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

I'd typically order through [url=http://schiit.com/products/magni-2]Schiit's[/url] website directly, but in terms of cables, it's: Computer > USB A male to B male > DAC > Stereo RCA to RCA > Amp > Headphone cables > Headphones And I'd recommend the rca to rca cables be really short, because they only travel a few inches when you stack 'em. If you wanted to get real fancy, some guy sells a rigid rca bridge with Schiit's blessings. [url]http://introprose.com/rigid-cross-connect-for-the-schiit-stack.html[/url]

[QUOTE=ifaux;50791038]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[/QUOTE] How is returning through amazon a pain in the ass? It's literally the easiest return experiences I've ever had.

[QUOTE=Levelog;50791840]How is returning through amazon a pain in the ass? It's literally the easiest return experiences I've ever had.[/QUOTE] typically it is but i've got to manage to catch the UPS guy when he's here to pick it up and they're only offering to refund (thru amazon gift card as well) as opposed to sending a replacement so i have to wait until they get it and refund me, then order it again its just sort of a pain in the ass as opposed to being sent a non-defective unit lol

Why not just drop it off at the UPS store?

Hey guys, I have a pair of ATH AD700X's and the ear pads are HORRIBLY uncomfortable and was looking for suggestions for new ear pads. I thought about these but not sure if they will fit or if there is something better. [url]https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-Angled-Memory-Foam-Earpad/dp/B00ZY8PGJI/ref=pd_sim_23_6?ie=UTF8&dpID=31JaOMNVwPL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&psc=1&refRID=ZW0N10PC94P6KW4AF312[/url]

Check out the Hm5 velor pads instead. I'll warm you though, you'll really need to stretch them out before you put them on your headphones, it's a tight fit.

Budget:~$150 eBay: no Country: usa Isolation: doesnt really matter as long as its not too bad Purpose: music Music Tastes: pop/hip hop/jazz/pretty much everything Previous Experiences: sennheiser hd429 any good bluetooth headphones around this price? [editline]31st July 2016[/editline] how are samsungs level headphones?

Budget: <70$ eBay: no Country: Turkey Isolation: Yes Purpose: Gaming & Music (mainly gaming though) Music Tastes: Punk, Metal & Jazz Previous Experiences: Logitech G203, Razer Hammerhead Pro Comments: I know that OP doesn't suggest headsets and I don't really mind as long as it's the best bang for the buck. And I guess I should also mention that I'm planning on buying it on Amazon US.

Hey guys, the pleather earpads on my MDR-7506s are starting to fall apart after about two years of use. I've been looking on Amazon, but I'm not really sure which ones to get. Does anyone have any recommendations/advice on buying earpads? Should I stick with pleather or go for a different material? I'm currently looking at this pair. [url]https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-Replacement-Memory-Foam-Earpads/dp/B00X5ISRGI/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1470724525&sr=8-7[/url]

The pads on my MDR-V6 are starting to finally flake. What replacement pads would you guys recommend?

got my schiit stack today, everything was packaged completely differently than from amazon and much more nicely put together and for some reason the rubber feet were already on the amp. 0/10 order from schiit instead

I kinda need new headphones for traveling. Budget: 50€ eBay: nah Country: Germany Isolation: passive Purpose: for traveling around, easy to stow away in a pocket or small bag Music Tastes: generally any, currently synthwave Previous Experiences: Sennheiser CX 299 In-Ear, isolated quite nicely, no one could hear the music except me and I could not hear them. Comments: must be in ear, my ears are weirdly shaped. People should not have to hear my music, bonus points to for me not being able to hear them.

[QUOTE=diwako;50890034]I kinda need new headphones for traveling.[/QUOTE] Check out these [URL="https://www.amazon.de/Fulltime%C2%AE-Urspr%C3%BCngliche-KZ-ATE-Berylliumkupfer-Ear-Kopfh%C3%B6rer/dp/B018I2L9KG"]https://www.amazon.de/Fulltime%C2%AE-Urspr%C3%BCngliche-KZ-ATE-Berylliumkupfer-Ear-Kopfh%C3%B6rer/dp/B018I2L9KG[/URL] Those seem to be the new budget inears available. Also, isolation is almost entirely dependant on the ear tips. You could try Inairs for cheap foam tips. I'm using a pair on my rha ma750 and they are super comfortable.

