# Help me choose some headphones



## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 6, 2018)

I purchased a SoundblasterX AE-5 because Fall Creator Update made my XFI Titanium stop working.
I want a good set of headphone that will make good use of the new sound card.
Primary use is Gaming,  Secondary is Music

Here are my option

Sennheiser HD600 with an Antlion Modmic ( Heard amazing things about the hd600's but then I heard they were not great for gaming too)
Audio-Technica ATH-AD900x with Antlion Modmic ( Not sure how much better these are then the AD700x's and if they are worth the extra dollars )
Audio-Technica ATH-MSR7GM with V-moda Boom Pro (Leaning towards this,  very sleek,  only one cable to worry about)

Or if it really isn't worth me spending that much and these will do the job then
Audio-Technica ATH-AD700x with Antlion Modmic (Everything I have read says these are amazing for gaming,  if so do I need the AD900x?)

I have never bought a quality pair of headphones before and will be replacing my Razor Kraken Pro's
This will be my introductory set of higher end audio,  I cant afford the best.  Not sure if I need the best,  just know I want something a lot better the the Kraken.


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## Jetster (Jan 6, 2018)

All very nice. I have the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X and are plenty good. Go somewhere you can listen to them all


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## Solaris17 (Jan 6, 2018)

Jetster said:


> All very nice. I have the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X and are plenty good.



I use these for my piano, love it.

For my PC I use a set of ATH-AG1's which I also love but are no longer made.

Lovely equipment really.


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## Space Lynx (Jan 6, 2018)

Monoprice Monolith M560 is on sale right now for $149 free ship no tax at monoprice.com  they are planar magnetic, with stock earpads they sound "ok" but if you are willing to hope on ebay and buy some Sony XBR 500 earpads for $11, they compete with $500 plus cans. i go to headphone conventions and my m560's with xbr 500 earpads are still my go to headphones for everything. the soundstage/imaging, clarity of vocals is simply the most amazing thing I have ever heard. (I have heard over 200 headphones some even 1 grand I preferred my m560 setup over it) and you won't need a strong amp, your new sound card will power it like a champ. the HD600 on the other hand... yeah sure that sound card will get them loud... but the HD600 is meant for a tube amp and pretty much everyone in the community agrees with that.

M50x has little to no soundstage from my experience, but everyone has different tastes so its all subjective and reliant on the shape of our inside ears (which is different for all of us) some of us can hear better bass slams then others all because of the ear canal shape. so yeah haha its all subejctive. try to go to headphone convention near you... and listen to a lot of stuff. then decide.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 6, 2018)

Ill have to look into those,  thanks for the suggestion.  Looks like the V-moda boom pro will work with it too.

I bought me a temporary fix,  who knows maybe permanent.  I got a cheap pair of ath-ad700x's to get my toes wet and hold me over till I can save up and spend a little more on a pair of something more higher end.  From what I read the ad700x's are fantastic for gaming and dont sound much worse then the ad900x.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 7, 2018)

my edit button is missing or I would not be double posting.
From reading the ad700x's are amazing for gaming so I dont mind have two sets of headphones.  I plan on modding them to have a detachable cable and add a v-moda boom pro to it.  
If I want something strictly for music and around $300 what would be a good suggestion?  
I dont plan on purchasing another pair for a couple months so I can save up a little and get something really nice and worth the money.
The monolith m1060's look amazing and the planars intrigue me or would I be fine with m560's with the upgraded pads. 
Would it be worth it to save and get the sennheiser hd 800?  From what I read they are some of the best.
Im not a bass head but I do like a little base,  I want to hear what everyone is talking about like the pick striking the cords and the sticks hitting the drums.....etc.


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## Space Lynx (Jan 8, 2018)

ShRoOmAlIsTiC said:


> my edit button is missing or I would not be double posting.
> From reading the ad700x's are amazing for gaming so I dont mind have two sets of headphones.  I plan on modding them to have a detachable cable and add a v-moda boom pro to it.
> If I want something strictly for music and around $300 what would be a good suggestion?
> I dont plan on purchasing another pair for a couple months so I can save up a little and get something really nice and worth the money.
> ...



I own the M1060's but they sound a little boring to me. The soundstage is also smaller than the M560 with XBR 500 earpads.  The m560's sound livelier and more fun, but only with the earpad upgrade. The M560 has a 30 day return policy. Give it a shot while its still on sale.


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## jboydgolfer (Jan 8, 2018)

When it's just headphones I normally buy a nice pair of noise canceling Sennheiser's. the HD419's are great sounding, but afaik, they are no longer manufactured, but im sure they have a comparable model.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 8, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> I own the M1060's but they sound a little boring to me. The soundstage is also smaller than the M560 with XBR 500 earpads.  The m560's sound livelier and more fun, but only with the earpad upgrade. The M560 has a 30 day return policy. Give it a shot while its still on sale.



