Headphone Buying Megathread/Guide V4 - Come here for all your audio needs! (New Threads are not need - Hardware & Software

[QUOTE=aydin690;49211370]I'd say small but noticeable improvement.[/QUOTE] The biggest difference is going to be noise reduction, imo. That and better driving overall. DAC's aren't as crucial in the case of consumer audio. They're really common in pro audio because the latency gets ridiculous, and internal cards are never as good at recording external instruments. I used to have to have a round trip audio latency (sending audio to external rack fx or comp and getting it back in) of 100ms. Its a pain in the ass, but with the adc's and dac's in my interface it is now down to 10ms round trip. [editline]29th November 2015[/editline] I think a Tube DAC makes the most sense for consumer audio, since you can get a noticeable difference and "warmth" to the signal thanks to the distortion and high-end rolloff

Tube.. DAC..? You mean amp?

I wouldn't say Tube's are the go to, its all preference and based on your headphones. I wouldn't want a tube on a set of cans that are already warm and have a 'fun' vibe to them, there is too much.

[QUOTE=Levelog;49212761]Tube.. DAC..? You mean amp?[/QUOTE] mein bad. big mistake. but yeah I don't see the point of just a lone DAC unless your system really produces a lot of noise or has trouble driving your headphones as is. My surface has a wretched noise problem, for some reason. You can't do harm by getting a DAC, but I'm not sure the difference is worth it. Not to mention most streaming media is lower quality as is, Soundcloud being the worst offender (if you upload an mp3 to SC, to be re-encoded to mp3, rip that file). If you have a bunch of really nice FLAC/AAC files for your music collection it would make more sense imo. Still, noise floor issues are the best reason to get a DAC since they are the most immediately apparent. just my opinion though. I'm not the biggest expert, at all, on consumer audio or headphones and should probably stop posting here tbh

So... are there any real differences between USB headsets and 3.5mm? Like can 3.5mm do surround sound?

[QUOTE=Levelog;49212761]Tube.. DAC..? You mean amp?[/QUOTE] A "tube DAC" does exist though. See: Aune T1

[QUOTE=kyle877;49213414]So... are there any real differences between USB headsets and 3.5mm? Like can 3.5mm do surround sound?[/QUOTE] A 3 pole 3.5mm lead cannot do surround sound because it has only left right stereo. For music listening, surround sound is not necessary at all and tends to muddle everything together. Video games typically have surround sound built into their game-engines. To which a good pair of stereo headphones should be able to replicate well. Whether or not you want additional surround via software is up to you. A USB headphone typically has a poor noise floor because of cheap Digital-to-Analogue converters (DAC) inside of it. This leads to a lot of static. I'd personally recommend staying away from USB headphones because they usually end up sounding very noisy. Rather, invest in a good pair of stereo headphones that you can use for both video-games and for some serious music listening.

[QUOTE=Havolis;49213441]A "tube DAC" does exist though. See: Aune T1[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure that's a DAC/amp? The tube is part of the amp.

[QUOTE=Levelog;49213445]I'm pretty sure that's a DAC/amp? The tube is part of the amp.[/QUOTE] It is a DAC/amp, but the tube is part of the DAC (you can also remove the tube for the DAC to be solid state). It does have an amp, but it isn't really good. You buy an Aune T1 mainly for its DAC.

[QUOTE=KangarooSteak;49213443]A 3 pole 3.5mm lead cannot do surround sound because it has only left right stereo. For music listening, surround sound is not necessary at all and tends to muddle everything together. Video games typically have surround sound built into their game-engines. To which a good pair of stereo headphones should be able to replicate well. Whether or not you want additional surround via software is up to you. A USB headphone typically has a poor noise floor because of cheap Digital-to-Analogue converters (DAC) inside of it. This leads to a lot of static. I'd personally recommend staying away from USB headphones because they usually end up sounding very noisy. Rather, invest in a good pair of stereo headphones that you can use for both video-games and for some serious music listening.[/QUOTE] Awesome, thanks for the info!

