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

[Xyrec]

Shiiiiiit. I just killed my pair of ATH-M50's :ohno: The right ear started crackling when I was listening to music with low frequencies, so I decided to open it up to see if something was stuck inside the speaker, but I couldn't find anything. After reassembling, the audio was completely gone from the right ear. I must've pulled a wire or something. :why:

So now I guess I'm looking for a new pair of headphones, since it was about time anyway. I've decided not to go for the ATH-M50 again, since I want something more durable. (I've had to replace the earpads every year since I bought the headphones, and the headband is super nasty since I've been using them every day for 6+ hours.)

My budget is around $200, and I was considering [URL="https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-akg-k7xx-red-edition?mode=guest_open"]these[/URL] on Massdrop or just a regular pair of K702's, but they're both open-backed, and I've never tried open-backed before, so I have no idea what they'll be like.

[wauterboi]

-snip-

[slayer20]

I'm looking for a good headphone + desktop mic combo.

[B]Budget:[/B] $200 max
[B]eBay:[/B] No
[B]Country:[/B] US
[B]Isolation:[/B] ???
[B]Purpose:[/B] Playing games/Listening to music
[B]Music Tastes:[/B] Alternative/Metal
[B]Previous Experiences:[/B] I've only ever bought headsets in the past. I currently have a Gamecon 780 headset.
[B]Comments:[/B] I'm also looking for a really good desktop microphone. I'd like to get both a new headset and microphone for under $200 if I can. I'd like to start making more youtube videos and I want a little more "professional" set up than what I have now, which is just a headset.

[wauterboi]

[QUOTE=slayer20;50650489]I'm looking for a good headphone + desktop mic combo.

[B]Budget:[/B] $200 max
[B]eBay:[/B] No
[B]Country:[/B] US
[B]Isolation:[/B] ???
[B]Purpose:[/B] Playing games/Listening to music
[B]Music Tastes:[/B] Alternative/Metal
[B]Previous Experiences:[/B] I've only ever bought headsets in the past. I currently have a Gamecon 780 headset.
[B]Comments:[/B] I'm also looking for a really good desktop microphone. I'd like to get both a new headset and microphone for under $200 if I can. I'd like to start making more youtube videos and I want a little more "professional" set up than what I have now, which is just a headset.[/QUOTE]
For the microphone: [url=https://www.amazon.com/Samson-Multi-Pattern-Studio-Condenser-Microphone/dp/B000QDF3G2]Samson CO3U[/url] (Find a mic stand and pop filter)
After that you should have $133 left for the mic stand, pop filter, and headphones.

[ifaux]

alright so basically im trying to make audio output from my windows 10 desktop sound as good as it came thru a pair of ~$250 dollar headphones. can somebody recommend a setup, maybe a few w/ different tiers of pricing? do i need or want a soundcard? etc

[Yeskey]

[QUOTE=slayer20;50650489]I'm looking for a good headphone + desktop mic combo.

[B]Budget:[/B] $200 max
[B]eBay:[/B] No
[B]Country:[/B] US
[B]Isolation:[/B] ???
[B]Purpose:[/B] Playing games/Listening to music
[B]Music Tastes:[/B] Alternative/Metal
[B]Previous Experiences:[/B] I've only ever bought headsets in the past. I currently have a Gamecon 780 headset.
[B]Comments:[/B] I'm also looking for a really good desktop microphone. I'd like to get both a new headset and microphone for under $200 if I can. I'd like to start making more youtube videos and I want a little more "professional" set up than what I have now, which is just a headset.[/QUOTE]

For a professional setup, if you need sound isolation or if you're in a loud environment. Neutral closed headphones like the Brainwavz HM5 / NXV XPT100 (same model headphone) or the Sony MDRv6/7506 are both fairly well rounded, with the HM5/XPT100 being a tad bit lean sounding and the V6 being slightly warm.