I will definitely be getting me some of these for sure along with the sony mdr-xb500 pads.  Kinda excited about these after reading what you and a few others in other forums and said.  

Figure if with those and the ad700x's ill be good for starter sets.  Hope fully they will still be on sale when I get paid.


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## Space Lynx (Jan 8, 2018)

ShRoOmAlIsTiC said:


> I will definitely be getting me some of these for sure along with the sony mdr-xb500 pads.  Kinda excited about these after reading what you and a few others in other forums and said.
> 
> Figure if with those and the ad700x's ill be good for starter sets.  Hope fully they will still be on sale when I get paid.



If you buy both at the same time I can promise you will be refunding the AD700x's, because planar vocal clarity will destroy them while still maintaining that amazing soundstage, assuming you do the earpad upgrade.


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## GamerGuy (Jan 10, 2018)

@lynx29, I dunno, it depends a lot on the individual's sound signature preference as well as his sound perception (or how good one's hearing is). I've heard a good number of cans, and presently own 16 entry level to high end cans, and IMO I can say that none of the planar I own, or had owned, destroys a good dynamic can when it comes to voice clarity. Oddly enough, the best vocals I've heard, female vocals specifically, was from an Audio Technica ATH-AD2000, it had such a level of vocal clarify and sweetness that none I've heard since then can match (including my HD800 + SDR Mod, AKG K812, HFM HE1000).  I kinda regretted selling it as I was pretty much looking around for good higher end cans at that time. Also, the issue I recall having with the ATH-AD2000 was that the treble presentation was a tad too hot for my liking, though I'm something of a treblehead. 

Peeps praise the Audeze LCD2.2 nF for its sound, I had it but while it has this lush, thick (almost creamy-like) bass, I found that it was too dark for my liking (I dislike dark sounding cans) yet many say the treble is just fine.....so, I put that down to personal preference. As I'm typing down this message, I'm chilling to some songs on Spotify Premium with my Oppo HA-1 and MD HFM HE4XX which I'd just gotten, it's not a bad pair of planar actually (I'm biased, I'm something of a HFM fanboy as I own 4 pairs of their cans, plus the Dock-1 and HFM HM901s). I also have a Fostex T50RP modded with a MayFlower kit (and MrSpeakers Alpha Pads) I'd gotten and it's one of my go to cans for gaming and music since it handles both with aplomb.

The ATH-AD700X (I have one too) has a pretty wide soundstage and imaging which together, makes for excellent positional gaming, but the one thing the AD700X lacks is bass. I'm not saying it lacks bass totally, it IS there when needed, but just not enough for my taste. Explosions and gun fire lack impact and on a whole, the AD700X lacks a dynamic sound, but damn, it's great for positional gaming due to its wide soundstage and imaging.

At OP, the HD600 doesn't have quite the soundstage of the ATH-AD700X, but it does have good imaging. I've gamed with the HD6XX (sounds more like the HD650) and I don't feel I'm missing anything, though admittedly, I'm basically a Single Player guy so I enjoy playing with myself......eh, make that playing by myself. If you can get the AD700X for cheap, why the heck not? Since it'd be a stop-gap can while you look for something 'better'.


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## Space Lynx (Jan 10, 2018)

GamerGuy said:


> @lynx29, I dunno, it depends a lot on the individual's sound signature preference as well as his sound perception (or how good one's hearing is). I've heard a good number of cans, and presently own 16 entry level to high end cans, and IMO I can say that none of the planar I own, or had owned, destroys a good dynamic can when it comes to voice clarity. Oddly enough, the best vocals I've heard, female vocals specifically, was from an Audio Technica ATH-AD2000, it had such a level of vocal clarify and sweetness that none I've heard since then can match (including my HD800 + SDR Mod, AKG K812, HFM HE1000).  I kinda regretted selling it as I was pretty much looking around for good higher end cans at that time. Also, the issue I recall having with the ATH-AD2000 was that the treble presentation was a tad too hot for my liking, though I'm something of a treblehead.
> 
> Peeps praise the Audeze LCD2.2 nF for its sound, I had it but while it has this lush, thick (almost creamy-like) bass, I found that it was too dark for my liking (I dislike dark sounding cans) yet many say the treble is just fine.....so, I put that down to personal preference. As I'm typing down this message, I'm chilling to some songs on Spotify Premium with my Oppo HA-1 and MD HFM HE4XX which I'd just gotten, it's not a bad pair of planar actually (I'm biased, I'm something of a HFM fanboy as I own 4 pairs of their cans, plus the Dock-1 and HFM HM901s). I also have a Fostex T50RP modded with a MayFlower kit (and MrSpeakers Alpha Pads) I'd gotten and it's one of my go to cans for gaming and music since it handles both with aplomb.
> 
> ...




