Headphone recommendations? £200~ budget.

[Vennaya]

So after extensive research, im at my wits end and decided to try and get a second opinion for most of the headsets ive looked at...Dont seem to really...Tickle my pickle.

 

Currently, i have a pair of Audio Technica M50X's, wired, and i am looking for something similar.

Obviously another pair of them, or the wireless version would be an obvious choice...But im wondering if there is anything better.

 

Admitedly, despite being something of an audiophile...I have no idea how i go about buying a new headphone, or really how things like amps etc really work. Someone just bought me a pair of M50x's one day, and fell in love with high quality sound ever since.

 

These are my priorities in order of importance from greatest to least.

 

#1: Sound Quality - They have to be on par or better in terms of sound quality to the ATM50X's. I like a bit of bass, but not so much that it drowns out every else, like my old pair of Razer Krakens i had a few years back.

#2: Comfort - Okay so i know comfort is kind of a nubulous thing, everyone's head is shaped differently...but yea

#3: Wireless, preferably. The wire kinks are getting to me man! ...Buuut so long as its braided, it might be fine. But yea...Wireless prefered.

#4: Closed back....Buuut im willing to give open back a shot, if the reccomendations are good enough.

#5: Amp etc not required - Being able to plug the headphones straight in to my PC or phone is a plus...But again, willing to give that a try.

#6: RGB...because RGB

#7: Ive got a decent budget, but im not gonna break the bank, i dont really want to go over £250 if i can manage it ($320 US dollars)

#8: Mic. A mic is nowhere near necessary, as i already have a desktop microphone. If something is good and just so happens to have a microphone? Great. Otherwise, im just looking for a pair of headphones, not a headset.

 

Any recommendations would be appreciated!

[xtroria]

V-moda crossfade wireless

 

or

 

Sennheiser momentum wireless

[Brooksie359]

Normally I would say hd6xx for that price range because it is a heck of a deal but if you are adamant about closed back then it's out of the running. 

[rice guru]

DT 770 cause to me just what the m50 tries to be but fails pretty badly

[kokakolia]

IMHO, just get the Bose Quiet Comfort QC 35. They're 250£ on Amazon right now. They're everything you're looking for except for RGB. And the M50x is pretty good, but not exceptionnal. So almost any headphone for £100 or more should sound equal or better. 

 

 

[Vennaya]

Thanks for the reccomendations! Will have a look at them!

[Vennaya]

Thanks again for the reccomendations...However...

 

So i went ahead and bought the Bose Quiet Comfort 35 2's, as Kokakolia suggested...And i returned them 3 hours later.

 

Evidently, Wireless isnt a avenue i would like to pursue - It needs expensive bluetooth transmitters if i want to use it for my PC with low latency and high quality, my main use case, and its not something i considered until i actually went to buy them.

They were amazing for music, better than my M50X's by a margin that justifies the price...But for gaming? Again, my main usecase...The sounds were muffled and...Yea, not great. I use my current headphones for equal parts gaming and music, and doesnt let down in any regard...I dont understand why Bose would be good at one thing, but then ingame music is worse...Somehow.

 

If, however, someone could suggest a good bluetooth adapter/transmitter, i may still consider wireless as an option.

 

I apologise i didnt actually mention what exactly i was going to use it for...OOoopps....

 

So yea, im still open to suggestions with that usecase in mind, if anyone had any ideas. I did see the Sony WH-1000XM3 as an option, but im afraid it might have the same problem as the bose - Amazing for music, terrible for gaming. I find it kinda amusing that the M50X's, studio monitors, seem better for that use than the bose was...

[rice guru]

43 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

Thanks again for the reccomendations...However...

 

So i went ahead and bought the Bose Quiet Comfort 35 2's, as Kokakolia suggested...And i returned them 3 hours later.

 

Evidently, Wireless isnt a avenue i would like to pursue - It needs expensive bluetooth transmitters if i want to use it for my PC with low latency and high quality, my main use case, and its not something i considered until i actually went to buy them.

