Fovo

According to Anand and Paul from Newegg the R9-290x will be 550$ and if you are going to do a multi GPU solution get 2 R9-280x'/7970s

Well now that you mention it i didn't notice anything special on surround while skyping, sound was very neutral actually, there was no "surround" effect I could notice, although that could probably be because I was to busy paying attention to the game . But nothing special (bad or good) that I could remember.

Wouldn't pay more than $15 for the Zalman, but I haven't heard of the Sony before tonight.
 
Usually there's some cheap-o lav mic available wherever anyone is looking if the Zalman is marked up, Amazon.ca being a prime example: http://www.amazon.ca/HDE%C2%AE-3-5-Clip-Mini-Microphone/dp/B001N0W2B6/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1381654845&sr=8-7&keywords=mic

I had the Zalman Mic clip and everyone complained that I was to quite, so what I ended up doing was clipping to the straw in a can of air and setting that on my desk. I now use a MOD MIC 3.0 was kind of pricey and did not attach well to my senhisers 555s (I had to tap and glue it to stay straight.) 

Ooooo. The Zalman is nice because it's, well, cheap, but that Sony is stereo!

Anyone heard of the SOny ecm cs3?? http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ECMCS3-Omnidirectional-Stereo-Microphone/dp/B0058MJX4O/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=26L4T53OA82FQ&coliid=I339OO06SHAL4Z probably another option, there is a sony ecm cs10 as well, have no idea how are they against the zalman, i'm looking to buy one of these but have no idea which one.

Well now that you mention it i didn't notice anything special on surround while skyping, sound was very neutral actually, there was no "surround" effect I could notice, although that could probably be because I was to busy paying attention to the game . But nothing special (bad or good) that I could remember.

Sure well to begin I have no amp or sound card so I know I'm under powering my hd650´s, having that said at the time of playing games like Battlefield 3 where sometimes listening to footsteps  can make a difference the Trittons shine a little bit better, the fact of them being analog 5.1 is just really not important (I don't feel the difference with standard stereo to that, prob just marketing) , they are really bass oriented so explosions and gun shots are very immersive, when talking about real stuff like listening to music, there is a huge difference, sure the gaming headset can do the job, its fun and has a lot of bass, but its just plain music with a lot of base, when you listen to music with a GOOD pair of headphones like the hd650 even with no amp the difference is CLEAR, much more oriented to bring out every instrument, they "give live" to music, I use Foobar2000 to play FLAC (recommend Melody Gardot, jazz singer WOW)  files and you can see where the Senns can just make you fall in love with the range of sounds and the gentleness it delivers them to you, unlike the simple BOOM of the gaming headset. If i had to compare them to cars i would say the headset is a regular car that is effective while taking you places, and the good pair of headphones is a Bentley where you can drive softly and comfortably.  Hove i cleared the doubt

Sure well to begin I have no amp or sound card so I know I'm under powering my hd650´s, having that said at the time of playing games like Battlefield 3 where sometimes listening to footsteps  can make a difference the Trittons shine a little bit better, the fact of them being analog 5.1 is just really not important (I don't feel the difference with standard stereo to that, prob just marketing) , they are really bass oriented so explosions and gun shots are very immersive, when talking about real stuff like listening to music, there is a huge difference, sure the gaming headset can do the job, its fun and has a lot of bass, but its just plain music with a lot of base, when you listen to music with a GOOD pair of headphones like the hd650 even with no amp the difference is CLEAR, much more oriented to bring out every instrument, they "give live" to music, I use Foobar2000 to play FLAC (recommend Melody Gardot, jazz singer WOW)  files and you can see where the Senns can just make you fall in love with the range of sounds and the gentleness it delivers them to you, unlike the simple BOOM of the gaming headset. If i had to compare them to cars i would say the headset is a regular car that is effective while taking you places, and the good pair of headphones is a Bentley where you can drive softly and comfortably.  Hove i cleared the doubt

Why sacrifice audio for a mic? Didn't mention it already assuming OP already had a plan for the mic, but if anyone has $500 headphones, I think they can afford any of the various clip-ons or desktop mics.

Their life expectancy is decades dude - if the earpads wear out or the cable brakes you can replace them. I've hand wasked my earpads with lite soap successfully once, and have replaced the cable once so far.

Well I made my two recommendations, and they're pretty much the standard 'round here. The O2 and ODAC measure as good as some really expensive solutions. The FiiO falls just slightly behind but also has that "Made in China" build quality, which isn't horrendous, just not as nicely built as most expensive audiophile solutions obviously.

Do you not need a mic with your headset? I think out of the three options, getting the 598's is the worst, given you already have a set of 650's that you could use if you don't need a mic and don't mind the wear they'll get from everyday use (not a big deal if you look after them) or if you do need a mic the 598's won't have it anyway so your better off picking up a gaming headset. Thats my opinion at least, from someone who regularly uses thier mic though I guess.
 
I've got a gaming headset (logitech g930) and a set of 598's because I much prefer the 598's for pretty much everything but need the mic so often I can't really only have the 598's. I would say just use the 650's if you don't need a mic on the headset liek most the guys have said, if you have them already they are great headphones.

Stick with the 650's, no need to downgrade. The headphones are as solid as a rock and you can fix the thing with a screw driver.
O2+odac is the only thing you'll ever need. Shoot me a message if you would like to take advantage of our discount.

No way bro, everything snaps together.

Hmmm was not aware good to know  , if that's the case ill probably end up using them for gaming/music then  , all I need is an amp solution  :blink: