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Headphones to go with Bioschock

K

kvikramg

Junior Member
hey, Can anyone recommend a good pair of headphones(around the ear kind) for use on my PC for gaming(bioshock) and music.
My Criteria :
Must be comfortable : I don't I have a big head, but its not normal size either.
Good Sound quality
My Budget <100$

I use sony's MDR-J10 earbuds. They are cheap, very comfortable and as far as I can tell sound great. But I wanna upgrade, I nenver owned a headphone that costed more than 20$, wanna get a mid to highend one(<100$) . I have been reading reviews and I have my eyes on Sennheiser HD497, but I have a hardtime finding it any any decent online seller. Not sure whether the 202 will be just as good or the 485 will be as comfortable.

If you think an audtio amp is necessary, then please recommend one too.
 
Do you want the headphones to be closed design or open design?

Sennheiser HD555 used to be around 95$, it is slightly more expensive now.
 
Originally posted by: kvikramg
I guess open design, those give crisp sound right?
Click to expand...

Sealed ones prevent the person from sitting next to you from hearing exactly what you are hearing. In that price range, I have found open headphones to have a more "airy" sound.

The sennheiser gives a particularly warm sound with the highs laid back a little bit. This is in stark contrast to Grado (SR-80) which has a very high amount of detail (in the frequency range similar to cymbals on drums). Both have an expansive air to them.

On a less expensive scale (~$30), the Koss Portapro has a boost in the upper bass and is quite a decent headphone for its price. The sennheiser PX-100 has a similar sound quality and is quite a good headphone for the money as well.

Hopefully others will chime in. Headfi.org has several "flavors of the month" that I don't recall at the moment but I think they are under 100$. I think JVC makes the current F-O-T-M headphones...
 
Not exactly crisp. More like better soundstage.

You'll want that because you'll want to know how far the footsteps are from what direction. Used closed if you don't want sound to leak out as much for whatever reason. I'll also go with the 555's. I've personally used them and they'll sound great out of the box without burning in without the need to be driven by an amp.

For the record, I've used Shure E2c's, UE super.fi 5 Pros, the HD555, and currently use an amped HD650, in case you're wondering if I only heard the 555's so my opinion isn't as objective.
 
Originally posted by: EGGO
Not exactly crisp. More like better soundstage.

You'll want that because you'll want to know how far the footsteps are from what direction. Used closed if you don't want sound to leak out as much for whatever reason. I'll also go with the 555's. I've personally used them and they'll sound great out of the box without burning in without the need to be driven by an amp.
Click to expand...

Although they do have high impedance, so it is a headphone that could see benefits from an external amp (like out of a receiver headphone out, or external soundcard, etc).

While we can recommend these headphones OP, it is important that you try to see if any of your friends own them or you can try them at a local store. This is because people's heads are shaped differently, they hear differently, and if you don't like how they feel on your head or how they sound, it will be a terrible waste of your money.

 
There's a thread going on about closed headphones under $50 in this section of the forums you may like. I'll give you two suggestions:

1. Grado SR-60 ($60-70): Awesome highs and mids, very FUN to listen to, not a ton of bass, but doesn't sound tinny. May be too harsh for your ears, and it's very easy to hear what you're listening to for outsiders.

2. JVC HA-RX700 ($35 from Buy.com): These headphones sound VERY good, even more so considering they're so cheap. They're comfortable, have decent bass, sound good, and are closed (much less sound leakage). However, the highs sound a bit dull compared to the Grados, but at least they won't possibly sound harsh to you.
 
I simply went to a Music store that sold recording and DJ gear and picked a set of headphones I liked. I use those for my PC all the time.
 
Originally posted by: kvikramg
I guess open design, those give crisp sound right?
Click to expand...

open gives a more natural sound in general, less chance of a head in a bucket feeling.

for a given price its easier to make better open headphones than a closed one that has to deal with resonance of the headphone cups messing up the sound.

at home its best to get open unless you share a room or something. best to be able to hear some things around you, personally i get a tad paranoid with totally closed headphones. closed is good where you need to be considerate, like in public places or if you have to block noise
 
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