Audiophiles - earphone advice

[Pext]

I love my Bose QuietComfort15 - but they're ~400$

[DTS]

Are you likely to get good sound with really good headphones on a PSP without an amp?

I mostly care about Gran Turismo, but I have some WAV(e) files on there.

[Don Carlos]

The sound is as good as the source. I don't see why it wouldn't be half tidy with reasonable headphones

[DTS]

What's this about people using headphone amplifiers, for high-end headphones, then?

[Don Carlos]

No idea - perhaps someone more knowledgable than myself knows?

[obsidian]

Some high-end headphones (not earphones) require more voltage for optimal results than what the output device (your iPod) can produce. That's where the amp comes in. You probably won't notice any difference playing games, or if you are using cheap headphones, or any earphones, or if you are using low bit-rate recordings.

[bitWISE]

What's this about people using headphone amplifiers, for high-end headphones, then?

Amplifiers deal most directly with wattage and resistance. The vast majority of consumer headphones are built for low-impedance (16-50 ohms) which means it takes less voltage to power them (ideal for battery powered devices). But a lot of really high-end headphones are designed for high-impedance (100-600 ohms) which basically requires an external amplifier.

These days, there really isn't any difference between the two impedance options as long as you match up your headphones to the hardware feeding them. Earbuds by definition are designed to be used without external amps.

[Don Carlos]

Knowledge bombs going off all over the place

[mrd]

You probably won't notice any difference playing games, or if you are using cheap headphones, or any earphones, or if you are using low bit-rate recordings.

Right, so that covers off about 98% of listening situations

[Don Carlos]

If that's still too much, try the Ultimate Ears UE350 ($50), decent sound for cheap. Very well reviewed - good sound, nice fit.

Excellent set of earphone so far; very very impressed with the clarity and richness of the sound.
The fit is, as suggest, wonderful. A small amount of slipage during running but much better the beats and skullcandy offerings I was using.

Awesome recommendation - thanks a lot dude

[obsidian]

You probably won't notice any difference playing games, or if you are using cheap headphones, or any earphones, or if you are using low bit-rate recordings.

Right, so that covers off about 98% of listening situations

That does include those who have high bitrate/lossless recordings who are using a decent pair of headphones.

Awesome recommendation - thanks a lot dude

NP.

[ToxicBug]

I dunno guys, I think AAA games and BD rips of movies sound pretty good.

[Scarface]

Beats and Skullcandy are both shit.

I can't speak for skullcandy, however, about 7 months back I bought a set of monster beats studio for about $350 CAN, and they are fucking tits. Clear low/mid/highs, accurate sound, no distortion ( even on high levels ) and noise cancelling.

[obsidian]

I'm sure they're pretty good, they just aren't anywhere close to being worth $350. I'd consider buying Beats if I were looking for something well under-$100 and they were priced as such. For $350 you can pick up a really decent pair of Sennheisers, Grados, Beyers, AKG, or Audio Technicas, all of which will outperform the Beats by far.

[mrd]

I'm sure they're pretty good, they just aren't anywhere close to being worth $350. I'd consider buying Beats if I were looking for something well under-$100 and they were priced as such. For $350 you can pick up a really decent pair of Sennheisers, Grados, Beyers, AKG, or Audio Technicas, all of which will outperform the Beats by far.

I bought a pair of ~$120 Sennheisers years ago and they still sound fantastic. The foamy bits are fraying but the sound is ace.

[GONNAFISTYA]

I'm sure they're pretty good, they just aren't anywhere close to being worth $350. I'd consider buying Beats if I were looking for something well under-$100 and they were priced as such. For $350 you can pick up a really decent pair of Sennheisers, Grados, Beyers, AKG, or Audio Technicas, all of which will outperform the Beats by far.

I still think the Sennheisers, AKGs and Audio Technicas are overrated. In the $350 (before VAT) range, the Inspirations I bought a few months ago (from Monster) are still top notch and just last weekend I had an opportunity for a direct comparison to a set of AKGs (which are the ugliest headphone design you can buy..fucking 1960 revisited Austin Powers BS...jesus...) and the Inspirations blew them out of the water in not only sound quality but build quality.

Dunno....everyone says Sennheisers, AKG, or Audio Technicas are "the best" and it's simply not what I've experienced....and I've been a Sennheiser junkie for more than 5 years. Sennheiser has always had great build quality, but their sound quality has been hit and miss the last 3 years. Trust me...I've noticed.

[Don Carlos]

I love Sennheiser but the Shure headphones I tried the other day were astoundingly good. I heard things in a song I listen to quite often that I didn't know where there.

[GONNAFISTYA]

Regarding Sennheiser and "hearing things you didn't notice were there" it was oh-so-obvious when I used my Inspirations for the first time at home.

I was playing Skyrim with my old Sennheisers and I was deep in some Draugr dungeon and was about to unlock a door with a claw when I left to go do some errands and get a new set of headphones (I even left the game running). I had no idea which headphones I'd ultimately get, but I was determined to come back with a huge improvement over my old Senns set.

When I got back and plugged the Inspirations into my PC and played where I left off I almost shit my pants when I opened the door in-game...I could hear so many things going on I never heard before. Stuff I NEVER heard with my Sennheisers or Sonys. Needless to say, I had a massive smile on my face as I continued Skyrim that day.

YMMV...as it always does with headphones.

[edit] Oops...I just re-read your post and noticed you were talking about Shure. They also make the best mics.

[Deathshroud]

I've been thinking about ditching my current home setup (HiFiman HE300 + Fiio E10) for a pair of Sennheiser HD650 and a DAC+AMP combo from Schiit. That would cost quite a bit of money, so I'm hesitating.

[mrd]

Whoa, small world. My buddy was just showing me some stuff from Schiit earlier today. Checkout their write-up for the PYST cables. High tech schiit!

[Deathshroud]

Did a little research and I might opt for the Hifiman HE400's instead.

[U4EA]

Gonna be lazy and ask for recommendations prior to doing any research. I'd be looking at a budget of $200-300 for a pair of gaming headphones. I'm not using any special hardware or anything, just the onboard sound card in my PC. Doesn't have to be noise cancelling, but good padding for comfortable usage would be great.

edit: I usually get my headphones from from Headphonic, which is a great Australia based online store. Here's their current list of recommendations: http://headphones.com.au/forums/viewtop ... f=2&t=6206

[bitWISE]

Gonna be lazy and ask for recommendations prior to doing any research. I'd be looking at a budget of $200-300 for a pair of gaming headphones. I'm not using any special hardware or anything, just the onboard sound card in my PC. Doesn't have to be noise cancelling, but good padding for comfortable usage would be great.

edit: I usually get my headphones from from Headphonic, which is a great Australia based online store. Here's there current list of recommendations: http://headphones.com.au/forums/viewforum.php?f=2

I have the HD555 and they were amazing back when I played WoW/Diablo3. I could wear for literally days straight without any discomfort and the sound quality is ace. For a microphone I just use a clip on zalman and got pretty good clarity out of it.

I think the 558 replaced the 555. You could even spring for 598 if you like their style. Just be sure you verify that whatever you buy runs at no more than 50 ohms since you just want to use a stock soundcard.

[obsidian]

The HD555 is what I'm using on my PC with my webcam mic. I don't know if that's ideal for gaming versus something like one of Sennheiser's dedicated gaming headsets or others by the competition, but the HD555's are great or all round normal use, music, movies, etc. and it works fine for me when gaming.

[U4EA]

Thank you gentlemen. I found the HD558 on this website, and based on your descriptions it matches my requirements pretty much bang on [don't need a microphone anymore, and overall solid performance is fine rather than anything specifically targeting games]. It also has exactly 50 Ohm impedance, so hurrah for that.

edit: Velour-covered pads? What more could a man want?