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On December 08 2013 16:01 ShivaN wrote:
So both of you are recommending the ATH M50s. I've read quite a few reviews and posts on other forums about them now, everyone seems to have quite positive things to say from as far as I can tell. They're also relatively cheap! So if I got these I'd still have enough in the budget the pick up the Fiio E10, or comparable amp as well. Is this the way to go?
Complete newb question here, but how does the AMP interact with using speakers? I don't use headphones 100% of the time, actually when I'm just watching a show or browsing the web I'll just use my speakers. I'm seeing people say that I'd need a 2nd AMP for the speakers? What's the alternative, unplugging the AMP and swapping with speakers every time I want to use the other?
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! Yeah swapping between them by unplugging one and plugging in the other is one way. For me I can use the drivers for my motherboard to switch what audio is output to so I have my headphones hooked in the front of my case and speakers hooked up to my motherboard and then just switch in the program.
You don't need an amp for your speakers. If you plug your amped headphones into the speakers it wouldn't know that an amp is plugged in, all it treats it as is something to output sound to. The amp is a middleman of sorts, it is just there to amplify your source and then pass it to the speakers.
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What do you guys think about these?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00018MSNI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE
I am forcing myself to buy a good headset, this seems pretty reasnable, i have an external audio card that i never used yet, could come in handy. Bear in mind that i don' t want noise-reduction headphones. Now these, i don' t like how they look estetically, but they seem very solid?
what is this story about "rodaggio"? mweaning the first hours of use? didn' t know you had to do that..
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I bougt senheisser headphones for 180 euros and they lasted maybe 2 months. Biggest waste of money ever.
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On December 08 2013 19:35 B.I.G. wrote:
I bougt senheisser headphones for 180 euros and they lasted maybe 2 months. Biggest waste of money ever.
What happened to the 2 year warranty?
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On December 08 2013 19:35 B.I.G. wrote:
I bougt senheisser headphones for 180 euros and they lasted maybe 2 months. Biggest waste of money ever.
I bought a pair of Sennheisers 7 years ago and I'm still using them. Best money I spent ever.
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I would strongly advise anyone against using in-ear canal headphones. They will severly damage your ear drum membranes over prolonged use.
I bought my first 'gaming' headset:
![[image loading]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41NNM0KhZsL.jpg)
They are absolutely gorgeous and the sound quality is amazing even on low volume (which I what I typically use now due to sensitive ears). I got them for £14.00 off of Amazon and I would definitely recommend them for laptops, computers or for people travelling long distances (they won't look like gaming headphones until closer inspection).
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On December 08 2013 18:12 pebble444 wrote:What do you guys think about these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00018MSNI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLEI am forcing myself to buy a good headset, this seems pretty reasnable, i have an external audio card that i never used yet, could come in handy. Bear in mind that i don' t want noise-reduction headphones. Now these, i don' t like how they look estetically, but they seem very solid? what is this story about "rodaggio"? mweaning the first hours of use? didn' t know you had to do that..
It is excellent, and I assume rodaggio is the italian equivalent of the word "rodage" in French which means burn-in/break-in. It's complete bullshit that audiophiles have invented for themselves - they believe that your headphones' sound will change after the 30-ish hours of listening. There is absolutely no measurable difference though.
The HD650's are some of the most appreciated headphones out there so you can't go wrong.
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On December 08 2013 18:12 pebble444 wrote:What do you guys think about these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00018MSNI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLEI am forcing myself to buy a good headset, this seems pretty reasnable, i have an external audio card that i never used yet, could come in handy. Bear in mind that i don' t want noise-reduction headphones. Now these, i don' t like how they look estetically, but they seem very solid? what is this story about "rodaggio"? mweaning the first hours of use? didn' t know you had to do that..
They should be pretty good imho.
On Cybermonday they had those Sennheiser Momentum on sale for 220€ instead of 300€ - I just had to :p
![[image loading]](http://hypesrus.com/files/sennheiser-momentum-xl1.jpg)
Apart from the fact that I got an Android phone thus the remote does not work properly I am quite satisfied with them. They sound great, built quality is the shit and they are a thing of beauty.
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On December 08 2013 21:54 FliedLice wrote:Show nested quote +On December 08 2013 19:35 B.I.G. wrote:
I bougt senheisser headphones for 180 euros and they lasted maybe 2 months. Biggest waste of money ever. I bought a pair of Sennheisers 7 years ago and I'm still using them. Best money I spent ever. 5 for me. Still look brand new too. Heck I have two pairs, one 5 years, one 3, and both are perfect still. Taking care of stuff you buy goes a long way, especially with headphones.