If you don't need sound isolation or if you're typically in a very quiet space, open back headphones offer a more natural tone and sound stage at the cost of sound isolation. Some good entry picks are the Sennheiser Hd558/Hd598 for a warm-nuetral tone, or the Audio technica AD900x for a bass-light, lush tone that's spectacular for female vocals.

In terms of mics, two great USB mics that I'd recommend are the Blue snowball and the samson meteor. And if you to dive into XLR systems, Behringer U-phoria or the Focusrite scarlett solo are good entry picks. The XLR mic I'd recommend is the Audio technica AT2020 or the blue yeti. The yeti is like mega huge as hell on your desk though. Also, invest in a pop filter, they typically run for like $6.

[Party Boy]

Anybody have a wireless headset they would recommend? I know headsets generally aren't recommended, but surely there is a decent option? If I'm sitting away from the PC I would like to be able to use the microphone, which having a seperate mic sort of makes that hard

[Yeskey]

[QUOTE=ifaux;50653559]alright so basically im trying to make audio output from my windows 10 desktop sound as good as it came thru a pair of ~$250 dollar headphones. can somebody recommend a setup, maybe a few w/ different tiers of pricing? do i need or want a soundcard? etc[/QUOTE]

If you want the best sound possible, start from the software first, windows in general likes to mess things up with all of its "enhancements", so we need to disable them.

Open up your sound properties window and in the playback devices tab, right click on your default playback device and choose properties in the drop-down menu. Click on the enhancements tab and check the box that says "disable all enhancements" (Surprisingly, even if it is checked, windows still filters some stuff, but we fix that in the next paragraph). Second thing is click on "Advanced" tab and select 24bit/44.1kHz. This is the standard for most media.

The next thing is to obtain all of your music content in lossless formats like PCM, FLAC, DSD, or ALAC. You can typically get these by purchasing the actual CD, subscribing to TIDAL, or snooping through Bandcamp. Mp3 in 320kbps is also fine, since the frequencies shaven off are typically outside the breath of most regular persons' hearing. Throw all your music into the music player Foobar2000 and run them as WASAPI EVENT in your output, this completely overrides all windows sound drivers and gives you pure, unmolested music.

In terms of sound-cards/dacs/amps/general hardware. The amount of benefit you'll perceive is based on your expectations of improvement and how "scale-able" your headphones are. But "scale-able" headphones are typically few and far between, so you don't need to worry too much about this part unless you're getting something in the ballpark of the Hd580/600/650/800 or some other exotic headphones like the Audeze LCD2/ZMF/high impedance beyerdynamic. "Scale-able" also varies and it's different for everyone, depending on critical listening skills and expectation bias. For pure audio goodness, I usually don't pick sound cards because they can pick up EMI from a noisy PSU or other electrical components, on the flipside, they save space and some support surround sound.

A few dac/amp combos to search up -
Fiio e10k = budget dac/amp = nice bang for buck, similar performance to great motherboard onboard. This will cure most EMI woes
Centrance DACport slim = Get this off massdrop, cute portable combo dac/amp for great sound on the go. You can probably use this in your main rig too.
ODAC + O2 amp = Great sound with wallet intact, not great match for high-impedence cans imo, outshined by updates to Modi2+Magni2
Schiit Modi 2 + Schiit Magni 2 = amazing combo for the price point, regular people consider this very expensive, "You paid how much for what now?!?"
Schiit Modi 2 Uber + Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Asgard 2 / Schiit Vali 2 = endgame for most audio enthusiasts, regular people consider this to be very excessive
Light Harmonics Geekout V2 = "Portable" Dac/amp with mediocre build quality, but sound quality is no slouch. Secret endgame for most audiophiles, but please do research on Light harmonics before you buy, comes with balanced outputs!
Schiit Bifrost Multi-bit + Schiit Vallhalla 2 / G1217 Project amp = Tube amp dream, great combo with Sennheiser hd600/650/hd800. regular people consider this incredibly excessive, wife will not approve
Schiit Gungnir Multi-bit + ECP torpedo III / Eddie Current Black Widow = My wet dream, You can probably buy a nice used car or nail a mortgage payment or two at this point

[Manulthecat]

Is there a site to get spareparts for headphones? My Sennheiser HD555 we're lying around since forever. Everything works fine, but theheadband cracked in 2 places after a long time of using them.
Or the 50+$ price is the only way to get it?

