Someone pick for me please

nyxanna

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2011
11
0
18,560
So I really want to buy a headphone and I am completely tired of trying to find out how good the one I look at actually is.

I just have no clue about headphones whatsoever but I figured Sennheiser is a good company.

Can someone pick me the best headphones out of this selection for under £400?
http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/headphones

It will be used mainly for gaming but the selection is probably just for marketing and a good one will be good for everything so just pick me the best for the price. I don't want any of those idiotic gaming headsets.

Lastly, will the one you pick actually have better sound than the Astro A40/50? Or will it just be overpriced and pretty much the same sound quality anyway?

Secondly, I know that you require an extremely good sound card for it to perform at the highest level but I am planning to buy one later one which means they will be used on an on-board card at first. They will still so und better than whatever I am using currently. However, is there anything that could happen to them if they are used on an on-board card? Can they get damaged or lose quality?

Thanks for the help.
 
Solution
i see that you remade a headphone thread.... (i remember the last one)

did you take a look at my other posts as i suggested?
what are your thoughts on the models i listed before in those threads?

most importantly:

what kind of sound profile are you looking for? you will see i ask that in every thread because unless you let us know in detail what you expect what we pick out may not be just right for you. they might be great headphones but perhaps not tuned to your particular sound ideals. let us know.

open vs closed? again, you can find this description in most of my other posts... and also in the "types of headphones" section of my headphone guide (click headphones in my signature). generally its compareable to listening to a band...
i see that you remade a headphone thread.... (i remember the last one)

did you take a look at my other posts as i suggested?
what are your thoughts on the models i listed before in those threads?

most importantly:

what kind of sound profile are you looking for? you will see i ask that in every thread because unless you let us know in detail what you expect what we pick out may not be just right for you. they might be great headphones but perhaps not tuned to your particular sound ideals. let us know.

open vs closed? again, you can find this description in most of my other posts... and also in the "types of headphones" section of my headphone guide (click headphones in my signature). generally its compareable to listening to a band in a small room compared with out in a field. not quite, but a good enough analogy to make sense.

as i said before... the hd598 by sennheiser is a well respected headphone for gaming. it has a wide soundstage and good clarity however it is focused more on highs and mids and doesnt have a big lowend response. it can be used with onboard and powered perfectly fine by that but sounds much better with a good soundcard or external dacamp.

no, you are not likely to damage headphones by plugging them into your motherboard sound. if anything... some headphones might not drive at all since motherboards typically can power headphones only up to about 64ohms of resistance before they start lacking power to push high volumes through.

the astro a40/a50 isnt a terrible headset and the mixamp really isnt a bad idea but they are a bit overpriced for the audio quality you get. perhaps you may enjoy reading this user who was thinking of the a40 vs hd598 http://www.head-fi.org/t/611174/sennheiser-hd-598-vs-astro-a40

--

again... we cannot pick headphones for you unless you let us know your preferences so please list them. (i'm talking about if you like tons of bass, you require very peaky sharp highs, you absolutely need a wide soundstage, you like neutral sounding headphones over more fun V shaped sound curves... that sort of thing)

you need to tell us exactly what you want in a sound signature, and if the amp/dac/soundcard is included in your budget or if that is seperate.

also be aware that some choices like the dt990-250 require you to buy a soundcard or amp now and not later since they will not work with your onboard sound very well due to the high resistance.

do you need virtual surround? if yes, you want a soundcard. if no, you can go either soundcard or external dacamp.

these are all questions we need some answers to (or at least as best as you can) in order for us to say what might be best for you.
 
Solution

nyxanna

Distinguished
Apr 16, 2011
11
0
18,560
With virtual surround you mean hearing where people are, right?
I read that external dacamps give better quality but they don't offer surround. Does this mean that I should definitely buy a sound card?
 
listen to the following with headphones on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9lo6heokBc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04yEtZJVpyY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcp9mNbhtFo

if you like how virtual surround sounds with it on instead of off then i would say that you want a soundcard. if you dont care either way then you might not need it and could get along with an external if you wished.

some people really like virtual while others find it nothing special or they dislike the fact that ALL virtual distorts sound just a little bit. i'm not sure which type you are so you would be best to give the above a listen to let me know your thoughts.

generally though people say dolby headphone is the best sounding virtual... but thats also opinion.

external dac+amp combos can give better quality than some soundcards yes. also since they are isolated from the internal pc electrical noise they have less chance of distortion. its also true that they do not support surround.

if you are not sure.... you could always go with a soundcard now and pick whether you want it on or off in the future. the creative Z series can power some high end headphones and is not terribly expensive but has cmss3d virtual not dolbyheadphone. the xonar dx has dolby headphone but may not be ideal for high ohm headphones. the xonar ST/STX is great for high ohm headphones and has dolby headphone but costs double what the Z and DX do.

keep in mind that what soundcard/dac/amp you go with has alot to do with what kind of headphones you want... generally i say to decide on headphones first and then figure out what works best to power them..