A Good Quality Headphone Setup

Hapatingjaky

Hapatingjaky

New member
Sup ladies???

I am going back to a wired setup for my main rig. Been having nothing but issues with the Soundblaster SXFI Theater headphones I bought a couple years back. Just a **** product....

I am going back to a wired setup and I am looking at the following:

Creative Labs Sound Blaster GC7
Creative Labs Sound Blaster AE-7

Will be one of those 2, very much like the USB DAC/AMP's as I've had 4 from Creative before without issues.

What I really need is a good good quality set of Headphones. What I am looking for:

1.) Gaming, movies, music ( all around audiophile )
2.) NO MIC
3.) Very good audio quality
4.) $300 - $500 unless cheaper

Not looking for anything like Corsair or anything like that.

Any recommendations???
 
Beyer Dynamic DT990 Pro or DT770 Pro, depending on open or closed back preference

Sennheiser HD6XX (massdrop) or HD600

AKG K7XX (massdrop)

Lots of options in that price range.
 
Nunz said:
Beyer Dynamic DT990 Pro or DT770 Pro, depending on open or closed back preference

Sennheiser HD6XX (massdrop) or HD600

AKG K7XX (massdrop)

Lots of options in that price range.
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This.

I have the DT990 Pro and DT 770 Studios and love both of them. Would recommend them to anyone 100%.
 
The only issue with the actual good headphone route is that you may also need to factor in an audio interface or something.


Saying this, if you have a Realtek onboard thing, ensure you use the rear audio jack, and disable 'Enable audio enhancements' in the driver settings, it sounds pretty good.


My vote is for the HD600 over the Beyerdynamics though.
 
He wants to get a soundcard. The AE-7 has a great DAC and a sufficient amp even for high impedance cans.

Can't go wrong with a Schiit stack, though.
 
Nunz said:
He wants to get a soundcard. The AE-7 has a great DAC and a sufficient amp even for high impedance cans.

Can't go wrong with a Schiit stack, though.
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What were those AMP/DAC's you recommended a few years back, they had like Norse Mythological names. Those were some ****ing nice AMP/DAC's.

Thanx for the recommendations too, gonna listen to reviews on these. Want something with atleast a 250 ohm impedence.
 
If you don't need the extras offered by the AE-7, just get the AE-5 Plus.

For headphones, I'd suggest checking out the HiFiman Sundara or if you got the budget the Hifiman XS Edition. If you don't mind open backs :)
 
Nunz said:
Amp: Schiit Magni
DAC: Schiit Modi
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This would replace the soundcard right? Like I wouldn't need the soundcard just the AMP and DAC.

How would I attach them though, I would assume the Schiit Modi through USB and then the AMP in to the Modi right??? How would that be done???
 
Yes it would act as the soundcard. The Modi would be connected via USB. The Magni connected to the Modi through RCA cables. Schiit does not supply cables iirc, so you'd need a USB cable and the RCA cables. Monoprice makes good quality cables for fair prices.

Truthfully for your use-case, I think the AE-5 Plus or AE-7 are better options. The Creative's software suite is well-made and allows a multitude of options to optimize the acoustics for gaming.
 
Nunz said:
Yes it would act as the soundcard. The Modi would be connected via USB. The Magni connected to the Modi through RCA cables. Schiit does not supply cables iirc, so you'd need a USB cable and the RCA cables. Monoprice makes good quality cables for fair prices.

Truthfully for your use-case, I think the AE-5 Plus or AE-7 are better options. The Creative's software suite is well-made and allows a multitude of options to optimize the acoustics for gaming.
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Yeah, but it doesn't look awesome....

I've been running a PodCast and Gaming channel on YouTube since December of last year. Reporting on the scams and cons of Darksydephil. I did a PC build stream and now everyone wants Tech advice and videos....

https://youtube.com/channel/UCyPDvCJQDc7pF_wojby2e8A

I spent Monday running CAT8 cables to my network room and removing all my networking hardware to make more room to show case my setup on stream.
 
If you're doing a podcast, I would recommend a pro or prosumer interface over the Schiit stuff. Something like a Focusrite 2i2 or one of the various alternatives. Something with XLR inputs.


* Focusrite's drivers are a bit questionable, but I've been in contact with them to try and fix them.
 
metroidfox said:
If you're doing a podcast, I would recommend a pro or prosumer interface over the Schiit stuff. Something like a Focusrite 2i2 or one of the various alternatives. Something with XLR inputs.


* Focusrite's drivers are a bit questionable, but I've been in contact with them to try and fix them.
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Interestingly audio Interfaces like a focusrite often don't have great headphone amps or outputs. They are mostly for recording, not critical listening. Not always the case though, so research carefully before choosing an interface like that.
 
metroidfox said:
I've only got experience with the Focusrite, but in my experience, the output is pretty clean.
Click to expand...

And to be fair... most sound-cards these days when they have dedicated headphone outputs are all going to be relatively close. With the differences coming down more to them sounding different, rather than better or worse.

But seriously, google/youtube the Hifiman Sundara and Hifiman XS Edition. They are some of the best open back headphones in their price ranges. I plan to pick up a pair of the "XS Edition" soon(such a crap name imho). I would get the Sundara's, but I want a bigger quality jump from my HE-5xx and the Sundara's are just a little to close to mine to be worth owning both for me.
 
As a long-time owner of the Sennheiser HD 600, I have to recommend against it. The sound is great, but over the course of 30 minutes or so, I got tired of how hard they squeeze my head. I thought they'd get more comfortable with time, but the springy metal of the headband is of a very high quality grade, and no amount of stretching/expanding seems to weaken it.

To be fair, I do have a larger head than average, but it should be within tolerance.
 
I recently went through all this and did the research as well. After a month or two of looking and thinking, I landed on the BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro, powered by a Schiit Stack (Magni/Modi). I chose a closed back design due to needing to block outside noise.

I'm not really a headphone person and bought them out of necessity. They are incredibly clear/crisp, and have a decent amount of bass. The reviews raved about the wide soundstage and that it eliminates the "in your head" sort of sound, but unfortunately I don't agree with that. I might be expecting too much out of headphones since I prefer speakers and a good home theater system. But, they are GREAT headphones, the best I've heard so far by a longshot. They still do let some sound in, but not much, especially if you're listening to something. If it's a quiet scene in a video or movie, you might get some outside noise bleeding in.
 
the BeyerDynamic DT770 Pro are great headphones, or, if you don't care about money, the Beyerdynamic DT 700 Pro X. They are very comfy which is no surprise for a studio headset. The non X might still be the best headphones you can get for that amount of money.

As for the Sennheiser, well, they are also good, but, as Craw already mentioned, they tend to get very uncomfortable after a while which is something i really hate about a lot of headphones.
 
I ordered the DT770 Pro from your recommendations and reading the reviews, went with the close 250 ohm version as I want the best audio quality possible.

Next question, what should I go for in regards to a soundcard:

1.) Sound Blaster AE5 Plus
2.) Sound Blaster GC7

Looking at those two, swapped back to my Sound Blaster X3 for now with my Game Zero headset and it just destroys the SXFI Theater.
 
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