Looking for a new pair of headphones, any advice?

Communities Audio Hardware & Music
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I just want to preface this by saying that I don't really know much about anything when it comes to sound quality or anything, I've mainly only used cheap headphones that have been around $20 or less. The pair I've had for the last year or so is the MDR-ZX100 from Sony and the sound has started to cut out from them recently.

I'm looking for a good pair of headphones for gaming around the $150  price range but I'm not really sure what to get becuse I almost never do online multiplayer. Instead I mainly play singleplayer games or play with my brother in the same room (on different computers). I need something that doesn't block out external noise when sound is going through them so that we can communicate, but I would also prefer something that doesn't leak sound so that I don't bother the others in my household. They need to be comfortable enough that I can wear them for several hours without my ears getting sore, as I use headphones for a good portion of the day and they also need to have low impedance so that I can use them while playing on a handheld device like my 3DS without an amp.

I recently got a pair of Bose Headphones for my birthday, but the sound seems muffled even coming from a cheap pair of Sony headphones. They also get really uncomfortable after an hour or two because they clamp really tightly and there doesn't seem to be any way to adjust it.

I'm very new to the market so I don't really know what companies are good and reputable or exactly what type of headphone I should be looking for. Do you guys have any advice?

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Bose makes some really good stuff, but I would not personally buy their gaming line headphones as this brand is more hiend enthusiast focused.

The best advice I can give you is to watch videos Tek Syndicate has done about headphones, make a list of them and go to a shop where you could listen to them. You are looking for open over-the-ear style headphones. Also make sure to plug them into your phone or mp3 player, because they will sound much better with high-end amp in shop. By using your phone you wlil get much more acurate sound as to what you will experience from your PC. You also should decide if you are looking for analytic "flat" sound or rather slightly "V shaped" sound.

Also if you search thru forum, there are many threads about headpnoes already, so you can get the idea of whats recomended around here. Stay away from Beats!

Although its not in your pricerange, try out V-Moda M100 ;-)

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Ok, thanks I'll keep that in mind. I was looking at the AD900x from Audio Technica (on sale for $145 at amazon) but I'm not sure because I heard that they can be pretty loud as far as sound leaking goes, basically like speakers. I don't usually play at really high volumes though. With my current pair, I keep the volume around 12-20 most of the time. Is that generally enough to bother anyone else?