What is the best possible headset around 250$

[QuantumPhysics]

Hello readers,

I want the best possible headset with an eventual mic (could get a separate zalman microphone for better sound quality & esthetic look?)

So far, i see sennheiser 590 or PC 360; they look relatively bad but they seem to have great sound quality with gold connectors (how better are gold connectors than copper?)

Would like a list of some more really good headset / mic headset

Moved from the highly technical forum -Admin DrPizza

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I see the ATH-M40fs Precision Studiophones could be good?

Or the A40 Audio System - MLG?

Does anyone know the difference between 15 - 28,000 Hz and 5 - 28,000 Hz

 

[Matthiasa]

Human hearing tops out at ~20khz among children and the rare adult.
Often it is several khz lower then that.
You also normally can't hear sounds below 20hz though you can feel them.

That said... wrong forum, this should be in the peripherals section.

 

[sdifox]

at 250 range you probably want a headphone amp.
Personal preference plays a huge part. I would go with the Senn 595, Beyer Dynanic DT880 600Ohm or or audio technica ATH-AD900

head-fi.org would be the better place to find headphones.

 

[gorb]

beyerdynamic dt880

 

[Howard]

nm

 

[Rio Rebel]

I can't speak to "best possible." But the combination I use, Grado 60's with a CMOY amp, only sets you back around 100 bucks and sounds fantastic.

Only downsides are buying the amp (ebay is easiest, around $35) and the grados are open phones, and leak noise around you. But the sound quality is just jaw dropping.

 

[Pia]

Just so you know, the separate Zalman mic is not superior to the boom mics on good headsets, but an affordable way to use high end non-headset headphones as "headsets".

At about half your budget, you could get Audio-Technica AD700 with separate mic or Audio-Technica M50 with separate mic.

Sennheiser headsets are decent value across the price spectrum. I have a $60 pair that has been quite nice.

At slightly over your budget you could get Beyerdynamic DT880 32ohm with separate mic.
The Beyerdynamic DT880 600ohm recommended by sdifox doesn't make much sense here. It's designed to be driven with a headphone amp which would cost you more. The DT880 phones in general are great. I own a 250ohm pair.

If you want to use the headset with consoles, then you should maybe get an Astro Mixamp to sit in between. That would eat into your budget, but you'd still have enough to get the AD700+mic at least.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

I usually roll with a nice pair of headphones and a cheap microphone. My microphone is an old cell phone hands free headset that I just put the head band around my neck and angle the mic appropriately, then equip a nice set of headphones.

Generally you can't get a combo headphones/mic that will be of the same quality of the nicer headphones such as Sennheiser 5xx/6xx

 

[vbuggy]

You can probably look for deals in an MMX 300 in that price range. Sound quality = essentially a DT 770 Premium, mic quality - very high for a consumer set, USB interface, carry case and 5-year warranty included.

If you actually want a headset and not 'an occasional mic I can mumble into and have it generally get in my way', I'd forget the Zalman route.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I'd personally recommend a nice pair of headphones paired with a separate mic.

There's quite a few headphones that might be worth it in your range. Any particular use? Music (and any particular type of music)? Games? Does it need to be portable?

I really wouldn't recommend a headphone amp in your price range as I think you're better off spending it all on the headphones and mic. There are some amps that wouldn't be bad and could probably fit in your budget so not a huge deal. A good CMoy actually wouldn't be bad at all and you should be able to find a good one for about $50-100.

Some headphones that general you might check out (each spaced part is a separate model):
Audio-Technica ATH-A700 A900 M50 ESW9 AD700
Denon AH-D2000 (they might have a lower model too)
Sennheiser HD-595 598 558 280 380 HD-25II

I was gonna add in the Stax SR-003 (it includes its own amp), but I was thinking it was $200, but its $299.

There's a bunch more but I can't seem to think of them off the top of my head for some reason. Check out Headroom, they've got some good recommendations.

Seems like others have chimed in with good advice as well.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Thanks for all the replies!

Nevertheless, I am still in a tought dilemma and my actual headset just broke so I am in a relative hurry.

I will go with a separate mic, so my question breaks down into : what is the best audiophile headphones? / attachable noise cancelling mic? (ideally with crystal clear audio or mic boost, I really do seem to mumble on a low frequency with my last 5 microphones)

I see a lot of questions on my needs so I will answer

- Competitive gamer (clear and detectable audio very important)<
- Something I can wear for hours, I used to do 18hrs sessions and I really do not want something to stay directly on my ear for such a long time. Something that goes around it seems fine.
- Audiophile (classic, rock, trip-hop, heavy metal) I specialy like good bass and a clear violin string
- $ wise, I really do not want to pay less than 150$. I don't care to go up as long as the sound quality goes up while my money disappear
- Something not too ugly, I would like to hang out with them on my ipod nano 6th generation (blue )

So far, I would like you to choose between those headphones, unless of course u have a better idea :

SRH840
ATH-A700
ATH-M50s
Shure SRH750D
AudioTechnica AD700

I am still lost in all those headphones. I was a Sennheiser fan 3 days ago but as you can see I note no sennheiser here, I might be talking trought my hat but the price range seems ridiculusly large for the high definition low enginnering they offer. I see some reviews on the Net about Shure and AudioTechnica having a very deep enginnering that seems to get really good lows and doesnt balance it on picking on the mids or on the bass.

About the microphone I really don't know, I could pay $30 I don't care, I see some people say that Zalman sucks.

In all humility, what do you suggest me?

 

[vbuggy]

"- Competitive gamer (clear and detectable audio very important)<"

Go headset. Really.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I see no reason to eat on the audio quality & aesthetics just for my mic to be attached to a headphone. I see a couple audiophile reviews with surround sound and tested by gamers.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

up

 

[biostud]

I would guess that the best audiophile headphones for $250 are not the same as the best gaming headset for $250. If gaming is the most important, then a $250 headset will give the best gaming experience and probably also deliver a very good music playback, while $250 audiophile headphones will deliver superb music experience, and very good gaming experience.

 

[vbuggy]

I would guess that the best audiophile headphones for $250 are not the same as the best gaming headset for $250. If gaming is the most important, then a $250 headset will give the best gaming experience and probably also deliver a very good music playback, while $250 audiophile headphones will deliver superb music experience, and very good gaming experience.

Or, you could say a $260 headphone and mic combination will give very good music playback, very good gaming audio and a piss-poor headset experience, while a $350 headset will give very good music playback, very good gaming audio, an excellent headset experience with possibly the best consumer-level mic pickup capability, a case to carry everything with and a 5-year warranty :sneaky:

However, in all fairness you could not use an iPod with either without looking like a total dork - although undoubtedly some Head-Fi types may say otherwise.