LF Headphones

[Moonzy]

when u don't know about a topic so much that you don't know how to start asking questions... so ask me relevant questions, i guess

 

basically looking for a pair of headphone (doesnt need a mic) and a USB DAC/AMP to go with it (my PC is in another room)

budget is... idk, somewhere <$250 i suppose? but if there's significantly better option for slightly more, i'll consider it, or if a $100 option would be good enough, then that's great

 

purpose: gaming, rhythm games, not so much into music listening on headphones but i do so occasionally, so nothing too fancy

 

i have a microphone so that's not required, but it's fine if it comes with one

 

currently do not own a DAC/AMP

upgrading from Sennheiser Momentum On-ear (Ivory colored) that i bought around 2016 or so

[Jumballi]

Would wireless work?

 

Just wondering if the trade off for convenience for slightly lower quality noise and latency is worth it to you.

 

I personally use a pair of A50s which sound about where the point diminishing returns starts flattening the curve, but the convenience of it being fully integrated and not having cables to deal with.

[Moonzy]

Just now, Jumballi said:

Would wireless work?

Just wondering if the trade off for convenience for slightly lower quality noise and latency is worth it to you.

I prefer to have 0 latency because I play rhythm games quite competitively, so wired is preferred

[Stahlmann]

50 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

I prefer to have 0 latency because I play rhythm games quite competitively, so wired is preferred

What is a competitive rythm game? Never heard of such a thing

 

A Beyerdynamic DT990 and a FiiO K5 pro seem to fit the bill. They're great headphones that i used a few years and a good matching AMP/DAC combo.

There are two variants of the DT990:

 

The "Pro":

More for heavy duty or studio work. They're on the heavier side, semi-open backed and have a coiled cable. Plus the have more clamping force, so it's much harder to make them fall off.

 

The "Edition":

Extremely light, very sublte clamping force, open backed and a straight cable. (These are the most comfortable headhones you'll ever use. Feels like you're pushing a pillow against your ear.)

 

I've had them both and while they sound pretty much the same, the Edition is a better choice for personal use imo due to the much higher comfort.

 

The FiiO K5 Pro is a very easy-to-use DAC/AMP combo that works without any software and does a good job powering these headphones. (The 250Ohm versions of the DT990's are best fit for this AMP.)

[Moonzy]

25 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

What is a competitive rythm game? Never heard of such a thing

 

A Beyerdynamic DT990 and a FiiO K5 pro seem to fit the bill. They're great headphones that i used a few years and a good matching AMP/DAC combo.

There are two variants of the DT990:

 

The "Pro":

More for heavy duty or studio work. They're on the heavier side, semi-open backed and have a coiled cable. Plus the have more clamping force, so it's much harder to make them fall off.

 

The "Edition":

Extremely light, very sublte clamping force, open backed and a straight cable. (These are the most comfortable headhones you'll ever use. Feels like you're pushing a pillow against your ear.)

 

I've had them both and while they sound pretty much the same, the Edition is a better choice for personal use imo due to the much higher comfort.

 

The FiiO K5 Pro is a very easy-to-use DAC/AMP combo that works without any software and does a good job powering these headphones. (The 250Ohm versions of the DT990's are best fit for this AMP.)

Looks fine, do you wear glasses by any chance?

 

My on-ear actually caused my ears to bleed by clamping on my ears against the glasses frame, so I'm looking for over ear this time, the dt990 edition looks okay though

 

Both items combined would be around $400 hmm

[Stahlmann]

8 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Looks fine, do you wear glasses by any chance?

I don't but i have a friend that wears glasses all the time and uses my former DT990 Edition. It works without problem for him.

 

8 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

My on-ear actually caused my ears to bleed by clamping on my ears against the glasses frame, so I'm looking for over ear this time, the dt990 edition looks okay though

Yeah that sounds bad, but the "Edition" is so soft and light that i don't see it being an issue for someone with glasses.

 

8 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

Both items combined would be around $400 hmm

You can also go for the 32Ohm model which doesn't require any AMP and can even be powered by a phone. (provided you find one with 3.5mm jack...)

