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On July 02 2012 00:14 TwilightRain wrote:Show nested quote +On June 30 2012 10:48 Uzee13 wrote:
Hi, I am thinking about getting new headphones, I just really want them for a great music listening experience, I'm not into dubstep or a lot of pop, so I don't need extremely bass heavy sound. I'm just looking for a real, true sound. Any recommendations would be great, I'm willing to spend up to around 200$. Thanks. If you are really willing to spend up to 200$, i would recommend Grado SR60i with a decent portable amp. Their sound is very natural,neutral, not mainstream bass- or treble-heavy. They are, however, completely open, so no noise isolation whatsoever, you should mostly use them in a silent environment.
The man wants to spend 200$ on a pair of headphones that he wants to use with his ipod (we have to assume he's gonna listen to his ipod on the bus, subway) so we need comfortable and noise isolating headphones. You recommend 80$ headphones that in no way fits his needs. The Grado aren't comfortable to wear for long hours and aren't ideal in noisy environment.
Get a pair of Ultrasone Pro 550, they sell for 145$ on google shopping.
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On July 08 2012 16:49 GiYoM wrote:
The man wants to spend 200$ on a pair of headphones that he wants to use with his ipod (we have to assume he's gonna listen to his ipod on the bus, subway) so we need comfortable and noise isolating headphones. You recommend 80$ headphones that in no way fits his needs. The Grado aren't comfortable to wear for long hours and aren't ideal in noisy environment.
Get a pair of Ultrasone Pro 550, they sell for 145$ on google shopping.
He didn't say a word about where/how he is gonna listen to them and in which conditions, he didn't state his needs apart from the desired sound. Don't assume shit out of thin air to make other people sound stupid.
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Alright so I need a recommendation. I've read through a fair amount of this thread, but would like some advice. About 3 years ago I got the Bose QC15 headphones as a gift. I dont know how they're viewed here, but I enjoyed the hell out of them. The noise cancelling was great, I got used to the hissing sound and was good to go. The sound quality seemed good, but I hadn't ever had a nice pair of headphones so its hard to say.
They broke on me last week. The sound doesn't filter correctly in the right ear, I think the noise cancelling part broke and I don't think it can be fixed. I'm hoping to stay under $200ish as I'm in college but hell, I'm already in debt and would like some nice headphones. If you think its really worth it I might go up again.
Like I said, I'm in college so having noise cancelling is nice. Noise isolating would do as well I think. Non-noise cancelling could be alright if the quality is amazing, but I really enjoy the ability to go home and listen to music and not hear all the people doing stuff around me. I'd be using them mostly to listen to music. I may use them to play games at times, but I'm more focused on having nice audio quality for music. Any recommendations for me tl?
edit: I forgot to add 1 thing. I absolutely can't stand over the ear headphones. Around the ear is much preferred.
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I like listen to a lot of rock & roll, r&b, dubstep, and hip hop. I may be committing some sort of sacrilege by asking this, but are there a pair of wireless, circumaural headphones that won't break my bank (approx. $200 US) and have decent bass? I'd like for the mid range and highs to not suck either, but the bass is really important to me. From the searching I've done, it feels like I'm looking for the Holy Grail.
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Hi guys! I know this is not strictly headphone related, but I've been thinking of getting into streaming lately and I've found out that my laptop (it's a really beefy laptop, yes it can stream fine) has a really terrible mic.
I've been trying to find a headphone that comes with a mic, but the thing is all the ones with good mics I found have very mediocre sound quality, or vise versa. I own a Sennheiser 558 so I'm quite spoiled in terms of sound.
Are there any good headsets + mic anyone can recommend, preferably within the $250 range? Alternatively, if I'm better off getting a separate clip-on mic, what are some good ones?
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On July 26 2012 17:22 Ryhzuo wrote:
Hi guys! I know this is not strictly headphone related, but I've been thinking of getting into streaming lately and I've found out that my laptop (it's a really beefy laptop, yes it can stream fine) has a really terrible mic.
