I am looking for a replacement headphones for my dying G930 and I want to know what would be the best bang for my buck.
What I need:
-It will mainly be used for gaming with a clip on mic
-I prefer a detachable cable and a sturdy design
-It needs to sound good with my phone
-The more neutral, the better
-Max budget is $250 for everything
Now a variant of the ATH M50's seem to be the best contender, however I am wondering if there are any open headphones that are like the M50's. What would be the drawbacks of getting open headphones besides sound bleeding?
I am also wondering if purchasing a soundcard or DAC would be efficient given my budget. What woud be a good cost effective SC or DAC for something like the M50's, if any?
You can get better headphones than the ATH-M50s for $250. The drawbacks of open headphones are really only that you can't use them out in public (because of the sound bleeding). If they will be used for gaming, open would be better as the more open soundstage gives you better positional awareness.
What type of music do you listen to as that plays a huge part in what pair you should get?
Edit: Also, be willing to stretch your budget to $300 there are quite a few pairs at that price.
I listen to mainly electronic stuff, but it varies greatly depending on the day. I would like them to be the closest to how the artist meant the song to be.
One of the reasons I gravitated towards the M50's were that they supposedly sound good as just a normal pair of headphones for a phone, and I know a lot of the more expensive headphones would require an amp of some sort. I was also planning on getting an AMP, Soundcard, Dac, or whatever that would make them sound better when I use them with my desktop.
Also, I've actually looked into how bad the sound bleeding would be with open, and I don't think I want to deal with that, so I guess I am stuck with closed.
My friend loves his set of M50's but for me the inside of the driver rubs against my ear inside the cup and i find it very uncomfortable even for short periods of use. The sounds quality is average and if you want to listen to music I'd only do so with an EQ that you can change as it sounds rather uninspiring. Good for reference work however.
HP100. Neutral, great for electronic, good positional audio for closed, good isolation, easy to drive, etc. That is my recommendation at this price range. I can keep on about it though if you want, or give you other choices if you aren't convinced.
Well, for open headphones the HD 598's are a good choice. As are the AD700's. Pair either with something like a Fiio E07k amp/dac, and they will produce good sound both with your computer and your phone, and come in right around $250. Neither are bass heavy though fyi.
If you can't live with the sound bleeding (I don't find it too bad, but all my travel headphones are closed, so I don't use any opens in public), then the m50's are a good choice (Pro700 mk2 if you want more bass). DT660's wouldn't be a bad option either. There's plenty out there in the $150 range that would work well for what you want when paired with a $80-$100 amp/dac.