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Ranix
United States666 Posts
After looking for a while I've almost decided on these headphones by Audio Technica: http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATH-A700-Closed-Back-Dynamic-Headphones/dp/B000E9VKUQ/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top Before I do decide though, I would like the opinion of TL as I'm sure many people on here are more in tune with this sort of thing. Thanks  | ||
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Realpenguin
8253 Posts
http://www.head-fi.org/ I did a quick search and found a review on it: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/ath-a700-review-86278/ I have "entry-level" audiophile headphones (AKG K81DJ) and they're great for gaming. The A700 you're looking at definitely has a little more "oomph" in them. | ||
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Ranix
United States666 Posts
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PH
United States6173 Posts
Only get them if you're a music nut who has an extensive CD collection and/or both hoards lossless recordings of everything and has a good (ie: more than $200) sound card. Short of that, there's no need to go overboard. You can get decent headphones that will more than suit your needs below $100. You won't be able to tell the difference between a 320kbps mp3 file and a flac or wav file without a very good sound card. | ||
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FragKrag
United States11563 Posts
http://www.amazon.com/Grado-i-Headphones-iPod-BLACK/dp/B000KN0YEY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1242697280&sr=1-1 It has amazing sound quality and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. However, I have seen my fair share of great Sennheisers. | ||
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Kogu
Canada83 Posts
![[image loading]](http://www.everythingusb.com/images/list/razer_megalodon_usb_headset_news.jpg) good quality headset. i find headset make a allot of deference in gaming. well mostly for fps games but other then that you want some good headset also for communication example Ventrilo or other program you use. | ||
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Ranix
United States666 Posts
On July 09 2009 11:55 PH wrote: You don't need great quality headphones for gaming...most games don't have audio quality high enough to make it worth it. Only get them if you're a music nut who has an extensive CD collection and/or both hoards lossless recordings of everything and has a good (ie: more than $200) sound card. Short of that, there's no need to go overboard. You can get decent headphones that will more than suit your needs below $100. You won't be able to tell the difference between a 320kbps mp3 file and a flac or wav file without a very good sound card. I agree but another thing that the low end headphones don't provide is durability (or at least the ones I've used). My past 3 have broken rather quickly (no I don't throw them when I lose D iCCup games)- and my current ones have wires exposed in 3 places. So durability is also something I'm looking for. | ||
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Aylear
Norway3988 Posts
![[image loading]](http://www.akg.com/mediendatenbank2/pspic/image//50/image1079364426_k240studio4055cb4939d21.jpg) Best damn headphones I've ever owned. They've been discontinued, but if mine were to ever break (not likely; Austrian construction means you could accidentally sit on them) I wouldn't hesitate to grab the MkII. | ||
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benjammin
United States2728 Posts
i have, and recommend to everyone i can, these: http://www.amazon.com/Grado-80-SR80-Headphones/dp/B0006DPMVS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1247110896&sr=8-3 grado typically makes ultra high-end stuff, but these are there consumer headphones and are fantastic, just check out some of the reviews gl! you won't regret it! | ||
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v1rtu0so
United States140 Posts
but first, i got to know your budget, source (what is feeding the headphone?), use (gaming, music etc), and your preference (rank these in order of importance: soudnd quality, isolation <-how much noise is blocked out, appearance, comfort) | ||
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Ranix
United States666 Posts
On July 09 2009 12:45 benjammin wrote: the problem with audiophile stuff is that there's not a lot of room between affordable and ridiculous, and i really cannot stress enough how useless it is to spend $300+ on headphones when other things in your signal are going to suck i have, and recommend to everyone i can, these: http://www.amazon.com/Grado-80-SR80-Headphones/dp/B0006DPMVS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1247110896&sr=8-3 grado typically makes ultra high-end stuff, but these are there consumer headphones and are fantastic, just check out some of the reviews gl! you won't regret it! I'll look into these too On July 09 2009 13:00 v1rtu0so wrote: i guess i can be considered audiophile but first, i got to know your budget, source (what is feeding the headphone?), use (gaming, music etc), and your preference (rank these in order of importance: soudnd quality, isolation <-how much noise is blocked out, appearance, comfort) Well- I have at most $120 to spend on the headphones.. for source I assume you mean my computer.. which just has onboard audio no soundcard. The use is mainly for gaming but I do enjoy my fair share of music. As for importance: quality, comfort, isolation, appearance from most to least importance. Hope that helps | ||
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Wangsta
United States776 Posts
it doesnt matter if you buy a $10,000+ electrostatic headphone, it will sound like shit without a good source, a good signal line, and a good amp 1) your sound files must match your setup. mp3s will sound WORSE with a good audio setup unless they are encoded in true 320kb+ quality. a good headphone setup is meant to reveal the true quality of your source (if that quality is garbage, youll hear garbage). Even then, you will prefer lossless file formats such as .flac files. Even if you find .flac files, you must make sure that whoever made the files encoded and recorded them properly too. 2) a good signal line is essential. at the highest end of audiophilia, you can spend upwards of $10,000 dollars on a single wire, and there is a reason why. if you just plug good headphones into your PC headphone jack, youll hear all sorts of static and other distortions while listening to music (sometimes even if no music is on). your best best is to purchase an EXTERNAL sound card which operates through USB. The reason you want external is because your digital to analog