Goldring DR150s beyond repair - what to replace them with?

Tiny Clanger · 14 Jan 2019 at 08:41

Sadly my (admittedly old) DR150s are no more - the joint between the headband and the ear-cup has snapped and no amount of enthusiastic super-glue application is going to sort it out. So...what would be a good replacement? My current audio setup is:

~~Goldring DR150~~
Xonar D1 soundcard
Creative Gigaworks T20 speakers (old so I assume not Series II)

Main use is for gaming with some listening to music. Budget-wise, I wouldn't want to be spending more than, say, £100. I've read elswhere on the forum that the AKG K702's are well thought of but am open to your suggestions/reccomendations...

Tiny Clanger · 14 Jan 2019 at 10:50

Hi EsaT - thanks for such a quick reply. Sounds like the K702s are the answer - couple more questions if I may....

I don't have a headphone amp - will the K702s be okay plugged directly into the Xonar D1?
I've found Dolby Headphone hit and miss with the DR150's - you suggest that it might be better with the K702's. I assume that if I upgrade the soundcard at some point that the K702's are still a sound (pardon the pun!) choice?

Tiny Clanger · 14 Jan 2019 at 12:45

Ah...so, that might be an issue. My speakers have a 'headphone' socket but is that just introducing additional components in which is going to degrade the sound? Also - to what extent would Dolby Headphone be propagated via the speakers headphone socket? As usual - apologies if these are daft questions

Tiny Clanger · 14 Jan 2019 at 17:26

EsaT, Marsman - thank you both very much for your advice. Order placed for some K702s - I will pop back and let you know how I get on!

Tiny Clanger · 16 Jan 2019 at 19:47

New toy arrived this morning so just had a bit of time to play with them. Thankfully the Xonar D1 drives them plenty loud enough for me - I wouldn't want to try listening to them at 100% volume! The sound is wonderfully precise and uncluttered - at least to my admittedly non-audiophile ears. The 'self-adjusting' design feels a bit odd but I suppose it's something just to get used to - they are however more comfortable overall than the Goldrings.

The music link you recommended EsaT sounds fantastic - as does the Vivaldi recording which popped up next. With the Battlefield 4 clip I found myself involuntarily ducking when the helicopter flew low overhead

All in all - very pleased so far - thanks once again to EsaT and Marsman for your advice!

Tiny Clanger · 16 Jan 2019 at 23:10

Those links were brilliant - thank you for sharing

Tiny Clanger · 17 Jan 2019 at 12:13

It's surprising how subjective it is. I have the volume set to ~60% and that's grand for me. I will try using the front connector as EsaT suggested too - just for reference. Played around a bit more with them last night and the self-adjustment thing feels more natural now - so very happy overall.