Agree with you on everything in full, however, Monoprice has a great return policy, so he isn't risking anything by trying the Monolith M560 or M565 either, except losing out on shipping. Compare both for a week or two, refund the one you like least, its that simple really. I do it a couple times every year, as long as you don't do it every month couple months they don't care.


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## thesmokingman (Jan 10, 2018)

I've owned the AD700x and 900x. The 700x are a lil anemic on bass and the 900x have lil bit more bass, almost adequate but its fast. I've sold both and am rolling with Sony MDR-Z7, MA-900, and Monoprice M1060s. I've retired the Hifiman 400i with the M1060. I need to sell the 400i at some point. I would no doubt about it choose the M1060 over the AD700x, easily. With the 1060 you get the clarity of mid and upper end of a planar with some great bass for a planar. To get that package with bass in other brands you'd have to spend double the costs of the M1060s on sale. **Also, the AT phones are kind of bright so keep that in mind. Bright tends to equate to fatiguing too.


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## Space Lynx (Jan 10, 2018)

thesmokingman said:


> I've owned the AD700x and 900x. The 700x are a lil anemic on bass and the 900x have lil bit more bass, almost adequate but its fast. I've sold both and am rolling with Sony MDR-Z7, MA-900, and Monoprice M1060s. I've retired the Hifiman 400i with the M1060. I need to sell the 400i at some point. I would no doubt about it choose the M1060 over the AD700x, easily. With the 1060 you get the clarity of mid and upper end of a planar with some great bass for a planar. To get that package with bass in other brands you'd have to spend double the costs of the M1060s on sale. **Also, the AT phones are kind of bright so keep that in mind. Bright tends to equate to fatiguing too.



I still prefer the M560's with XBR 500 earpads over M1060, so its all subjective really. M1060's lacked "fun factor and soundstage width" and I also prefer female vocals better on mine than on the 1060's. I never did any mods to the 1060's though, which a lot of people say is necessary. Meh.


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## GamerGuy (Jan 10, 2018)

That's the fun thing about audio, we can listen to the same can with the same audio gear (like DAC stack/combo, same audio source) and yet come away with different opinions, even sometimes with two diametrically opposing viewpoints. It's when someone insists that their opinion matters more than yours that some heated disagreement may occur. Just to show that I'm not BS'ing when I say I have 16 cans, here's a pic of my headphone rack......I don't think I'm done buying cans yet. My AD700X isn't on the rack as I'd run out of mounts to hang it....and my HE4XX isn't there either, so that makes 17 cans actually (not including my portable on-ear cans and IEM's)


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## Rehmanpa (Jan 10, 2018)

My sennheiser hd598 pros are fantastic. Always recommend them because they really are just simply wonderful.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 10, 2018)

God I feel like this is gonna turn out to be a fun yet expensive hobby. I already want a modi/Magni stack and so many different head sets to test out. Definitely want a sennheiser set,  and an akg7xx set, and for sure the m560’s  Massdrop looks like a fun site too.  Damn you guys all to hell


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## erocker (Jan 10, 2018)

If you're going with a separate gaming headset, Sennheiser is releasing the GSP 600 at the end of the month. https://en-us.sennheiser.com/gaming-headset-pro-gsp-600 If anything the mic sounds a bit better than the modmic... at least comparing it to my Game One headset which should use the same mic. My headset matches up with my Soundblaster Zx pretty well too.


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## GamerGuy (Jan 10, 2018)

Yep, ain't nothing wrong with getting a quality headset from Sennheiser or Audio Technica, or anything from companies with years of experience in the audio field. Just avoid Razer, Corsair, Logitech and all those so-called gaming headsets (be them stereo to those 'surround gaming' 5.1/7.1 headsets). If you're more concerned with gaming, then yeah, a good gaming headset and soundcard or external DAC stack/combo would be great for gaming (though nothing beats physical speakers for a great surround gaming or movie viewing experience (that's why I have a Creative SB Zx + Logitech Z5500). I'll be moving to a condominium soon, thus I'd not be able to use my Z5500 as much as I'd have liked, hence my increasing reliance on headphones. 

I've packed a lot of my stuff, in preparation for the upcoming move, but have left out my Oppo HA-1 + HD6XX + HD4XX to be used till the day I move. I love these, but I do find the HE4XX to have a more forward sounding treble which I can still tolerate, and a wider soundstage than the HD6XX.....still, I'm of the opinion that the HD6XX is the more balanced sounding of the two. Still early days though, gonna listen to them more before I can decide which is better (to me anyway). Oh yeah, running them in Balanced mode, with a pair of 4pin Balanced XLR cable I'd bought for my HD6XX, and for the HE4XX, a pair of 4pin Balanced XLR cable borrowed from my HFM HE1000.


