.

Sorry for writing so much [size=xx-small](I like to be as specific as possible and not try to come across as some idiot who has done no research)[/size] but I am just left with a lot of questions unanswered and uncertainties from what I have read so far on the forum, and my hope is that I can actually get some helpful input on my particular situation and not just another "use the search function" reply or a link to kool bubba ice's Ultimate gaming headphone guide because I know how to use search and I have read many gaming headphone threads but I am still stuck deciding and I just need more clarification. The last thing I want to do is buy expensive headphones online and have to go through the hassle of returning them because they don't sound good. I just bought some HD201's last week and they sounded so-so on my computer but pretty damn good on my iPod so I lucked out and now have a new set of portables. I just wish I had some kind of high end audio store around my area where I could test this stuff in person, there may be but really all I know of is Best Buy and all they ever have for testing is Bose.

So with all that being said and all of my needs have been addressed, what would be the best choice for me?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[AtomikPi]

If you care more about gaming than music, take a look at the DT 770's - closed, good for gaming/movies (bass is very much present, possibly to an excess), well built, sounded OK when I used to run them out of my XFi. Now if you care more about music, you might find their bass response to be slightly excessive, so read around, ideally listen to whichever cans you decide you want to get before you buy, etc.

 

[hvu]

The ATH-M50 meets of your standards except maybe the Cirum-aural.

 

[noremac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtomikPi /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you care more about gaming than music, take a look at the DT 770's - closed, good for gaming/movies (bass is very much present, possibly to an excess), well built, sounded OK when I used to run them out of my XFi. Now if you care more about music, you might find their bass response to be slightly excessive, so read around, ideally listen to whichever cans you decide you want to get before you buy, etc.

Those are a bit out of my price range I would say, lowest I found was around $150 at a retailer I have never dealt with leaving me roughly $50 left for the sound card. I guess you cant get good on a budget like mine huh. The problem with me though is I care about everything equally as much. I want my music and my games to both sound good. Which seems to be something that will be hard to reach on my budget.

It would be nice to listen to something before I buy it but I don't know where to go, unless someone here from Texas can tell me somewhere in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

 

[hvu]

From what I seen you can try the low end Audio-Technica, Beyer, Ultrasone, Denon and other at GuitarCenter on 75.
Another place is Dallas Audio Concept on Preston and Forest I think, that is where I got my Grado's.

 

[hvu]

Ps GuitarCenter charges a 15% restocking fee.

 

[noremac]

By low end which models do you mean specifically?

 

[hvu]

To be specific they have the ATH-M50, Beyer dt-770, "Ultrasone 780 - I think"
off the top of my head but they basically have a whole wall headphone. I didn't see any headphone over $400 at the store.

 

[NoLimits3D]

DT-770 would be a good choice.

 

[noremac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvu /img/forum/go_quote.gif To be specific they have the ATH-M50, Beyer dt-770, "Ultrasone 780 - I think" off the top of my head but they basically have a whole wall headphone. I didn't see any headphone over $400 at the store.

Hmm that sounds good, I just wish there is someplace I could demo everything I am looking at.

 

[Foe-hammer]

going closed really kills the best possibilities of the best gaming headphones. Like the DT880's and AD700's. But if closed is that important to you, then you'll have to settle for an inferior gaming headphone.

 

[hvu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by noremac /img/forum/go_quote.gif Those are a bit out of my price range I would say, lowest I found was around $150 at a retailer I have never dealt with leaving me roughly $50 left for the sound card. I guess you cant get good on a budget like mine huh. The problem with me though is I care about everything equally as much. I want my music and my games to both sound good. Which seems to be something that will be hard to reach on my budget. It would be nice to listen to something before I buy it but I don't know where to go, unless someone here from Texas can tell me somewhere in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvu /img/forum/go_quote.gif From what I seen you can try the low end Audio-Technica, Beyer, Ultrasone, Denon and other at GuitarCenter on Hwy 75. Another place is Dallas Audio Concept on Preston and Forest I think, that is where I got my Grado's.

Quote:

Originally Posted by noremac /img/forum/go_quote.gif Hmm that sounds good, I just wish there is someplace I could demo everything I am looking at.

I see your not READING very carefully all this is located in the DALLAS area liked you asked in your first post.

 

[noremac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foe-hammer /img/forum/go_quote.gif going closed really kills the best possibilities of the best gaming headphones. Like the DT880's and AD700's. But if closed is that important to you, then you'll have to settle for an inferior gaming headphone.

Well if there is a such thing as an open headphone that doesn't leak much and doesn't let much in... but I doubt such a thing exists. How is the A700 compared to the AD700? Correct me if I am wrong but isn't the DT880 closed?


Quote:

Originally Posted by hvu /img/forum/go_quote.gif I see your not READING very carefully all this is located in the DALLAS area liked you asked in your first post.

No I read it, but I meant they don't offer much by what you said. I checked out the Dallas Audio Concept website and all they had were Grado's, which I don't like due to the supra-aural design.

If anyone is not reading carefully it is you because you are showing me headphones that retail over my budget of $200.

 

[d1ce]

Interesting thread from a while back: Which headphones have the best and most accurate 3d positional sound? - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio . I question if there is any difference between headphones when it comes to positional sound.

 

[noremac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d1ce /img/forum/go_quote.gif Interesting thread from a while back: Which headphones have the best and most accurate 3d positional sound? - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio . I question if there is any difference between headphones when it comes to positional sound.

Yeah that is what I was thinking... since the game puts through your headphones where the sound is coming from, it will be the same no matter what headphones you use.