Options for 100 for this setup?

[Godospartan]

So, im finally getting a wicked system for myself. But im gonna need to upgrade my peripherals. I already got a great mouse, know which keyboard to grab, and a mic. G600 check, gamdias hermes and blu snowball. But the ears, im just so scared to leap....

 

Im unsure if i grab, say, the 558s, is need a dac and amp. My build has a gigabyte z170 gaming 5 motherboard, im gonna game, listen to music, watch movies and more. Id prefer a clear accurate soundstage of everything but still be punchy enough to make me feel it. Not bass heavy, but enough where skyrim dragon fights or grenades in CS:GO make my hair stand and my heart skips.

 

Ive thought maybe the hyperx cloud 1, the 558s, and taks, though forgot which ones.

[DrM]

the 558 will give much better sound quality than the clouds. you wont need a dac/amp with them since theyre only 50 ohms; the clouds are actually harder to run at 60 ohms. Either way onboard sound is more than enough to power these.

[Godospartan]

41 minutes ago, DrM said:

the 558 will give much better sound quality than the clouds. you wont need a dac/amp with them since theyre only 50 ohms; the clouds are actually harder to run at 60 ohms. Either way onboard sound is more than enough to power these.

The only thing im worried about on those is the punch and power, whilst im no bass head, i wanna still feel it. So as long as they give me some decent bass, i guess they are my best bet

[DarkSmith2]

try and error method. We cant know if its enough "punch and power" for your subjective hearing.

HD558 are known as neutral/warm sounding with big stage. But with DAC it shouldn't get much better then your onboard "115dB SNR HD Audio with Built-in Rear Audio Amplifier" when it works as described ^.^

[spwath]

9 hours ago, DrM said:

 you wont need a dac/amp with them since theyre only 50 ohms; the clouds are actually harder to run at 60 ohms. 

Not correct, sensitivity is a bigger determining factor that impedance, so the 558 could be harder to drive ( though i don't know if they are)

[Godospartan]

6 hours ago, DarkSmith2 said:

try and error method. We cant know if its enough "punch and power" for your subjective hearing.

HD558 are known as neutral/warm sounding with big stage. But with DAC it shouldn't get much better then your onboard "115dB SNR HD Audio with Built-in Rear Audio Amplifier" when it works as described ^.^

Well, heres a reference. Ive currently got the sentey soniq boom 40mm driver 32ohm gaming headset. Its got a bit too much bass and makes things loud instead of clear.

 

But understood, thank you. Im sure if sennheisers so popular its for a reason.

[DarkSmith2]

1 hour ago, Godospartan said:

Well, heres a reference. Ive currently got the sentey soniq boom 40mm driver 32ohm gaming headset. Its got a bit too much bass and makes things loud instead of clear.

 

But understood, thank you. Im sure if sennheisers so popular its for a reason.

Well im using mine modded as Headset.

i firstly used them with my onboard, which should be way worse then yours, it worked but i wasnt very impressed anymore after a short while. I only have an Asrock Z68 extreme3 gen3. Then i tried a USB-Soundcard cheap thingy and it was louder, when i shot the AWP on CSGO i winced. And now im using this:

 

And this turned my computer in a whole different PC, i dont know. I feel like with this sound my PC is like 3times better then before haha

 

So yea in comparisson to any gaming headset the hd558 should be superior with potential to get even better. Amplifying them made a difference for me. But im not sure if its because my onboard sound/amp sucks compared to yours. You should give them a try.

 

PS: ive also made the foam Mod
http://marlene-d.blogspot.de/2014/04/review-sennheiser-hd-558-modded.html

[Godospartan]

1 hour ago, DarkSmith2 said:

Well im using mine modded as Headset.

i firstly used them with my onboard, which should be way worse then yours, it worked but i wasnt very impressed anymore after a short while. I only have an Asrock Z68 extreme3 gen3. Then i tried a USB-Soundcard cheap thingy and it was louder, when i shot the AWP on CSGO i winced. And now im using this:

 

And this turned my computer in a whole different PC, i dont know. I feel like with this sound my PC is like 3times better then before haha

 

So yea in comparisson to any gaming headset the hd558 should be superior with potential to get even better. Amplifying them made a difference for me. But im not sure if its because my onboard sound/amp sucks compared to yours. You should give them a try.

 

PS: ive also made the foam Mod
http://marlene-d.blogspot.de/2014/04/review-sennheiser-hd-558-modded.html

Im gonna refuse messing with the internals here, i highly doubt a single peice of taped foam is gonna ruin the sound directed unhampered to my drums. Heck, it might give me that extra punch if it reclects more of the sound to my ear.

 

But yeah we will see. Thank you, youve helped me greatly. Though i do wonder how you got that v moda on there...

[DarkSmith2]

1 hour ago, Godospartan said:

Im gonna refuse messing with the internals here, i highly doubt a single peice of taped foam is gonna ruin the sound directed unhampered to my drums. Heck, it might give me that extra punch if it reclects more of the sound to my ear.

 

But yeah we will see. Thank you, youve helped me greatly. Though i do wonder how you got that v moda on there...

You have to remove the Sennheiser cable lock mechanism and add a 2,5mm to 3,5mm adapter instead. This Video Explains it:

But its hard to find a really good Adapter i tried alot and ended up using the same Nokia AD-52 Adapter the guy is using in his vid (which needs a little further modding).

 

So far the best Adapter i tried, best quality and tightest female connection with the vmoda boompro ^.^ You can plug any 3,5mm cable into it.

im also thinking about to make the mod more perfect using a clamp to fixate the adapter to the Headphone. There is the perfect space for that and screw holes from the cable lock mechanism are already given.

 

But yea i have to find a clamp that fits..

 

PS: The foam does change the sound of the headphones, if removed it makes the stage larger and maybe the bass a little bit less punchy, well its subjectiv you dont have to remove the foam to have good headphones. I like it more with Mod. But what i have to say is that burn in these phones does an incredible difference, so dont be dissapointed if you buy them and you are not satisfied with them right from begin with. Give them time.

[Godospartan]

2 hours ago, DarkSmith2 said:

You have to remove the Sennheiser cable lock mechanism and add a 2,5mm to 3,5mm adapter instead. This Video Explains it:

But its hard to find a really good Adapter i tried alot and ended up using the same Nokia AD-52 Adapter the guy is using in his vid (which needs a little further modding).

 

So far the best Adapter i tried, best quality and tightest female connection with the vmoda boompro ^.^ You can plug any 3,5mm cable into it.

im also thinking about to make the mod more perfect using a clamp to fixate the adapter to the Headphone. There is the perfect space for that and screw holes from the cable lock mechanism are already given.

 

But yea i have to find a clamp that fits..

 

PS: The foam does change the sound of the headphones, if removed it makes the stage larger and maybe the bass a little bit less punchy, well its subjectiv you dont have to remove the foam to have good headphones. I like it more with Mod. But what i have to say is that burn in these phones does an incredible difference, so dont be dissapointed if you buy them and you are not satisfied with them right from begin with. Give them time.

I belive the foam mod is a placebo effect, honestly. Again, i doubt sennheiser did it just to worsen the sound. Though this is more opinion orientated.

 

Yeah my current headset took a bit, these ill give time.