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Which headsett should i buy? ~200-250usd

erikmidtun
By erikmidtun
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Go to solution Solved by Oktyabr,

Would you recomend these for mostly gaming and movie watching? and how are they in general? 

Edit: Are they comfortable to use for about 7 hours a day?

They are excellent.  They do away with the bumpy headbands of some of the earlier AKG K/Q models, have the same (expensive!) earpads made of velour covered memory foam as the K712, very light weight for a headphone their size and the adjustment bands are great!  Just put them on your head.  No messing around trying to get just the right fit.  They adjust their fitment automatically.

Sound quality?  Superb, but I AM an AKG fan so perhaps I'm biased.  I use them for gaming, movies, and of course music... everything from jazz and classical to heavy metal and electronica.  If they didn't make me happy I would have replaced them by now.

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BUY IT! I basically hate what happens to companies under Harman (I don't like how they made JBL and AKG drop their quality control, but I have to hand it to both of them for pumping out great products. I like my Studio 230 from JBL and like the AKG K7XX, though I much prefer the K612, but I miss the times that AKG would make something crazy like the K 240 Sextett/DF/600 ohm headphones that actually sound really good despite being rather not-so-stellar in the bass department) but give them a shot. The K7XX is a China-fied K702 65th anniversary edition as far as I know. Nothing wrong with China, I just hope the factory they have doesn't use children who've been stripped away of their rights to go to school or have fun like kids.

Ah, why are you saying that? that last sentence are holding me back god damn it!  :P Would my pc's integrated soundcard handle these? or do I need an amplifier? These are the same price as the dt990 as i was thinking of buying, but these just looks so much cooler, and I assume they are alot better, cause the price.

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Ah, why are you saying that? that last sentence are holding me back god damn it!  :P Would my pc's integrated soundcard handle these? or do I need an amplifier? These are the same price as the dt990 as i was thinking of buying, but these just looks so much cooler, and I assume they are alot better, cause the price.

Well, just saying that the K7XX is worth every penny (provided it stays $200 or close to it on Massdrop). I personally would use it with the integrated soundcard first and see if I'm able to use it without hearing any EMI and distortion. If you do end up needing an amp, get the SMSL SD793-II (if you have optical out on your motherboard) or the Objective 2 ODAC+amp.

My Grading System on headphones: SS= 98-100, S= 95-97, A+= 91-94, A= 86-90, A-= 81-85, B+= 76-80, B= 71-75, B-= 66-70, C+= 61-65, C= 56-60, C-= 51-55, D+= 46-50, D= 41-45, D-= 36-40, F+= 31-35, F= 26-30, F-= 21-25, Tier 1 crap= 16-20, Tier 2 crap= 11-15, Tier 3 crap= 6-10, Dahell tier= 1-5, No hope= 0                 Nevertheless, "Enjoy what you enjoy without starting some silly culture war" - Lachlanlikesathing. If you Recommend the M50/X in a thead, I would probably send you a dick pic.

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Well, just saying that the K7XX is worth every penny (provided it stays $200 or close to it on Massdrop). I personally would use it with the integrated soundcard first and see if I'm able to use it without hearing any EMI and distortion. If you do end up needing an amp, get the SMSL SD793-II (if you have optical out on your motherboard) or the Objective 2 ODAC+amp.

Well for me it will cost 225 usd, because shipping to Norway is expensive. The motherboard i have in my desktop is Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3, and it does have a optical port and it was advertised with a good integrated soundcard. But unfortunatly there was something wrong with it about 6 weeks ago and I sent it in to repair (may get a new one if i get one by warrenty), but never really heard anything from them. Now i use an older gaming notebook with a bad soundcard. I guess ill have my motherboard back at the time ill get these in the mail thought. But the point is that the notebook is quite bad. So how would they work with my phone, HTC One?