[QUOTE=Luxuria;49209378]Awesome, with that said I'll most likely gun for the M50X. Anything particularly undesirable about the ANC9's?[/QUOTE] I don't think noise cancelling headphones are good, especially for your budget. Also if you're getting the M50x consider the Brainwavz HM5 pleather pads, they drastically improve comfort.

[QUOTE=Shock_Coil;49210327]What are your thoughts on the HyperX Cloud headset? I've tried them on before and they are really comfy to wear. I'm not looking for the best sound quality and I have a desktop mic so mic quality won't be an issue either. Right now it is sitting at ~75$, is there any other good set of headphones around that range I should be looking at? I have a pair of those Panasonic HTF600s but they have been getting more uncomfortable over time and at least the Cloud headset doesn't let in a lot of noise.[/QUOTE] If you don't really need the mic, try to get your hands on a pair of SHP9500's. I'm selling my pair right to a buddy now to help fund another pair of headphones, but the SHP's have got to be the most comfortable pair of headphones I've ever worn. They're very neutral, with slightly forward mids and a slight bass roll-off. The only downside is that the pads are non-detachable, but if you do end up ripping them off, there are a lot of aftermarket SHP pads popping up on the internet. They often go on sale for about $70 on newegg or amazon. But note that they are out of production, so prices might climb. Here's zeos getting mega hyped about them [video=youtube;aipXii-qWiQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aipXii-qWiQ[/video]

Good luck getting them for less than 100 bucks. Amazon, newegg, and massdrop cleared out their inventory 2 weeks ago.

So I got my AH-D2000's today. First impressions.... I'm incredibly disappointed. For $350 these headphones should not have such empty highs and mids, I heard they were luscious in those areas and these quite frankly sound flat as some 10$ IEM's I've bought before. I'm pushing these without a Amp or DAC through my Xonar D1 but that shouldn't matter much with an Impedance of 32 Ohms. Hugely disappointed would be an understatement, and unfortunately I bought them off another user on Head-fi so returning is out of the option.

Anyone have a set of on ear headphones they want to trade for some Sennheiser 518's in great condition? Preferably something like the on ear momentums

Not to be that guy but anybody going for that trade has to know that 518's are the most boring and dry pieces of shit ever.

They're widely regarded to be some of the best headphones for the price though?

[QUOTE=Lone Wolf807;49215275]So I got my AH-D2000's today. First impressions.... I'm incredibly disappointed. For $350 these headphones should not have such empty highs and mids, I heard they were luscious in those areas and these quite frankly sound flat as some 10$ IEM's I've bought before. I'm pushing these without a Amp or DAC through my Xonar D1 but that shouldn't matter much with an Impedance of 32 Ohms. Hugely disappointed would be an understatement, and unfortunately I bought them off another user on Head-fi so returning is out of the option.[/QUOTE] The most important thing when determining whether something needs an amp, is sensitivity, not impedance (look at AKG's K700 series headphones, all have low impedance but are hard to drive). All denon headphones are hard to drive and definitely benefit from a proper desktop amp. Also, i wish people stopped saying they have an amp when they have some puny asus sound card. Those asus sound cards are all 1-2Vrms. D2000's are known for their 'edgy' trebles and benefit from proper tube amps. [editline]30th November 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Levelog;49216120]They're widely regarded to be some of the best headphones for the price though?[/QUOTE] I'd rather stick a fork in my ear than listen to the 518's.

[QUOTE=Shock_Coil;49210327]What are your thoughts on the HyperX Cloud headset? I've tried them on before and they are really comfy to wear. I'm not looking for the best sound quality and I have a desktop mic so mic quality won't be an issue either. Right now it is sitting at ~75$, is there any other good set of headphones around that range I should be looking at? I have a pair of those Panasonic HTF600s but they have been getting more uncomfortable over time and at least the Cloud headset doesn't let in a lot of noise.[/QUOTE] They are down to 60$ now so there's also that.

[QUOTE=Shock_Coil;49216362]They are down to 60$ now so there's also that.[/QUOTE] The hyperX clouds are pretty decent.

