EPTin-ear headsets or over-ear headsets?
what are the pros and cons for each?
i am only going to be using it for starcraft and videos/music on the PC.
Headphone enthusiast thread! - Page 223
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azngamer828
United States137 Posts
in-ear headsets or over-ear headsets? what are the pros and cons for each? i am only going to be using it for starcraft and videos/music on the PC. | ||
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MoonfireSpam
United Kingdom1153 Posts
On December 01 2013 00:19 Djzapz wrote: They might be an option if they're effective yes. Have gotten good passive cancelling with the foam earpieces that come with some IEMs (at least from Shure). They're over ear, which may not be your thing, but they're not bose, don't have any hiss or white noise and cheaper I think. | ||
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c0ldfusion
United States8293 Posts
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. oh I think I saw that deal last week. I was debating pulling the trigger since I don't have any beyers. But it's just too hard to justify after picking up the HD650 just a week before that. | ||
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c0ldfusion
United States8293 Posts
On December 10 2013 08:02 azngamer828 wrote: just a simple question i hope everyone can answer in-ear headsets or over-ear headsets? what are the pros and cons for each? i am only going to be using it for starcraft and videos/music on the PC. For home use, absolutely stick with circumaural headphones for the comfort and sound-stage. Don't bother with either supra-aural or in-ear - they're for the commute/travel. You don't need the isolation if you're at home. | ||
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
On December 10 2013 10:03 MoonfireSpam wrote: Have gotten good passive cancelling with the foam earpieces that come with some IEMs (at least from Shure). They're over ear, which may not be your thing, but they're not bose, don't have any hiss or white noise and cheaper I think. I lobbied to get me some ATH-ACN7b from audio technica from the gf for xmas, they seem to be the best available thing in their price range. They're not QC15's but yeah they should be good. As for passive noise cancelling, my RE-400 earbuds came with some comply foam tips. They should be decent but I don't think they'd be sufficient for my purposes. My ATH-M50's are okay at passive noise cancelling but still insufficient also. | ||
Jer99
Canada8160 Posts
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azngamer828
United States137 Posts
used for starcraft and video/music! suggestions? Thanks~ | ||
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ShivaN
United States933 Posts
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CubEdIn
Romania5359 Posts
On December 10 2013 11:25 azngamer828 wrote: looking to buy over-ear headphones for $100 and dont need a mic used for starcraft and video/music! suggestions? Thanks~ AudioTechnica's ATH M50 / Creative Aurvana Live! You'll see these two everywhere you ask about headphones in this budget. For a reason. @ShivaN - Don't worry about breaking them in, you probably won't hear any difference anyway, it's 90% placebo. It's not a car engine.  Do however let us know what you think, and try it with and without the FiiO as well, just for comparison reasons. @prochobo - Lower-end Sennheisers have a bit muddier bass, even if it's strong, it's not clear. This is true especially for IEMs, like the streetwear CX series. So it's only natural that the Beyer sound better in this area. | ||
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AmericanNightmare
United States98 Posts
Money isn't really important. Let's say around $1000 is my budget, but not looking to go over $1500. As long as what I'm buying is what fits my needs I don't mind paying. Music/Gaming/Movies are the three areas I would need. If I would need to purchase anything else in order to get a better sound please tell me. Also if someone could recommend the best in-ear headphone as well.. music only would be played with those. | ||
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CubEdIn
Romania5359 Posts
First thing you need to know is that for that budget you should also get a DAC + AMP, which are essential for high-end headphones otherwise they sound like crap. One set-up I'd recommend that sound more towards neutral and should be ok in games is the Denon D-7000 and a Burson HA-160 but you would still need a very good source (so a dedicated DAC), and these two already get you into the 1500s. Problem with high-end gear is that without proper support they don't sound like $1000 headphones. Another set-up would be Sennheiser HD 650 + Schiit Bitfrost + Burson Soloist. This should be a pretty impressive sound all-round, but I haven not heard all 3 together (I did hear the 650s on the Soloist and they are insanely good). A whole different approach which would probably be more suitable for gaming is the Audeze LCD-2 (they were on discount recently, under $1000 I think), + Schiit Mondi + Schiit Magni. The AMP and DAC are cheap in this case but they should be enough to drive them. It won't take them to their full potential but they would definitely sound much better than straight out of your computer. But for music the differences would be more evident between this amp and the Burson I suggested above. Also, the FiiO E07K + FiiO E09K are a good combination of DAC+AMP that should handle any of these three I mentioned, at decent quality. Almost forgot about them. And finally, for IEMs - http://theheadphonelist.com/headphone-list/ arranged by sound quality, just pick a price and see what you can get for it. Also has links to individual reviews, should be simple enough. Still, if you're willing to spend that much on headphones you should definitely find a hi-fi store that has stock (AMPs/DACs/High End Headphones) and go there and listen to a few combinations. Just to understand how much each part matters to you. An expensive headphone without a DAC/AMP can sound *much* worse than something half its price with a decent source/amplification. Your request is much too broad to be reduced to a simple "buy X headphone" reply. | ||
