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Headphones; Earphones/Headphones
Topic Started: Dec 26 2011, 08:43 PM (522 Views)
TheOneInYellow
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[Note! This is a possible TL;DR post for some people, otherwise, please read...].

I am going to start with a rant, as a good friend on this forum has upset me greatly with his scathing words, and I do not think he has realised by how much, so please, to the person and anyone reading: don't think of this rant as an end to our friendship, all friends argue about certain opinions, and this is just one of them. Good friends should be able to argue, but also play nice too :thumbup:

Ok, here goes:

I posted on the shoutbox about a particular Cyber Boxing Day Deal that, I believe, to be very, very good, for those who can afford it. It deals with a pretty expensive In-Ear earphone (known as either IEM or Universal Earphone), that has three balanced armature drivers. Similar IEM's cost around £200/$315, so to see one of the good veteran triple-driver IEM's for about £109/$170.62 is excellent, especially to audiophiles, audio engineers, and music lovers, but obviously that price is very high and unnecessary for some.
Here are he links for the deals and IEM's in question:

Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10 Pro
Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10 Pro via Amazon.com

Now, I don't have the so-called 'Golden ears' and can hear better than someone else's ears, but I have trained my ears to hear subtle nuances and details to music, of varying genres. This came for studying Music Technology as an academic subject, which is more than 'create-music-on-software-that-any-tom-dick-and-harry-can-do-in-a-bedroom'; I was studying how to record music professionally, set-up Live Music Environments (Live Sound) and listen to particular frequencies (and adjust the EQ of a room so that music sounds good), use professional Digital Audio Workstations (Logic Pro 9 and Ableton Live 8), and so forth.
I also knew, even before studying, but gained more knowledge during my studies, the importance of headphones and earphones (HP/EP henceforth).
First, HP/EP's are excellent devices for audio reproduction (depending on quality), have excellent imaging, soundstage, precision, etc. HP/EP's are usually superior to speakers in due to the basis of all HP/EP: they don't need to push air in a room to your ears, but push air (extremely) close to your ears. Unfortunatley, the energy of speakers (the music physically hitting your body, especially bass slam) cannot be replicated by HP/EP's, but they can do everything else, especially resolving music detail.
Second, poor quality HP/EP's cannot resolve audio properly; they cannot obtain music detail as well as better HP/EP's/Speakers, and this is critical to those who work in the music industry or who would like to music with the best possible quality that they can afford (be that from £30 HP/EP's or custom monitors that retail in their hundreds, since they are designed for your ears by creating ear moulds).

The member in question wrote a comment in the shoutbox following one from my own shouts about the 'Deals'. His first two sentences are an ultimatum that I found, in honest terms, disgusting:

Quote:
 
"For anything over £35 (approx. $50), I'd want my headphones to give me a blowjob too. There is simply no reason to pay any more than that. At all. Ever. NO EXCUSE."
For those who work or have studied or want to work in the music industry, this is not just wrong, rude, and obnoxious, but its the type of crap that both those who simply do not care about other peoples passions and the shitty side of the audiophile industry (snake-oil) have to both put up with and defend ourselves with. This is classic troll behaviour.

His last sentence, however, is correct:
Quote:
 
"And fuck Dr. Dre and his stupid Beats, too."
I do NOT CONDONE ANYTHING DR.DRE BEATS, as they are a pile of SHIT (using a smiley EQ curve), but I do condone HP/EP's that can playback music well. The Sennheiser bottom range is certainly very good (such as the Sennheiser CX 400-II or below), but you can get better, provided you have a good source and amplifier (which, again, not many music listeners need or want to do to enjoy music).
His assertion that I have "NO EXCUSE" to defend myself or explain my point of view, whereas he can, is childish (though it can be argued that my topic and post is also very childish too), but I have a right to defend myself, as so I will:

EP/HP's are not snake oil, they are good for critical or general listening, but if you don't want or need to purchase expensive ones, don't. However, don't make false statements that are your own opinion, especially to those who are working or have studied in the music industry. I can't afford custom monitors, as the Recording/Live engineers who have taught me and I have looked up to who own such IEM's, but that is something for the future. Right now, owning second best to what they have at a price I can afford from the Christmas Holiday (and that my family support) is a real dream; to me, I can at least continue my private studies in Music Technology (Audio Mastering) and enjoy music whilst I continue to try to get into a job (possibly as an apprentice) at a music Studio.
Edited by TheOneInYellow, Dec 26 2011, 09:53 PM.
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porottaja
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Yellow, you should start adding TL;DR versions on your posts.