I've been trying to find a headphone that comes with a mic, but the thing is all the ones with good mics I found have very mediocre sound quality, or vise versa. I own a Sennheiser 558 so I'm quite spoiled in terms of sound.
Are there any good headsets + mic anyone can recommend, preferably within the $250 range? Alternatively, if I'm better off getting a separate clip-on mic, what are some good ones?
PC360. Basically the HD598 (better than HD558 slightly). with a mic.
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On July 26 2012 22:01 kineSiS- wrote:Show nested quote +On July 26 2012 17:22 Ryhzuo wrote:
Hi guys! I know this is not strictly headphone related, but I've been thinking of getting into streaming lately and I've found out that my laptop (it's a really beefy laptop, yes it can stream fine) has a really terrible mic.
I've been trying to find a headphone that comes with a mic, but the thing is all the ones with good mics I found have very mediocre sound quality, or vise versa. I own a Sennheiser 558 so I'm quite spoiled in terms of sound.
Are there any good headsets + mic anyone can recommend, preferably within the $250 range? Alternatively, if I'm better off getting a separate clip-on mic, what are some good ones? PC360. Basically the HD598 (better than HD558 slightly). with a mic.
Hmm, a tad over how much I'm willing to spend.
How does the PC 320 compare to the 360? Any significant difference? (I'm an audiotard)
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Best Iem under 40 bucks? thnks 
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Lalalaland34507 Posts
I feel a bit stupid asking this but I might as well anyway.
I've always bought cheap headsets/headphones/whatever for myself because I always find that they tend to break in some way within about two to three months. Sometimes one side stops working, the microphone becomes really poor all of a sudden, etc etc. I've mostly attributed this to the wires breaking up or something.
I don't think I'm particularly rough with my headphones at all but the fact that they keep breaking deters me from buying a better quality, more expensive pair because I feel it would be a waste of money. However I'm wondering if the reason they keep breaking could be simply because they're so cheap, and if a better quality set of headphones would have better wiring quality and thus last longer?
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On August 07 2012 22:57 Firebolt145 wrote:
I feel a bit stupid asking this but I might as well anyway.
I've always bought cheap headsets/headphones/whatever for myself because I always find that they tend to break in some way within about two to three months. Sometimes one side stops working, the microphone becomes really poor all of a sudden, etc etc. I've mostly attributed this to the wires breaking up or something.
I don't think I'm particularly rough with my headphones at all but the fact that they keep breaking deters me from buying a better quality, more expensive pair because I feel it would be a waste of money. However I'm wondering if the reason they keep breaking could be simply because they're so cheap, and if a better quality set of headphones would have better wiring quality and thus last longer?
Obviously a more expensive pair will have better build quality, and hence possibly last virtually indefinitely assuming you don't use them portably.
Also, you can make detachable cable mods and such, which means if you happen to accidentally overstrain the cable or similar, it will just pop out, further increasing the lifespan of the headphones.
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On July 26 2012 17:22 Ryhzuo wrote:
Hi guys! I know this is not strictly headphone related, but I've been thinking of getting into streaming lately and I've found out that my laptop (it's a really beefy laptop, yes it can stream fine) has a really terrible mic.
I've been trying to find a headphone that comes with a mic, but the thing is all the ones with good mics I found have very mediocre sound quality, or vise versa. I own a Sennheiser 558 so I'm quite spoiled in terms of sound.
Are there any good headsets + mic anyone can recommend, preferably within the $250 range? Alternatively, if I'm better off getting a separate clip-on mic, what are some good ones?
The Antlion ModMic is a great boom mic you can attach to those Sennheisers, no need to waste money on gaming headset crap. Sound quality is pretty great imo.
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@above agreed just get an attachable mic to your already good pair of headphones. Most headsets are low quality, better to have good quality headphones and get the popular zalman mic for 5$.
