Razer Kraken 7.1 vs SteelSeries 9H or something other

Yuki Core

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Hey everybody! I am looking for a headset with the best possible audio quality.

So far I have spent many, many hours looking for the right one, also considering buying just Headphones and then microphone separately, but I haven't found anything to really stick to in my price range, which is about 130€ (Euro).

It would be nice if somebody could help me with this, because I am pretty clueless when it comes to headphones.

I currently own Pioneer M-390, the sound is decent, but it really suffers from lack of high and medium frequencies, and they are really uncomfortable for long usage.
 
Solution
audiotechnica ath-m50s + mod mic stuck on the side.

you will not find better sound quality in your budget than the m50s. the mic is not terrible but is very convenient. you could use a zalman clip on instead or your choice of quality desktop mic.
audiotechnica ath-m50s + mod mic stuck on the side.

you will not find better sound quality in your budget than the m50s. the mic is not terrible but is very convenient. you could use a zalman clip on instead or your choice of quality desktop mic.
 
Solution

Yuki Core

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Unfortunately the ATH-M50 (170Euro) cost 60Euro's more than 9H, where I live, which is 35% more. And it's quite a lot.

I can afford them, but I'm not sure if it's really worth spending so much on headphones.

However I can get them from Amazon for 100$ (Shipping not included), not sure if I can actually get the 45% off deal before I decide...

I have heard that these headphones are pretty weak on the bass, does the frequency response specifications provide good enough information for approximate analysis of the bass level? My current one's lowest frequency is 5Hz (Maybe a tiny bit too much bass for me, but not really), SteelSeries has 10Hz (and already some say that not enough bass), and the ATH-M50's have 15Hz
 
i took the liberty of reading some of the bad reviews...

"the headphones hurt my head"
certain headphone shapes and sizes do not fit certain ear shapes and sizes or certain head sizes. there is no universal headphone. they are comfortable for me but they do get a bit hot (all closed headphones do though so its not an issue). i take them off every hour or two for a few minutes.

"the build quality is bad"
compared with what? its equal or better than almost anything else you can buy for the same price. i've carried mine around in a backpack for years and they arent broken. i used them almost daily. it sounds like product abuse to me. they are pretty hefty.

"i hear lots of static"
that is because the headphones are so much better than what you were using before and you can actually hear the sound distortion and static now. i know after i got the headphones i couldnt listen to crap low quality streaming music anymore because i could hear the difference. if the source is bad you will notice which is a good thing not bad.

"the cable quality is bad"
are you kidding me? most headphones come with a 1/16 to 3/32 inch thick cable with a rubber molded plug end while this set comes with a thick 5/32 or 3/8 inch cable with a solid metal end with a metal anti-kink. not much else they can do to make it really strong. i was throroughly impressed by the cable size and thickness myself.

"people next to me can hear what i'm listening to"
while they may cover your ears and be somewhat sound isolating, some sound will still leak through depending on what you are listening to and what volume level you are at. i can tell you for a fact that i could listen to almost deafening levels of dubstep (the bassiest music you will find anywhere) and be in a crowded office without people having an issue.

"they sound like crap... or... the sound isnt very full"
well, we all have different opinions on what sounds good. some really good products may sound like crap to some people if they associate that kind of sound with being bad. kind of like how people watching movies on 120hz think it looks fake/plasticy although its an upgade. also some people screw with the equalizer so much it causes distortion and blame the headphones. now the m50s supposedly lack a bit in terms of mid-tones (from what i have seen from so called audiophiles) however personally i think they sound great across the board. sound is a matter of opinion once you get past all the silly stuff like really bad muddling (like the sony XB and beats headphones).

"they dont sound as good as my beats studio"
if anyone think the beats sounds good you can discount the opinion as they are overpriced garbage. yes they are welcome to the opinion but come on...

"they arent noise canceling"
they were never stated as such. they arent like the bose headphones with active noise cancelling technology. they are merely a closed headphone design which limits the amount of sound leakage and also limits the sound you hear from the outside.