Budget: £60 (i guess, pretty flexible either way) eBay: rather not Country: UK Isolation: circumaural Purpose: gaming Music Tastes: n/a Previous Experiences: hd201, various headsets Comments: won't use them for music at all, just gaming and chatting with buds on mumble/skype/whatever. on that note i'm gonna want a clip/desktop mic, so suggestions on those would be good too. cheers

[QUOTE=BackwardSpy;50902223]Budget: £60 (i guess, pretty flexible either way) eBay: rather not Country: UK Isolation: circumaural Purpose: gaming Music Tastes: n/a Previous Experiences: hd201, various headsets Comments: won't use them for music at all, just gaming and chatting with buds on mumble/skype/whatever. on that note i'm gonna want a clip/desktop mic, so suggestions on those would be good too. cheers[/QUOTE] These takstar hd 6000 [url]https://www.amazon.co.uk/Headphone-Earphone-Foldable-Extension-Convertor/dp/B00P8P5FPW/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1471506449&sr=8-15&keywords=takstar[/url] TAKSTAR TS-671 if you after a more open sound. [url]https://www.amazon.co.uk/TS-671-Headphones-Full-open-Circumaural-Headphone/dp/B007KW7RWK/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1471506594&sr=8-4&keywords=takstar[/url]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/quULikI.png[/IMG] [editline]18th August 2016[/editline] This will be the best pair of headphones I've ever bought. Currently use an HD201, so hoping the $200 price gap is actually valid considering the HD201s still work and sound great to me. Anyone have experience with the X2/27s? These will predominantly be used for films and games, with music when programming. Heard the bass was nice but not overwhelming, and that the mids weren't drowned out by either the high or low ends.

[QUOTE=Loriborn;50906310][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/quULikI.png[/IMG] [editline]18th August 2016[/editline] This will be the best pair of headphones I've ever bought. Currently use an HD201, so hoping the $200 price gap is actually valid considering the HD201s still work and sound great to me. Anyone have experience with the X2/27s? These will predominantly be used for films and games, with music when programming. Heard the bass was nice but not overwhelming, and that the mids weren't drowned out by either the high or low ends.[/QUOTE] I own the x2, it will certainly be quite the difference at least. Coming from hd 201 that is. Just the question, what amp dac will you run them from?

[QUOTE=Holylucifer6;50906387]I own the x2, it will certainly be quite the difference at least. Coming from hd 201 that is. Just the question, what amp dac will you run them from?[/QUOTE] As you can tell by my headphone history, I'm not exactly too familiar with the audio end of PC setups, primarily focusing most of my time and finances into graphics and processing for programming. Only recently have I decided to start trying to get into some better audio equipment to improve my overall film watching experiences. Right now I'm using [URL="https://www.amazon.com/Blaster-Performance-Headphone-Forming-Microphone/dp/B009ISU33E"]Creative's Sound Blaster Z[/URL], since I had purchased my HD 201s in around late 2012 or so, and the Sound Blaster Z had come out right around the same time, and I needed something relatively affordable that could run them, since my motherboard just did not cut the mustard and I was too tight on space in college to have a full tower and an external DAC/AMP on a little desk. Plus, with money tight at the time, $100 was way more reasonable than $300. I've kept the Sound Blaster since then, as well as the HD 201s, and both are working well, but even in a brand new build, I've kept that same sound card. I am more than willing to upgrade, even if I still have preference for internal cards despite being aware of the benefits of external DAC/AMPs, but I'm not exactly sure as to if there are any options available that will give discernible improvement over my current setup within a reasonable price range.

Picked up some AKG K553 headphones from Massdrop. Love em to bits. [editline]18th August 2016[/editline] Should probably get a less gimmicky soundcard than this soundblaster thing I have though.