I've been doing some research and it's hard to decide which IEM I should buy for less than 75USD.
Since I listen to both classical and bass-centric types of music I can't say I want IEMs that focus on bass or sacrifice highs.
I currently have the Soundmagic E10s, they're just whatever though - no surprises for a temp $20 pair.
Microphonics are a mustnot since I will be walking across campus...
I've looked at the incase capsule (quality, microphonics), image S4, Nuforce NE700m (meh?),
denon AHC260R, as well as an assortment of sub30$ headphones that I'm no longer interested in.
Any advice? Leaning towards s4's despite some complaints of low build quality or poor for classicals... other people are saying otherwise ~_~
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Lalalaland34507 Posts
Edit: read rest of thread.
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Lalalaland34507 Posts
I have an Alienware m17x r3 and Google tells me I have a 'standard IDT 92HD73C1 Audio that is in a lot of new Dell laptops'. I do not know what reputation this soundcard and I cannot find any reviews.
That said, I am now looking to buy a decent headset. I am quite keen on getting a headset rather than a clip-on mic as I want to avoid the additional cable. Although cheaper is always nicer, I am not against splashing a bit more cash if it gets me a really good headset that will last me years.
With my Google prowess I am currently mostly eyeing either the Sennheiser PC360 or the Razer Carcharias. The Sennheisers are twice the price of the Carcharias. I have read tons of reviews on the internet and they range from saying that these two headsets are virtually identical (and thus not worth paying 2x for Sennheisers) to reviews that say the Carcharias' are absolutely shit and shouldn't be considered. Does the Sennheiser absolutely require an external sound card? That would be a dealbreaker for me as I don't want to spend extra money on one.
Although those two are the most attractive ones at the moment, I have come across the Razer Megalodon; from what I gather these are basically the Carcharias with its own sound card. Is it worth getting these over the inbuilt sound card that my alienware has?
I have also heard about the Logitech G930, which people seem to consider the best wireless headset. Do they have a downside?
Sorry for the convulated nature of this post but I'm new to the scene and have a lot of questions :D
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On August 08 2012 03:30 Ktk wrote:
@above agreed just get an attachable mic to your already good pair of headphones. Most headsets are low quality, better to have good quality headphones and get the popular zalman mic for 5$.
I've been doing some research and it's hard to decide which IEM I should buy for less than 75USD.
Since I listen to both classical and bass-centric types of music I can't say I want IEMs that focus on bass or sacrifice highs.
I currently have the Soundmagic E10s, they're just whatever though - no surprises for a temp $20 pair.
Microphonics are a mustnot since I will be walking across campus...
I've looked at the incase capsule (quality, microphonics), image S4, Nuforce NE700m (meh?),
denon AHC260R, as well as an assortment of sub30$ headphones that I'm no longer interested in.
Any advice? Leaning towards s4's despite some complaints of low build quality or poor for classicals... other people are saying otherwise ~_~
Have you considered soundmagic pl-50's? They're balanced, microphonics are acceptable, etc, etc. Of course, there are a few new ones to the scene since I last researched around, but these seemed pretty decent at the time (~1 year ago).
On August 10 2012 17:54 Firebolt145 wrote:
I have an Alienware m17x r3 and Google tells me I have a 'standard IDT 92HD73C1 Audio that is in a lot of new Dell laptops'. I do not know what reputation this soundcard and I cannot find any reviews.
That said, I am now looking to buy a decent headset. I am quite keen on getting a headset rather than a clip-on mic as I want to avoid the additional cable. Although cheaper is always nicer, I am not against splashing a bit more cash if it gets me a really good headset that will last me years.
With my Google prowess I am currently mostly eyeing either the Sennheiser PC360 or the Razer Carcharias. The Sennheisers are twice the price of the Carcharias. I have read tons of reviews on the internet and they range from saying that these two headsets are virtually identical (and thus not worth paying 2x for Sennheisers) to reviews that say the Carcharias' are absolutely shit and shouldn't be considered. Does the Sennheiser absolutely require an external sound card? That would be a dealbreaker for me as I don't want to spend extra money on one.
