AKG K612 Pro or?...

[Nima Khatibi]

Hello

My current audio setup for my Pc is an Astro A40 with the 2013 mixamp. However, I'm actually mostly into games with good music like FF:XIV, rather than competitive FPS games. So I'm looking for headsets that are good at that, since I heard the Astro A40 isn't really that good for audio quality.

I've been looking a bit around, and among some other headsets, I found AKG 612 Pro and Sennheisers 360 to be good all-around headsets. Which one of these, or others if there are better ones, would you recommend? My budget is around 200$, but not the maximum, and I don't need a mic, since I have an AT2020 mic.

Also, my mixamp is connected to the Asus Xonar DX sound card with optical cable. When I get my new headset, will my headset sound better if I connect it to the mixamp or directly to the sound card?

Thanks so much!!

 

[ssddx]

depends on what you're looking for in a pair of headphones.

headphones from AKG tend to be a bit light on bass and a bit high on treble. this makes them good for competitive gaming but not so good when you want to enjoy a movie or game sounds. the audiotechnica 700x and 900x are similar but have a huge soundstage.

if you want a bit more bass then perhaps the hd598 is worth looking at since it retains the open design but is just a tad more bassy and less treble happy.

one of the better headphones in open design for 200 i'd say is the beyerdynamic dt990pro 250ohm. not sure on the output of the mixamp and how well it powers 250ohm headphones but the 990's are open design for a wide soundstage, have good treble but also pretty good bass for being open cans (more than the previous ones mentioned here). in general a good set for when you want to enjoy music and game sounds instead of having something purely for clinical observation of sound .

if you really like hard bass impacts...you wont find that as much on open cans under 200. the dt770 closed cans however do have good bass impact and are a good set if you can live with the smaller soundstage that closed cans give you.

 

[Nima Khatibi]

Thanks for all your reply! I love the headset you suggested, Beyerdynamics DT-990 Pro 250ohm, which is perfect, since I really like bass. If I get it, will it be sufficient to connect the DT-990 to my mixamp which is connected to my Asus XONAR DX with optical cable and USB? Will it work and/or lose audio quality?

 

[ssddx]

the dt990's are rather hard to drive. i know even cards like the creative Z and xonar DG (known for pretty powerful amps) cant push them to their max.

i looked at the mixamp and given its specs i'm really not sure it would work for the 250ohm version (the pro version is 250ohm and is the only one around $200... the others [premium] are more expensive). it would work for the 32 ohm 990 premiums but those are likely outside your budget and likely will lack a bit of the bass the 250 has.

it might be worthwhile offloading (selling) the mixamp to someone and getting a real amp like the schiit magni since it will work fine and you have a dx soundcard already for any virtual surround in any case....

 

[Nima Khatibi]

Hmmm, ok... What if I get the FiiO E12 amplifier? So I'll connect my DT-990 to the E12 which then connects to the Astro Mixamp for virtual surround and the different modes the Mixamp offers, which I need?

 

[ssddx]

quite frankly i'm not sure why you even use a mixamp in your setup since it doesnt have a particularly strong amplifier and since your xonar dx has virtual surround already (dolby headphone). perhaps you could explain to me what the mixamp offers you that the sound card does not and why you want to keep it in the loop?

the fiio e12 should power the dt990pro-250ohm fine and would be a good choice if you needed the amplifier to be portable for on the go use. however, if you intended to use these at home or other static location my personal choice would be something like the schiit magni. either of those would work though. also i'd run the system without the mixamp personally... but that is your call.

 

[Nima Khatibi]

quite frankly i'm not sure why you even use a mixamp in your setup since it doesnt have a particularly strong amplifier and since your xonar dx has virtual surround already (dolby headphone). perhaps you could explain to me what the mixamp offers you that the sound card does not and why you want to keep it in the loop?

the fiio e12 should power the dt990pro-250ohm fine and would be a good choice if you needed the amplifier to be portable for on the go use. however, if you intended to use these at home or other static location my personal choice would be something like the schiit magni. either of those would work though. also i'd run the system without the mixamp personally... but that is your call.

Thanks for the suggestions It's cause I already have the mixamp, so I figured I won't lose any audio quality putting it between my PC and amplifier, and I can use the 4 different sound modes and the surround button that the mixamp offers. Or will I lose audio quality?

 

[ssddx]

well, since you are connected via optical to your soundcard.... you shouldnt really be taking a quality loss by doing that.

it would allow you to use consoles with the dt990 and amplifier too if you needed that.

i just thought it was a bit strange how you had things hooked up... thats all.

 

[Nima Khatibi]

Ok. Thanks a lot for all your help!!

 

[Griffyn Befus-Johnson]

Purchased the AKG 612 Pro's not expecting bass, little did know I know these headphones have the perfect amount of bass.
You can hear the bass and just about feel the bass but it is not overpowering at all because the high's and mid's are very clear.
I listen to hip hop, rap, rock, electronic, alternative which all sound very nice on the sounds stage.
I also have them paired with $200 a dac/amp and it does a pretty good job and I highly recommend them: https/www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-k612?s=akg