[QUOTE=Elstumpo;50906482]Picked up some AKG K553 headphones from Massdrop. Love em to bits. [editline]18th August 2016[/editline] Should probably get a less gimmicky soundcard than this soundblaster thing I have though.[/QUOTE] What card do you have? I wouldn't say internal soundcards are gimmicky, per se, they obviously improve sound quality, and the higher the quality of the soundcard, the better the sound quality, but usually they're a bit more costly than external solutions for the same benefit, and also have the unfortunate side effect of nearby interference from components, although generally being more space-saving and compact. Plus, higher end internal soundcards can shield interference at least decently, though it costs a premium for that shielding that isn't 100% effective, and that extra cost could go towards better components. I just don't know exactly how well a SBZ holds up to say, a similarly priced or slightly more expensive DAC and AMP combination.

This doohicky. Turned out it fixed a few issues I was having under one device. [img]http://img.cinemablend.com/cb/2/4/a/6/2/a/24a62a3eb714d548c7411fd0c281b7d2b91123bf1db2baa803343cb00f224577.jpg[/img]

So the X2/27s came in, and lo' and behold, they sound great. Particularly so when paired with the Sound Blaster's SBX. Unfortunately though, I managed to get an older model, post WOOX to Gibson transition, but before the February press statement where they said they would no longer be gluing the ear pads down. Well, I talked to Amazon and they managed to put in a ticket to ensure that I get a pair manufactured after the date Amazon supposedly returned all the defective units, although it'll take a few days to go through and then send over. The sound is great, and although I'm a bit peeved about the glue, Amazon has been nothing but helpful every time I've needed to return something.

i don't know if this is the right thread for it, but I got a FiiO X1 and i'm pretty disappointed in it. it crashes all the time unless literally every single file on it is either music or a jpeg, aka no like stray torrent things, and the music is just really... flat? i've been sitting here swapping my headphone jack between my oneplus 3 and the x1 and it sounds much better on the phone, and it has no eq on. it's dynamic and has depth but the x1 muddles everything together and is just super flat. what's the deal?

I mean it's gunna be flat. Most high end designed stuff is. I'm surprised that it sounds muddled though, did not get that impression at all. Have you tried messing around with the eq on the x1 at all? On high rate files it can't do much as it would bog down the player, but it should still be doing something.

why would high end stuff sound flat? i do not get that at all [editline]22nd August 2016[/editline] stupid fuckin oneplus 3 should have an sd card i swear to god

[QUOTE=Rusty100;50926702]why would high end stuff sound flat? i do not get that at all [/QUOTE] Difference between aiming for accurate reproduction of a recording, and aiming for a fun reproduction of a recording.

Budget:~100ish USD (might go a bit higher) Country: USA Isolation: Circumaural Purpose: Gaming, Music Music Tastes: Electronic music, rock, some rap, some modern top 40, pretty much everything under the sun Previous Experiences: Have had Razer headsets for a longest time (never paid full price on any of them, got a lot on Woot.com for way cheap). I know most of you despise headsets and Razer even more, but I've enjoyed what I've had. I switch between a Razer Tiamat 7.1 (plugged into an external USB 7.1 sound card, sound pretty okay), and a Razer Carcharias (more comfortable and lighter than the Taimat). Comments: I'm at school for the next 9 or so months, so I'm playing games off of my laptop and unfortunately won't get to see my desktop too much during the school year. So I'm also wondering what kind of external amp or soundcard would be acceptable to run the headphones. My laptop has okayish sound through the headphone ports, its an MSi GS72 Stealth Pro-425. I currently have the carcharias plugged into the 7.1 external soundcard, they sound pretty good too. My uncle is a long time radio guy and he swears by the Sennheiser, is there anything that fits my budget and situation? Also will need to get some sort of clip-on mic, if you have any recommendations. Thank you in advance for any advice.

so after a few weeks of use i'm not too happy w/ the sound of my beyerdynamic 770 pro 250ohms. i have modi/magni schiit stack, any headphone recommendations. budget is ~200-300. my listening range is so large from bass heavy hip hop to prog rock stuff so maybe i'd be better off just getting another pair for when i'm not gonna listen to hip hop stuff?

