Sound Upgrade!

kaotikuk

kaotikuk

kaotikuk

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5 Feb 2012
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881
Im currently using onboard sound, and a siberia v2 headset, So looking to buy a new headset and maybe soundcard if it would improve my sound. Will spend £200 - £300 to upgrade if its worth it. Ive been searching around for ages but havent made the plunge yet as i see some say soundcards are pointless etc so just after a bit of advice to see if it is worth doing and what will give me the best noticable benefits? cheers
 
What are your music taste?

In that price point it's a bunch of flavours so it's going to depend on your preference.

Me personally, having tried pretty much everything in that price! there are 3 that stand out more then then the rest and you wouldn't need to upgrade your current equipment.

What are your music taste? and what are you looking for i.e

Soundstaging
Midrange preference
Treble preference
Bass preference.
 
A £20 set of headphones will massively improve your sound next to the Siberias. Absolute POS.

A card like the Xonar DG is excellent for the money and will be beneficial regardless of the headphone - though if you have a high impedance 'phone you may need a more powerful amp.

If its mainly for gaming, you only need to spend 25% of your budget. If its mainly for gaming and music and you play competitively, a £200 will get you some very capable cans.

Have a read of this thread - clicky, and the others on this forum - they all, the head-fi thread especially - answer your question perfectly and then some.
 
Yea its for gaming,music and movies. I just want a better audio experience :D Will have a read of that link thank you.
 
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Try the AH-D600 by Denon. At £185 they make excellent all rounders and they are efficient so no amp needed although they do improve slightly with one.

If you want a less bright headphone with a less box feel in the soundstage look into the Denon AH-D2000 if you can find them under £300.

I also like the K267 by AKG.

These are excellent, The AKG are a bit more natural for vocals but still have a "Fun" type of sound with a nice soundstage. The Denons are less for forward in the mids with a more exciting type of sound. They are refined, bass heavy and have good soundstages.

I think the Denons will be more suited because for movies and games and music, boy they are fun.
 
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Ryanr1987 said:
Try the AH-D600 by Denon. At £185 they make excellent all rounders and they are efficient so no amp needed although they do improve slightly with one.

If you want a less bright headphone with a less box feel in the soundstage look into the Denon AH-D2000 if you can find them under £300.

I also like the K267 by AKG.

These are excellent, The AKG are a bit more natural for vocals but still have a "Fun" type of sound with a nice soundstage. The Denons are less for forward in the mids with a more exciting type of sound. They are refined, bass heavy and have good soundstages.

I think the Denons will be more suited because for movies and games and music, boy they are fun.
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I would agree with this because I have the AH-D2000 (and the Sennheiser Amperior's). I wouldn't turn my nose up at the Amperior's though because you can get them at the same price as the A-HD600. Better to try both if you can?
 
Cheaper options would be the CAL! for £53, Brainwavz HM5 for ~£80 (what Im personally using for music/gaming and chose for a budget of <£150), or the HD25-1 II for ~£150 (used to be on amazon for £120 :S - also one of the best portable cans out there and are super duper easy to drive). Phillips Fidelio X1 is ideally what I'd be looking at for your budget, but you'd need a soundcard (Xonar DG for example) at the very least to get the best out of it.
 
I will add that the D2000 are hard to get a hold of. I've seen people selling them for £200. I got mine for £150. They are the best I've heard at that price range south of the Mad Dog.

The Mad Dog is excellent, it's very lush, musical and balanced. I'd recommend the £50 E11 to power it at the least. The total set up would cost 250ish. I've not heard better under £500 personally then them.
 
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HD598 or Fidelio X1 - £150-£180
Fiio E17 - £90
Clip on mic from DX - £1.56

The E17 can connect to any PC, games console, blu ray, sky hd or smartphone, etc so can be used with any device and is portable.

Both cans are open so not good for portable setups, may want to get a MDR-7506 as well for £70-£80 for a portable set of cans
 
Thanks for the help guys :D i ordered the DX clip on mic, now waiting for payday in a week to buy headphones. Im leaning towards the HD598, but still not 100% decided yet. I didnt even know you could buy an amp like, seems way better than soundcards as you can use them for other things!

