Looking for better quality headphones, need advice

Mattib 050

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Nov 24, 2013
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I'm currently using some Logitech G430s which are okay, but not really anything special. I've been thinking about getting some new headphones, mainly for gaming but partly for music and movies as well.

I'm looking for something of better quality than the standard "gaming" headsets, but I'm not sure on what to get. My budget would be up to around £100, maybe £120ish at a push (I realise I won't get top of the line audio for this, but hopefully better than my current headphones).



I've already looked at some Sennheiser headphones, and narrowed it down to the HD 380 Pro set. Would I benefit much from a sound card with these?


Thanks for any advice, I'm a noob when it comes to audio :p
 
Solution
I'll chime in and say that watching movies wearing something that's closer to monitors is a terrible idea. Though some people like that. I'd advice buy 1 pair of headphone that are good at one thing, and another for a different thing, if you compromise, you'll get an average, which isn't as good. For movies the cheapest I can think of are the Skullcandy Crushers. For games, you may give up passive noise cancelling for better soundstage, meaning if there's a lot of noise around you, the better soundstage won't help at all, so it's a lose-lose situation. Either way, research more before buying, get familiar with what the different terms means. Now, to clarify what's been said above, closed headphones doesn't mean better passive noise...

dualcoreduron

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Feb 12, 2016
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My girlfriend and I both use Sennheiser HD598's and they are awesome for the money. If you don't mind spending a slight bit more, they are an awesome way to go. Since they don't require amplification you don't really need to worry about getting a sound card or pre-amp though they would improve the quality tremendously, you can always upgrade later. If you really want to spend less you can go with the 558's but the difference in sound between the two is no comparison. I own both and I can't recommend the 598's enough.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD-558-Headphones-Technology/dp/B004FEEY9A/ref=sr_1_38?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1461953279&sr=1-38&keywords=headphones

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sennheiser-HD-598-Over-Ear-Headphones/dp/B0042A8CW2/ref=sr_1_14?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1461953272&sr=1-14&keywords=headphones

Hope that helps!
 

Mattib 050

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Nov 24, 2013
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Thanks for the quick response!

My only worry with those is that they're open headphones, can other people usually hear sound from the headphones when you're wearing them? I'll probably go for them if that isn't an issue.
 

dualcoreduron

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Feb 12, 2016
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They are open, it sounds a little like a tv on in the other room to me. It hasn't bothered me to be honest. I'll be playing a game without headphones while my girlfriend plays a loud game with the headphones and it's pretty rare that I'm actually distracted by them. I also feel I'm kind of sensitive to that stuff if that helps. If you need to game in absolute quiet then you might have to go with closed. I really prefer the way open sounds compared to closed, the sound is a lot more natural to me.
 

Mattib 050

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Nov 24, 2013
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That's helped a lot, thanks
 
I'll chime in and say that watching movies wearing something that's closer to monitors is a terrible idea. Though some people like that. I'd advice buy 1 pair of headphone that are good at one thing, and another for a different thing, if you compromise, you'll get an average, which isn't as good. For movies the cheapest I can think of are the Skullcandy Crushers. For games, you may give up passive noise cancelling for better soundstage, meaning if there's a lot of noise around you, the better soundstage won't help at all, so it's a lose-lose situation. Either way, research more before buying, get familiar with what the different terms means. Now, to clarify what's been said above, closed headphones doesn't mean better passive noise cancelling, so keep that in mind.
 
Solution