Suggest some high quality headphones?

Soldato
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I've got an Asus Xonar DX sound card and I feel that my £14 headphones aren't really doing it justice. So can anyone suggest a really nice set of headphones?

Main use would be watching films on my PC and listening to music. I do play games quite a bit, but if it's a choice between high quality game sound or high quality film/music sound, I want to go with the high quality film/music sound.

Thanks for any input.
 
Budget? Open or closed? Have you a headphone amp?

I have owned the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, Denon D2000, and Audio Technica ATH A 900 which are all closed cans. My favourite out of those for sound quality has to be the Beyer's, though after owning the AT's for over a year now I'm steadily being swayed over to them. The base can be a little bit lacking at times, but only slightly; when combined with the fact that they're incredibly comfortable and light to wear for long periods of time they're starting to = win. Conversely I found the Denon's very heavy and bass biased and wore me out after a while. Some people like them though with what I said in mind and the fact that they're rather expensive made me sell them on again within a month.

I'm not going to recommend anything else as I haven't owned any others, but there are a lot of Sennheiser fanboys here who will offer their points of view too. Goldringer, Alessandro, Koss, AKG are other names which are thought to be very good.
 
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Budget is not fixed. I'd hesitate to spend over 100 quid though. Open or closed? I don't even know what that means. And I don't think I need a headphone amp - the sound I get over this sound card is loud enough already.
 
Open means the cans aren't sealed off and sit around your ears. Closed means there's a slight seal to block off external sounds, though of course that's nothing to do with insulated/noise cancelling headphones.
 
i asked the same question recently, went with senheisser 595 's, i love them :) really comfy, can wear them for hours on end without discomfort

they're 'open' though which means anyone else in the room might get miffed off

but they do sound awesome
 
Senheisser PC350 which include a mic. Currently reduced on 'This week's special' so will scrape in under 100.

Worth every penny IMHO.
 
there are a lot fo choices and styles you need to be aware of. personally id always go for a set of headphones and an external usb mic. you normally, imo, get the best of both worlds doing that rather than compromising and buying a phone&mic set. My personal choice re: open and closed is open but be aware that they are a lot louder for anybody else in the room as well.

for £100, your looking at goldring dr-150's or senn 595's and a usb mic. you dont need a headphone amp with either of these and for the money they are both top notch.
 
If you want a good little compact microphone go to Google and search for "Elara clip-on microphone"

It's cheap and does the job, standard pink microphone socket. I use Sennheiser HD595's and the mic and it's brilliant.

I've got the microphone clipped onto my keyboard lead.
I’m using these SpeedLink Medusa SL-8793 5.1 ProGamer Edition cracking bit of kit.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-026-SL
Please don't buy them, they are terrible and the 5.1 effect is crap, my Stereo headphones produce a far better surround sound effect then they do. I got a refund on my Medusa's.
 
Another vote for Beyerdynamic here. I've been using the DT100's for years in the studio and for gaming. Sound quality is great, comfortable and fully replacable parts for the win! :)
 
No headset (with microphone) comes close to a quality pair of headphones. If you spend a lot of time listening to music, or even playing games or watching movies with a good audio source, it's worth considering buying something of good quality. To me a good sounding, comfortable set of headphones are infinitely more important than the latest graphics card, or a few extra FPS.

Now, decide whether you want open or closed headphones. (Open = generally acknowledged to give better sound, but they "leak", ie people close to you can hear some of what you are hearing, and you can hear people in the room talk while listening to something else).

After you've decided, set yourself a budget and stick to it. There's barely any limit to how much you can spend, and after the 150 pound level you are paying more and more for less and less.

Brands to consider are Sennheiser, AKG, Grado, Audio Technica and Beyerdynamic. Personally I find Sennheiser to be a bit overpriced for the quality, compared to the competition but I have used their stuff for years, there's no doubts about the quality. If I had to buy something today, I would look at either Grado, Audio Technica or Beyerdynamic, and then pick an "open" model within my price bracket.

Lastly, shop around. Because this is rip-off Britain, consider looking abroad, you can get much better deals even after factoring in shipping, vat and import duties.

For your price range I would look at Audio Technica ATH-AD700 (just great sound and incredible value for money, in every way equal to Sennheiser's HD595), or Grado SR125's. Within this price bracket I don't particularly like Beyerdynamic's "open" models, but their closed DT 770s are brilliant.

Then just buy a $5 clip on mic, and you're done. :)
 
only ever had sennheiser 485 so cant really give a good comparable opinion but they are comfy, nice bass, and overall sound great
 
+1 vote for ad700's - i use mine all the time and as said above they are very light and comfy, and have a very even response and nice resonance compared with other hphones ive used. i assume the ad or a900's are a tad better but i havent tried them.
i have also dt880 beyers and senny 600's
if you want some more bass go for the dt770/pro (low ohm if no amp)

the high ohm phones really need an amp in my opinion, with which my dt880's are very pleasing indeed.

beyers and audiotechnika get a big tick from me.
 
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I’m using these SpeedLink Medusa SL-8793 5.1 ProGamer Edition cracking bit of kit.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SP-026-SL

Please ignore this recommendation, any headset/headphone from a PC peripheral manufacturer is crap compared to a dedicated set of headphone. No two ways about it, mouse mat makers no sweet F.A. about sound.

Check out the sennheiser 595 headphones, you would be very happy with them, plus will let you rediscover your music collection. Plus they will come in under budget so you can get a clip-on or desktop mic for gaming.

Also look at beyer dt770-pro headphones and models from Audio technica, and goldring as well, to name a few.

:D
 
Check out the sennheiser 595 headphones, you would be very happy with them, plus will let you rediscover your music collection. Plus they will come in under budget so you can get a clip-on or desktop mic for gaming.

Also look at beyer dt770-pro headphones and models from Audio technica, and goldring as well, to name a few.
Good advice. I personally use Sennheiser 595's (have also had 555's) and have found them excellent.

gt
 
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