Which is worth buying though, the E11 or E17? since the E11 is cheaper
 
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Same performance, the 17 has a dac though too.

Honestly you can do so much better then the 598 I'm actually suprised it's so highly recommended on here. It's such a lean, and on the verg of cold sounding headphone with no weight on the bass for those immersive low frequency moments on films. The DT770 is cheaper and absolutely trumps the 598. I don't think it's bad if you can get it cheap but it just isn't fun.
 
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Ryanr1987 said:
Same performance, the 17 has a dac though too.

Honestly you can do so much better then the 598 I'm actually suprised it's so highly recommended on here. It's such a lean, and on the verg of cold sounding headphone with no weight on the bass for those immersive low frequency moments on films. The DT770 is cheaper and absolutely trumps the 598. I don't think it's bad if you can get it cheap but it just isn't fun. E
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its amazing how differant tastes can be , i call the senns natural sounding but full , and the dt770 sound forced and overblown:D
 
To be honest I've never heard much natural anything outside of going hifi. I can see why people might call them natural because there is not much exaggerated. They are just too lean in the bass for me to consider them a complete headphone. I think that for the OP these are not complete enough for his needs. I do think the 595/598 have good mids but overall it's simply a 90£ headphone.

The DT770 hooked up to my Fiio E11 was incredible and doesn't totally loose out to my flagship stuff. It's not for everyone though. This is all a preference game I know but it terms of a lean low-end that's a proven fact but some may be fine with it. They also tend then be a bit bright for some but I didn't find it an issue.

I do find the Senns work for competitive play quite well though since having a lean bass makes for extra detail in the other frequencies. But for movies and music you wAnt an all rounder.

I tried the bass boost function and it made them sound daft and artificial.

I don't dislike the 598 but I think it's so overrated it reminds me off the whole M50 craze a bit where it's just recommend with giving a though to what people are looking for. Just my opinion :)
 
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HD598 is very lean, but thats one reason it excels at gaming - positional accuracy and footsteps are so easily heard. I would never use one for exclusively music, but for gaming, they're v. good for the price.
 
Ryanr1987 said:
To be honest I've never heard much natural anything outside of going hifi. I can see why people might call them natural because there is not much exaggerated. They are just too lean in the bass for me to consider them a complete headphone. I think that for the OP these are not complete enough for his needs. I do think the 595/598 have good mids but overall it's simply a 90£ headphone.

The DT770 hooked up to my Fiio E11 was incredible and doesn't totally loose out to my flagship stuff. It's not for everyone though. This is all a preference game I know but it terms of a lean low-end that's a proven fact but some may be fine with it. They also tend then be a bit bright for some but I didn't find it an issue.

I do find the Senns work for competitive play quite well though since having a lean bass makes for extra detail in the other frequencies. But for movies and music you wAnt an all rounder.

I tried the bass boost function and it made them sound daft and artificial.

I don't dislike the 598 but I think it's so overrated it reminds me off the whole M50 craze a bit where it's just recommend with giving a though to what people are looking for. Just my opinion :)
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I have nothing to add other than I agree with the bold/underline 100%. My 770 80ohm with an E11/E12 sound amazing ~ my other cans are the Fostex TH-600 which are like the 770's but with better clarity/detail.
 
Get the DG, bugger all in it in terms of DAC/features that will actually impact your sound.

I would personally still be looking at a dedicated headphone amp, an excellent piece of kit from Epiphany Acoustics - the EHP-02 can be had for £77 and that, combined with the better DAC on the DG (vs onboard) would give you much better sound. I've yet to find a headphone that doesn't come alive and open up a lot more under amping.
 
Yea i think i will get one aswell..teaming it with a card would be even better! back to the soundcard though.. i found my old Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty soundcard, i cant remember if it was any good. Is it betetr than the asus? or is it still worth purchasing the asus?
 
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