conversion will occur outside of your computer and avoid the electromagnetic mess inside your PC. You can purchase a top quality external sound card for as little as 70 dollars used or 100 dollars new (get the E-MU 0202 USB audio interface, or 0404 if you have a little more money) 3) some headphones can get decent volume without an amp (especially low impedence ones) but the sound quality will be very cold and lack impact in the bass. in other words, the money you spent on your headphones will be wasted. first RESEARCH your headphones. some headphones have every low impedence (under 100 ohms), and some have very high impedence (i.e. 250 or 600 ohm dt770s). for low impedence headphones, look for an amp will low output impedence (50ohms or lower) and high current/wattage (at least 200+ mW, ideally 500mW+). For high impedence headphones, you want voltage for sound clarity and wattage for bass and sound fullness. Also, your amp has an output impedence too. your amp's output resistence MUST be lower than your headphones input resistance otherwise you will have terrible sound with many glitches. for this reason, be very careful if you buy low impedence headphones. For gaming, you probably want a headphone will very good detail/separation. this will make it easier to distinguish directions. IMO you should get some neutral studio headphones like the AKG 240S. For music, you probably want good bass response (unless u like classical/etc.) so look for AKG k81dj (budget bass) or the beyerdynamic dt770 pro (a little more expensive and needs an amp) edit: the AT-700s that you posted are very good headphones, but keep in mind that you need a good amp to get the best sound out of them | ||
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v1rtu0so
United States140 Posts
Also, while your points about impedence and resistance are certainly valid and important, I firmly believe the transducers (headphones and speakers) make the most dramatic difference, as opposed to amp, dac and especially cables (many audiophiles maintain that expensive cables are just snake oil). David Mudkips - I recommend that you get a cheap external dac/amp solution, around 20-40 bucks. I deemphasized the importance of source earlier in this post, but onboard PC soundcard are usually that terrible and will really produce just complete trash of signal. In terms of headphone, with the 80-100 dollars left over, Sennheiser HD555 is my strongest recommendation. These are true entry-level audiophile headphones and will do music decent justice. They also have good soundstaging, something that is really crucial in FPS and RPG. Hope this helps. | ||
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Loser777
1931 Posts
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FragKrag
United States11563 Posts
Remember you look at the logs though because some people just encode 128kb/s files into larger containers which just wastes space since the file quality doesn't improve. It is especially popular with .flac files since they are so highly coveted. | ||
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Wangsta
United States776 Posts
On July 09 2009 13:41 v1rtu0so wrote: Wangsta - Although the encoding of the files undeniably can make a difference, let's not exaggerate the difference -- for instance -- of a 256 kb vbr and a flac. Many people, even with equipment of upwards of 1000 dollars, cannot distinguish 256 kb vbr from a flac: double blind tests in various audio forums have shown this. Of course, if all of your music is encoded in 128 kb cbr, you probably want to consider re-encoding them. Also, while your points about impedence and resistance are certainly valid and important, I firmly believe the transducers (headphones and speakers) make the most dramatic difference, as opposed to amp, dac and especially cables (many audiophiles maintain that expensive cables are just snake oil). David Mudkips - I recommend that you get a cheap external dac/amp solution, around 20-40 bucks. I deemphasized the importance of source earlier in this post, but onboard PC soundcard are usually that terrible and will really produce just complete trash of signal. In terms of headphone, with the 80-100 dollars left over, Sennheiser HD555 is my strongest recommendation. These are true entry-level audiophile headphones and will do music decent justice. They also have good soundstaging, something that is really crucial in FPS and RPG. Hope this helps. the problem with mp3s is that they are often poorly encoded. ive encountered 320kb/s mp3 files that sound no different than 128kb/s encoding. some cruel uploaders even batch mp3s from youtube (lol) and label them as "high quality" mp3s. people who encode in .flac care about sound quality (otherwise they wouldnt go through the hassle of encoding in .flac), and its also the only format where youll find high quality vinyl rips these days are u the same v1rtu0so from bnet? if yes, this is jason, lol random | ||
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v1rtu0so
United States140 Posts
what is your audio gear btw? | ||
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Wangsta
United States776 Posts
theres nothing really high end, but this setup works well for me. I might upgrade the amp later to something that can drive the k701s better (i heard you need like 500mW+ for them) i didnt know you were into audiophilia haha | ||
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FragKrag
United States11563 Posts
On July 09 2009 14:02 Wangsta wrote: the problem with mp3s is that they are often poorly encoded. ive encountered 320kb/s mp3 files that sound no different than 128kb/s encoding. some cruel uploaders even batch mp3s from youtube (lol) and label them as "high quality" mp3s. people who encode in .flac care about sound quality (otherwise they wouldnt go through the hassle of encoding in .flac), and its also the only format where youll find high quality vinyl rips these days are u the same v1rtu0so from bnet? if yes, this is jason, lol random I have actually downloaded huge amounts of .flac that were "CD Rips" and "Vinyl Rips" that sounded no better than 128 kbps :/ | ||
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Wangsta
United States776 Posts
On July 09 2009 15:08 FragKrag wrote: I have actually downloaded huge amounts of .flac that were "CD Rips" and "Vinyl Rips" that sounded no better than 128 kbps :/ where are u getting your .flacs? i only download from well known uploaders on demonoid, and i havent had any problems for example, check out pbthal's uploads on demonoid. he has excellent taste in music and has uploaded 133 perfectly ripped vinyl albums. if you download just his music and nothing else, you'll already have a great collection http://www.demonoid.com/files/?uid=4561044&seeded=2 | ||
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