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On March 09 2011 12:12 Twistacles wrote: Thanks for all the info, guys.
A Xonar it is :D Essence ST I hope. All the other Xonars are pretty bad for headphones afaik. Claro Halo is supposed to be ok too.
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My random $0.02 & Sennheiser HD 555 review (seemed suitable on the 55th page of the thread ^^).
First off... Don't get fooled by brand names, just because something says Sennheiser on it it doesn't mean the quality is going to be good and the device can't be complete shit. There are a lot of cheap headphones out there that are a true waste of money. I think it's widely known that if you're looking for a good pair of budget headphones and are interested into getting a serious pair of good quality, you should probably go for either the Sony MDR-v6 or Sennheiser HD 555.
My favorite of those would be the Sennheiser HD 555's. These are an excellent entry level headphones for anyone who wants to take their music seriously. What makes me like these so much are the fact that they are very versatile and have a great all-round performance.
The 555 is really solid built. It's an open model which allows for long audio/gaming sessions without annoying your ears and they truly are very comfortable to wear, even though this is a partly subjective element as everybody has different head- & ear shapes (the soft ear pads seem to make it both comfortable for smaller as well as bigger ears though).
The range is excellent and it delivers good quality bass, mids, as well as highs. If you've never had a pair of 'real' headphones, you'll definitely be entering a whole new world when you let these babies cover your ears.
You should probably expect to put down about 100 bucks for these, even though you might find better deals these days as they've been around for a while now. If your budget is bigger than that you might still consider getting these and get a headphone amp with it, which def boosts the quality even more (+ it'd be a great investment for your future headphones).
These headphones definitely aren't perfect though! There are a lot of different type of head phones made for different end goals. Like I said, these are excellent all-round headphones but you might have specific needs and/or requirements.
For example, as mentioned the 555 is an open model, so don't expect to put your total environment on mute. Personally I prefer this since I like hearing my phone go off or hear people yelling at me when they need me. Don't be scared though, this definitely isn't an easy task when the volume up to a decent level :p. However, this does also mean that it has sound leaks... so these headphones are not suitable to blast your music in the library.
Another thing to consider is the bass. The bass quality is good but the actual bass impact isn't as great as you might expect; meaning it's detailed but not suited for dubstep fanatics that want to have their ears literally wob along with the music... If your taste in music is very wide and not limited to dubstep / DnB / Hiphop only, I'd say it's a great pick though.
A final note would be that these are headphones and not a headset. Since we're all gamers here, having a mic attached might be an important requirement, which these don't have.
The HD 555 is to headphones what the MX518 is to gaming mice I'd put these up for recommendation to anyone who's browsing around for a new pair!
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On March 09 2011 22:45 Fyodor wrote:Show nested quote +On March 09 2011 12:12 Twistacles wrote: Thanks for all the info, guys.
A Xonar it is :D Essence ST I hope. All the other Xonars are pretty bad for headphones afaik. Claro Halo is supposed to be ok too.
Also sound cards are limited in PCB space and height restrictions. You're not going to find components that are big or tall enough that they make the card fatter than one slot wide.
In standalone DACs and especially amplifiers, you sometimes find larger components that would not fit in a sound card or may be too heavy for it. Granted, it's usually just power supply filtering (big transformer(s), big filtering capacitors, etc.) and then big vacuum tubes for the tube amps/DACs. A sound card gets DC power from the computer power supply, so it doesn't need nearly as much space for its power supply filtering--big components are not really needed. (The drawback is that there's an argument against the high-frequency noise in power from a computer SMPS, but I think that'd be above the audio range and not much worth worrying about.)
But I think for somebody who doesn't have a clear idea if what sound he wants yet, going cheaper for now is a better idea. A Xonar DG is $20-30 and should be a decent step up from most onboard audio solutions. For just headphones playback, there's no reason to consider models between the DG and ST/STX in price.
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![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/MWfps.jpg)
Liquid Headphones
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Neat, what headphones are those?
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Does anybody know which is better for the M50 with an LOD cable? Fiio E5 or cmoy amp?
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What are the best headphones that I can get for $1,500?
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On March 12 2011 09:21 Alexson wrote: What are the best headphones that I can get for $1,500? That's like any headphone save Orpheus, R10 and some vintage Grados.
But I'll play, say... Audeze LCD2?
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On March 12 2011 09:21 Alexson wrote: What are the best headphones that I can get for $1,500?
At that price point there is no "best". It really depends what kind of sound you like.
Sennheiser HD800, Beyer T1, Audeze LCD-2, HiFiMan HE-6 are all top contenders among others. Obviously you'll need proper amplification to go with these however.
