• The Headphone Buying Guide V2
    2,727 replies, posted
[QUOTE=DSG;31678567]I'm leaning towards the HFI-580 but am I going to need a sound card in my computer to achieve the best sound with them?[/QUOTE] Yes.
[QUOTE=Armotekma;31680593]Yes.[/QUOTE] .....fuck. What kind of sound card would I need for it then? If it's going to be more than $50 then what's the next best thing that wouldn't need a sound card?
I'm looking for a sub-60 dollar headset that doesn't sound like nails against a chalkboard, preferably USB. [quote]75% Gaming 10% music 15% movies[/quote]
Just bought a pair of these: [url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-MDRXB500-Extra-Headphones-Driver/dp/B001UE6PDG/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1313129827&sr=1-2[/url] seeing as I'm sick of my steelseries headset, they don't fit well with my glasses and after a couple of hours my ear begins to sting quite horridly and I can't wear them for a few hours after that, plus the quality is meh, can't wait for these to come. Got them for £30 too which seemed like a pretty good deal, ebay! Anyone have any experience with these?
So i got my Xears TD-III v2 The other driver was detached from the wooden case, bad glue. So im gonna return that. But tried to listen some music with them, littlebit of metal, and techno and whatnot. Everyone are loving the bass and all, but i didnt find the bass great. not even good. Though this might be because they are damaged during shipping, or because i didnt do burn-in. Going to RMA them and when i do get ones that are all intact and all, im going to use them for about a week or two, then im going to do a review. Many other people have recieved broken ones due to the lack of packaging and poor build quality (glue). There must be a reason why the head-fi loves these IEM's. So far didnt sound much better than the ones i got for 10$ at my local supermarket. Lets see when i do get a new pair. [editline]12th August 2011[/editline] Actually... the bass seems to get better by the minute. [editline]12th August 2011[/editline] im falling in love But to be honest, these dont really feel... right when listening to metal. something sounds a bit wrong.
From reviews I've found out the bass on the MDRXB500's is too high out of the box, my integrated has an equalizer that looks like: [img]http://gyazo.com/847217bd01a393c0460f1e430eb50da6.png[/img] but I have no idea what is bass, what should I be turning down once they arrive? Thankyou!
The sliders on the left is bass, the sliders on the right is treble. the number below the sliders mean Hz. 31Hz to 16kHz Try to play with the settings a bit.
I see, thankyou. I like it when the slider furthest to the right is at around 80%, sounds better to me.
I'm looking for some decent headphones for listening to music, and the occasional movie. Id prefer if they had decent bass, like beats by dre, but not a ripoff like they are. My budget is 60 australian dollars (US sites arent valid cause tech prices are jacked up over here)
[QUOTE=David Tennant;31687598]From reviews I've found out the bass on the MDRXB500's is too high out of the box, my integrated has an equalizer that looks like: [img]http://gyazo.com/847217bd01a393c0460f1e430eb50da6.png[/img] but I have no idea what is bass, what should I be turning down once they arrive? Thankyou![/QUOTE] I know it doesn't relate to you but I just want to throw this out there. I've found in the Realtek drivers, the best preset for gaming with my AD700 is the "Soft" preset. Also, what the hell does "Karaoke" do?
Turns the treble down maybe?
When you increase it the song goes high pitch and when decreased it goes low pitch, no idea why it's "Karaoke" seeing as it doesn't remove the vocals at all. [editline]12th August 2011[/editline] Any ideas if this is a good purchase? [url]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Creative-Labs-Sound-Blaster-SB0670-X-Fi-PCI-Sound-Card-/270658237318?pt=UK_Computing_ComputerComponents_SoundCards&hash=item3f047cf386#ht_1592wt_1156[/url] Or just get a Xonar DG?
[QUOTE=Pace.;31688459]I'm looking for some decent headphones for listening to music, and the occasional movie. Id prefer if they had decent bass, like beats by dre, but not a ripoff like they are. My budget is 60 australian dollars (US sites arent valid cause tech prices are jacked up over here)[/QUOTE] I would look for some sennheiser hd 205s, I have no idea what websites you could look at but look for the those.
Nevermind I bought the Xonar DG, hope it was a good decision. ~automerge~
[QUOTE=David Tennant;31692055]Nevermind I bought the Xonar DG, hope it was a good decision. ~automerge~[/QUOTE] I read reviews about the Xonar DG having problems when your computer goes to sleep, or when you switch from using headphones to speakers, among other things. I was considering getting the Xonar DG as well for if I bought the HFI-580's, and I'm pretty sure that should be enough, but I'm concerned about those problems. Do you know anything about those issues, or when you get the sound card would you mind posting in here if you get the same issues with it? That would be great.