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## bug (Jan 10, 2018)

I'm surprised nobody mentioned AKG. I have a (cheaper) pair of and couldn't be happier with my pick.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 10, 2018)

WOW,  so I installed my ae-5 and hooked up my ad700x's.  Threw on some Too Long by daft punk flac and wow.  If these sound this good,  I cant wait to see what better head phones sound like.  Base seems good on these,  im not a base head but wow.  I cant wait to play some games and the cable to add a v-moda on here.  These sound better then anything ive ever heard. 

Tried out some coldplay everythings not lost flac and I hear stuff I never heard before.  Just amazing.  This is what I wanted,  clean crisp sound.

Ive got a clip on steel series mic to hold me over till all the parts come in for the mod.  Im gonna let these play for a while to burn a little while im at work.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 12, 2018)

Completed the detachable cable mod today,  turned out perfect.  Only one issue,  I dont have the boom pro till saturday and I have no male to male cable at the moment.  So i had to take the original cable I cut off and add splice a Male end from an old crappy ear bud set to it.  So temp fix but it still works.  I should have took picks,  the soldiering job turned out perfect.


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## jboydgolfer (Jan 12, 2018)

Rehmanpa said:


> My sennheiser hd598 pros are fantastic. Always recommend them because they really are just simply wonderful.



 I'm no audiophile, so I can't speak on multi-hundred dollar pairs of headsets, but as far as headphones go ,I love my sennheisers,  they're amazing sounding, and most importantly they're so comfortable even after 10 hours on my head.  I don't know that I would notice the difference with some of these super high-end headphones I see people mentioning, not because there's no difference but because of my scrub ears


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## WhiteNoise (Jan 16, 2018)

I have a set of the HD600's. Rarely use them but they are wonderful. I've gamed with them and thought they worked great. I actually really like my NADs for gaming but ultimately I just use a steelseries gaming headset as I find it convenient to use with decent SQ.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 16, 2018)

So far ive been amazed with gaming on my ad700x’s. I feel like a hacker almost.  I do want another audiophile quality set for sure now for music and I’m tossed between hd600, hd650 and monolith m560’s.  I modded my ad700x’s to take a v-moda boom pro mic but Amazon lost my shipment.  So I need to wait for my refund to order it again.  I also added som brainwavz hybrid ear pads to the ad700x last night and now they are super comfy.  Haven’t got to game with them yet to see if they changed the sound too much but they seem to have more base now.


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## GamerGuy (Jan 17, 2018)

ShRoOmAlIsTiC said:


> So far ive been amazed with gaming on my ad700x’s. I feel like a hacker almost.  I do want another audiophile quality set for sure now for music and I’m tossed between hd600, hd650 and monolith m560’s.  I modded my ad700x’s to take a v-moda boom pro mic but Amazon lost my shipment.  So I need to wait for my refund to order it again.  I also added som brainwavz hybrid ear pads to the ad700x last night and now they are super comfy.  Haven’t got to game with them yet to see if they changed the sound too much but they seem to have more base now.


Oh, most definitely, earpads do change the sound, and in my opinion, most substantially when compared to changing everything else (other than another pair of cans that is). When I first got a stock Fostex T50RP (stock pads), it sounded terrible.....harsh treble, mids and bass sorta bled into each other, I wondered what so many saw in it actually. But, when I changed the earpads to a MrSpeakers Alpha Pad, what a difference it made! Bass seemed tighter yet ever present, mids a little polite yet not totally laid back, and the treble harshness was resolved........nothing I did before that changed the sound that much! 

As for the cans you're looking at, I'd suggest you seriously look into the HD600 or HD650 (or even a HD6XX in the Garage/Used section of your local forum, that's how I'd gotten mine). As for the Monoprice M560, I can't comment as I've yet to try one......I did read of some negative reviews of the sound, but sound is so subjective, it's hard to say whether it'd suit you or not. Do note that the M560 is a closed back can, while the HD6 series from Sennheiser are open back.....each type has its own set of negatives and positives.


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## Frederik S (Jan 17, 2018)

bug said:


> I'm surprised nobody mentioned AKG. I have a (cheaper) pair of and couldn't be happier with my pick.


AKG is closed down so there could be some good deals coming up. 

There are so many options just try and listen to as many as possible, preferably A/Bing as ones memory of how stuff sounds quickly disappears.

Amount of bass in headphones has a lot to do with the fit and seal against your ears/head. Pads that seal better will get you more bass. Pads that change the volume in front of the driver can also have an audible effect, but the effect is usually not as pronounced as the change in bass one can get with a pad swap.


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## bug (Jan 17, 2018)

Frederik S said:


> AKG is closed down so there could be some good deals coming up.



What do you mean it's closed down? It's moved from Austria to the US (which could mean there's nothing left of the original company), but I'm not aware of it actually closing down.


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## Frederik S (Jan 17, 2018)

AKG in Austria has laid off all employees and moved all production to China.


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## bug (Jan 17, 2018)

Frederik S said:


> AKG in Austria has laid off all employees and moved all production to China.


Ok. You had me worried there for a while.
Let's see how the new equipment fares, maybe it's not all down the drain.