But as I mentioned in shoubox, I don't use earbuds at all. Only 'proper' headphones.
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TheOneInYellow
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porottaja
Dec 26 2011, 09:41 PM
Yellow, you should start adding TL;DR versions on your posts.
:(( . Fine, yes, I shall edit a TL;DL in my post...still... :(

porottaja
Dec 26 2011, 09:41 PM
But as I mentioned in shoubox, I don't use earbuds at all. Only 'proper' headphones.
What do you use, as I currently use the open-back AKG K 701's, from PC audio to Xbox 360 (in combination with my Turtle Beach EarForce 7.1 DSS Dolby Digital Device and my NuForce Icon Destktop/HP amp and DAC)?
I also use the Etymotic ER-6i IEM's for travelling/mastering audio...

Edited by TheOneInYellow, Dec 26 2011, 09:53 PM.
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porottaja
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Oh yes:

For my Xbox, I use Steelseries Spectrum 4xb.

For my desktop computer, I use Logitech USB H330.

And for my laptop, I use certain Maxell headset that I can't find on the internet right now.
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crazybydefault
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Ever since I started using in-ear headphones, I haven't gone back. I freakin' love them! They usually provide great bass-response and seal out background noise pretty well.

However, I'm not much of an audiophile, so the only time where sound quality bugs me is when it's noticeably bad (as in: EVERYBODY thinks it's terrible). Which is kind of odd, because I do audio engineering in my spare time :P

I also use my headphones everywhere I go, so I don't want to invest in a super expensive pair of headphones only to have them break a few days later.

I just use a pair of $25 Sony earbuds that work pretty well for my tastes!
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TheOneInYellow
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porottaja
Dec 26 2011, 10:07 PM
Oh yes:

For my Xbox, I use Steelseries Spectrum 4xb.

For my desktop computer, I use Logitech USB H330.

And for my laptop, I use certain Maxell headset that I can't find on the internet right now.
The SteelSeries have decent to good headphones, but yours is very good, especially as it uses just two large diaphragm drivers (rather than rubbish multi-driver headphones that have multiple tiny drivers). I also like the mic tech and the controls of your HP set; tastier to use when gaming, so beats mine (I either use my AKG K 701/EarForce DSS 7.1 for single play, but can only use my JohnBlue JB3 speakers when playing with friends and using Microsoft headsets (wireless/wired). So yeah, I'm a bit jealous :stab:
On the other hand, I don't like your Logitech cans, but if it works for you then that's good; again, I have to use my speakers, my wireless mic and/or wired mic and 360 controller, and a Microsoft PC/360 wireless connector just to use Skype or (in the past) speak to friends whilst gaming, so I might pick a variation of what you've got in the future...

crazybydefault
Dec 27 2011, 12:04 AM
Ever since I started using in-ear headphones, I haven't gone back. I freakin' love them! They usually provide great bass-response and seal out background noise pretty well.

However, I'm not much of an audiophile, so the only time where sound quality bugs me is when it's noticeably bad (as in: EVERYBODY thinks it's terrible). Which is kind of odd, because I do audio engineering in my spare time :P

I also use my headphones everywhere I go, so I don't want to invest in a super expensive pair of headphones only to have them break a few days later.

I just use a pair of $25 Sony earbuds that work pretty well for my tastes!
That's cool, my first great earphones from seven years ago were my (now-discontinued) £35 Sony EX-71SLB's (initial international batch were the Japanese Version), which were awesome and bass heavy, but about a year later, after I ruined them since I never took care of them, I broke them. Sad day :cry: . I bought new ones, however, the wire sheathing started to crack and fall apart in multiple places. :blink: Got replacements under warranty, and the same thing happened again. Researching on the 'net revealed that the International versions of the EX-71's had a different cable sheath, which would crack from skin oils and/or sweat, which is stupid for those who exercised with them :curse:
I still think that the Sennheiser's are the best earphone makers from the lowest priced to highest priced IEM's, and their CK range is very good. Audio-Technica are second, Sony third for some versions. What Sony earphones do you use btw?