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On December 08 2013 23:57 Doublemint wrote:They should be pretty good imho. On Cybermonday they had those Sennheiser Momentum on sale for 220€ instead of 300€ - I just had to :p Apart from the fact that I got an Android phone thus the remote does not work properly I am quite satisfied with them. They sound great, built quality is the shit and they are a thing of beauty.
sennheiser momentum in brown is like the best looking headphone imo. i might buy them just for the looks at some day.
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In his defense, I used to have some HD555 headphones and one of the drivers died for no apparent reason. Sometimes it's not your fault.
That said, Sennheiser tends to be durable. You know the Germans make good products. Bad luck happens.
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On December 08 2013 18:12 pebble444 wrote:What do you guys think about these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00018MSNI/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLEI am forcing myself to buy a good headset, this seems pretty reasnable, i have an external audio card that i never used yet, could come in handy. Bear in mind that i don' t want noise-reduction headphones. Now these, i don' t like how they look estetically, but they seem very solid? what is this story about "rodaggio"? mweaning the first hours of use? didn' t know you had to do that..
Well, first things first, if you buy these you'll want an amp. The impedance on the HD650 is huge, about 300ohm which makes most soundcards sound "meh" with them. If you want to get the most out of them you will need something to drive them, like the Little Dot Mk3, or Fiio E09. That's just for the "oomph". If you want better source quality, you will also need a DAC (sort-of like an outer sound card). Even a cheap DAC like the one I bought recently (Fiio E07K) will make a huge amount of difference. But be aware that if you're going to buy a DAC + AMP that adds at least 200 more euros to your system price.
Not to mention people say that if you really want to get the best out of them you need a better AMP, like a Burson HA160 or even the Soloist, which cost about 2-3 times as much as the headphones themselves.
To someone who's just testing the waters, you might not feel much difference at all, but if you do go for those headphones I would highly recommend AT LEAST an amp. There are several you can buy for ~100eur. And they have to be headphone-dedicated amps. Not speaker amps. Just search google for "best headphone amp $100" or something like that and you'll find a ton of reviews and suggestions.
P.S.: There are actually slight differences after "burn-in" on some headphones, but most of them are so small that it's almost impossible for the human ear to distinguish, so I wouldn't worry about that at all.
Also @ShivaN - I really suggest you buying an external DAC. The reason for that is you can have your headphones always plugged into it, it will sound better than your sound card for headphones for sure. Then you can install something like SoundSwitch which lets you set a hotkey (for example I have ctrl + ~) that switches between soundcard and DAC, so basically between headphones and speakers, instantly. You can even set up certain programs like VLC to run on speakers no matter what and stuff like that.
And yeah the M50s are universally liked. So are the HD600/HD650, but you gotta pay significantly more for those, especially if you include the AMP cost. See above. :D
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How does the DAC work? Does it do the job of the AMP as well, or would I need to get both? I saw you said you recently got the Fiio E07K, is that one you'd recommend? Thanks for the input! I've pretty much settled on getting the ATH M50s, now I just need to decide on the AMP/DAC issue. Any more info would be really helpful!
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DAC stands for Digital to Analog Converter, so as the name says, it converts digital signal (in this received via USB cable from the computer) to analog signal. So basically it converts 0s and 1s into electrical current that makes the headphones drivers vibrate to create sound.
Everything now-a-days has a DAC, the sound card on your motherboard (integrated in the south bridge chipset I think), your phone, the mp3 players, etc. But as everything else they come in different levels of quality, so most of the products use entry-level DACs which are cheap. A dedicated unit is a few levels above anything that comes integrated, because you pay STRICTLY for that.
Regarding the Fiio E07K, I got it for two reasons: first of all, sound cards don't do very well in driving headphones, and second of all, they are a 2-in-1 solution and have an integrated mini-amp (should do very well with the ATH-M50s since they have 38ohm impedance and this is rated from 16 to 150). So you don't need to get an AMP as well for them.
Also, it's portable, has a battery that will last about 12-15hours so you can use it as an amp with your phone (maybe even as a DAC if you can output signal through the usb port on your phone, it works with SOME Android devices, but it's not super-easy to set up, as it is on a PC - plug&play).
