Impedance levels and type of heaphones

[Ix_coner_x]

Hello Guys,

I have some quesitons that i need answering.

context: I currently do youtube videos and need to buy a new set of heaphones, i need to get a pair of headphones that are comfy to wear for long periods of time (3+ hours) but they also can't leak sound to much as i have a desktop microphone (blue yeti) and i dont want that to pick up the sound leakage in recordings.

question 1:

I am looking to buy a pair of beyerdynamics dt 770 pro or 880 pro which of these would you recommened for recording and making content; the only difference will be the open back of the 770 pros or the semi open design of the dt 880 pros, what do you guys think?

question 2:

I have a asus maximus vii hero z97 motherboard and i will be using the on board amp to drive the headphones i decide to buy. Would i be allright to get headphones with an impedance value of 250ohms with this built in amp. Because if i bought 880 pros they would be of the 250ohm kind but if i bought 770 pros i would most likely op for the 80ohm version. Again what do you guys think i could drive on to motherboard?

Thanks in advance guys

 

[nukemaster]

Any open back headphone can leak some sound.

Higher impedance headphones need more voltage for the same wattage(they are a lighter load). To add to this not all headphones generate the same amount of sound per MW.

Sorry to say I have no experience with that board, but it claims to be good for over 150ohm, but does not list a maximum.

With any luck, one of the headphone guru's will be around shortly to help further.

 

[ssddx]

the dt770 is closed back not open back.

the dt990 and dt880 are open back [i know the 880 is listed as semi-open but please consider it fully open]

will it matter if you have open or closed cans with the blue yeti? as long as you are not blasting the volume levels on your headphones you likely will not pick up any noise on the microphone on open cans.

remember to not just go by impedance but also sensitivity. some headphones with low impedance but yet low sensitivity [such as akg k701] are alot harder to drive than high impedance yet high sensitivity headphones [such as dt880 250]. as far as the question on if your motherboard alone can handle it, then the answer is possibly. i did not see any mention of high impedance headphones listed though many higher end onboard audio solutions can drive the headphones. as far as getting the most out of the headphones .. you would want either a soundcard or external amplifier to do that but as far as just powering them onboard like you have should. you could always test and see what the power output is like on your motherboards audio output.

with the dt770 the 250 ohm version is a bit more refined sounding while the 80 ohm version is the bassiest.

as for the 770, 880 and 990... the 880 is a bit more neutral than the others with less bass impact and treble impact but less recessed mids. the 990 peaks higher in treble and has a bit more bass than the 880. the 770 peaks more in bass.

see the graph below. keep in mind this is not telling you sound quality, just how prominent or recessed certain frequencies are in relation to eachother. think about it in a similar way to using an equalizer and how that affects sound.

a warm amp [fiio a3 or e09k] would be suggested with beyer cans. a soundblaster z would also work. if you want an external dac+amp combo [stereo 2.0 is fine with you and you dont care about virtual surround] then the fiio e10k isnt a bad choice.

 

[ssddx]

as far as what works best for you? depends on your preferences. look at what i said and give thought to how they sound or how important sound isolation is to you.

if you're open to other choices... the sennheiser hd518/558/598 is more mellow and laid back for easy listening. the hd600 you can consider a step up from those. the audiotechnica ad500/700/900x [open] or a500/700/900x [closed] are bass light and advantageous in fps games but less fun to listen to. the akg cans tend to be similar to those but are harder to drive.