If you want to improve the quality of your digital music, rip your CD's in MP3 @ either CBR 320 kbps or VBR 256 kbps. In fact, if you can, use the LAME encoder/decoder (research this on the net), as this is the BEST MP3 Encoder/Decoder available (many studios, record companies, artists such as Nine Inch Nails, or audiophile download websites use LAME). This will be a big boost. I don't like the iTunes store due to their crappy 192 kbps or 256 AAC format, but if they were to sell 320 kbps AAC/MP3, I would go back to them. Maybe...
And for ripping, if you want the easiest way for decent quality, use iTunes, but make sure that Error Correction is ticked 'on' in the preferences dialog, as that will give you better rips (or say that your CD is ripped/scratched to shits... :wall: ).
I'm complicated when it comes to ripping CD's, but that is not for this forum. AT ALL. :nono:
Edited by TheOneInYellow, Dec 27 2011, 02:16 AM.
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crazybydefault
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I always rip my CD's at CBR 320 kbps anyway :P Even though a single album is now 100+ MB, it sounds great!

As for what headphones I use, I use the EX's
Edited by crazybydefault, Dec 27 2011, 04:46 AM.
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SensoryFour34
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I read that entire first post and realized how little I actually know about headphones. (I didn't really understand most of it.) I did get that they must be really good, but there's no way I would ever spend that much on headphones.

I personally like the ones I have right now. (Although anything is better than the cheap ones that come with the iPod.) Thunderbass from Brookstone I think they're pretty good quality/ (Not that I would know. ;) )
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Scruff 815
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£125 for a blowjob and a pair of headphones is an entirely reasonable request. Call it £50 for the headphones and that's still a mighty expensive blowjob.

Anyway, I meant no genuine offence. You should know by now that I like to make wide, sweeping generalisations for comedic effect.

At the same time, I do think there is no good reason to pay so much for a pair of headphones. I do care about audio quality; given the choice I would always go for CD over MP3 because there is a noticeable difference in sound quality, even on a high-quality rip. But then, my "CD player" is a DVD player hooked up to a 5.1 system by Ministry Of Sound - which was less than £200 about five years ago.

I guess it comes down to how much use you're going to get out of them. For me, headphones are required for the three or four hours a week I'm at the gym, and that's it. So although I want something better than the no-brand-name £15 pair that'll break in a month, there is absolutely no reason for me to give a fuck about more 'hardcore' headphones. Headphones rank very, very low on the list of things I'd prioritise my spending on.

For the record I also think that smart phones (and mobile phones in general) are vastly overrated and offer no real benefits whatsoever, so if anyone wants a fight about that too then I'm pumped up and ready to go! :thumbup:

EDIT: Incidentally, I find my own hypocrisy terribly amusing. I'm coming here and making blowjob jokes whilst simultaneously complaining about blowjob references over at RDC. I win everything.
Edited by Scruff 815, Dec 27 2011, 06:56 PM.
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TheOneInYellow
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[Again, possibly tl;dr post...]:

Any headphone/earphone/in-earphones/custom monitors, whatever, above £50 are SERIOUSLY EXPENSIVE! But it all depends on the end user. I do not, and will not, force others to buy expensive HP/EP's at all, but I will point out any deals that I, my friends, and the audiophile society deem ridiculously good. :dance:
For the record, the Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10 Pro's are worth about £200/$280, and that is steep (especially as they are six years old and have been beaten at that price bracket), but at about £109/$170, there is nothing, NOTHING, in the triple-driver market that can beat them, which was why fellow friends from my course and Head-Fi.org went into overload and bought some sets for themselves.
Indeed, a friend who has successfully got into an audio studio (I'm pretty jealous of him... :stab: ) wanted the Sennhesier IE8's or Shure SE535's, both are around £200 to £350, or some custom monitors (the £300 ones from UK company ACS), but he never could afford to get them to help him in his job (over his own AKG K 242 HD, but he is also trying to upgrade this to the K 272 HD early next year). When I pointed out the deal for the Triple.Fi 10 Pro's, he fell off his chair, and told his studio engineer boss; the studio bought about three pairs that I know of in the last two days, as these are some serious monitoring earphones. :omg:

Everyone can enjoy their music however they want, and I will NEVER say if what you use is so SHIT that you are stupid (unless they are Dr.Dre crap). That is the role of high-horse asshat audiophile snobery dipshits. I do make my opinion clear, for example, I did not like Poro's headset for his PC, but it works for him, and it's something that I could use outside of quality and use for practicality instead (his SteelSeries headset for 360, however, is very good! :nod: ).

Scruff, you enjoy your music with whatever equipment you have, that is fine. You also have no need for something more expensive either, and that is fine too. But though I do love your humour, your opinions, your banter and your friendship (no, seriously), you hit a bad nerve of mine, and your comments were hurtful, as I have no job but still aspire to become an Audio/Mastering Engineer, and I am making do with the equipment I have. (One of the reasons I'm not on my 360 all the time is because I am applying for jobs and studying the art of audio mastering, just as Martin O'Donnell had once learned before he became a composer and sound designer). :(
For example: my AKG K 701 headphones are brilliant for music and after a record is mixed/mastered, but they are open-back, so are useless for the actual mixing/mastering process. My Etymotic ER-6i's are amazing for mixing and mastering, have great clarity across the frequency board, and are flat freq; they have very deep bass extension and detail, but no slam whatsoever, so they are not always practicable (seriously, no slam or boom). Finally, my JohnBlue JB3 speakers are not a first choice for monitoring, but even if they were, I have no way of acoustically treating my room so that I could use them for learning purposes.

I use all my equipment for music enjoyment and studying, and I also can't go back to cheap audio quality products as I can genuinely hear major differences; again, not pseudo-science.

For me, these are a dream come true, as I could never have seriously afforded triple-driver in-ear-monitors (IEM's) that, previous to 2009, were used by touring artists (Muse, Trent Reznor, Radiohead, Keane, The Killers, The Kings of Leon, and many others, though most artists have now gone for custom monitors moulded for their ears from either UE, Westone, ACS or Unique Melody brands). The headphones I bought (using some of my Christmas money) were what they used. And they were used by legendary engineers whom I respect deeply, so I count myself very lucky indeed :cloud9:

Oh, and btw Scruff, MP3, even the best encoder/decoder, is lossy, meaning some data is always lost. If you want CD quality from a CD into a digital format, go for lossless formats (lossless means no loss of quality), and there are some compressed lossless formats that are common, such as FLAC, Apple Lossless, or Monkeys Audio (no, not a joke... :wink: ). iTunes can rip into Apple Lossless, so you can use that, but beware, the size of these lossless formats will be just under the size your audio CD. :thumbdown: On the other hand, non-compressed lossless formats include WAV and ALAC, but you can't tag them, and compressed lossless is no different in quality to these other formats...YMMV

Also, to you Scruff: :flower:

Ok, enough :blah:
Edited by TheOneInYellow, Dec 27 2011, 08:10 PM.
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JohnMcL7
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There is one important line in your post which I think you need to re-read:

Quote:
 
This is classic troll behaviour


You are right and you've fallen straight for it, the comments that upset you were designed to wind you up and you have reacted exactly as intended by getting worked up about it. The best way to deal with that sort of comment is to just ignore it as replying will only make it worse as someone making that type of comment is unlikely to be convinced by anything you say and instead will be amused and getting the fired up response they were looking for.

For what's it worth I know how you feel, there is a large UK deals forum and the mainstream mentality is there is no point in high end products as cheaper ones do the same. Anyone who posts a premium product generally gets slated and insulted insuring that hardly any such product gets posted, much to my frustration. I'm no audiophile but I love my headphones, I started off cheapy in-ear heapdhones then went for £10 Panasonic over the hear jobs, used them so much decided to fork out on a decent set of headphones choosing the Ultrasone HFI 780's for their bass and last year went up to the Ultrasone Pro 900's. I wasn't sure if I'd gone a bit too far but I adore them, I go out of my way for long walks so I can listen to music through them for long periods of time. In terms of bang for the buck they're not great but for something I use for hours every day and the bass on them is incredible.

