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Best headphones around $300 + a good sound card?

post #1 of 36
12/19/11 at 4:17am
Thread Starter 
I'm currently looking at the Sennheiser HD 598, it seems pretty good. Any other suggestions?
Edited by Polymerabbit - 12/20/11 at 5:51pm
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post #2 of 36
12/19/11 at 8:09am
AKG K 701 possibly, but they need a decent amp IMO.
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post #3 of 36
12/19/11 at 8:15am
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The sennheisers are an excellent choice but you need a good sound card to get all the joy out of 'em.
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post #4 of 36
12/19/11 at 8:41am
^Agree with both. Also look into the ah-d700 and dt 990.
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post #5 of 36
12/19/11 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
Ok cool, I pretty much figured that I'd need a real sound card/amp for them. I had an Asus Xonar Essence STX at one stage however I sold them as I didn't think that the difference was worth the price when compared to my onboard audio. Probably due to the fact that my speakers cost only a bit more than the card itself.

Are portable amps worth it? I do a lot of listening on my laptop so a sound card would be a bit restrictive. Any suggestions there?
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post #6 of 36
12/20/11 at 9:25am
You could use an external sound card or dedicated DAC+amp. Technically, there's a significant advantage from an audio performance perspective to going external anyway: isolation from all the high-speed switching circuitry and EMI inside the computer box.

Depending on the quality of the laptop output and the headphones, it may not be worth it though.

There are the FiiO E10 and Creative X-Fi HD, both of which are USB and sell around $80. Personally I'd rather take the E10 if you don't need the microphone input, since it just runs on native Windows (and other OS) USB audio drivers, which tend to be less buggy than drivers by Creative / Asus / Auzentech / pro audio companies / etc. You can run the X-Fi HD and other devices with proprietary drivers, on the native Windows drivers, but then often you'd be missing out on some of the functionality.
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post #7 of 36
12/20/11 at 9:57am
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I find the usb cards a bit "meh" but I hear the E10 is Ok. Maybe it's understandable to want an usb card if you use lappie, but otherwise I see them as waste of money.
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post #8 of 36
12/20/11 at 11:51am
i use a desktop. I have a dedicated Creative Titanium HD sound card im thinking about buying the FiiO E9 with out the E7 from what ive been reading it can drive anything.
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post #9 of 36
12/20/11 at 12:25pm
AH-D2000's. Probably the best sealed mid-fi headphone in the world. The AKG 702 is very unforgiving. It's so precise that it can be a good or bad thing. For example, if you have a well recorded song it's like you're actually there but for a poorly recorded song it's like being in the underworld. You can hear every single imperfection. I've also heard some issues about the comfortableness of them. They also need a really good amp to drive them which could cost hundreds. There are others like the DT880 but I just simply prefer the AH-D2000's over them. You'll only need a DAC since they're extremely easy to drive. Only 25ohm. They will benefit from a dedicated amp but something like the Xonar Essence ST/STX should be more than enough.
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post #10 of 36
12/20/11 at 1:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HybridCore View Post

AH-D2000's. Probably the best sealed mid-fi headphone in the world. The AKG 702 is very unforgiving. It's so precise that it can be a good or bad thing. For example, if you have a well recorded song it's like you're actually there but for a poorly recorded song it's like being in the underworld. You can hear every single imperfection. I've also heard some issues about the comfortableness of them. They also need a really good amp to drive them which could cost hundreds. There are others like the DT880 but I just simply prefer the AH-D2000's over them. You'll only need a DAC since they're extremely easy to drive. Only 25ohm. They will benefit from a dedicated amp but something like the Xonar Essence ST/STX should be more than enough.

That's not true at all. They sound fantastic on my Essence STX which has a built in Texas Instruments headamp. Yes I'm aware that they could be much better driven but for the price the STX makes them sound great.
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