[Yeskey]

[QUOTE=Manulthecat;50690762]Is there a site to get spareparts for headphones? My Sennheiser HD555 we're lying around since forever. Everything works fine, but theheadband cracked in 2 places after a long time of using them.
Or the 50+$ price is the only way to get it?[/QUOTE]

Try calling sennheiser reps for spare parts. I know they have some really good support in the UK, but you might find some luck if you just ask.

[Rusty100]

sennheiser actually have a store (at least in australia) officially dedicated to spare parts
[url]http://service.sennheiser.com.au/[/url]
I bought spare earphone buds from there

I guess check one for your country?

[Manulthecat]

[QUOTE=KangarooSteak;50693025]Try calling sennheiser reps for spare parts. I know they have some really good support in the UK, but you might find some luck if you just ask.[/QUOTE]

Gonna try just that, since buying parts seem to be a bit ridiculous since it's cheaper to buy new ones than fix them.

[Holt]

Is the advice in the OP still valid? Are Panasonic RP-HTF600-s's still the best headset for less than $80?
I guess I'll do this thing tho.

[B]Budget:[/B] £100
[B]eBay: [/B]Yes
[B]Country:[/B]UK
[B]Isolation: [/B] not sure what this means.
[B]Purpose:[/B] Listening to music and gaming.
[B]Music Tastes:[/B] Electronic stuff; synthwave, chillwave, etc.
[B]Previous Experiences: [/B] Cheap headphone/headsets, nothing £40+
[B]Comments: [/B]I'm looking for a pair of sturdy, decent quality headphones for gaming and general PC usage. I'm not a big audio hardware buff so I don't know what I'm looking for, any help would be appreciated. I've already got a microphone so nothing to worry about there.

[Yeskey]

[QUOTE=Holt!;50711346]Is the advice in the OP still valid? Are Panasonic RP-HTF600-s's still the best headset for less than $80?
I guess I'll do this thing tho.

[B]Budget:[/B] £100
[B]eBay: [/B]Yes
[B]Country:[/B]UK
[B]Isolation: [/B] not sure what this means.
[B]Purpose:[/B] Listening to music and gaming.
[B]Music Tastes:[/B] Electronic stuff; synthwave, chillwave, etc.
[B]Previous Experiences: [/B] Cheap headphone/headsets, nothing £40+
[B]Comments: [/B]I'm looking for a pair of sturdy, decent quality headphones for gaming and general PC usage. I'm not a big audio hardware buff so I don't know what I'm looking for, any help would be appreciated. I've already got a microphone so nothing to worry about there.[/QUOTE]

Isolation is the amount of outside noises your headphones are able to block out. Typical mainstream headphones are closed back and reduce a decent amount of outside noise. Whereas open back headphones block very little outside sound, while offering a more natural sound stage. They're pretty bad in loud areas though.

A few recommendations I'll throw out are the Sennheiser Hd558 which are fairly neutral all around except for a little bit of warmness in the mid bass region. And if you can find them in your region, the Philips SHP9500 are a killer open back for its price (typically $70 USD). And for closed backs, there's the Brainwavz HM5 or the Beyerdynamic dt770 pro 80 Ohm. The HM5 is more of a monitor can and the dt770 has a slight emphasis on bass, they're both a bit bright (treble emphasis), but the dt770 is brighter.

[editline]when[/editline]
A few more I can think off the top of my head for semi-portable use are the Creative Aurvana Live! and the koss porta pro / kc-75. They're made for more on-the-go, but can easily prove a great fall-back can or main headphone on a budget. On a side note, I've heard that E-MU made a walnut wood cup version of the Creative Aurvana Live! I might get a pair for some new portable cans.