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TumbleButt at least sees the logic in recommending a good open backed headphone. :rolleyes:   If you are already having motherboard problems seriously consider a decent USB DAC/AMP.  It doesn't have to have gobs of power.  Both of those that Tumble recommended are pretty good but there are other options too, such as just about anything by FiiO (with USB and integrated amp), even the Syba Sonic SD-DAC63057, which might not be a bad choice since it has audio IN as well as out, giving you a mic input even if the sound chip on your motherboard is completely dead.  The K7XX is relatively easy to drive.  Should be fine with your phone too.

 

System: i5 6600K@3.6 GHz, Gigabyte Z170XP SLI, 2x8 Corsair DDR 3000, Corsair Hydro H60i cooler, Rosewill CAPSTONE 750w Gold PSU, 1x 512GB SSD, 1x 2TB 7200RPM, Windows 10 Pro x64
Display: XFX R9 390 DD, triple 1920x1200 24" HP monitors (5760x1200 @ 60Hz)   Sound: Audio-gd NFB-11 -> AKG K7XX or 2.1 speaker system

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Although be sure to turn OFF "Boom Sound" on your HTC One when using decent headphones.

System: i5 6600K@3.6 GHz, Gigabyte Z170XP SLI, 2x8 Corsair DDR 3000, Corsair Hydro H60i cooler, Rosewill CAPSTONE 750w Gold PSU, 1x 512GB SSD, 1x 2TB 7200RPM, Windows 10 Pro x64
Display: XFX R9 390 DD, triple 1920x1200 24" HP monitors (5760x1200 @ 60Hz)   Sound: Audio-gd NFB-11 -> AKG K7XX or 2.1 speaker system

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TumbleButt at least sees the logic in recommending a good open backed headphone. :rolleyes:   If you are already having motherboard problems seriously consider a decent USB DAC/AMP.  It doesn't have to have gobs of power.  Both of those that Tumble recommended are pretty good but there are other options too, such as just about anything by FiiO (with USB and integrated amp), even the Syba Sonic SD-DAC63057, which might not be a bad choice since it has audio IN as well as out, giving you a mic input even if the sound chip on your motherboard is completely dead.  The K7XX is relatively easy to drive.  Should be fine with your phone too.

 

 

Ok, thanks, that was about what i needed to hear to go buy these. So I think I will do it now, there is only about 90 of them left, so I guess i have too hurry up.

So I kinda thinks this concludes everything then. Ill get the Modmic at a little later date, but Ill get it. Ill check the K7XX out and see if i need an amp to drive them. I kinda blew my budget, but it is what it is. If these are headphones i can love for at least a couple of years, well then im satisfied.

Thanks for everybodys help!

 

EDIT: I have ordered the AKG K7XX

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TumbleButt at least sees the logic in recommending a good open backed headphone. :rolleyes:   If you are already having motherboard problems seriously consider a decent USB DAC/AMP.  It doesn't have to have gobs of power.  Both of those that Tumble recommended are pretty good but there are other options too, such as just about anything by FiiO (with USB and integrated amp), even the Syba Sonic SD-DAC63057, which might not be a bad choice since it has audio IN as well as out, giving you a mic input even if the sound chip on your motherboard is completely dead.  The K7XX is relatively easy to drive.  Should be fine with your phone too.

 

 

Not sure if you're condescending or whatever. Fiio's E10K is outclassed by the SMSL SD793-II for $10 less and requires just a toslink cable and an optical out. Not sure if I can comment on the Syba, but okay.

 

Well for me it will cost 225 usd, because shipping to Norway is expensive. The motherboard i have in my desktop is Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3, and it does have a optical port and it was advertised with a good integrated soundcard. But unfortunatly there was something wrong with it about 6 weeks ago and I sent it in to repair (may get a new one if i get one by warrenty), but never really heard anything from them. Now i use an older gaming notebook with a bad soundcard. I guess ill have my motherboard back at the time ill get these in the mail thought. But the point is that the notebook is quite bad. So how would they work with my phone, HTC One?

Well, the K7XX should work fine with a smartphone. Sure, its impedance is 62 ohms, but its sensitivity is high enough to work with it.