But you'll lose some fidelity going with the lower ohm model. They're still a lot better than comparable standalone headsets. And this way you can save a buck not needing the AMP/DAC.

[Moonzy]

1 minute ago, Stahlmann said:

And this way you can save a buck not needing the AMP/DAC.

Hmm...

My computer is not in the same room, so I'm currently using a long extension which would affect audio quality, so I would think having a DAC amp on my desk would solve that

 

But you're right I do have ways to not need DAC amp, my atr2500 USB mic does come with a 3.5mm jack, albeit idk how well it is

[Stahlmann]

1 minute ago, Moonzy said:

Hmm...

My computer is not in the same room, so I'm currently using a long extension which would affect audio quality, so I would think having a DAC amp on my desk would solve that

 

But you're right I do have ways to not need DAC amp, my atr2500 USB mic does come with a 3.5mm jack, albeit idk how well it is

If you're using a high-quality cable then this shouldn't be a problem. I used about 5m of cable for a headphone before.

[SorryBella]

2 hours ago, Moonzy said:

basically looking for a pair of headphone (doesnt need a mic) and a USB DAC/AMP to go with it (my PC is in another room)

budget is... idk, somewhere <$250 i suppose? but if there's significantly better option for slightly more, i'll consider it, or if a $100 option would be good enough, then that's great

@Stahlmannnailed it on the head, 770 and 990 would be my pick at that 200-250$, with Fiio DACs.

[Moonzy]

@Stahlmann @SorryClaireso only DT990 Pro is available here

 

as for DAC, i might actually use it on my Logitech z333 (that i'll be buying, unless there's better recommendations) too

and plug the headphone into the side of the volume knob when i want to use them

 

because i tried using 2 separate audio device on windows and boy is it a headache everytime u switch

[Moonzy]

right now am looking at the HD 6xx as recommended by one of my friend, any comments? @SorryClaire @Stahlmann

[Stahlmann]

33 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

right now am looking at the HD 6xx as recommended by one of my friend, any comments? @SorryClaire @Stahlmann

I don't have any experience with those. Maybe @rice guru or @Tigerleon can help further.

[Tigerleon]

37 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

right now am looking at the HD 6xx as recommended by one of my friend, any comments?

The 6xx are very mid forward and neutral headphones with almost no punch in the bass. They are detailed, mediocre soundstage and good imaging. The 58x are better for imaging and they have a bit more punch to them which would suit rythm games.

Edit: That being said, do you think you value soundstage over imaging since rythm games might sound better with a large soundstage and a bit more bass?

[Tigerleon]

1 hour ago, Moonzy said:

as for DAC, i might actually use it on my Logitech z333

You probably wont need anything else yes. You could use that.

[Moonzy]

18 minutes ago, Tigerleon said:

The 6xx are very mid forward and neutral headphones with almost no punch in the bass. They are detailed, mediocre soundstage and good imaging. The 58x are better for imaging and they have a bit more punch to them which would suit rythm games.

Edit: That being said, do you think you value soundstage over imaging since rythm games might sound better with a large soundstage and a bit more bass?

i'll be honest with ya, i know absolutely nothing about what u just tried to convey x-x

 

soundstage = openback headset?

 

16 minutes ago, Tigerleon said:

You probably wont need anything else yes. You could use that.

HD6xx doesnt seem available here, so maybe sticking to DT990 Pro

[Tigerleon]

12 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

soundstage = openback headset?

Not only open backed. But also depth of the pads, and other different things affect soundstage.

13 minutes ago, Moonzy said:

HD6xx doesnt seem available here, so maybe sticking to DT990 Pro

The DT990 Pros have been my first "audiophile" headphone aka, good studio headphone coming from a gaming headset. I loved them but got kinda flimsy. They just don't hold up very good. The pads get pretty flat, the headband can also get uncomfortable after a while. The build of the plastic and metal is good tho. Don't get me wrong they are still great headphones. They have punchy bass, not a very BIG soundstage but they have soundstage and they have very good imaging. I use the Fidelio X2HR now which are one of the most open headphones I've seen reviewed or heard giving that awesome large soundstage. The pads are memory foam which none mentioned above are, they are deep and have a large hammock type headband adjusting to any head shape. Their imaging is less good but still holds up great for me when I play FPS games. They sound amazing for music as well since they are balanced and more closer to neutral than the 990's. You also have to take into consideration that if you are sensitive of treble, you probably shouldn't get the 990's. They are very sharp in the higher regions of the FR. But they definitely give a comptetetive advantage over the X2's or probably even the Sennheisers you mentioned.