[Holt]

[QUOTE=KangarooSteak;50712189]Isolation is the amount of outside noises your headphones are able to block out. Typical mainstream headphones are closed back and reduce a decent amount of outside noise. Whereas open back headphones block very little outside sound, while offering a more natural sound stage. They're pretty bad in loud areas though.

A few recommendations I'll throw out are the Sennheiser Hd558 which are fairly neutral all around except for a little bit of warmness in the mid bass region. And if you can find them in your region, the Philips SHP9500 are a killer open back for its price (typically $70 USD). And for closed backs, there's the Brainwavz HM5 or the Beyerdynamic dt770 pro 80 Ohm. The HM5 is more of a monitor can and the dt770 has a slight emphasis on bass, they're both a bit bright (treble emphasis), but the dt770 is brighter.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for quick reply. I'll look into those tomorrow.

[Krogag]

Budget: Not overly expensive, affordable
eBay: No
Country: US
Purpose: Video games + casual music listening
Previous Experiences: I have a Siberia 200
Comments: Not looking for anything flashy. Just durable, comfortable, good mic and audio quality. I got these headphones from a friend when he got some Sennheisers.

[cecilbdemodded]

[QUOTE=Holt!;50711346]Is the advice in the OP still valid? Are Panasonic RP-HTF600-s's still the best headset for less than $80?
I guess I'll do this thing tho.

[B]Budget:[/B] £100
[B]eBay: [/B]Yes
[B]Country:[/B]UK
[B]Isolation: [/B] not sure what this means.
[B]Purpose:[/B] Listening to music and gaming.
[B]Music Tastes:[/B] Electronic stuff; synthwave, chillwave, etc.
[B]Previous Experiences: [/B] Cheap headphone/headsets, nothing £40+
[B]Comments: [/B]I'm looking for a pair of sturdy, decent quality headphones for gaming and general PC usage. I'm not a big audio hardware buff so I don't know what I'm looking for, any help would be appreciated. I've already got a microphone so nothing to worry about there.[/QUOTE]

Look into Takstar Pro 80. I have these and they are excellent. Good sound, decently robust build quality. They aren't luxury headphones, but the quality is in the sound where it's needed. Closed with good isolation. I had the Panasonics right before these, so I got a good comparison opportunity between the two, the Panasonics were junk compared to these. I paid ~$45 if I remember right. These are the same as the Qpad headphones that are also the same as the Kingston Hyper Clouds I & II(but not the Revolver). These are just the less fancy, cheaper materials used version of those headphones. I also listen to a lot of electronic music and it sounds great on these because there's nice bass on them without being overwhelming.

edit: I also have KSC-75s. I like their bright sound very much, it's a very clean sound for such cheap headphones. They aren't anywhere near as good for electronic music as the Takstars though, the bass just doesn't have enough impact.

[.Omo]

The HyperX Cloud I and II are the cheapest versions on Amazon in the UK, though. The Cloud I is £53, Cloud II is £66, the Takstar one is £69, and the Qpad one is £75.

Obviously the price might be different depending on where you get them from, but Amazon is a pretty safe place to get them from.

[cecilbdemodded]

At those prices I'd get the Cloud I. I got the Takstars because at the time the Cloud II wasn't out yet so the Cloud I cost something like $89. I would have got the Cloud I if it were anywhere near the Takstar price, because the Cloud headphones use nicer materials in the build.

edit: I agree with the idea that you shouldn't buy gaming headsets if you want a good sounding headphone. The Hyperx Cloud I and II are exceptions though, because they are just good headphones that Kingston has outfitted with gaming accessories for convenience.

[ifaux]

[QUOTE=KangarooSteak;50655313]If you want the best sound possible, start from the software first, windows in general likes to mess things up with all of its "enhancements", so we need to disable them.