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you can buy whatever you want to buy. just clarifying that you really have to read between the lines when it comes to good/bad reviews.

while i can certainly understand some of the negative statements i just dont understand why half of them are even issues. half are nonsensical.

anyways... just clarifying my opinion on the major "bad reviews" since i own a pair and have for years while using them for practically everything.
 

Yuki Core

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What about the bass? Could you say that you'd like a bit more bass or are you fully satisfied?

And I listen to electronic music in MP3 with 320 kbp/s. And there is no way I could find all the hundred of songs in FLAC or any compression type better than MP3, for that matter. Could the headphones make those files sound bad? Because it's quite deal breaking, I have spent countless hours finding all those songs.

I would have preferred FLAC, but it just wasn't possible 85% of the time
 
bass is fine. not weak like sennheisers tend to be on the low end and yet not completely overpowering like sony XB or beats. i listen to dubstep on them and as you know dubstep sounds like crap unless you have a decent low end.

320kbps is fine. in fact anything over 192kbps is fine. i was referring to people who are using 92kbps or lower... basically crappy low end compression music which naturally has lots of distortion. i dont have any flac just 192 and 256kbps mp3, m4a, aac and that works fine. i might even have some mp3's in the mid 150s and thats okay. basically i was just pointing out of some people playing crap music quality may just have never noticed because they were using crap headphones.

the headphones sound great listening to darude's sanstorm, russenmafia's oxygen remix, dubba johnny's ukf dubstep tutorial.... (had to name some since you're an electronica fan) and all the other goldies out there.

of course take some of the good and bad points people mentioned to mind...and make the decision yourself but my personal opinion on them after using them is A+
 

Yuki Core

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So far I'm pretty convinced. Unfortunately the price has went up to 125$, but I was looking at straight cable version before, but I realized that it was a bad idea in the first place, considering how long the cable is.

I will try to find a good deal and then update on this. Thank you so much for your help!
 
i personally like the straight cable (i hate coiled cables though).

yeah its REALLY long... but i normally just wrap the end up a few loops and have it sitting on the desk. the long length comes in handy when i want to lean back in my chair and watch a movie or otherwise be a far distance from the source.

your choice though.

 

Yuki Core

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I would do the same in home conditions, but this would become complicated when you want to use these headphones outside home.
 

Yuki Core

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Mother f***, I ordered them from Amazon.com, but they ended up costing 170$ (That's including 18$ for shipping and 30$ IMPORT FEES)...

That's 125€... although they are still a lot cheaper than M50's on Amazon.de, which is the closest amazon store to me. The price is same as if I would buy SteelSeries 9H for the best price in my local store.

I hope they will satisfy me, I am going to update once more, when I will receive them and test them.
 

Yuki Core

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Just got them, they look great, sound good, but mids and highs are not so great for me, currently. I hope I will get used to them and will like them more, because currently I would prefer the Pioneer M-390's sound wise, even though the bad accuracy and quiet highs, the mids sounded better.

But when I upgraded to Pioneer from my previous headphones I at first didn't like them. I really hope I end up liking these. They really do sound neutral, and I'm not sure I like it. Anyway, I doubt I will be returning these.

The bass though is really strong, it completely takes charge of all frequencies, I would have prefered a bit more high frequency oriented headset, because it's just too much compared to highs and mids.

After 1hour of listening : I am slowly getting used to to them, and highs and mids seem more pleasing than before.

At the end of the day all the frequencies seem to fall in place, and I got really quickly used to these headphones. Only some lower quality recordings in MP3 320kbp/s sound a bit all over the place, but it's not the headphone's fault.
 
keep in mind that they do need a bit of break in and will sound a bit different after a good few days to a week of listening.

m50s do have a heavier low end than some other choices but you can tweak the EQ if you prefer less low end. overall though i feel they are pretty balanced.

if you liked high end more then the higher quality sennheisers are pretty darn good. the trouble is that they have relatively no bass output.

anyways... just a few thoughts. give them a few days to see what you think. let them break in first then after then fiddle with the eq.