Headphone recommendations

hehe, thats the very reason I choose both my sets of headphones (Sennheiser PC363D and beyer dynamics DT990 Pro) to be open and not closed.
You can never be sure, what those kids are up to next...

 

Thats what I use to run too a few years back, so cool. I really need to plug it back in my rig

 

Quick question, what kind of amp do you use with it? Because the HD650 requires a lot of power to drive it from what I heard.

 

Even better if you can get balanced one.
I am using Auralic Taurus MKII and Headamp GS-1 in another rig.
Burson Conductor is all right, pretty good buy for money as it also includes DAC. Had it too, wasn't impressed by DAC though, amp is good solid state.
If on tight budget, check out Schiit audio, they make decent price friendly ones.

One more, almost forget. Check out SMSL, really good stuff for the money.

 

I use a JVC HA-S500 which is a Japanese import. It is fairly cheap considering the quality of the sound(bit on the unexplainable premium quality, loud & clear at low volume). They're not so comfortable to wear. I use a receiver to output the fake 3d audio on it which work like charm.

 

i use the headphone out of my sound card, m-audio firewire 1814, witch a dedicated HP amp, it drives it ok but a onboard card maybe not be enough to drive it.
Im thinking in buy a objective 2 kit to mount one of this days just for listening music for fun, or maybe one bottlehead crack DIY tube amp, still researching.

 

They're very comfortable, and don't interfere with my glasses. Sound seems good to my ragged ears.

But wow, I can't believe I've been using the onboard Realtek sound for this long. I'd been using some decent Creative desktop speakers, but I don't turn it up loud because vrooming car sounds annoy the household. Anyway, drove the 911 3.0 RSR first, and noticed some god-awful distortion when lifting the throttle. Tried another pair of cheap walkman headphones, and heard same. Dug around in old PC parts box, found my old Soundblaster Audigy2 PCI, disabled onboard sound and downloaded drivers. Works like a charm. I guess I always thought onboard sound was good enough. Nope.

 

I'm about to upgrade my sound to an Audigy RX shortly, anybody here use it? Right now i'm still with crappy realtek onboard.
I have astro a40 headphones, don't know how they stack up with the rest mentioned here though.

 

Currently running crappy onboard, also. Gonna re-install my FireWire 1814 audio interface next time I play. Will need to buy PCI Firewire card, though because something about my onboard firewire is weird.

Anyways, the interface has two HP amps which are ok for medium impedance headphones.

 

m-audio FW cards require a texas instruments firewire chipset to work flawless.

 

I had my share of headache with FW audio card.
Since advance of async audio USB chips like XMOS, FW seems to be phasing out.

 

next year im upgrading to another firewire device for work tho,an RME fireface UCX, but it also has usb if needed, with firewire it don't need external power supply and doesn't get any power draw from the usb controller, witch is a big plus for me.

 

Fixed that for you

 

Some manufacturers put more efforts into onboard audio design, usually gamer/xtreme and such line ups have pretty decent for gaming audio.
http://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/RAMPAGE_V_EXTREME/overview/

But yeah, if your application is audiophile music listening, there is no substitution for dedicated DAC or at least separate auido card.

 

I used to have a Rampage Gene III.

 

Wow! This has added a new level of immersion for me. Sat down with PP3 last night. Spent some time in the 908 (awesome car, sounds are a little weird to me) but then I drove the GT40 to compare and try the new v10 tires. The sounds totally blew me away. The engine sounds great, so does gearbox. brakes and tires. But those chassis noises, especially when hitting curbs... just wow. Getting good headphones+soundcard has been the best upgrade since going to a G27 from a cheap Logitech Wingman.

 

These are my <$100 recommendation. Got them on sale for $70 last year and I think I like them slightly more than my HD 598s that I payed closer to $200 for.



https://www.amazon.com/Philips-SHP9500-Precision-Over-ear-Headphones/dp/B00ENMK1DW

edit: hadn't read that last page - that's a coincidence good choice. Grab a V-moda BoomPro if you need a mic - such a great little accessory.

 

I just this week got those Philips SHP9500S headphones myself. (Well, they're more for my wife to use than me, but I have used them.) They sound nice and feel very comfortable. The only drawback? Insane leakage. When my wife is using them and listening to music in the same room as me, I feel like I'm listening to her music. (Albeit on small speakers.) Not good for an office environment but if there's no one in the room with you to bother, they're nice; I'll second @ZethGAF's recommendation on that.

I bought them based on research at http://www.rtings.com/ (which I stumbled on through a Reddit thread about TVs, I think). Neat site that does empirical research on TVs and headphones. Those were at the top of their list in the "Best Critical Listening Headphones below $75" category.

 

Yeah, I was listening to my favorite Big Star album and I felt a tap on my shoulder... "I can hear that from the other room. Turn it down."

 

I prefer open-back / semi-open cans, the wide sound stage gives virtual surround in games much more depth and precision IMO and there are very few gaming headsets under $ 100 that are not closed back - only one that comes close would be HyperX Revolver , which is ported giving it a bit of a wider sound stage similar to the JVC HA-RX700 (which I have and largely prefer, due to the incredible bass response and flat signature).

I tend to switch between those JVCs and a Samson SR850 since the velor pads give me much more comfort during long sessions, the pleather pads tend to get a bit warm over time. My “good” headphones (Logitech G930: https://www.reviewsed.com/logitech-g930-review/ ) It is pretty much tied to my AVR since I find budget studio cans are well enough in sound quality for gaming and streaming music.

As far as surround sound, some games have it integrated into the game (eg “headphone” settings in the audio options), windows 10 has “sonic” spatial sound you can enable, some integrated realtek have it in the audio output options, 3rd party software solutions like Razer surround as previously mentioned and better sound cards (also previously mentioned) like the Sound Blaster Play! 3 also support vsurround (which I am currently using, SBX is my favorite so far since it sounds good for games and movies and can adust the level of surround to your preference)