Open up your sound properties window and in the playback devices tab, right click on your default playback device and choose properties in the drop-down menu. Click on the enhancements tab and check the box that says "disable all enhancements" (Surprisingly, even if it is checked, windows still filters some stuff, but we fix that in the next paragraph). Second thing is click on "Advanced" tab and select 24bit/44.1kHz. This is the standard for most media.

The next thing is to obtain all of your music content in lossless formats like PCM, FLAC, DSD, or ALAC. You can typically get these by purchasing the actual CD, subscribing to TIDAL, or snooping through Bandcamp. Mp3 in 320kbps is also fine, since the frequencies shaven off are typically outside the breath of most regular persons' hearing. Throw all your music into the music player Foobar2000 and run them as WASAPI EVENT in your output, this completely overrides all windows sound drivers and gives you pure, unmolested music.

In terms of sound-cards/dacs/amps/general hardware. The amount of benefit you'll perceive is based on your expectations of improvement and how "scale-able" your headphones are. But "scale-able" headphones are typically few and far between, so you don't need to worry too much about this part unless you're getting something in the ballpark of the Hd580/600/650/800 or some other exotic headphones like the Audeze LCD2/ZMF/high impedance beyerdynamic. "Scale-able" also varies and it's different for everyone, depending on critical listening skills and expectation bias. For pure audio goodness, I usually don't pick sound cards because they can pick up EMI from a noisy PSU or other electrical components, on the flipside, they save space and some support surround sound.

A few dac/amp combos to search up -
Fiio e10k = budget dac/amp = nice bang for buck, similar performance to great motherboard onboard. This will cure most EMI woes
Centrance DACport slim = Get this off massdrop, cute portable combo dac/amp for great sound on the go. You can probably use this in your main rig too.
ODAC + O2 amp = Great sound with wallet intact, not great match for high-impedence cans imo, outshined by updates to Modi2+Magni2
Schiit Modi 2 + Schiit Magni 2 = amazing combo for the price point, regular people consider this very expensive, "You paid how much for what now?!?"
Schiit Modi 2 Uber + Schiit Magni 2 Uber / Schiit Asgard 2 / Schiit Vali 2 = endgame for most audio enthusiasts, regular people consider this to be very excessive
Light Harmonics Geekout V2 = "Portable" Dac/amp with mediocre build quality, but sound quality is no slouch. Secret endgame for most audiophiles, but please do research on Light harmonics before you buy, comes with balanced outputs!
Schiit Bifrost Multi-bit + Schiit Vallhalla 2 / G1217 Project amp = Tube amp dream, great combo with Sennheiser hd600/650/hd800. regular people consider this incredibly excessive, wife will not approve
Schiit Gungnir Multi-bit + ECP torpedo III / Eddie Current Black Widow = My wet dream, You can probably buy a nice used car or nail a mortgage payment or two at this point[/QUOTE]

wow thanks man, i really appreciate this post i wish i could fuck it. this is exactly what I was looking for literally lol. however, I did some more research and it turns out that hd598s aren't the greatest for hip hop which really is going to be what i'm listening to so heres this:

Budget: ~175 usd
eBay: no
Country: USA
Isolation: not required but preferred as I might game w/ mic using them
Purpose: listening to music in my room, potential gaming
Music Tastes: hip hop and alternative/punk rock – looking for the best sound for hip hop while maintaining a relatively good sound for other genres as well

[Yeskey]

[QUOTE=ifaux;50730927]wow thanks man, i really appreciate this post i wish i could fuck it. this is exactly what I was looking for literally lol. however, I did some more research and it turns out that hd598s aren't the greatest for hip hop which really is going to be what i'm listening to so heres this:

Budget: ~175 usd
eBay: no
Country: USA
Isolation: not required but preferred as I might game w/ mic using them
Purpose: listening to music in my room, potential gaming
Music Tastes: hip hop and alternative/punk rock – looking for the best sound for hip hop while maintaining a relatively good sound for other genres as well[/QUOTE]

The hd598's are pretty well-rounded, but if you're used to big bass, they might come off as bass light. I'd still recommend them because they're pretty close to reference and it's always nice to get used to the reference sound.