My Grading System on headphones: SS= 98-100, S= 95-97, A+= 91-94, A= 86-90, A-= 81-85, B+= 76-80, B= 71-75, B-= 66-70, C+= 61-65, C= 56-60, C-= 51-55, D+= 46-50, D= 41-45, D-= 36-40, F+= 31-35, F= 26-30, F-= 21-25, Tier 1 crap= 16-20, Tier 2 crap= 11-15, Tier 3 crap= 6-10, Dahell tier= 1-5, No hope= 0                 Nevertheless, "Enjoy what you enjoy without starting some silly culture war" - Lachlanlikesathing. If you Recommend the M50/X in a thead, I would probably send you a dick pic.

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If you get the AKG K7XX do note they do have a moderate 60 Ohm impedance, some soundcards, and electronic devices may have problems powering them and/or getting the best sound out of them without a dedicated AMP. Part of the reason I opted for a X2 myself was because its relatively low impedance meant they were easy to drive and would work with everything from my computer, my shitty phone, my handheld system, etc. without needing the extra bulk of additional amping hardware.

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If you get the AKG K7XX do note they do have a moderate 60 Ohm impedance, some soundcards, and electronic devices may have problems powering them and/or getting the best sound out of them without a dedicated AMP. Part of the reason I opted for a X2 myself was because its relatively low impedance meant they were easy to drive and would work with everything from my computer, my shitty phone, my handheld system, etc. without needing the extra bulk of additional amping hardware.

Yay! Yet another person that has no idea what impedance actually means for headphones!

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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If you get the AKG K7XX do note they do have a moderate 60 Ohm impedance, some soundcards, and electronic devices may have problems powering them and/or getting the best sound out of them without a dedicated AMP. Part of the reason I opted for a X2 myself was because its relatively low impedance meant they were easy to drive and would work with everything from my computer, my shitty phone, my handheld system, etc. without needing the extra bulk of additional amping hardware.

You'd be surprised how a Sennheiser HD600 runs on on-board audio or even with a smartphone. Hell, I use my HD600 with my iPhone 4 (non-s) and its not as loud as I'd like but its close, and it runs fairly well. Not saying a DAC and amp is not needed, I even have two amp and DAC combos, but when I wanna take a nap on my couch while listening to music, it works well.

My Grading System on headphones: SS= 98-100, S= 95-97, A+= 91-94, A= 86-90, A-= 81-85, B+= 76-80, B= 71-75, B-= 66-70, C+= 61-65, C= 56-60, C-= 51-55, D+= 46-50, D= 41-45, D-= 36-40, F+= 31-35, F= 26-30, F-= 21-25, Tier 1 crap= 16-20, Tier 2 crap= 11-15, Tier 3 crap= 6-10, Dahell tier= 1-5, No hope= 0                 Nevertheless, "Enjoy what you enjoy without starting some silly culture war" - Lachlanlikesathing. If you Recommend the M50/X in a thead, I would probably send you a dick pic.

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Yay! Yet another person that has no idea what impedance actually means for headphones!

Impedance should be removed from spec sheets at some point.

My Grading System on headphones: SS= 98-100, S= 95-97, A+= 91-94, A= 86-90, A-= 81-85, B+= 76-80, B= 71-75, B-= 66-70, C+= 61-65, C= 56-60, C-= 51-55, D+= 46-50, D= 41-45, D-= 36-40, F+= 31-35, F= 26-30, F-= 21-25, Tier 1 crap= 16-20, Tier 2 crap= 11-15, Tier 3 crap= 6-10, Dahell tier= 1-5, No hope= 0                 Nevertheless, "Enjoy what you enjoy without starting some silly culture war" - Lachlanlikesathing. If you Recommend the M50/X in a thead, I would probably send you a dick pic.

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Impedance should be removed from spec sheets at some point.

Well, it's useful if you know you have a source with high output impedance... Also, my phone can get hd650s above listening volume for me!