[QUOTE=ifaux;50938183]so after a few weeks of use i'm not too happy w/ the sound of my beyerdynamic 770 pro 250ohms. i have modi/magni schiit stack, any headphone recommendations. budget is ~200-300. my listening range is so large from bass heavy hip hop to prog rock stuff so maybe i'd be better off just getting another pair for when i'm not gonna listen to hip hop stuff?[/QUOTE] What do you like / not like about the Dt770's 250ohm? Too bright? Too much bass? Flat sounding? The more you describe what you don't like about them, the easier it is to find out what your sound tastes really are. [QUOTE=hhcheese;50930090]Budget:~100ish USD (might go a bit higher) Country: USA Isolation: Circumaural Purpose: Gaming, Music Music Tastes: Electronic music, rock, some rap, some modern top 40, pretty much everything under the sun Previous Experiences: Have had Razer headsets for a longest time (never paid full price on any of them, got a lot on Woot.com for way cheap). I know most of you despise headsets and Razer even more, but I've enjoyed what I've had. I switch between a Razer Tiamat 7.1 (plugged into an external USB 7.1 sound card, sound pretty okay), and a Razer Carcharias (more comfortable and lighter than the Taimat). Comments: I'm at school for the next 9 or so months, so I'm playing games off of my laptop and unfortunately won't get to see my desktop too much during the school year. So I'm also wondering what kind of external amp or soundcard would be acceptable to run the headphones. My laptop has okayish sound through the headphone ports, its an MSi GS72 Stealth Pro-425. I currently have the carcharias plugged into the 7.1 external soundcard, they sound pretty good too. My uncle is a long time radio guy and he swears by the Sennheiser, is there anything that fits my budget and situation? Also will need to get some sort of clip-on mic, if you have any recommendations. Thank you in advance for any advice.[/QUOTE] Check out the Sennheiser Hd558/598, it's an all-rounder and does a solid job on nearly every aspect except for super bass-music. There's also the Philip's Shp9500, which I'd describe as a mini Hd600, stepping in line with a lot of what the Hd600 has to offer on a less refined scale and at a much lower price point. Nonetheless a great headphone. [QUOTE=Loriborn;50915617]So the X2/27s came in, and lo' and behold, they sound great. Particularly so when paired with the Sound Blaster's SBX. Unfortunately though, I managed to get an older model, post WOOX to Gibson transition, but before the February press statement where they said they would no longer be gluing the ear pads down. Well, I talked to Amazon and they managed to put in a ticket to ensure that I get a pair manufactured after the date Amazon supposedly returned all the defective units, although it'll take a few days to go through and then send over. The sound is great, and although I'm a bit peeved about the glue, Amazon has been nothing but helpful every time I've needed to return something.[/QUOTE] I returned my Fidelio X2's after the Gibson glue scare in order to purchase my Hd650's, but honestly, they sounded pretty damn good for the time that I had them. Phenomenal for movie watching and big bass in general.

Budget: 50$, give or take. Country: Russian Federation Isolation: Open-air/Earphones Purpose: Part of EDC, for listening to music when outside. Have to be small enough to wear with/under the hat and in any weather conditions(i.e. no big circumaural headphones). [b]Must have[/b] good resilient cable and jack. Music Tastes: Mostly metal, drum and bass, EDM, but generally, pretty much every other genre there is. Good bass is not really a must for headphones, but a big plus. Previous Experiences: A whole lot of different ones, but latest set I used was Sennheiser MX 375. Had a good experience with circumaural sennheisers for in-home use (TR 170), so I put some belief in brand. Well, turns out I shouldn't have. They didn't handle bass too well and didn't really fit in ear, always on verge of falling out, but god forbid you get the cable caught on doorhandle, they'll cling to ears with such force that your ears will be sore for a week! Comments: I must stress that all headphones I had before (20+ different ones! :hairpull: ) died due to cable issues. It's always one of headphones dying out of blue as soon as warranty ends, leaving me with just one working side. I'm sick and tired of having to walk around pretending that I have only one ear, so I would like to have some kind of permanent solution to that issue. All things considered, it may be a good idea to invest in soldering iron and set of jacks, but I don't know jack 'bout the repair process though... Also, some people recommended me in-ear headphones, but they irritate the hell outta my ears for some reason, and last roughly the same time as any other type, so there's that.