Headphones upgrade from sennheiser pc320

Hi guys, i own Sennheiser PC320 throught Asus Xonar DX; it's good and neutral pair of on ear headset, very very light, with mic but not so dynamic and powerful at sound.
I'm using also BOSE companion 2 speakers, which is good, and maybe in the future i will upgrade to 20 model, so, starting from this, I found a lot of BOSE headphones around many stores, from onhear to aroundhear type, but without mic.

I was looking for a combo headset with good quality, but no USB, because i wanna use my Sound Card, and..sometimes in the past i've got power problem with other headphones (buzz and crackling sound, due to usb power).

What' can i buy for better audio quality and dynamic range? If necessary i can consider to have a separate mic.
In fact, at the moment i was looking at Bose Sound True around-hear, or Sennheiser HD598. No volume control but i have G110 keyboard with volume scroll; Bose open-ear seems to have Mic but don't know if works with PC (it's single connector, like for smartphones). On the other side Sennheiser have 6,3 connector and i have to use adapter with make connector longer and weak on the front panel, because i leave always headphones connected to it.

 

I personally use an Audio Technica ATH-M50x with an Antlion modmic since the headset doesn't come with one. I use an Asus Xonar DX sound card too. I had many gaming headphones like Corsairs and Razers before but the M50x's sound is totally different compared to them, it's incredibly clean in the mids and a hasn't got much emphasis on bass like most gaming oriented headphones do so I wouldn't recommend it if you like listening to bass heavy music. I'm a rock/metal guy so they are perfect for me since the punchy mids compliment the guitar tones and vocals brilliantly, should apply for electronic stuff too.

But as it is the case with headphones it has a closed back design so they don't sound as good as a premium open back type can, but as a plus side the sound leak to the outside is minimal so if you don't want to disturb people around you they will do the job wonderfully. And they are always on sale for quite a bargain, I got mine on massdrop for about 150 USD when it's retail price is around 250 and spent the remaining 100 on the modmic which is fantastic as well, has minimal static/background hiss to it and has incredible audio quality as well, much better than any headphone included mic would sound. It's a baller setup for gaming and since the headphones are studio grade ones even your music needs shall be taken care of unless you are all about the bass.

Here's a review of the mic -

 

I've found exactly that magnetic mouse over the internet not a problem; in case i've my old zalman separate microphone yet
But i would prefer to try the headphones, so that's why i was looking at Bose or Sennheiser; i can find them at the local stores. Also i need bass, because i play bass guitar, and i need ground bass coverage. Btw i will check this set, thank you

 

Hah, no problem.

And the HD598's are an incredible set of cans, I wanted to go for those too at first but they were around 300 bucks back then, don't know how much they are worth now but they are highly praised for being one of the most balanced cans out there, but I don't think they have enough bass though... the M50x has this gradual V eq profile while the 598's are an incredibly flat curve, I'd suggest try them out if you have chance.

This is a nice 598 review here.

 

I''ve watch this review an half hour ago seems to be good, but i can't understand if there is a lack or bass or not, insted Bose model. I play bass guitar and i want a bit of punch on the bass for recording sometimes. About EQ no problem, i use Xonar utility equalization to define my preferred sound
Also i read HD598 color the sound, and i like the crisp and neutral complete sound of Bose speakers i have; don't know really what to do.

 

Don't know about razer or logitech gaming headset with Jack, are any model of those good headphones?

 

I'd suggest staying away from headsets. Getting one with good audio quality that won't break after a few months is like winning the lottery. They are mostly marketed to and designed for gamurz who get sold on glowing lights and how high the surround sound number is.

 

Superlux HMC 681 Evo, studio headphone with studio mic...

Superlux is the one behind some great brands, are criminally under rated due to be less known...

Just read this (same model but without mic) to be sure about quality:

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/172992-superlux-hd-681-evo-a-year-later/

 

I will take a look, but seems to be older ( >1 year). Is there a new version? I ve not understand about the mic, included?
How are them compared to hd598 senn? Seems to be not at same level, just impression into review but no real specs and schematics.