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## GamerGuy (Jan 17, 2018)

Oh, that's a relief, not all AKG's are made in Austria. My original K812 was from Austria, but it died on me, the replacement AKG Austria so kindly replaced mine with was from Slovenia (no other charges than shipping my faulty K812 to Austria to verify it cannot be repaired). I believe in AKG and wish them all the best with their future endeavor.


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## Kursah (Jan 17, 2018)

Frederik S said:


> AKG in Austria has laid off all employees and moved all production to China.



Shame. I love my K553 Pro Massdrop versions, admittedly they're probably Chinese if that information is 2+ years old. I purchased a spare pair that is BNIB still because I've been so happy with these.

A fellow member also donated some HiFiMan HE-350's my way, after doing the bass mod, and a mild tune with EQ APO, I gotta say these are pretty damn impressive for a budget open-back headphone. They're not ortho's, and can't match what I remember of my HE-400's, they are fun none-the-less. I don't have a good environment to constantly use open backs, and thus my primary cans now are my K553 Pro's. 

Fit is everything with these cans, but when you do fit the correctly, which is really easy to do...the sound and isolation is excellent. Comfort is also damn good, these cans are extremely light and the earpads are soft and do a good job sealing around my big ears lol. Sounds decent without EQ, but is also very responsive to EQ tuning to achieve the sound I am looking for. Able to handle bass, clear vocals and highs. Is a great match for my Aune T1 Mk1 DAC/AMP. Plenty of power, plenty of volume, and overall very fun and comfortable to listen to for hours. That's the reason I purchased an extra pair of headphones and also purchased an extra pair of ear pads. None of which I've needed yet...but I wanted to be prepared and had the money at the time, granted the K553 Pro's were $125 shipped on Massdrop, worth every penny IMHO. Would also be quite easy to adapt a boom mic or mod mic to them. I use a desktop though.

Hopefully AKG continues to push out good headphones, I've been impressed with everything I've tried from them. The budget options I chose have been great, better than expected and are holding up quite nicely. So well in-fact my Denon D2000's are still collecting dust with my other JVC and Sony cans. I never got into the high end stuff, but I've had a lotta fund in the budget up to $400 range. All the more expensive cans are sold and gone, but my budget cans remain...out of them I think the K553 Pros are by far the most capable, dynamic and overall enjoyable.


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## Frederik S (Jan 17, 2018)

I think some of the AKG acoustic gurus are cooking up new interesting stuff at MySphere, looks like a modern AKG K1000. Since they did not retain the engineering staff my guess is that the coming products will be less special. The guys at AKG had so much experience and expertise, they will probably find something new with ease. The already designed products will probably live on until they are not earning Harman any money. 

Usually a headphone without major dips or peaks in the FR are pretty easy to EQ, especially if the driver can handle some power without distorting.

Agree on the HiFiMAN headphones they are really good bang for the buck all the way up in terms of acoustic performance. Sometimes there mechanical design is a little flawed but price considered it is totally fine. Still loving the Edition X with the newest HiFiMAN pads which really do wonders on them. Probably the best of the current crop of HiFiMAN headphones to my ears after they got the new pads. Their new in-ears are not bad either!


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 18, 2018)

Finally got it all together.  Put back on the stock pads,  the brainwavz muddied up the sound too much.  
Might purchase some m560's tomorrow for my next set.


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## Kursah (Jan 19, 2018)

Good to  see another Logitech G15 v2 user here! Mines still fully functional. Not the prettiest anymore but gets the job done! Not sure what I'm gonna go with when I replace it.

Back OT, please do keep us posted if you snag the M560's. I've been eyeballing them since I've missed my HE-400's. I also like the isolated closed back option which I'd need if they were good enough to replace my K553's as my daily drivers.


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## KungFoo_Grip (Jan 21, 2018)

I have been using ATM50's for about 3 years (coupled with SMSL M6 DAC/Amp) and I just upgraded to the Monolith 560's (I mean at under $150 why wouldn't I try them). As closed headphones the sound is an obvious upgrade, and as open they are in a whole new class. I use the modmic with them and for gaming the combo is damn nice, and for music they deliver...even when pushed to 500mW they don't distort or get muddy (the ATM50s got muddy around 300mW). They are heavier than the M50s, but they are quite a bit more comfortable and you don't notice them as much when wearing them for extended periods (gaming for instance). My opinion would be, if you care about sound and you see these for $150, and don't jump on them you are missing a golden opportunity.


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## GamerGuy (Jan 21, 2018)

HiFiMan HE4XX is a fine planar magnetic can at a very affordable price, and represents quite a bang for buck can. I have it, and I'm testing it against a MD fave, the HD6XX. Running my tests on my OPPO HA1 with a 4pin Balanced XLR cable for the HD6XX, and a 4pin Balanced XLR cable borrowed from my HE1000. Although I am not quite done, I am tilting towards the HD6XX as it is a more balanced sounding can but with a narrower soundstage. The HE4XX has a greater mid bass slam, but its treble can be a tad too hot.

I like both HFM and Sennheiser, and I am not being prejudiced against the China made HFM can as I'm something of a HFM fanboy as can be shown by my collection. The HE4XX is a fun sounding can, but in terms of SQ, it cannot match the HD6XX.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Jan 21, 2018)

M560’s will be here tomorrow with some Sony mdr-xb500 pads.  Can’t wait to here them.  Next plan is to find some he4xx’s and hd6xx’s.  To bad the he4xx are sold out.  Love the different head band on those.  Hopefully massdrop will bring them back.  I’ll stick with my clip on if I use my M560 for gaming and get a mod mic for the hd6xx’s.  I’m blown away by the sound from my ad700x and they are purely gaming sound.  Never new how good music can sound and what I’ve been missing.   My wife is already yelling at me asking if I’m gonna have a collection of headphone like I collect everyday else.  I already have one wall fully of air soft guns.  Drawers full of vaping juices and equipment.


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 5, 2018)

ShRoOmAlIsTiC said:


> M560’s will be here tomorrow with some Sony mdr-xb500 pads.  Can’t wait to here them.  Next plan is to find some he4xx’s and hd6xx’s.  To bad the he4xx are sold out.  Love the different head band on those.  Hopefully massdrop will bring them back.  I’ll stick with my clip on if I use my M560 for gaming and get a mod mic for the hd6xx’s.  I’m blown away by the sound from my ad700x and they are purely gaming sound.  Never new how good music can sound and what I’ve been missing.   My wife is already yelling at me asking if I’m gonna have a collection of headphone like I collect everyday else.  I already have one wall fully of air soft guns.  Drawers full of vaping juices and equipment.


Hey, how did the gaming experience go with the m560 ? Thinking between that and ad700x. Mostly for FPS gaming


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## erixx (Dec 6, 2018)

Just never buy headphones with faux leather, I had high end Sony, they desintegretad themselves in short time.
Then I had Philips, bought 2 high end, one with faux leather, one with textil finish. The one with less use, guess which one, sarted to disintegrate: the faux leather one.

they may all sound alike, but do not buy faux leather ones!


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## jboydgolfer (Dec 6, 2018)

I get the sennheiser rubber ones. They sound great, & never break.  I have dropped mine countless times over four years, and they still work absolutely perfectly , & theey never peel  they're not the nicest headphones, but they're made by a reputable brand ,and along with that comes a certain level of quality in both sound and build. HD419


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## GamerGuy (Dec 6, 2018)

erixx said:


> Just never buy headphones with faux leather, I had high end Sony, they desintegretad themselves in short time.
> Then I had Philips, bought 2 high end, one with faux leather, one with textil finish. The one with less use, guess which one, sarted to disintegrate: the faux leather one.
> 
> they may all sound alike, but do not buy faux leather ones!
> ...


Oh yeah, I had that happen to my PSB M4U 2 headphone that had flaky pads, and the rubberized parts sort of got sticky.....oh how I hate that! Don't get me wrong, it's a damn nice sounding can when driven by its own built-in amp, just this piss poor choice of material used in its construction that ticks me off. That's why, when I buy any can, I'd check to see it has such material used in its construction. Is that a Fidelio X1 or X2? Great pair of cans though I find my X1 to be a tad dark sounding, but I like it anyway.


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## Gorstak (Dec 6, 2018)

The most popular over yonder are kingston cloudx. I didn't personally listen to them, but any kingston cloud headphones should be best buy, depending on your specific needs, claim the local experts.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Dec 6, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> Hey, how did the gaming experience go with the m560 ? Thinking between that and ad700x. Mostly for FPS gaming


The m560’s are great headphones. So great that I bought the m1060c and modded them to open backs.  Now those are pretty much all I use now.  I do occasionally use the m560 with my rubato dp-s1 around the house.


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 6, 2018)

ShRoOmAlIsTiC said:


> The m560’s are great headphones. So great that I bought the m1060c and modded them to open backs.  Now those are pretty much all I use now.  I do occasionally use the m560 with my rubato dp-s1 around the house.


So m560 over ad700x and m1060c over the m560?


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## Space Lynx (Dec 6, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> So m560 over ad700x and m1060c over the m560?




if you have a good headphone amp like the magni 3, I'd recommend HE-4XX on massdrop for $169.99. sounds better than 1060C to me, but you need a powerful amp on high gain for the HE-4XX to sound their best


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 6, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> if you have a good headphone amp like the magni 3, I'd recommend HE-4XX on massdrop for $169.99. sounds better than 1060C to me, but you need a powerful amp on high gain for the HE-4XX to sound their best


I was playing to get the m650 with the Magni and modi along with Loki. I play on ps4


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## Space Lynx (Dec 6, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> I was playing to get the m650 with the Magni and modi along with Loki. I play on ps4



m650 sounds terrible. i love the m560 with sony xbr500 earpads though. but they are not comfortable enough for long sessions. very heavy cause of all the metal.

i have heard over 200 headphones, several amps and dacs.

honestly can't beat the bang for buck of the magni 3 and modi 3 combo + HE-4XX or HD58X.  I currently own all of that along with many others.  I'd stay away from Monoprice cans. I owned all of their cans as well at a couple points, but the m650 was awful. m1060 is overrated imo.


