Help me pick out headphones please

[revolultrablue]

I have a budget of $150. I'm looking for a pair of audiophile/ gaming headset. The hd598 looked good but I wanted more opinions on the matter... Thank you.

 

[ssddx]

depends on what you expect out of your headphones in terms of audio signature.

the hd598 is a good all-rounder with a neutral sound signature, more laid back smooth sound and decently wide soundstage. if you are not quite sure what you would like, this one goes right down the middle so most people would like the sound signature. the only people it will not please are those looking for excessive amounts of bass.

cans like the ad700x and ad900x are more focused on treble and mids with rather poor bass response. they are more detailed with much better positional audio and soundstaging. there is a definite advantage to gaming (fps games) with them due to being able to hear footsteps much easier (due to almost no bass). when i mean no bass i mean low tones, there is a little mid-bass that is punchy but not deep. generally these are considered great gaming headphones.

both are open headphones (which means large soundstage but also lots of sound leaking in and out).

if you're looking for significant amounts of bass or closed noise isolating headphones (at the expense of cutting soundstage considerably) then the dt770 might be an option. for closed cans they do still have a fair soundstage but much less than many open cans. expect a v-shaped sound profile accentuating treble and bass with some good sub-level bass. the 32 or 80 ohm versions can be driven by many onboard or soundcards the 250's need an amp.

if you want both open, soundstage and bass, the dt990 are good for that however are about $200 and require the use of an amplifier so i'd suggest somewhere around 1.5 to 2x your budget if you want to do well with them.

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i'd read some other posts i've made about similar topics (forum search for "ssddx headphone headset" or google for "tomshardware ssddx headphone headset" and you'll find them. i've gone well in depth on many options and you might want to become familiar with some of that.