Been using superlux HD681 evo for the longest time and quite liked the sound but never experienced anything better. Well they finally broke down on me, and its time to replace them.
Main use will be gaming and various types of music. My biggest concern is comfort under long use. I prefer semi open since I want to hear some outside sounds but don’t want to broadcast everything I’m hearing as if I’m using speakers. Would like to keep this purchase somewhere under 250$ area.
Edit: forgot to mention that my head is fairly large, and I know some sets aren’t built for that
Thanks for any suggestions.
I have heard good things about Beyer-Dynamic
Do you need a mic?
If not. Fostex mk3 with shure 1540 pads. However they are hard to drive and you'll need an amp. So if you have one. Get the fostex.
There are also the Phillips sph9500 which are wonderful. Neutral with a tad bit of low end. Basically hd600. Yes I said that. I've heard them both. And sph9500 take it Bc comfort. Holy shot comfort. And cheap. No amp required.
Then there are the dt770 which I think are much better than the dt880s and you will need an amp for those.
To be honest and my personal two cents. Fostex. Do it. Just do it. Planar is wonderful. The SMSL sap 6 can power them. And it's a cheap amp. Anything USB powered won't get them to that oh god this is loud. Which is what you should be able to do. USB powered amp only gets you to yeah this could maybe be a bit louder. Plus you want head room Bc distortion.
But you can't go wrong with the Phillips either. They are super comfortable. Fit the head of a giant. And they are super easy to drive. Plus you can put the v moda boom pro on it. You can with the fostex but it comes out side ways. Looks kinda weird. But it works.
Planar man. Go planar.
It's basically a HD650 for $200.
The HD6XX
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUKbI8p2bRk
You can only get it through Massdrop.
I agree with this, I just got the t50RPs from a friend with the shure 1540 pads and they are amazing. A good "budget" amp is the micca OriGen+. It powers them to an uncomfortable level for me at full power. (would help with the SHP9500s too)
Edit: a mod-mic would be the prefered mic with this amp since it will be a separate wire for the mic.
Ooh Chinese sendheisers. That are made like crap. No thanks. Plus the h6xx plus (600,650, these new 6xx,700 and even the 800) series has zero sound stage. Terrible for gaming. They aren't that comfortable and just clampy. Sph9500 are much better. Better sound stage. Better comfort. Better price. Better build quality than some Chinese crap that massdrop puts out and most importantly. Cheaper.
Why would someone buy hd600s and up. Bc they want to hear music inside their head and hear what went into the mike. Hd600 are neutral. You want want highs for gaming. You want sound stage for gaming and you want imaging. The hd series 600+ has none of that. The other type of gamers are those who want bassy booms. You lose imaging but they are more fun. Sph9500 fostexs and dt770s are so much better at gaming and giving you a sound that is pleasing to listen to.
Semi-open pairs are somewhat less common, so the Fostex T50RP Mk3 recommendation others have already given you is your best bet, but you're likely going to go a bit over budget. The T50RP Mk3s are currently going for $160 on Amazon and an entry-level amp for them, the aforementioned Micca OriGen+, is $110. That brings you to $270, not including the highly recommended earpad upgrade (Shure SRH1540, Shure SRH1840, or Brainwavz hybrids) and cable upgrade (V-MODA cable) that can add up to $52 more to the total. It's worth it though.
If you can handle the extreme leakage and you want an attached mic, the Philips SHP9500 w/ optional V-MODA BoomPro is your best bang for your buck, but, if you can get a good deal on the Philips Fidelio X2 ($200-ish on sale), that'd be even better. For closed cans, I recommend something like the Sony MDR-7506 or Audio-Technica ATH-M40x
Calm the down, no need to be all triggered up.
Lots of good stuff here, thanks guys, especially AngryNun for the detailed post. I'll have to run down to my local guitar center to see if they have any of these on the demo racks.