Need New Pair Of Headphones, Look For...

aeroripper · July 2005

Okay i'm searching for a pair of new headphones but i was looking for a particular kind. Have some of you ever got into maybe a best buy or music shop where they let you try the music? They have the heavy headphones that you put on to test out the music and totally cancels out 1\2-3\4 of the background noise (when you put them on you almost want to go to sleep for some reason (lol)? I am looking on newegg.com but i'm not sure if their a special kind or not but i would really like a pair.

Any suggestions?

EDIT: Also does anybody know if a USB connector headphone gives higher quality than your standard stereo pliug? You know, like the kind that you plug into your portable cd player?

Marik_Steele · July 2005

Right now I'm wearing a pair of Koss UR-20's. I mention them because they have the "closed" design you're looking for, and they've been a good value for the price. I bought them $5 after rebate, and I've noticed <s>no loss</s> in sound quality (edit: okay, now that I test a high-quality sound file out of curiosity, I notice a bit of fidelity loss...but it's not noticeable in games <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' />) over the 2 or more years I've used them.

I should note that they may not cancel out as much sound as you'd like. But it's one more brand to consider.

[edit2]Other brand names I keep seeing in google searches for DJ-quality headphones are Sennheiser and Sony.

[edit3]ArsTechnica offers these three pages as a guide on choosing headphones. I don't know how up-to-date they are:
<a href='http://faq.arstechnica.com/link.php?i=1280' target='_blank'>part 1</a> <a href='http://faq.arstechnica.com/link.php?i=1275' target='_blank'>part 2</a> and <a href='http://faq.arstechnica.com/link.php?i=1279' target='_blank'>part 3</a>.

aeroripper · July 2005

Well i do play a lot of games and after reading the article i guess it just depends what you want. I'd love to have a pair of high-audio cancelation like the ones i described but also be good for gaming seeing as how i won't be listening to classical music :-P. I saw this pair here that sounds cool (USB connector with 5.1 soundcard chip.

<a href='http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826159004' target='_blank'>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16826159004</a>

but i dunno there are so many to choose from. I'm just geting tired of buying cheap $20 headphones from target that start going out after a year...

Marik_Steele · July 2005

I get the impression some USB headphones are intended for people who have lackluster sound cards and want their headphones to do the processing for them. If you don't have a PCI slot or the cash for the newest EAX card this is fine. But if you've already invested in a brand-name sound card, read up on exactly what the USB connection is being used for on the headphones you're looking at. It may be redundant.

[edit]I suppose if the USB connection is intended to communicate a bit extra with an already-installed sound card, that'd be great...but like I say, I doubt all such USB headphones work the same way.

aeroripper · July 2005

nope, i just got a pile of crap ac'97 imbedded audio. It does what its supposed to do but nothing else.

I use to have a creative x-gamer but it doesn't work under XP (sblive! XP drivers says i don't have the sound card installed???) but i dunno...

CForrester · July 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (aeroripper @ Jul 9 2005, 12:16 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> I use to have a creative x-gamer but it doesn't work under XP (sblive! XP drivers says i don't have the sound card installed???) but i dunno...  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
I had that problem. What I did was extract the drivers package and install the sound driver manually (Right click on the INF file and click Install), then reboot and install the software package. Everything worked just fine from there. I can find more detailed instructions, if you want.

aeroripper · July 2005

wow i didn't think of that forrester, PM me with the details (what program you use to extract etc... the help would be appreciated)

anyways, enough derailing :-P

Confused · July 2005

i have a pair of senheiser HD515's that are quite nice.

I got them from crutchfield. (99$)

for their full line: <a href='http://www.crutchfield.com/S-q9iueo7fiOz/cgi-bin/ProdGroup.asp?g=49700' target='_blank'>http://www.crutchfield.com/S-q9iueo7fiOz/c...oup.asp?g=49700</a>

my dad just bought a pair of in ear ones from shure taht really likes
they are the quietest headphones i have ever used. you lierally can't hear some oen talking to you in a loufd voice from 3 feet away. of course that is becasue they aren't electronically cancelling the sound.

<a href='http://www.shurestore.com/index.html' target='_blank'>http://www.shurestore.com/index.html</a>

Cold_NiTe · July 2005

Dragonmech had these cool ones, I remember mentioning that in some other headphone thread. OR at least he had a great suggestion. I just remember hearing about them.

Polarize · July 2005

www.head-fi.org

Really helpful people there. And when asking for a set of headphones, they wont instantly tell you to search <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' />

Im not sure of your budget, but for general home / PC use, take a look at the Sennheiser HD201, or if your budget is a big higher, the HD280 Pro.

If you need a cheap-ish place to buy headphones, check around www.headphone.com . It's also got helpful reviews.

SkinnY · July 2005

yea, go for some Sennheiser, i have the hd477 and love them <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /> really great sound...

Femme_Fatale · July 2005

the Sennheisers are great,but i use a plantronics.

both are really good.
but i prefer a headset and not headphones <img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' />

Venmoch · July 2005

</div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Marik Steele @ Jul 9 2005, 04:03 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> But if you've already invested in a brand-name sound card, read up on exactly what the USB connection is being used for on the headphones you're looking at. It may be redundant.

[edit]I suppose if the USB connection is intended to communicate a bit extra with an already-installed sound card, that'd be great...but like I say, I doubt all such USB headphones work the same way.  </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> 
Yeah the USB becomes the primary sound driver and overides the soundcard.

Which means no funky Creative stuff. Like EAX.

Need New Pair Of Headphones, Look For...

Comments