Although those two are the most attractive ones at the moment, I have come across the Razer Megalodon; from what I gather these are basically the Carcharias with its own sound card. Is it worth getting these over the inbuilt sound card that my alienware has?
I have also heard about the Logitech G930, which people seem to consider the best wireless headset. Do they have a downside?
Sorry for the convulated nature of this post but I'm new to the scene and have a lot of questions :D
What are you using them for? If you care about listening to music, the pc360 actually is designed to sound nice, the others are just generic shit sounding headsets... No headset will require a discrete soundcard, some will use usb (own dac), some will use a headphone + a mic jack, some a combined headphone + mic jack. If you're just playing non-3d games, get whatever is cheapest + most comfortable.
If you need good positional audio for fps', then dolby headphone or creative's equivalent (from discrete soundcards, generally impossible to achieve on a laptop) + a decent pair of open headphones is a must.
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Lalalaland34507 Posts
I don't play FPS games generally, and I don't take them seriously either. I play games like SC2, DotA, EVE and GW2. I do care about listening to music, but are the Sennheiser PC360's really miles ahead of the rest to warrant the price, with or without a sound card? How much is a decent USB sound card anyway?
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5930 Posts
$60-150 depending on sales, where you get it from, etc. Hardware from Fiio and NuForce should be very affordable and more than adequate. I'm actually not sure if there is a good reason to pay more than $200 for a DAC, which is the MSRP of the Logitech Squeezebox IIRC.
Don't see a lot of point paying more than that. I imagine those extra expensive DACs from guys like Red Wine Audio exist to suck money from audiophiles. After all, guys like Red Wine Audio have been known to do shit like sell T-Amps (they're like $50-$100 on eBay) for $500 USD.
I'm not a huge headphone guy but in the loudspeaker world, my impression are that the speakers are the most important thing. The amplifier just needs to be adequate to "sound good" and stuff like DACs have a really negligible effect on the experience.
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On August 10 2012 18:27 Firebolt145 wrote:
I don't play FPS games generally, and I don't take them seriously either. I play games like SC2, DotA, EVE and GW2. I do care about listening to music, but are the Sennheiser PC360's really miles ahead of the rest to warrant the price, with or without a sound card? How much is a decent USB sound card anyway?
A sound card is really only needed if:
- You dislike the current snr of your onboard sound (especially noticeable with lower volumes, or when your computer is under a heavy load).
- You feel (from listening) that your onboard DAC is somehow not clear enough or sounds weird.
A better/different amplifier is only needed if:
- You can't get enough gain out of your current setup
- Your headphones get a better sound response with a decent amp (this one requires research from headphone to headphone, treat any advice you find from people saying there are differences with a lot of skepticism, look around for repeated opinions)
- You have extremely low impedance IEMs for example, which would require quite a sensitive amp to not mess up the sound signature, especially when at low volume. In fact, I find in general headphones are a lot more forgiving than IEMs, but I don't have a huge amount of experience.
If you don't need positional audio, then consider whether or not you currently consider the noisiness of your onboard sound an issue, if not, I wouldn't bother with a soundcard. As for whether or not to get a random headset or a proper pair of headphones (the PC360), it really depends on how picky you are with your music, and whether or not you'd care about the difference. For example, is a large portion of your music under 192kb/s? Does the artifacting on a 128k track significantly irritate you? If you aren't fussed, there may be no reason to get a proper pair, but I'm not sure how much nicer the 598 would sound for someone that's rather blase about SQ.
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Lalalaland34507 Posts
Oh god so much jargon, this will be difficult. :D
In the end I guess I will avoid buying a sound card or amplifier and use that money to buy the PC360. That should last me years, right?
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