John
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TheOneInYellow
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JohnMcL7
Jan 14 2012, 06:56 PM
There is one important line in your post which I think you need to re-read:

Quote:
 
This is classic troll behaviour


You are right and you've fallen straight for it, the comments that upset you were designed to wind you up and you have reacted exactly as intended by getting worked up about it. The best way to deal with that sort of comment is to just ignore it as replying will only make it worse as someone making that type of comment is unlikely to be convinced by anything you say and instead will be amused and getting the fired up response they were looking for.

For what's it worth I know how you feel, there is a large UK deals forum and the mainstream mentality is there is no point in high end products as cheaper ones do the same. Anyone who posts a premium product generally gets slated and insulted insuring that hardly any such product gets posted, much to my frustration. I'm no audiophile but I love my headphones, I started off cheapy in-ear heapdhones then went for £10 Panasonic over the hear jobs, used them so much decided to fork out on a decent set of headphones choosing the Ultrasone HFI 780's for their bass and last year went up to the Ultrasone Pro 900's. I wasn't sure if I'd gone a bit too far but I adore them, I go out of my way for long walks so I can listen to music through them for long periods of time. In terms of bang for the buck they're not great but for something I use for hours every day and the bass on them is incredible.

John
I should have replied to you sooner John, but I just read your post today. Oops... :bag:

You are right, I think the culmination of issues I had in January, and Scruffs post, just knocked me back. However, I have no issue with Scruff at all, and the matter was resolved (or at least, we are civil on this topic). (I still enjoying playing with him, and again, thank you Scruff for helping me achieve a now difficult Halo 3 achievement yesterday <3 ).

I agree with your points about mainstream mentality, and it goes both ways; headphones that come with audio players (Digital Audio Players or Portable Audio Players) are seen as good enough by the mainstream, and that is that. This has been going on ever since the first Walkman. The same is true of bass, where companies have been, for decades, promoting that bass should be the yard stick, rather than the overall frequency range. Yet the audiophile industry also tries to trick audiophiles into getting snake oil products, such as mega expensive cables and odd ball accessory stuff for various audio equipment.

Though I hate to admit it, Monster and the Beats brand has given the mainstream community a chance to both hear and say that they want something better, but Beats are crap (and Monster don't work with Dr.Dre any more).
What makes me laugh, however, is that Monster don't just make Beats, but another line of high-quality, audiophile in-ear monitors: the Turbine range, of which the Monster Turbine Pro Copper has been the most lauded and recommended of the range (I think they are very bassy and not neutral, but damn are they fun to listen to and revealing! :clap: ). For the same price of the Beats, you can buy the Turbine Pro's and get vastly better audio quality and better built earphones. Audiophiles know of both brands, but the mainstream, generally, only know of Dr.Dre's endorsed Beats line. Monster must be laughing to the bank right now, huh... :wall:

That said, I think you have a made a good choice with the Ultrasone's, a few of my friends own some of the models (Ultrasone PRO 2900 and Ultrasone PRO Signature), but I am not a fan of Ultrasone's closed-back headphones due to their S-Logic technology; I have been lucky enough to have listened to Ultrasone's Edition 8 headphones, and though they were analytical, they sounded weird to me (compared to my AKG K 701's). I have heard about their open-back Edition 10's being extremely good, but I am not a fan of the Zebra wood nor the price when compared to the other top-of-the-line headphones (dynamic, orthodynamic, and electrostatic).
I have tried and demoed both the Sennheiser HD 800 and the Beyerdynamic T1 headphones, and I prefer the latter simply because it works better with my music tastes and is not as difficult to use with headphone amplifiers, but both are also very expensive, so not something I will get any time soon.

Right now, I am in the market for a new desktop headphone amplifier or DAC/HA combo, and selected a few, but will not be making a purchase just yet. I will also consider getting myself my first Custom In-Ear Monitor (CIEM) earphones later this year, probably from JH Audio or Heir Audio, too! But first, family comes first, and new games, so a bit off :money: and :D
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SgtMaj AJJ
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I adore my Blue Studio Beats for everything. (still use my Beats Tour in ear occasionally)

For gaming I use the Logitech F540. I can't play, well, without the over the ear.