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Well, it's useful if you know you have a source with high output impedance... Also, my phone can get hd650s above listening volume for me!

Fair enough.

My Grading System on headphones: SS= 98-100, S= 95-97, A+= 91-94, A= 86-90, A-= 81-85, B+= 76-80, B= 71-75, B-= 66-70, C+= 61-65, C= 56-60, C-= 51-55, D+= 46-50, D= 41-45, D-= 36-40, F+= 31-35, F= 26-30, F-= 21-25, Tier 1 crap= 16-20, Tier 2 crap= 11-15, Tier 3 crap= 6-10, Dahell tier= 1-5, No hope= 0                 Nevertheless, "Enjoy what you enjoy without starting some silly culture war" - Lachlanlikesathing. If you Recommend the M50/X in a thead, I would probably send you a dick pic.

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Fair enough.

But honestly, you're very right. I think that impedance should be the new sensitivity (where you have to actually look for impedance instead of it being a published number, sometimes on the cans) and sensitivity should be on the cans, if anything.

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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Yay! Yet another person that has no idea what impedance actually means for headphones!

Can you please explain to me what the impedance actually means? since some people said i could have the dt990 250 ohm no problem, but then the some says that less wouls be a problem. After my understanding it just means that the higher the impedence the less noise it is, and that it is harder to drive? is this not the case?

Thanks!

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Can you please explain to me what the impedance actually means? since some people said i could have the dt990 250 ohm no problem, but then the some says that less wouls be a problem. After my understanding it just means that the higher the impedence the less noise it is, and that it is harder to drive? is this not the case?

Thanks!

The Impedance Ballad, by Creatip123 is a very good place to start. Basically, impedance doesn't mean much of anything for today's audio systems. Sensitivity is the number that decides how loud the headphones will get, for like 99% of the sound. If you have two headphones that are the same (e.g. the Beyer stuff) then the ones with higher impedance should be a slightly different volume. Read the article I linked above, and you should have a pretty good understanding. If you still have questions, feel free to come back and ask :)

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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And if that thread doesn't do it, the link in my siggy has more audio information than anyone could possibly read. Education: requires *some* effort.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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And if that thread doesn't do it, the link in my siggy has more audio information than anyone could possibly read. Education: requires *some* effort.

I'm gonna read it all and come back to let you know! :P

 

Edit: upon actually looking, I realized something; this may take a while. So maybe I'll make a thread dedicated to you ::P

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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I'm gonna read it all and come back to let you know! :P

 

Edit: upon actually looking, I realized something; this may take a while. So maybe I'll make a thread dedicated to you : :P

 

Just use the comments below the post.

Audio Reference • Cutting the Crap • 7.1 Headphones? • Audio Interference Troubleshooting Guide
REVIEWS • HiFiMan HE-560 • Beyerdynamic T1 2. Generation • Schiit Bifrost 4490 • Schiit Valhalla 2
RECOMMENDATIONS • The Audio Board's Recommended Gear

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The Impedance Ballad, by Creatip123 is a very good place to start. Basically, impedance doesn't mean much of anything for today's audio systems. Sensitivity is the number that decides how loud the headphones will get, for like 99% of the sound. If you have two headphones that are the same (e.g. the Beyer stuff) then the ones with higher impedance should be a slightly different volume. Read the article I linked above, and you should have a pretty good understanding. If you still have questions, feel free to come back and ask :)

Well that link sure made some sense, thanks for that one, It was quite easy to understand  :).

 

And if that thread doesn't do it, the link in my siggy has more audio information than anyone could possibly read. Education: requires *some* effort.

Wow, I will defenetly check some of those out, im a as good as a 2 year old when it comes to audio, so this is like a new universe for me. :P

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Just use the comments below the post.

I'm mostly talking about all the links in your audio reference link. If the book section contains books that are as long as I think they might be, this could take days :P

Hey! New SIgnature! 

 

I'm supposedly a person on the Internet, but you'll never know if I'm human or not ;)

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