What is standard music quality like on the Medusas? I am not an audiophile, just like good sound with bass.
It depends on who you ask I suppose but sharing your pleasure in liking good sound with plenty of bass so I wouldn't want the Medusa's for music at any price. I'd go for the best quality conventional phones within my budget.
A reasonable, well designed and constructed set of conventional cans would cost an absolute minimum of twenty to fifty pounds . At this price point the choices are very limited. However, this is the market sector in which the Medusas, Zalmans, etc., compete. So ask yourself this question. What proportion of the price of manufacturing "surround" or 5.1 sound is taken up by the added wires, or chips to create their illusion of surround sound?
About three years ago I auditioned a surround sound headphone system costing just under three hundred pounds. I can't remember who make this set up, I think it may have been Pioneer but I'm not sure. What I do remember is that it sounded awful. There was a low level hiss on the 'phones that became tiresome at any reasonable volume level, the surround effects were marginally effective, but I was struck most of all by the megaphonic quality of music produced by these 'phones. I ended buying a low end set of Grado's that I sold on as I discovered with time that I preferred the comfort and sound signature of Sennheiser.
If music and bass is your thing you'd probably like the Grado SR60s that can be had for about £65.00. They're not exactly comfortable but this can be improved, they're easy to drive without an amplifier and they're great for music.
It surprises me that PC gamers seem to be prepared to spend their money on daft, to my mind, add ons like neons, drive coolers, memory coolers, fan controllers, USB missile launchers, etc, etc., whilst considering the cost of half decent sound a luxury.