Worth the investment.
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TheOneInYellow
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SgtMaj AJJ
Feb 20 2012, 10:03 AM
I adore my Blue Studio Beats for everything. (still use my Beats Tour in ear occasionally)

For gaming I use the Logitech F540. I can't play, well, without the over the ear.

Worth the investment.
I hate the Beat's, but I do have friends who enjoy them (as they say, great for their music tastes, such as rap, hip-hop and Dub), and they are a step up from standard earphones/headphones. My biggest problem with them is their smiley EQ frequency response; too much bass, too much treble, very little detail compared to similarly priced headphones/earphones (IEM's). I don't always like flat freq headphones either; my Ultimate Ears Triple.Fi 10 Pro's (UE TF10's) are certainly not flat, and some people don't like the recessed midrange, but they do love the bass response/high frequency response.
I would rather buy Monster Turbine Pro Copper over Studio Beat's Pro, or Sennheiser HD 600 or Beyerdynamic DT880 Premium Edition 600Ω (or the Beyerdynamic DT880 Premium Edition 32Ω for easier listening to digital players without a headphone amp), but that is my preference.

However, if you enjoy the Beats, then I have no argument, since we all have our own way of enjoying music and music should be about music, not just the hardware.

As for the Logitech F540's, they are very sweet looking <3
I really wanted to buy the Beyerdynamic MMX300 Gaming Headphones when they were on sale for £140 last summer, but that deal has gone (they are around £300 usually :( ), but I don't think I would be using headsets at all when playing online with friends as I use a wireless/wired mic and my JohnBlue JB3 speakers instead (though I can score this little number: AKG HSC271 mk2 ;) ).
I use my Xbox 360 connected to my TurtleBeach EarForce DSS 7.1 decoder with my JDS Labs c421 headphone amp and my AKG K 701's (or UE TF10's) for solo play.
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ASLANS R0AR
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I think someday I need to upgrade my cheap headset that came with my original Xbox 360 years ago. . . does it make much a difference to cover both ears? I imagine it makes some. Also, I'm not interested in spending more than $20-$40 USD on such a thing. Anything decent out there for that cheapo price range?
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TheOneInYellow
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ASLANS R0AR
Feb 20 2012, 08:44 PM
I think someday I need to upgrade my cheap headset that came with my original Xbox 360 years ago. . . does it make much a difference to cover both ears? I imagine it makes some. Also, I'm not interested in spending more than $20-$40 USD on such a thing. Anything decent out there for that cheapo price range?
Poro uses the SteelSeries Spectrum 4xb. (see above), which is nice and cheap.
You can also use Tritton Trigger, Turtle Beach Earforce X12 or Turtle Beach XL1, and some others out there too. I would go with the SteelSeries one over the other two.

Though speakers are great for giving you the energy of sound to your body, headphones sit next to the ears, don't need to move so much air to fill a room, and in some cases, can be better than speakers with amps. With good pairs of headphones, they can give you better sound quality than cheap speakers and can give the illusion of you being 'centre-stage' in the music (all depends on the headphone, and also, in some cases, the headphone amplifier/digital-audio-conversion). With speakers, you need an amplifier, acoustically treat your room, and set-up the speakers proper to get close to the performance of certain headphones (most people don't bother doing any of this, and audiophiles are moving away from the 'sit-in-the-sweet-spot', which is stupid).

With SgtMaj AJJ and me, we get great positional sound with our headphones; that means we can pin-point certain sounds in a music, or sound environment (games or films). This is cheaper than some mediocre multichannel surround sound systems that cost more than our own headphones (though there are some good one's out there), and easier to use/manage.
I bought the cheap EarForce DSS to mimic multichannel sound into my headphones (using my headphone amplifier and my AKG K 701's headphones), and though this is far from perfect, it works decently (the 360 cannot output proper multichannel audio, unlike the PS3; it relies on using Dolby Digital, which process the sound in games into multichannel audio on the fly). The Astro Mix Amp is better, but was far too expensive for me :((
Edited by TheOneInYellow, Feb 20 2012, 09:20 PM.
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KouMoady243
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Must upgrade headset!
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ASLANS R0AR
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Thanks alot for that info, Yellow! All those options look really sweet! start saving now . . .
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crazybydefault
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ASLANS R0AR
Feb 20 2012, 08:44 PM
I think someday I need to upgrade my cheap headset that came with my original Xbox 360 years ago. . . does it make much a difference to cover both ears? I imagine it makes some. Also, I'm not interested in spending more than $20-$40 USD on such a thing. Anything decent out there for that cheapo price range?
I played once with a stereo headset, and have never looked back! It honestly makes a HUGE difference in my gameplay!