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Genjimaru
Canada515 Posts
Mainly just use my headphones for music listening but i'm trying to get into some production as well. Any help is appreciated. Also going to be getting an audio interface if anyone has any recommendations. Edit: I guess $300 or so would be the top of my budget for the amp+dac. Since that's more expensive than my headphones themselves. But I'm probably looking to upgrade at some point anyway. | ||
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Myrmidon
United States9452 Posts
Failing that, new headphones, not that the ATH-M50s are bad. Amps are more for providing slightly cleaner power to finicky (in some sense; like really high or low sensitivity) headphones, higher output levels, etc... but mostly for fetishist gearslut appeal and audiophile street cred. Not that there's inherently anything wrong with that approach, but it's not where to go to get real-world bang for the buck on most headphones that aren't that demanding. Similar story for most DACs, especially considering that... if you're getting an audio interface, why do you want a separate ODAC to bypass that? Unless you're just getting something that's input only, or...? As for what to get, it depends on what kinds of inputs and outputs you need. Mostly just go by relatively recent products with reasonable driver support and the feature set you need. | ||
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Genjimaru
Canada515 Posts
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CubEdIn
Romania5359 Posts
Try them with a Fiio E07K/E10 (if you have a friend or a place to test them) since it's both AMP and DAC. See how it fits you. You can even buy one if you can't test because it will for sure not let you down, and if it does, return it! | ||
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Genjimaru
Canada515 Posts
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CubEdIn
Romania5359 Posts
I can get it from someone (pre-owned) with upgraded tubes for like 200eur. Trying to figure out if it's worth the difference from the E09K I initially decided on. Edit: or at least tube amps vs solid state on the HD600 or HD650s. | ||
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c0ldfusion
United States8293 Posts
On December 11 2013 04:41 CubEdIn wrote: There's no such thing as "the best", even if you're looking for music only, not to mention all rounders. First thing you need to know is that for that budget you should also get a DAC + AMP, which are essential for high-end headphones otherwise they sound like crap. One set-up I'd recommend that sound more towards neutral and should be ok in games is the Denon D-7000 and a Burson HA-160 but you would still need a very good source (so a dedicated DAC), and these two already get you into the 1500s. Problem with high-end gear is that without proper support they don't sound like $1000 headphones. Another set-up would be Sennheiser HD 650 + Schiit Bitfrost + Burson Soloist. This should be a pretty impressive sound all-round, but I haven not heard all 3 together (I did hear the 650s on the Soloist and they are insanely good). A whole different approach which would probably be more suitable for gaming is the Audeze LCD-2 (they were on discount recently, under $1000 I think), + Schiit Mondi + Schiit Magni. The AMP and DAC are cheap in this case but they should be enough to drive them. It won't take them to their full potential but they would definitely sound much better than straight out of your computer. But for music the differences would be more evident between this amp and the Burson I suggested above. Also, the FiiO E07K + FiiO E09K are a good combination of DAC+AMP that should handle any of these three I mentioned, at decent quality. Almost forgot about them. And finally, for IEMs - http://theheadphonelist.com/headphone-list/ arranged by sound quality, just pick a price and see what you can get for it. Also has links to individual reviews, should be simple enough. Still, if you're willing to spend that much on headphones you should definitely find a hi-fi store that has stock (AMPs/DACs/High End Headphones) and go there and listen to a few combinations. Just to understand how much each part matters to you. An expensive headphone without a DAC/AMP can sound *much* worse than something half its price with a decent source/amplification. Your request is much too broad to be reduced to a simple "buy X headphone" reply. The problem with auditioning in store is it's hard to know the impact of the amp/DAC. | ||
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CubEdIn
Romania5359 Posts
In fact, it's their job to make that difference as clear as possible, otherwise you're walking out with only the headphones, instead of $500 worth of other equipment, no? | ||
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c0ldfusion
United States8293 Posts
On December 14 2013 05:05 CubEdIn wrote: I agree but it depends on the store. If you go there with your own laptop and hang around for 1-2 hours, and they have a quiet room for auditions, it shouldn't be that hard. I mean, if you're gonna spend over $1000 there it's the least they can do. And you don't have to try ALL DACs/AMPs, you just need one pair to go with the headphones you want to buy, then you can tell if there's a significant difference. In fact, it's their job to make that difference as clear as possible, otherwise you're walking out with only the headphones, instead of $500 worth of other equipment, no? Yeah maybe I just haven't found the right store. I auditioned the HD800s in a fairly sub-optimal environment and gave me no sense of how good they'd actually sound when paired properly with the rest of the audio chain. I was simply shocked at how bad they were with what appears to be a crappy amp (and I have no idea what source it was). At least this experience revealed their dependence on being powered adequately. Though I will say this, on that same trip I was able to demo the Momentum through my phone - by the way, not impressed. | ||
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