I don't mind, you may need to remind me if you care enough though or I may forget, I'll try to remember though. It's the only sound card that's gotten good reviews and general recommendations in that budget (£20) so I'm not expecting much, but I've read quite a lot of reviews saying you can definitely hear the difference over an integrated card, especially from my 2007 budget motherboard.
[url]http://www.soulbyludacris.com/[/url] lets see how this turns out
Budget: $50 to $150-ish. eBay: Yeah I can use it. Would prefer new pairs over used, though. Country: USA Isolation: Open's fine. Purpose: Mostly gaming. Occasional music and movies. Musical tastes: Indie rock (I guess) I can't exactly be trusted to pick my own set: last time I fell for the leetpro gaming advertising and bought the Creative Fatal1ty headset. Does anyone have some fantastic headphones to recommend?
I accidentally stepped on my current pair of headphones a few days ago, but rather than go out and buy the first cheap thing I see like always, I think I'll consult FP! I'm not an audiophile. That's probably because I haven't really ever had any high-quality audio equipment. Every set of PC speakers I've had are half-broken hand-me-downs from other people, my TV's audio is always the built-in speakers, and my headphones over the years have ranged from cheap-as-hell earbuds from an old Game Boy Color Mad Catz accessory set to the Sony MDR-V150 that I've been using the past year (that my mom got for me, bless her). I think the MDR-V150 is the best I've ever had, so let's see if FP can help me ascend the sound stairway to heaven. [b]Budget:[/b] I'm kind of tight on cash right now. I'm used to buying headphones cheap, since quality has never been a priority for me in the past. I'm willing to go up to maybe $60, maybe more, but cheaper would be nice. [b]eBay:[/b] I can, but only if it's a great deal. I'd prefer new. [b]Country:[/b] USA [b]Isolation:[/b] Open's cool with me. [b]Purpose:[/b] Mostly music. Sometimes with games, but those are usually [i]music[/i] games anyway. [b]Musical Tastes:[/b] Pop, Rock. Mostly rock. I travel with my headphones a lot. In fact, the main use I have for headphones is to listen to music on the go, so I would prefer something at least a little portable. I've had no qualms about carrying the MDR-V150 around on my neck and in fact I think I like the over-the-top-of-my-head shape best. [b]I do not want in-ear[/b], plain and simple. Clip-ons are okay, but aren't the most comfortable to me. So I guess comfort is a big point for me. I looked at the iGrado suggested in the guide, but most of the reviews I read say that they sacrifice comfort and build quality for sound quality; I think I'd rather have a balance of the two.
Budget: € 20-50 (preferably on the cheap side) eBay: I have never used it. Country: The Netherlands Isolation: Closed, but open's fine too. Purpose: Gaming, so a good microphone is essential. Musical tastes: I listen to different genres all the time.
Got my Igrados, had a listen to them and can say they are awesome, but a tad uncomfortable to use if you have glasses. Gives me another reason to wear contacts atleast, I'll do a proper review on them within the week after I actually use them practically (walking around, train, car etc)
[QUOTE=Shugo;31704563]I accidentally stepped on my current pair of headphones a few days ago, but rather than go out and buy the first cheap thing I see like always, I think I'll consult FP! I'm not an audiophile. That's probably because I haven't really ever had any high-quality audio equipment. Every set of PC speakers I've had are half-broken hand-me-downs from other people, my TV's audio is always the built-in speakers, and my headphones over the years have ranged from cheap-as-hell earbuds from an old Game Boy Color Mad Catz accessory set to the Sony MDR-V150 that I've been using the past year (that my mom got for me, bless her). I think the MDR-V150 is the best I've ever had, so let's see if FP can help me ascend the sound stairway to heaven. [b]Budget:[/b] I'm kind of tight on cash right now. I'm used to buying headphones cheap, since quality has never been a priority for me in the past. I'm willing to go up to maybe $60, maybe more, but cheaper would be nice. [b]eBay:[/b] I can, but only if it's a great deal. I'd prefer new. [b]Country:[/b] USA [b]Isolation:[/b] Open's cool with me. [b]Purpose:[/b] Mostly music. Sometimes with games, but those are usually [i]music[/i] games anyway. [b]Musical Tastes:[/b] Pop, Rock. Mostly rock. I travel with my headphones a lot. In fact, the main use I have for headphones is to listen to music on the go, so I would prefer something at least a little portable. I've had no qualms about carrying the MDR-V150 around on my neck and in fact I think I like the over-the-top-of-my-head shape best. [b]I do not want in-ear[/b], plain and simple. Clip-ons are okay, but aren't the most comfortable to me. So I guess comfort is a big point for me. I looked at the iGrado suggested in the guide, but most of the reviews I read say that they sacrifice comfort and build quality for sound quality; I think I'd rather have a balance of the two.[/QUOTE] HD201 [editline]13th August 2011[/editline] and iGrado are really bad and i wish the 'guide' didn't include them
Does anyone here have experience with the Sennheiser HD215? [img]http://djdj.nl/cat/l/hd215.jpg[/img]
Wow, got these at Wal-mart for $20 and they're great. [URL]http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/p?openform&pc^fs^UR21v[/URL] They sound great, have decent bass, and are comfortable & light.
[QUOTE=Shadaez;31713721]HD201[/QUOTE] Only $20 on Amazon? Sweet, I'll take your word for it.
[QUOTE=Shugo;31719591]Only $20 on Amazon? Sweet, I'll take your word for it.[/QUOTE] They're closed, sorry, not open. They're over the ear, and sound great for the money. I don't really know of any cheap open headphones that are over the head, but KSC75 are clip-ons and they are the most wonderful thing in the world. [editline]13th August 2011[/editline] [url]http://www.innerfidelity.com[/url] just discovered this guy on youtube, fell in love after watching this: [video=youtube;ipZY0qGrA9Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipZY0qGrA9Y&feature=player_embedded[/video] but he's really great and absolutely not bias.
[QUOTE=Shugo;31704563]I accidentally stepped on my current pair of headphones a few days ago, but rather than go out and buy the first cheap thing I see like always, I think I'll consult FP! I'm not an audiophile. That's probably because I haven't really ever had any high-quality audio equipment. Every set of PC speakers I've had are half-broken hand-me-downs from other people, my TV's audio is always the built-in speakers, and my headphones over the years have ranged from cheap-as-hell earbuds from an old Game Boy Color Mad Catz accessory set to the Sony MDR-V150 that I've been using the past year (that my mom got for me, bless her). I think the MDR-V150 is the best I've ever had, so let's see if FP can help me ascend the sound stairway to heaven. [b]Budget:[/b] I'm kind of tight on cash right now. I'm used to buying headphones cheap, since quality has never been a priority for me in the past. I'm willing to go up to maybe $60, maybe more, but cheaper would be nice. [b]eBay:[/b] I can, but only if it's a great deal. I'd prefer new. [b]Country:[/b] USA [b]Isolation:[/b] Open's cool with me. [b]Purpose:[/b] Mostly music. Sometimes with games, but those are usually [i]music[/i] games anyway. [b]Musical Tastes:[/b] Pop, Rock. Mostly rock. I travel with my headphones a lot. In fact, the main use I have for headphones is to listen to music on the go, so I would prefer something at least a little portable. I've had no qualms about carrying the MDR-V150 around on my neck and in fact I think I like the over-the-top-of-my-head shape best. [b]I do not want in-ear[/b], plain and simple. Clip-ons are okay, but aren't the most comfortable to me. So I guess comfort is a big point for me. I looked at the iGrado suggested in the guide, but most of the reviews I read say that they sacrifice comfort and build quality for sound quality; I think I'd rather have a balance of the two.[/QUOTE] Koss Portapros. Fit your needs perfectly.
Woops, didn't make my post fit the format. Here: Budget: 60-100, cheaper is better though. eBay: No Country: Canada, I prefer if I can buy it locally via best buy, canada computers, wal mart, etc. Isolation: I'm ok with both, but open is preferred. Purpose: Music 6/10, movies 1/10, gaming 3/10, and voip(for gaming, so not very important). Musical Taste: Rock, a little techno here and there. I really prefer over the ear headphones that fully engulf your ears, and it's pretty important if they don't hurt after a few hours because of movie marathons/long gaming sessions. I'm not an audiophile, but I can tell quality. However, something that you might pick up as a difference I probably won't, so really high end stuff doesn't matter to me much.
Can anyone tell me the best in ear headphones for around $70? The ones I'm currently looking at are the Klipsh S4's which my dad has. Any other options would be great ^^.
Can't decide whether to get the Shure SRH440, Grado Sr60i, or Sony MDRZX700. I listen to a lot of electronic music(house, progressive house, progressive trance, DnB, and other various forms of techno) and also a variety of rock and metal. I would enjoy headphones that are at least decent with gaming. I just want to upgrade from these damned hd 202's. How big of a difference would there be from my hd 202's to say the Shure SRH440's in terms of [b]bass[/b]? I'm looking to hear it but i'm not a total junkie that needs 12" subs drilled into my ears. Also budget is $80. [editline]15th August 2011[/editline] After owning the HD202's for nearly a year, I don't see the hype about its supposedly good bass. I can barely hear it even on fucking bass tests!!!:suicide: [editline]15th August 2011[/editline] *correction, it's disproportional and lacking in comparison to the rest of the frequency range in music.
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