I currently play with my Plantronics Gamecom X40's. They sound great, and for the price, they're great quality! I also love the stowaway feature of the microphone. My only complaint is that the microphone is a bit too sensitive. If I sound like I'm screaming into my microphone with it placed right next to my mouth, I'm really not. I'm speaking at a regular voice and the mic is about two inches away.
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TheOneInYellow
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ASLANS R0AR
Feb 20 2012, 10:20 PM
Thanks alot for that info, Yellow! All those options look really sweet! start saving now . . .
NP ;)
My biggest issue is that, though I don't own expensive headphones (Sennhesier HD800, Beyerdynamic T1), and though the AKG K 701's I own are no way near as expensive as the current top headphones, it both competes against them and other top-tier headphones, and is one of the 'hardest' headphones to drive because they are very inefficient open-back studio monitors (the orthodynamic headphones from HiFiMan and Audeze are far, far worse and need stupid amounts of power... :wall: ). I need a good headphone amp to power them, and in the past, the ones available were ridiculously expensive (hence why I use my JDS Labs c421 amp, and a NuForce Icon before), but recently there have been quite a few manufacturers who are selling very high quality amps for a small price.
Indeed, an American company has been making massive impact on the headphone and studio scene with there cheap headphone amplifiers; they make high-quality metal heatsink enclosures, use high-quality parts, everything sourced and built in America itself (many companies can't even do this), and sell them at low prices...because they can! :dance:
Unfortunately, they have used a pun to name themselves...Schiit Audio. No, I have NOT misspelt that, there are two i's in the name, and you pronounce it as you read it. :facepalm:

I am probably going to buy the Asgard model <3 , but I am contemplating on saving up and getting the Lyr one instead. :drool:
In any case, the Asgard amp can drive my AKG K 701's well (and can be used for monitoring), but I want the Lyr because it can be useful if I do ever buy orthodynamic headphones. I'll be doing this soon! :D

Here's a review on all three amps: 6moons audio reviews: Schiit Asgard, Valhalla & Lyr.


crazybydefault
Feb 21 2012, 12:45 AM
I played once with a stereo headset, and have never looked back! It honestly makes a HUGE difference in my gameplay!

I currently play with my Plantronics Gamecom X40's. They sound great, and for the price, they're great quality! I also love the stowaway feature of the microphone. My only complaint is that the microphone is a bit too sensitive. If I sound like I'm screaming into my microphone with it placed right next to my mouth, I'm really not. I'm speaking at a regular voice and the mic is about two inches away.

The standard Xbox 360 Wired mic seems to be less sensitive than your Plantronics one (the Wireless one is a little 'too' low on sensitivity...).
This might be down to the mic at the end of the boom stick. I'll keep this simple; there are (generally) two types of microphones used for headsets, condenser and dynamic. Each of these work differently; condenser mics need extra power (usually called phantom power), and dynamic mics can be used as is (see here).
Each type also has different...erm...patterns. How should I explain this...erm...the way these mics pick up sound from the environment depends on the direction they face and their 'polar pattern' (not all microphones are 360°). Some mics have a wide focus in one direction of the mic, but not in the opposite direction (cardioid), whilst some mics can pick up sounds well both in front and behind the mic, but not on the sides (figure-f 8 or bi-directional). These are know as polar patterns.

In your case, I bet it's a condenser mic that has a cardioid polar pattern (one of the most popular types of mics for headsets), and the mic is tuned to pick up vocals better, which may mean it is hyper-sensitive. Not much you can do other than move it away from your mouth, though I guess that can be annoying.
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