 

HMC 681 EVO are new with mic. I haven't compared them directly to other brands but some specific forums talked about them and said those sounds like a 200€ one. I bought it and I am very happy. If you are Italian search for it on Tom's Hardware Forum you will find all the info.

 

My brother have Sennheiser PC360 and he love it...
http://en-us.sennheiser.com/gamer-headset-hifi-sound-noise-cancelling-microphone-pc-360
It´s pure gaming headphones but do their job for music very well. Have nice bass with good soundcard, volume control on it and have open acoustic design... I do not know if you looking more for studio or gaming headphones but I´m sure that the PC360 work good both way. For more studio you can check some Beyerdynamic and AKG too.

 

If you are after quality I'd look for big names like Beyer and Senns.
I am a headphone person, not headset, have pretty substantial stash of them, flagship mostly. But if I was buying headset I'd probably opt for Beyer MMX 300 Manufaktur (a lot of configurable options) or regular one.
http://north-america.beyerdynamic.c...s-and-headsets/gaming/mmx-300-manufaktur.html
http://north-america.beyerdynamic.com/shop/media//datenblaetter/DAT_MMX300_EN.pdf
They have pretty low impedance (32Ohm) so driving from onboard card shouldn't be a problem, of course dedicated headphone amp is always best.

I owned DT880 regular and Manufaktur, DT770 and T1 now. This is brand you can trust.

 

I found also just now SENNHEISER GAME ONE/ZERO (open/closed), that seems to be good, headset in 200€range with mic for gaming. I think to go for those one

 

Make sure that your sound card can actually drive it, because they are 150 ohm. I don't think that onboard audio can provide enough power to get them to sufficient volume, and reading the description of your sound card on newegg I didn't see any mention of it having more power than onboard audio.

I second the recommendation of getting a modmic and some regular headphones. I didn't look up any reviews of that headset, but reading the description on amazon it was all a bunch of stuff about aviation and gaming and all sorts of buzz words, instead of about the actual sound. They even said "Hear sound the way game developers intended - most games sound better with a Sennheiser gaming headset because games are recorded on Sennheiser audio equipment" which is complete bull ****. That doesn't mean that it isn't good, but it isn't a good sign. I doubt that the sound quality will match what you can get from headphones at that price, but I don't how how the prices for stuff are outside of the US.

 

I read 50 ohm on official site, not 150 ohm, btw i have a Xonar DX card which have a boost for headphones instead onboard sound card (i've read it somewhere, i have also it into my pcie slot, with additional molex power connector)
Here a screen from manual:

 

The Sennheiser site says fifty so that should be fine. My headphones are about 60 and the volume is fine with on-board in Windows, but needs a bit of a boost in Linux. I think that 100% volume in windows might be doing some software amplification. If the Amazon description was wrong about that you might as well disregard the comments I made about that specific headset based on it. I still stand by what I said about headsets in general though. I will never by one again unless for some reason I need a cheap one for something where quality doesn't matter.

 

Ordered instantly on Amazon for about 158€ plus fast ship (good price), because seems to fit my overall needing (game and music), i was looking for HD598 and those looks similar. I like also open-ear style and balanced-neutral sound. I didn't find bose ae2 so good, i prefer their speakers btw. Thanks for help

 

On a general note:
Audio Technica ATH M50x all the way. There is no better headphones till you hit the higher price brackets ($300+) and even then 80% of the headphones there get an as5 whooping from AT.
Modmic is pure gold to us who use Hi-Fi headphones instead of headsets.

ps. If you aren't using an amplifier, get a headphone amp that has DAC, it's all you will ever need. Basically the onboard soundcards aren't powerful enough to run over ~30 ohm headphones, and to get a soundcard that does costs $300, with that money you will get 2x better headphone amp with more control, better sound quality, and something you can use with your portable media devices as well.

 

Maybe in the future i will look for an amp. Which is a good cheap one? How kind of connection they have? (jack-jack 3,5"?)

 

It depends on what you mean by cheap. The objective2 is about 100 USD for just the amp, and is available in 1/4" or 3.5mm plug versions. If you want one that will distort the sound as little as possible that is the best you will get without spending much, much more money. If my headphones were higher impedance or I didn't have an audio interface with a headphone amp built in for my guitar that is what I would get.