Personally, I'm on the wait list for Audeze LCD-2's. Driving them through a Schiit Lyr hybrid SS/Tube amp. I should have them by the end of the month, so excited!
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On March 16 2011 03:18 Gatsbi wrote:Show nested quote +On March 12 2011 09:21 Alexson wrote: What are the best headphones that I can get for $1,500? At that price point there is no "best". It really depends what kind of sound you like. Sennheiser HD800, Beyer T1, Audeze LCD-2, HiFiMan HE-6 are all top contenders among others. Obviously you'll need proper amplification to go with these however. Personally, I'm on the wait list for Audeze LCD-2's. Driving them through a Schiit Lyr hybrid SS/Tube amp. I should have them by the end of the month, so excited! good shit. write up a review for us?
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Something for people with way better headphones than their speakers that love bass. I used a splitter to hook up my speakers + headphones to my computer, so i just ramp up the bass all the way on my sub and put on my m50's. Superb quality + i can feel the bass in my body :D
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I'd rather spend that money on 10 hours of coaching from IdrA.
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On March 17 2011 10:39 decafchicken wrote: Something for people with way better headphones than their speakers that love bass. I used a splitter to hook up my speakers + headphones to my computer, so i just ramp up the bass all the way on my sub and put on my m50's. Superb quality + i can feel the bass in my body :D
I wonder how this would work with relatively bass-light headphones like ATH-AD700, K501, etc. If you have a sub going, open vs. closed seems like a moot point, at least from the sound leaking out direction. Unfortunately, bass quality on a cheap sub isn't going to match the rest of the system.
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I have a question for those who have dealt with headphones troubles. Today my headphones started playing music through only the right ear, unless the cable connected to them is at a very precise angle. They're AKG k-240's and my first pair of decent head phones, so I'm obviously not thrilled about it. I got them for christmas, so hopefully if there is a warranty or something on them it's still in effect. They have a detachable cord, do you think this would be the problem? Could I just get another cable and fix the problem?
I have treated them very well since purchasing them, if I take them anywhere (which was 2 times) I hold them in an old Medusa headphone case to avoid slamming them against something.
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On March 19 2011 05:21 0mgVitaminE wrote: I have a question for those who have dealt with headphones troubles. Today my headphones started playing music through only the right ear, unless the cable connected to them is at a very precise angle. They're AKG k-240's and my first pair of decent head phones, so I'm obviously not thrilled about it. I got them for christmas, so hopefully if there is a warranty or something on them it's still in effect. They have a detachable cord, do you think this would be the problem? Could I just get another cable and fix the problem?
I have treated them very well since purchasing them, if I take them anywhere (which was 2 times) I hold them in an old Medusa headphone case to avoid slamming them against something. either the cable is or the socket seems to be the problem. You can change the cable but the socket would be trickier to repair.
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On March 08 2011 07:54 JinDesu wrote:Show nested quote +On March 06 2011 08:48 ibreakurface wrote:On March 06 2011 03:38 clownfish wrote: Ive been looking to get a new pair of headphones for my pc, how do the sennheiser 595 and ath-m50 compare? are they similar or is one of them definitely superior? You really can't go wrong but I would suggest the m50's. I have a pair and they are fantastic. My only complaint is I pulled the little coil out of its spot on the 35mm plug D: You can refeed that in; it's just a little tough. Pretend you are screwing it in - insert the end of that coil into the plug head, and apply force to it while turning it in the direction that would make it continue feeding in. Do this until the larger end of the coil is back in; the last bit takes some pushing to get in. It happened to me a week ago; since then I've learned to grab the plug and not the coil/wire. Been trying for 15 mins ;-;
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Bumping this because I just got my Sennheiser HD555's. They really are unbelievable. These are my first pair of audiophile headphones and I could instantly hear so much more that I could have had with sony earbuds, and there is actually a soundstage now.
The headphones also don't leak as much sound as some people make them out to be (maybe b/c i listen to classical music and I don't blare my shit out at max volume) and they look really cool. The only thing I don't like is that they kind of squeeze my cheeks/jaws/meh you know what i mean! in when I wear them even when I try to loosen them, so they can be kind of uncomfortable after a while. I suppose this just takes some getting used to.
Tomorrow I will do the foam mod to turn them in HD595s and maybe blast away some L4D2. I will also be seeing whether these cans improve with burn-in over time.
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so i went and had a listen to the Sennheiser HD650 yesterday and bought along my amp/dac (Fubar 4). the HD650 surpassed my expectations.(currently using HD595) i also listened to the HD800 and wasnt really impressed with it, i actually thought the HD650 was better. its probably because my amp/dac cant drive the HD800.
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