Good headphones?

[xSkyDrAx]

Im thinking about headphones instead of speakers. Anyone have any information about good headphones? Budget is probably 20-50. I say some labtec's today, but im not sure if they're any good. If you have a good suggestion on a set, do share! Thanks.

 

[Amorphus]

20-50? those would be midrange, my friend.

 

[adhoc]

Well, I have a set of Sennheiser HD500's (you can get them at many places like Best Buy or CompUSA). They may not be in your price range, but for ~ $80-$100 they are a VERY good set of headphones. Any better, and you won't hear a difference unless you have a good preamp for the phones...

If you're interested, check 'em out here.

*Edited because I don't have grammar skills...

 

[Amorphus]

you'll won't = you will will not

 

[tbates757]

For a few dollars more may I suggest Grado SR-60 ?

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Thanks adhoc, but 80-100 is kind of out of my budget, for that price, i would just get a regular speaker system. I just want something that would sound decent when i dont want my room to be more quiet(parents).

Decent as something that provide me with some kind of solid sound..nothing like..desktop speakers w/no sub and cost 5 dollars.

 

[tkdkid]

$35 for sennheiser px200's.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=40&threadid=1136642&FTVAR_MSGDBTABLE=

Or Koss KSC 35's or 50's.

 

[adhoc]

you'll won't = you will will not

Oops

 

[apac]

Cough up another $150 bucks and you'll be in the "good" range. I love my sennheiser 580s

 

[ethebubbeth]

grado sr80 seems to be the sweet spot at just under $100... i just ordered a pair myself, so i'll let ya know how they turn out >_<

 

[slackerinabox]

Now don't laugh- I have some panasonic RP HT355 headphones (<$30 at circuit city) and they sound BETTER than my Grado SR-60s or my sennheiser 459s(sp?)! OK, so that was an over simplification- they sound warmer than the sennheisers and are are richer than my grados.. Give them a try - I wreck headphones pretty frequently so I was able to get the panasonics with a 2 year warranty for about 1/2 of the cost as my grados. By the way, the bass on them is insanely good- they're GREAT for gaming.. Not as good as my senn's on classical music though.. The sr60s are a geek favorite (i don't understand geeks.. they're so predictable.. They want to drive infiniti's, listen to freaking John Mayers, bash macs, and buy grado sr60 headphones) but they're slightly over rated.. They're not the ONLY good sub-$100 headphones out there.. Koss makes some very nice ones (portapro for walkman use, some radioshack branded cheap monitors for home use)... HMm.. I'm sure I can think of a few more but i'm tired...

Link to the panasonic's on c.c.com - Notice the positive user reviews? You'll like them..

 

[Adso]

Oh man, just the thread I've been looking for. I'm looking into getting some quality headphones for gaming and music on my computer, but good reviews are few and far between. From what I've managed to find I am leaning toward the Sennheiser HD 570's. They are $80 shipping included. Anyone with any experience with these? Are there any other options I should check out instead?

Secondly, I have never used headphones to play games before. I've seen it hinted at here and there that the spatial imaging on headphones is excellent. If my lingo isn't correct, what I mean is I am interested in knowing exactly where in-game sounds come from. If something moved above-behind and to the the left of my in-game character, I want the headphones to indicate that to me. Do headphones do this well? Do they do it as well as speakers? (I have the original analog only 4.1 Klipsch Promedia's.) Any insights or experiences with this would be most welcome.

And of course if anyone has any experience with the HD570's or headphones of similar quality as they relate to gaming... please share.

Much thanks,

Adso

ps - I have the old Soundblaster Live! Platinum SC. If I'm moving up to these kind of HP's, is it also time to move up to a newer SC? will nVidia Soundstrem be sufficient, or is something like the Audigy ZS or Turtle Beach called for? Thanks again.

 

[ZimZum]

Senn HD 497- about $60 shipped from amazon. Great headphones especially for the price, second to only to the Grados in sound for the price point. But offer better comfort and isolation.

Grado 60/80- $60 and $80 respectively. Sound wise they cant be beat for less than $100. Comfort is an issue though and they leak like crazy.

Senn HD 500 - $70 The only Good thing about these are they are comfortable. Sound wise they get blown away by all of the models above.

Senn HD 570 -$90 Not much better than the HD 500. Way overpriced with lackluster sound.

Senn HD 580- $150 Great headphones. but probably need an amp to fully be appreciated.

If you want "Closed" headphones go with either the Sennheiser HD 280 pro or the Sony MDR V6.