If you still want that "fun" aspect, consider a used pair of Philips Fidelio X2/27's from amazon, open back V-shaped headphones with huge bass. (V-shaped means elevated low and high end, which makes music sound lively. But mids are recessed a little on the X2's) There's also the AKG k7xx from massdrop and the Fostex T50rp MKIII assortment, but the MkIII's very hard to drive and require dedicated amps. (There's a ton of mods for these headphones and my personal flagship is a heavily modified [url=http://www.zmfheadphones.com/order-the-zmf/zmf-omni]T50rp MKIII[/url])

[editline]when[/editline]

If you wanted to get a T50rp MKIII, there's a $50 rebate that ends july 31st/Aug 15th: [url]http://www.americanmusicandsound.com/en/pages/promos/promo_fostex_50_rebate_RPMK3_2016.html[/url]

[Levelog]

At least the on-ear momentums are keyed so you'll probably have to get a sennheiser one if you don't want to drill out the locks. The HD series cable is the same jack but doesn't fit in the on ear's.

[ifaux]

[QUOTE=KangarooSteak;50733042]The hd598's are pretty well-rounded, but if you're used to big bass, they might come off as bass light. I'd still recommend them because they're pretty close to reference and it's always nice to get used to the reference sound.

If you still want that "fun" aspect, consider a used pair of Philips Fidelio X2/27's from amazon, open back V-shaped headphones with huge bass. (V-shaped means elevated low and high end, which makes music sound lively. But mids are recessed a little on the X2's) There's also the AKG k7xx from massdrop and the Fostex T50rp MKIII assortment, but the MkIII's very hard to drive and require dedicated amps. (There's a ton of mods for these headphones and my personal flagship is a heavily modified [URL="http://www.zmfheadphones.com/order-the-zmf/zmf-omni"]T50rp MKIII[/URL])

[editline]when[/editline]

If you wanted to get a T50rp MKIII, there's a $50 rebate that ends july 31st/Aug 15th: [URL]http://www.americanmusicandsound.com/en/pages/promos/promo_fostex_50_rebate_RPMK3_2016.html[/URL][/QUOTE]

I think I'm going to pick up a pair of Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 250ohms and a schiit modi 2+vali2 stack. thanks for your help my dude

[Yeskey]

Schiit's going to be releasing some new... schiit next week at the Schiit Show! Crossing my fingers for new upgrades to the Bifrost!

[ifaux]

the dt 770 pro's came in today and I had a mini heart attack when I saw a 6.5mm instead of a 3.5mm jack on there but it unscrews into one, lol. the sound great but naturally they sound a little low thru my mobo sound, would a DAC (not dac+amp combo) help at all w/ that or should I get the amp first? obviously the amp amplifies but I can't get the both at the same time at the moment and I'm nervous I might introduce some kinda interference w/ just the amp

[Levelog]

You NEED an amp with a DAC.

[ifaux]

I see

[Yeskey]

You can definitely get the amp first and hold out on the dac.

[Fate]

[QUOTE=ifaux;50749883]the dt 770 pro's came in today and I had a mini heart attack when I saw a 6.5mm instead of a 3.5mm jack on there but it unscrews into one, lol. the sound great but naturally they sound a little low thru my mobo sound, would a DAC (not dac+amp combo) help at all w/ that or should I get the amp first? obviously the amp amplifies but I can't get the both at the same time at the moment and I'm nervous I might introduce some kinda interference w/ just the amp[/QUOTE]

Which version did you get? If you got 80Ohm or above ones you'll need an amp. DAC would be recommended too but amp is the necessary part.

[ifaux]

i opted for a magni 2 instead and it came in with the rubber feet on the top instead of the bottom and the power switch was bent and wouldn't really move lol. returning it thru amazon but its gonna be a pain in the ass. also: what cables do i need to end up connecting my headphone amp dac and computer all together? (modi magni stack) i didn't realize that none of them come with any cables lol