I bet I can... because I have.... and I did.
Apparently you prolly couldn't though. That's fine. If you learn how to train your ear and really pay attention to what you're listening to, you too can appreciate things high up the diminishing returns curve. You too can see the difference. Don't discount my opinion just because I already can.
sure dude
you must have better ears than everyone else
bc they have done this so many times with the best and they cant tell
so really with that statement unless you train your ears you arent going to hear a slightest smallest percent of percent difference
no need for dac
Sorry @Go_Fish, say the word and ill dump the other conversation in a new thread.
On the topic, I like the AKG K701/2 and Beyerdynamic DT880, but neither are particularly base heavy, more fairly neutral. Great sound through and great sound stage, I believe both are in your budget.
No... but I have learned to use mine.
As have thousands of other people.... http://www.head-fi.org/
Again... back to my original point...
The OP is spending $200 on headphones. I happen to know that a $75 dac would complement headphones in that range very well and results are noticeable to most people who like good audio enough to be willing to spend $200 on headphones.
I'm done. I did my best to enlighten. Have fun with your $10 earbuds or whatever you use.
Jeez guys. I do appreciate the replies, but there's no need to turn a thread into a war.
@eidolonFIRE Thank you for the advice and links. Your reasoning sounds very sound, and the sports car analogy simplified it enough for me to understand. It makes sense that a better quality audio source, with no/ little interference would create a better sound, but I'm not sure I'll notice the difference. I think I'll buy the headphones first, and then a Schiit DAC/Amp combo later on and compare. Couldn't hurt, worst case I have less interference, right? I'm looking to learn more about audio, and how modern, high end audio works, so I really appreciate the detail these things you posted go into.
@AngryNun I appreciate your advice equally as much, and I found a used pair of AKGs, might go with those like you said. They look very nice.
you must not have read that link lol
$2 is just as good as $2000
for any one who wants to see what they can really hear and tell
I got a 10 on the test, so I guess I'm not deaf, lol.
its actually surprising
I don't mind the discussion being in this thread, but if you, eidolon, or nun want to move it to the thread that @AngryNun made, I have no problem with that.
please i tried before
Have a look at this link and you might be in luck!
out of all of these the only one worth looking at are the Takstar Pro80 which are the hyper x's with out mic and the open version of those the Takstar Pro2050
I have a pair of Audio Technica ATH-A900X (closed back version) and loved them all the way up until I upgraded to Fostex TH500RP (still like the sound they produce, but now they're just outclassed). The ATH-900X is described as having a great soundstage for closed-back cans but also said to be light on bass from many users, however, I found that with good amplification, the bass actually starts to thump pretty good (even better than my Fostex cans, which retail for nearly 5x the price).
Hifi HE-350s are 99.99 on massdrop. Retail is 300.
Personally I find comfort very important in headphones. Especially if the intended use is gaming. Uncomfortable headphones is a dealbraker in every sence of the word.
For best comfort i like velour earpads and open backed headphones.
I like the Sennheiser HD5XX series with velour eadpads. HD558, HD598, HD595 or my personal favorite HD555 (out of production, but can be picked up on the cheap from ebay). Sennheiser Game One is from my understanding based on the HD5XX series and could be worth a listen. It includes a noise cancelling microphone. Wireless is also very nice, but sadly very expensive. I think Sennheiser RS185 is a good choice because it is open and has velour earpads.
If you are surrounded by a noisy environment I would recommend closed back headphones. Open backed headphones provides better airflow and is less humid, but does not isolate environment sound as good as closed back headphones. I personally like Bose AE2 line. It is very light and comfortable. These are sadly no longer in production either, but can be picked up on the cheap from ebay. Bose SoundTrue 2 have replaced AE2 in the Bose lineup. I have not testet the SoundTrue 2 but my guess is that it is very similar to AE2 and a very good headphone.
I do not recommend wireless that use Bluetooth at home. For travel its fine, but I find it way to prone to bugs for use at home.
If you cant hear distortion, hissing or other sound artifacts when headphones are plugged in to the onboard sound solution on your motherboard, with volume on the level you would have it when gaming or playing music, chances are that the onboard DAC and amp is good enough. The truth is that most onboard audio solutions is as good as it needs to be. External DACs and amps might provide more features, but no significant improvement in sound quality. External Amp and DACs is in my view redundant.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/high-end-pc-audio,3733-19.html
If you listen to a lot of music that is highly compressed I recommend headphones with elevated bass-response. It helps cover up compression artefacts by masking. Sennheiser is generally more flat. Bose usually have a elevated bass.
Recent studies from Harman, Phillips and NAD, seems to indicate that flat frequency response is perceived as treble heavvy and bass-light. Slightly elevated bass is perceived as neutral.
http://seanolive.blogspot.no/
For the serious audio nerd i recommend subscribing to Audio Engineering Society:
http://www.aes.org/
It is dry reading compared to Head-Fi and the likes, but much less snake-oil. Serious studies are scrutinised before publishing. Findings hold more merits as the methods are explained in detail so you can make up your own mind if there are weak-points in the process leading up to the findings.
Good luck.
Edit: one more thing. Mass-produced headphones like Bose AE2 and HD5XX have good support and affordable replacement earpads and headband. Original parts are more expensive, but there are some good china parts. Some are good quality and dirt cheap. Have worn out a couple of earpads on my HD555 and AE2. After replacement parts the headphones are as good as new, and will last many more years.
Try the RBH HP-2s https://rbhsound.com/hp2.php
I have a pair and they sound great. They are designed to try and kill $1000 units by putting money into functional design and not aesthetics. They fall short of taking on $1000 sets, but they have been reviewed to perform better than pretty much anything in the under $500 range.
They are the first headphones (that I know of) to use beryllium drivers. You can look up to see if there is an RBH dealer near you and go there and try them out.
They also are 32ohm impedance so they don't need an amp unless you have a device with high output impedance.
One thing that bugs me in the Tek Syndicate gaming headsets suck video series is the continuous use of "ohm" as a measure of headphone sensitivity. Power efficiency for headphones are measured in SENSITIVITY, not ohms.
For example the Beyerdynamic T1 is a 750ohm headphone, and the Hifiman HE-6 is 43ohms. If ohms were a measure of sensitivity the Beyerdynamic would be the most power hungry headphone, but thats not the case.
Sensitivity is lower on the Hifiman and it requires much more power to reach 115dB SPL compared to the more sensitive Beyerdynamic T1. Using ohms as a measure of sensitivity can be very misleading. Causation is not correlation.
I'm partial to DT 880s, very well balanced, very clear sounding and a good amount of bass. They are semiopen, gives some spacial awareness without annoying others to death. I got mine used from Beyerdynamics eBay account for $140. Definitely worth looking for used.