They were amazing for music, better than my M50X's by a margin that justifies the price...But for gaming? Again, my main usecase...The sounds were muffled and...Yea, not great. I use my current headphones for equal parts gaming and music, and doesnt let down in any regard...I dont understand why Bose would be good at one thing, but then ingame music is worse...Somehow.

 

If, however, someone could suggest a good bluetooth adapter/transmitter, i may still consider wireless as an option.

 

I apologise i didnt actually mention what exactly i was going to use it for...OOoopps....

 

So yea, im still open to suggestions with that usecase in mind, if anyone had any ideas. I did see the Sony WH-1000XM3 as an option, but im afraid it might have the same problem as the bose - Amazing for music, terrible for gaming. I find it kinda amusing that the M50X's, studio monitors, seem better for that use than the bose was...

If you want absolutely no latency going with wired is a better route. I would just suggest going with something like. Dt770 or custom game . They have a wider soundstage than the m50 and way better imaging making placing enemies around you more accurate. 

[rice guru]

29 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

There is no wireless solution that offers both low latency and good quality at the same time.

 

I use Bluetooth audio myself. Two sets of Philips Fidelio X2HR, one connected to an ES100 for tuned LDAC, and the other to a Fiio BTR3 for Aptx LL. I use a double male head 3.5mm to connect the Bluetooth receivers so that they are a rigid part of the headset and not have to deal with wires.

 

The transmitters for my PC are a Shanling M0 and simple Avantree Aptx LL dongle for quality and low latency respectively.

Another alternative for aptx LL is the fiio btr1k sounds pretty much as good as the btr 3. I don't think the btr3 has aptx LL

[rice guru]

21 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

It does

I got the BTR3 because it can also receive LDAC to function as a backup for the ES100

Ah must be new it used to not be able to. From what I remembered. Might consider the es 100 for standalone balanced in the future cause I just plug my btr1 k to my fiio q1 mk2 for Bluetooth balanced.

[Vennaya]

11 hours ago, huilun02 said:

There is no wireless solution that offers both low latency and good quality at the same time.

 

I use Bluetooth audio myself. Two sets of Philips Fidelio X2HR, one connected to an ES100 for tuned LDAC, and the other to a Fiio BTR3 for Aptx LL. I use a double male head 3.5mm to connect the Bluetooth receivers so that they are a rigid part of the headset and not have to deal with wires.

 

The transmitters for my PC are a Shanling M0 and simple Avantree Aptx LL dongle for quality and low latency respectively.

What i dont understand is that Wifi has been around for years, and allows for minimal latency and for a lot of data throughput - Why can't bluetooth be the same? Why cant it be both low latency and high quality? I dont understand it - Its a given that wireless would have some delay in it...But not by a full 0.5 seconds. We're coming up to 2020 now - Why does it still feel like we're in the stone age?

[rice guru]

44 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

What i dont understand is that Wifi has been around for years, and allows for minimal latency and for a lot of data throughput - Why can't bluetooth be the same? Why cant it be both low latency and high quality? I dont understand it - Its a given that wireless would have some delay in it...But not by a full 0.5 seconds. We're coming up to 2020 now - Why does it still feel like we're in the stone age?

tis pretty damn good now its just not as implemented as well wifi and bluetooth are 2 entirely different applications. wifi sends numbers and information and you have an entire computer to take all those numbers and convert it into something you can see there is a lot more tech behind it to support it while with bluetooth to make something sound good and low latency is a lot more difficult. there is a massive trade off. because of the tech involved to do so. 

[rice guru]

2 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Beats me.

Would all be fine and dandy if someone made a discrete LDAC transmitter dongle. For some reason there isn't one.

mostly likely due to LDAC is Sony TE$ch and probably has licensing issue in terms of transmitters like phones and DAPS. in terms of transmitter probably not enough demand. people are just getting that  APTX being a good thing.