One of the few headsets worth the money.

Clouds are $60 in Australia, exchange rate alone should make them $43 in America, take off island tax and it should be like $35. Getting ripped the fuck off if you are paying $60 US for them.

[QUOTE=aydin690;49216200]The most important thing when determining whether something needs an amp, is sensitivity, not impedance (look at AKG's K700 series headphones, all have low impedance but are hard to drive). All denon headphones are hard to drive and definitely benefit from a proper desktop amp. A[B]lso, i wish people stopped saying they have an amp when they have some puny asus sound card.[/B] Those asus sound cards are all 1-2Vrms. D2000's are known for their 'edgy' trebles and benefit from proper tube amps. [editline]30th November 2015[/editline] I'd rather stick a fork in my ear than listen to the 518's.[/QUOTE] Dunno if you're addressing that to me, but I never said that was the case. And thanks for informing me, I had always assumed impedance is the power required to move the drivers and get good sound. Worthwhile just getting a cheap Fiio E10K or just drop it on the o2/ODAC combo for my Denons? I was planning on getting the DT-880 600 Ohms in the future anyway and was wondering if they sound good with the o2.

dt990's came in today. not sure i can actually produce with these without [url=http://sonarworks.com/headphones/overview/]reference 3[/url]. great headphones though.

[QUOTE=TonyTheBean;49217150]dt990's came in today. not sure i can actually produce with these without [url=http://sonarworks.com/headphones/overview/]reference 3[/url]. great headphones though.[/QUOTE] Mine came in too but for some reason my e09k got pushed back to tomorrow.

LoneWolf, I saw your post on Reddit. If you ever get the opportunity to sell your D2000, get a Sennheiser HD600

My relationship with headphones is an ongoing series of retarded hackjobs. It started off with reinforcing my X12s because turtle beach is fragile as shit, then fixing the internals. Then when those died permanently I sewed the rather comfortable X12 pads onto my new HD201s replace the nasty sweaty pleather pads. The X12s also had an inline volume control/amp which I turned into an amp for the HD201s but with shitty soldering skills and poor knowledge of electricity the rig melted months ago, leaving me with a VERY quiet pair of headphones. I bought a GameCom 780 from my friend for $20. Now I've got a PS3 and since the Gamecom780 doesn't work on PS3 so I've put the HD201s back into use. So here's how the entire set-up is now: the sound goes through HDMI into my PC monitor which then goes into an old bass speaker which makes no sound but still has a working volume knob and an out line for auxiliary speakers, except instead of auxiliary speakers it goes into the HD201s. This is what happens when you want to save money AND consolidate all your devices in one place. I knew it was a mess but I didn't really know just how fucking bad it was until now. It just works™ [IMG]http://i.imgur.com/Ht1wv2n.png[/IMG] :vomit:

[QUOTE=Havolis;49218973]LoneWolf, I saw your post on Reddit. If you ever get the opportunity to sell your D2000, get a Sennheiser HD600[/QUOTE] I'm not sure if Sennheisers will meet my tastes. I'm just looking for something to play RnB and Rap which is practically all I listen to. In any case I'll be getting a o2 for future headphones anyway and will see how these ones work with them.

[QUOTE=Lone Wolf807;49221263]I'm not sure if Sennheisers will meet my tastes. I'm just looking for something to play RnB and Rap which is practically all I listen to. In any case I'll be getting a o2 for future headphones anyway and will see how these ones work with them.[/QUOTE] philips fidelio x2. [editline]1st December 2015[/editline] They don't need an amp either.

[QUOTE=aydin690;49223875]philips fidelio x2. [editline]1st December 2015[/editline] They don't need an amp either.[/QUOTE] I've heard some good things about those, was one of my original choices. I'm starting to enjoy the D2000's now as well. Ordered a O2/ODAC kit for my future pickups, eager to use them with the two I have as well. Are there any headphones you know with similar sound signature to AD700's or what people would consider an 'upgrade'?