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 6, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> m650 sounds terrible. i love the m560 with sony xbr500 earpads though. but they are not comfortable enough for long sessions. very heavy cause of all the metal.
> 
> i have heard over 200 headphones, several amps and dacs.
> 
> honestly can't beat the bang for buck of the magni 3 and modi 3 combo + HE-4XX or HD58X.  I currently own all of that along with many others.  I'd stay away from Monoprice cans. I owned all of their cans as well at a couple points, but the m650 was awful. m1060 is overrated imo.


So which would you say I should get ? I play a lot of FPS games on console so I want something with good wide soundstage for those footsteps and pinpoint enemy. I’m still going to get the Schiit Magni, modi and Loki


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## Space Lynx (Dec 6, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> So which would you say I should get ? I play a lot of FPS games on console so I want something with good wide soundstage for those footsteps and pinpoint enemy. I’m still going to get the Schiit Magni, modi and Loki



I'd skip the Loki personally, but for FPS games plus a great all arounder I would go with HE-4XX. i run my HE-4XX with my magni 3 on high gain around noon - 100 volume set in windows connected to modi3


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 6, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> I'd skip the Loki personally, but for FPS games plus a great all arounder I would go with HE-4XX. i run my HE-4XX with my magni 3 on high gain around noon - 100 volume set in windows connected to modi3


I play on ps4 though so I  was just gonna have it connected optical and then have the modi connected to the Magni and then play ?


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## Space Lynx (Dec 6, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> I play on ps4 though so I  was just gonna have it connected optical and then have the modi connected to the Magni and then play ?



yeah optical from PS4 works great too


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 6, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> yeah optical from PS4 works great too


Awesome ! So HE-4XX With Magni And modi would be a perfect setup the. ?


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## Space Lynx (Dec 6, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> Awesome ! So HE-4XX With Magni And modi would be a perfect setup the. ?



Let me play some FPS games tonight with my Magni 3 and Modi 3 + HE-4XX, HD58X, and AKG K7xx - I'll report back tomorrow.

all 3 are excellent in their own right just fyi. but let me check on FPS just to be certain. I own all of them already.


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## John Naylor (Dec 6, 2018)

The only thing I use at the PC are wireless headsets.... every time I'd get up t take  a bio or grab a snackie, I'd have my head twisted around, standing up with the wire bringing me up short.  Been an audiophile most of my life till last couple of years.    Never was much for headphones, but late night gaming keeps everybody up.  My son had a $300+ pair of Senns and he yanked out the cables and rather than let me fix, he sent out for a repair.   While they were gone cupla weeks he used a G930 wireless one and got so used to it that he bought one of his own and the Senn's basically sit there unless he's laying in bed.   There's too many differnces inw hat people are looking for but ya can't go wrong with Senn's for fidelity ... and except fr the stoopid LEDs on the 933's, they're one of the best bargains out there.  I won't use wireless KBs / mice but will never have another wired headset.


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 6, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> Let me play some FPS games tonight with my Magni 3 and Modi 3 + HE-4XX, HD58X, and AKG K7xx - I'll report back tomorrow.
> 
> all 3 are excellent in their own right just fyi. but let me check on FPS just to be certain. I own all of them already.


Please do


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 8, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> Let me play some FPS games tonight with my Magni 3 and Modi 3 + HE-4XX, HD58X, and AKG K7xx - I'll report back tomorrow.
> 
> all 3 are excellent in their own right just fyi. but let me check on FPS just to be certain. I own all of them already.


Were you able to check them out ?


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## Gorstak (Dec 8, 2018)

John Naylor said:


> The only thing I use at the PC are wireless headsets.... every time I'd get up t take  a bio or grab a snackie, I'd have my head twisted around, standing up with the wire bringing me up short.  Been an audiophile most of my life till last couple of years.    Never was much for headphones, but late night gaming keeps everybody up.  My son had a $300+ pair of Senns and he yanked out the cables and rather than let me fix, he sent out for a repair.   While they were gone cupla weeks he used a G930 wireless one and got so used to it that he bought one of his own and the Senn's basically sit there unless he's laying in bed.   There's too many differnces inw hat people are looking for but ya can't go wrong with Senn's for fidelity ... and except fr the stoopid LEDs on the 933's, they're one of the best bargains out there.  I won't use wireless KBs / mice but will never have another wired headset.