[rice guru]

7 hours ago, Moonzy said:

when u don't know about a topic so much that you don't know how to start asking questions... so ask me relevant questions, i guess

 

basically looking for a pair of headphone (doesnt need a mic) and a USB DAC/AMP to go with it (my PC is in another room)

budget is... idk, somewhere <$250 i suppose? but if there's significantly better option for slightly more, i'll consider it, or if a $100 option would be good enough, then that's great

 

purpose: gaming, rhythm games, not so much into music listening on headphones but i do so occasionally, so nothing too fancy

 

i have a microphone so that's not required, but it's fine if it comes with one

 

currently do not own a DAC/AMP

upgrading from Sennheiser Momentum On-ear (Ivory colored) that i bought around 2016 or so

Do you play shooters at all? I just want to gauge how important certain aspects of the headphone will be to you

[Moonzy]

3 minutes ago, rice guru said:

Do you play shooters at all? I just want to gauge how important certain aspects of the headphone will be to you

almost never, not at the moment

[rice guru]

1 hour ago, Moonzy said:

almost never, not at the moment

Cool that certainly opens up options. Aspects like imaging and soundstage won't be super important and we can just focus on stuff sounding great.  Knowing rythm.games and OSU. I assume a lot of the music you will be listed to will be a lot of kpop and j pop.  In which case it's  hard to really reccomend anything aside the akg k371. It's a pretty nice closed back for most music by shines in Kpop , j rock and jpop. In terms of dac /amp in the current market it's really hard to beat a dongle dac for the remaining budget for source. We can go cheap$15 CX pro from Ali express

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mMNmNxn Or a nilkin for a bit more money   http://nillkin.org/accessories/cables/nillkin-type-c-3-5-hifi-dac 

And even the ibasso DC 04 if you want to get something really nice for the rest of your budget. https://hifigo.com/products/ibasso-dc04

All of these should be a bit better than on board especially the ibasso. 

If we do want an open back instead the Fidelio X2 hr , hd58x, and beyerdynamic tygrs are my picks. 

[Moonzy]

2 hours ago, rice guru said:

I assume a lot of the music you will be listed to will be a lot of kpop and j pop

it's a mix really

mostly jpop and EDMs

 

2 hours ago, rice guru said:

In which case it's  hard to really reccomend anything aside the akg k371.

 

2 hours ago, rice guru said:

If we do want an open back instead the Fidelio X2 hr , hd58x, and beyerdynamic tygrs are my picks. 

how are these compared to the DT990 Pro?

 

for DAC/AMP, i think i'll not buy one for now, but i'll keep your recommendations in case the headphones dont sound loud enough, then i'll grab one

other than loudness, i assume there's more to it though, yes?

[rice guru]

11 hours ago, Moonzy said:

it's a mix really

mostly jpop and EDMs

 

 

how are these compared to the DT990 Pro?

 

for DAC/AMP, i think i'll not buy one for now, but i'll keep your recommendations in case the headphones dont sound loud enough, then i'll grab one

other than loudness, i assume there's more to it though, yes?

The 990 is known for its very bright treble the mellows out a bit over time with pad break in which takes a few months the tygr is  very similar the 990 but easy to drive and tuned to be less sharp and be much more pleasant to listen to with a more balanced yet nice warm signature with a bit of an edge on the treble . The 58x is a smooth mid forward headphone with a nice amount of bass still mellow compared to consumer gear but is present its narrower sounding than the 990 and the imaging is slightly weaker. But it's a more pleasant listen to most. The Fidelio X2 hr. Has less resolution than the 990 but it's a much smoother more pleasant more balanced sound. Built better and initially more comfortable. My favorite off the 3 is the tygr