 

[MrPabulum]

Adso,

Headphones do provide accurate spatial imaging (especially for music). On that level, I've heard that the Grado SR-80s sound fantastic for the money, but like Zimzum mentioned, they're not very comfortable and they leak worse than many other open headphones, which probably defeats the purpose of keeping headphones (many gamers keep both speakers and HPs, the latter for when the baby/rents/gf are asleep ) I'd recommend keeping your speakers though. I love a great set of cans for music, but the immersion and positional sound that my Klipsch v2.400/Audigy provides for games (MOH:AA, UT2003, Call of Duty demo (omg) Halo, Homeworld 2, etc, etc etc!) is still a better experience, especially if you've set up a good wide soundstage.

If that sways you at all, then I'd recommend the Sennheiser HD280 Pro as your set of HDs for night-time gaming. If not, either the Grado SR80/125s or the Sennheiser HD-580 (w/ preamp) will do the job well. Oh, and if you can spare the $$, pick up the Audigy 2 - definitely sounds better than the SBLive. Good luck!

 

[Wiktor]

PX200 which someone suggested are nice, but the cable is too short! So forget those.

I usually recommend HD497 - because of the price and good sound balance.

The next step (on the Sennheiser line) are the HD280s (big closed headphones, don't leak).

HD580s are nice and all (almost as good as HD600) but those are the top (quite expensive, 300Ohm, open).

So for the ammount of money I would pick HD497.

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: adhoc
Well, I have a set of Sennheiser HD500's (you can get them at many places like Best Buy or CompUSA). They may not be in your price range, but for ~ $80-$100 they are a VERY good set of headphones. Any better, and you won't hear a difference unless you have a good preamp for the phones...

If you're interested, check 'em out here.

*Edited because I don't have grammar skills...

I would recommend the HD 280 Pro over the 500. They are less, get better reviews, and they are one of the only sets of high end phones that perform VERY well with no headphone amp or power source

you can get them for 80$ check amazon

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: Wiktor
PX200 which someone suggested are nice, but the cable is too short! So forget those.

I usually recommend HD497 - because of the price and good sound balance.

The next step (on the Sennheiser line) are the HD280s (big closed headphones, don't leak).

HD580s are nice and all (almost as good as HD600) but those are the top (quite expensive, 300Ohm, open).

So for the ammount of money I would pick HD497.

Thats a good suggestion. I'm an HD 280 fanboy , but you you cant spend that much, the 497 are a good bet

There is alot of Grado hype that I never bought into . I tried the, I like the Senn's better. The spatial imaging seems better, and they are over all more accurate, while the Grado's sound warm and sloppy to me. Plus, the Grado's are uncomfortable IMHO and I know this is silly, but its still true, they are UGLY AS A TURD yuck I hate those things

 

[Skibbi]

the Senn's are great and what anyone looking for "good" headphones wants...

But if you're looking for a decent noise alternative... why not get a pair of plantronics, decent sound good mic, if you're gaming you definetely can use em

 

[dowxp]

grado SR series are way too uncomfortable. just my opinion. i have no tried the px or hd497's... only the hd600's but thats not in your range..

 

[Adso]

Thanks for all the great responses.

I've done a little more research and the choice is only getting more difficult. I found some audiophile forums ( http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=2 this one was the best) and went through searching for posts and threads related to gaming. This forum has some VERY knowledgable folks about this topic, but oh my god, we have some serious stuck-up power-users. Hahah if you don't have HP's that are professional quality with a $1000+ amp then you can't hear a thing according to some of these folks.

The 280 Pro's got a lot of nods. The HD570's were virtually ignored in favor of either the 497's on the low-end, or the 580's, 590's, and the 600's. (The weren't really talked bad about, they were just hardly ever mentioned.) There are tons of Grado fans, but most folks again agree on the fact that they are uncomfortable and ugly. Sony V6's and just a couple others were in contention also.

I was leaning towards the 570's in large part because they look and are reviewed as SO comfortable. Comfort is key to me. How are the 280's?

Lastly, and most important, it has been very hard for me to figure out how well all these hp's perform in giving the listener positional cues. This category alone would sway me from one set to another, so it has been frustrating for me to find so little information on this topic. I guess there just aren't a whole lot of gamers playing on good quality headphones?

Lot's of folks are praising the 590's as one of the higher quality Senn sets that does NOT need to be amped to sound good. New I can find them a little less than $160. This is more than what I wanted to spend, but if I knew they were fantabulistic in comfort and performance and would last forever I could convince myself to go for it. Any experiences out there?

Thanks for all the responses, and any future ones,

Adso