I have difficulties finding some decent rf headphones...all I find are bluetooth, and I'm not happy with that


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## Space Lynx (Dec 8, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> Were you able to check them out ?



doing so tonight, got a little busier than expected yesterday


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 8, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> doing so tonight, got a little busier than expected yesterday


It’s all good.


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 22, 2018)

lynx29 said:


> doing so tonight, got a little busier than expected yesterday


Did you have time to try all three and see which was better for FPS ?


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## Space Lynx (Dec 22, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> Did you have time to try all three and see which was better for FPS ?



Sorry I forgot to report back!  HD58X was best for gaming and music actually, I like them better than the HD6XX/HD650/HD600 as well.  the HD58X really has its own sound signature, lot of people say it sounds close to a HD660S but with more sub bass... so yeah I probably am retiring from the hobby this year, been loving my HD58X for awhile now. might ask my parents for some Dekoni sheepskin pads for them for my next bday


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## Cexyjoe (Dec 22, 2018)

So the jubilee over then both ? Alright I’ll look into it. What does those pads do for it


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## Space Lynx (Dec 22, 2018)

Cexyjoe said:


> So the jubilee over then both ? Alright I’ll look into it. What does those pads do for it



I have no idea yet that is like a year away still before I look into replacement pads, but stock pads will wear out in around 1-2 years, so I just want a spare set of earpads. Dekoni measures everything so I trust them to not mess up the sound on it.

Yep, the Jubilee is pretty special headphone. Needs an amp though if you don't already own one, I recommend magni 3 and modi 3. that is what I am using. honestly even my schiit lyr 3 didn't sound all that much better than my magni 3.


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## JovHinner123 (Mar 13, 2019)

Depending on your budget, but here's my top two:

1. Sennheiser HD280PRO - great frequency, sound, and comfortable 
2. Shure SRH1540 - with a higher price, but very lightweight and comfortable, and sound is just amazing.

Anyway, for other great headphones here's an article I saw with a great list: https://whoishuman.io/best-studio-headphones/. A selection for studio headphones, but that what makes their quality topnotch.


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## Mittenz (Mar 15, 2019)

Byerdynamic dt770s


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## tabascosauz (Mar 15, 2019)

I can't really say I've invested any amount of money significant enough to be labelled an "audiophile", but IMO the Audio Technica ATH-M40X and Beyerdynamic DT770 are two very good choices if you like a reasonably balanced sound without breaking the bank. Both will be rather "unremarkable" if you come from bass-heavy gaming headsets, but you might soon find that music will quickly usurp gaming as your top priority, without the usual edgy Razer or Steelseries soundprofile raping your ears with bass. M40X is more balanced (and pleasant IMO) than the M50X that everyone and their grandmother has.

I have the stock velour pads on the DT770, which are comfortable enough. The DT990 might be a better choice if you are solely after home use, as the open-back can actually afford it some measure of "soundstage" as opposed to closed headphones like the DT770 or M40X. As for the M40X, they are my preferred portable listening method; I put a pair of custom ZMF cowhide pads on them and they are incredibly comfortable, especially for the mobile use for which I use the M40X.


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Mar 15, 2019)

This what has happened to me.  I’ve become a junky.  Monoliths argons fostex sennheiser akg and Audio-Technica .  I’m making my own cables now.  Modding them,  it doesn’t end.  My favs are my argons and m1060c that are modded to open backs with custoM headband.  For gaming the akg k7xx are the best I think


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## -1nf1n1ty- (Mar 15, 2019)

I LOVE the AD700 for gaming especially FPS, lots of soundstage, easy to drive, and super comfortable BUT no bass, very little. I have the original pink ones. I also have Q701 which was such a great neutral headset it was hard to upgrade from them. I knew I always wanted the HE400's but can never afford them, then I got the HE4XX FANTASTIC upgrade as I was wanting some bass with my soundstage. The AD700 is still the best with soundstage. The best all-rounder to me has to be the HE4XX, but you lose a bit of soundstage, but these cans are fantastic. Most comfortable AD700 easy, best details Q701. that's just me though

the HD58X I heard were also pretty amazing, I would go for those and save some money


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## ShRoOmAlIsTiC (Mar 15, 2019)

I feel the same,  I’ve got the ad700 for gaming but the k7xx was a step up from those.  My he4xx are great specially after a pad swap.  The m1060c blew those away in every aspect.  I got the 58x just to see what the hype was and now those are my portables.  I like my modded fostex t50s so much that when I found out about the argons,  I bought the txo massdrop and sent them to modhouse to mod.  Worth every penny and with a good amp they are also great for gaming.  They have amazing sound stage for a closed back headphone.  It’s really become an addiction.  Between headphones and amps and dacs it’s never ending.  One day I will find my end game combo but not anytime soon.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Mar 15, 2019)

Personally I use beats......Flame on


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