Hello all,
I’ve been wanting to dive Into the headphone market for sometime now, been doing a lot of reading and researching but before I pull the trigger I thought I would ask you all a few questions to solidify my decisions.
I’m looking to spend around 100$ no more than 150.
I’ve been eyeballing the m40x and m50x for a while as well as the Sony MDR7506, Sennheiser HD 558 and 598.
One thing I’ve found in my research is that I may or may not need a dac/amp to run these; I’m a total noob when it comes to audio but most people claim that you don’t need an amp if your headphones are less than 60-80 ohms. Can someone clarify this please.
If a dac and or amp is needed will one such as the FiiO Olympus 2-E10K be sufficient?
I’ll be using them primarily for gaming “no mic needed” and watching movies/music while I do stuff and things on the computer.
If anyone has other recommendations I’m all ears…
Thanks for the help and feedback.
More than enough is here.
I've got both the 9500s and the 598s.
598s are way better for music and such. 9500s are good all around tho.
a dac is a digital to analog converter. You don't need one. A cheap one you would get could easily be worse than the onboard audio of your motherboard.
An amp basically increases the volume you can play the audio without distortion. The thing is the audio you listen to isn't all going to be the same base volume. When I was using the Sennheiser 598 without an amp, 95% of the time it was fine, but occasionally there would be something i'm listening to and the base volume was too low and i couldn't up the volume enough.
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598 are actually super bass light. Even with an amp the bass inst great which is why they aren't great for gaming. Explosions just sound awful on the 598s.
sorry I read to fast lol. Still true though. 598s are fairly bass light.
I forgot to mention in the OP that I currently have a Logitech z-2300 2.1 speaker setup, it has served me well for almost 10 years and actually sound pretty decent! However I'm waiting headphones to go with a better sound experience overall.
So 598 sound like not the best choice for games and movies, how about in thoughts on the m40x or the m50x
I'm sure the bigger drivers on the m50s is better for bass, or is that inaccurate ?
I'd stay away from the m50/40s. They are just ear punishing. The 598s are a great choice but if you're looking for a big bass response they aren't it. If you want something like the 598s that are more warm go with the 558s. Same thing just warmer on the bass side and cheaper. 598s are super accurate which just isn't as much fun when you want your head to shake with deep bass from explosions. They are great for music and great for just about anything but they aren't fun. They don't add anything to the music or sound and for some people that's a turn off. Yes the bass isn't the best but it's accurate and crisp. If you want to sum up the 598s those are the words. So it comes down to personal preference. Do you want to have your ears rumble when you play games and watch movies or do you want high accuracy of the 598s.
If you want to know exactly where someone scopes the awp in csgo 598 or really any HDxxx. But if you want to run thur lockers on bf4 which massive screen shake and feel like your cans are going to shake off go with the takstar pro 80/2050. Closed/open.
Phillips sph9500 are right inbtween and super accurate. And comfy as hell.
You can usually find them somewhere for 60. They are allays on sale. Id go with those. No need for an amp or dac. Tho I'm not saying a dac or amp will hurt.
I like the look of those philips, is there a closed back variant?
Not for the Philips if you want closed set of cans I would go with Brainwavz HM5/HM9. They are super bassy and seal pretty well. Closed cans are much harder to find in your price range. Open seems to be what companies are doing now. Or the takstars pr80s work to or Fostex T50RP MK3 but the fostex need an amp so include that into your price.
Honestly unless you really need closed go with the Philips. They have a detacable wire which means you can add in a mike like the Vmoda BoomPro if you want to and they are super comfy. They also are built really well.
idealy I would like to have closed unless you can convince me why open back is better?
Open is gives you more of a sound stage. ie things dont sound like they are right next to you rather they sound like they could be 40 feet off. Also helps with positioning. Lastly a downside of open back is that the bass goes too. Closed make it harder to tell where things are but offer more bass. It is very hard to find a good set of closed cans that have good sound stage and are crisp and clear for under $150. Like I said earlier companies just dont seem to be making closed cans at the moment in that price range.
Closed you want the takstar 80s or the brainwavz H5/H9
open there are a few options.
HD558/596
SPH 9500s
superlux 668/661
and quite a few others like Audio Technica ATH-ADxxxx tho the design worries people
You can get some headphones for 150 but you are going to need to get an amp and a decent one at that for example the Fostex T50rp MkIII you can get for 150 but they are hard to drive and need an amp. Or the BeyerDynamic DT770 but again also are hard to drive and youll need an amp.
SoundMagic HP150 also work to but they are like 170
Sennheiser Momentum 2 are more style cans but they work and they are like 180
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Thanks for the info! very helpful!
I think i have narrowed it down to the Philips SHP9500 and the Sennheiser HD 518
Both seem to be pretty well reviewed.
Z reviews on youtube does both a good honest review and a sound demo if you want to check out his channel.
Hmm the 518s are 50$ at newegg right now
What ever works. They are both great pairs.
I will say I have both the 9500 and the 598 and they cups on the 598s are much smaller I assume the same is true for the 518s.