So, yes, I would definitely recommend it! If you don't care about the portable part, you can look into the Olympus (Fiio E10), which is more or less the same thing in terms of components, but it's for desktop use only. Some say it's better for it to have a battery since the current is more stable but honestly the differences should be close to null. I liked the fact that it had an analog volume knob (looks awesome) but I heard that it can become clogged with dust & stuff in time and that will generate static when you change the volume (potentiometer issues, most analog volume knobs develop them).
If you want to read more about how DACs work and why high-end will be better than low-end, read here: http://www.msbtech.com/support/How_DACs_Work.php but know that in order to reach a super-high level of fidelity, you also need the USB signal to come in "clean" which implies a whole world of other issues.
Bottom line, for 80eur (the price I payed for it), I'm 100% satisfied. The DAC made a bigger difference in the audio quality than the difference I heard from moving from the old headphones to the new ones (Creative Aurvana Live to Sennheiser Momentum).
If you want an alternative that I heard good things about, see the Schiit Modi, about the same price, with similar or slightly better performance, but lacking the mini-amp http://schiit.com/products/modi
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So the Fiio E10 was what I was looking at initially, recommended by some other members. You say it's desktop only, which is fine, I don't plan to be using the headphones or AMP for portable multimedia, only for when I'm on the computer. Can I use the Fiio E10s with the SoundSwitch as well? My only concern with them was I want something that I'm not going to have to fiddle with every time I want to swap between headphones and speakers. Is there any other difference between the E10 and the E07K or are they both AMP/DACs? Thanks again, all of this has been very enlightening!
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Yes you can use any DAC with soundswitch. DACs are usually recognized automatically by Windows and added to the list of available outputs. SoundSwitch just facilitates easy access to them.
And yes, they are both DACs and AMPs, in fact, I think E10's AMP is slightly better (and rated at 16-300ohms as opposed to 16-100 for the E07K)! The DAC is the same Wolfson WM8740 chip.
And yeah, it's easy to use, you just plug it in and it installs drivers, then it shows up in sound playback devices. You leave speakers in the sound card, headphones in the FiiO, and install SoundSwitch to hotkey between them or simply do it from control panel - sounds.
Honestly, I wanted to buy the E10 myself but I called the store and they were out of stock. Then they offered me a discount on the E07K to the same price as the E10 (15% off), so I went for that.
The only downside I can possibly think of is if you plan to buy the E09K in the future. That has a slot where the you just plugin the E07K ( http://www.fiio.com.cn//upFile/20129191723234.jpg ), BUT, you don't need the E09K if you stick with the M50s, imho, so it shouldn't matter. Besides, maybe you wanna upgrade to a different amp anyway, etc. It's not a real downside, as the E10 works with the E09K anyway, it just doesn't look as pretty - http://bit.ly/IAdcqY 
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I advise anyone looking to buy a gaming headset for whatever reason to not purchase a Logtiech G930. I understand that some people value a headset over headphones and a built-in microphone. But please do not buy the Logitech G930. I've been hassling with support now for a month to get my money back. Those guys are absolute scammers.
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I just got a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro 250 ohm in last week. Paired with a Fiio E7, they sound incredible! These are supposed to be the more bassy headphones, but they seem tamer than my Sennheiser HD 280s. I was using Sony MDR-V6s with the E7 until I got these.
They sound so much more...clear. Going from my old headphones to the 990's, you can easily tell the difference in clarity. Individual instruments are easy to pick out and everything doesn't "blend" in together like with cheaper headphones. There's a clear difference between mids and highs, which is hard to tell with my cheaper cans.
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On December 10 2013 06:45 prochobo wrote:
I just got a pair of Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro 250 ohm in last week. Paired with a Fiio E7, they sound incredible! These are supposed to be the more bassy headphones, but they seem tamer than my Sennheiser HD 280s. I was using Sony MDR-V6s with the E7 until I got these.
They sound so much more...clear. Going from my old headphones to the 990's, you can easily tell the difference in clarity. Individual instruments are easy to pick out and everything doesn't "blend" in together like with cheaper headphones. There's a clear difference between mids and highs, which is hard to tell with my cheaper cans. Closed headphones will almost always sound a bit more bass heavy than open.
Also, Beyerdynamics are the bee's knees. I have two sets and I adore them. They are indeed incredibly clear. I have a set of DT-880 Premium 600 Ohms and I wouldn't trade them for anything. My DT-770 Pro 32 Ohms are no slouch either, though my use for them is completely different.
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EPT
