Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, mac_h8r1, Nemesis
Airmantharp wrote:Spend $100 on a DAC/AMP and $100 on a set of cans. I was able to get my HD555's for $55 refurbished off Amazon. PC headsets are almost universally disappointing.
Mr Bill wrote:I am using these while playing WOW because I like the high quality of the environment. Many times I've heard crickets or owls and take off the headset to see if its real (we have them in the neighborhood), and then realize it was just a faint background sound in the game. I picked up a cheap mic headset for $20 that I wear around my neck so I can talk to the other players on ventrillo.
TwoEars wrote:I should be able to point you in the right direction I think.
I HIGHLY recommend that you spring for either the Asus Essence STX (can be had pretty cheap second hand) or the Creative Titanium HD soundcard. The Asus would be my choice for you as it has an excellent onboard amp - eliminating the need to buy a separate amp unless you want to spend a lot of money. There's no point in getting a better headset until you have a good soundcard in my opinion.
Then when you're ready to buy a pair of headphones this is what I recommend: http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-hd-598
They are amazing at their price point.
But if you must have closed headphones (for noise/sound isolation) then these are an alternative: http://www.head-fi.org/products/audio-technica-ath-m50s
All in all the Asus soundcard + HD598 should cost you something like $200-250 if you shop around for good deals. This will give you a really high fidelity setup on the cheap, you can easily pay $1000 and get less sound if you don't know what you're doing.
TwoEars wrote:I should be able to point you in the right direction I think.
I HIGHLY recommend that you spring for either the Asus Essence STX (can be had pretty cheap second hand) or the Creative Titanium HD soundcard. The Asus would be my choice for you as it has an excellent onboard amp - eliminating the need to buy a separate amp unless you want to spend a lot of money. There's no point in getting a better headset until you have a good soundcard in my opinion.
Then when you're ready to buy a pair of headphones this is what I recommend: http://www.head-fi.org/products/sennheiser-hd-598
They are amazing at their price point.
But if you must have closed headphones (for noise/sound isolation) then these are an alternative: http://www.head-fi.org/products/audio-technica-ath-m50s
All in all the Asus soundcard + HD598 should cost you something like $200-250 if you shop around for good deals. This will give you a really high fidelity setup on the cheap, you can easily pay $1000 and get less sound if you don't know what you're doing.
Airmantharp wrote:Don't look for the HD555's- they've been replaced with the HD558's. The current range is HD518 -> HD558 -> HD598. Also, a soundcard is at least a DAC (digital to analog converter) and an amplifier, though most sound cards are mediocre at both when it comes to true audio fidelity and ability to properly drive a real set of headphones. An external DAC/AMP is just a USB sound card with a dedicated headphone amplifier circuit, and will eclipse sound cards at the same price for the purpose of using headphones with a computer.
TwoEars wrote:My experience is the exact opposite, internal soundcards are an amazing value since you don't have to pay for case or psu and the boards are mass produced.
The titanium HD and Essence STX are better than any external DAC/AMP solution I know of below $350.
Especially the Essence STX and a pair of HD650s is possibly the single most bang-for-the-buck audio setup I know of.
Turiel wrote:What if I just plugged the Sennheiser HD 558 onto my onboard sound? I didn't know sound cards would cost equally or greater than the headphones...
DancinJack wrote:Turiel wrote:What if I just plugged the Sennheiser HD 558 onto my onboard sound? I didn't know sound cards would cost equally or greater than the headphones...
It will work just fine. Sound is very subjective. See if you like it. See if you can hear the detail you want. No need to spend extra money on something that you yourself can't discern if there really is a difference.
Ryu Connor wrote:TwoEars wrote:My experience is the exact opposite, internal soundcards are an amazing value since you don't have to pay for case or psu and the boards are mass produced.
The titanium HD and Essence STX are better than any external DAC/AMP solution I know of below $350.
Especially the Essence STX and a pair of HD650s is possibly the single most bang-for-the-buck audio setup I know of.
O2 Headphone Amp
ODAC Released
O2+ODAC Combo - $285
Ryu Connor wrote:TwoEars wrote:My experience is the exact opposite, internal soundcards are an amazing value since you don't have to pay for case or psu and the boards are mass produced.
The titanium HD and Essence STX are better than any external DAC/AMP solution I know of below $350.
Especially the Essence STX and a pair of HD650s is possibly the single most bang-for-the-buck audio setup I know of.
O2 Headphone Amp
ODAC Released
O2+ODAC Combo - $285
JohnC wrote:DancinJack wrote:Turiel wrote:What if I just plugged the Sennheiser HD 558 onto my onboard sound? I didn't know sound cards would cost equally or greater than the headphones...
It will work just fine. Sound is very subjective. See if you like it. See if you can hear the detail you want. No need to spend extra money on something that you yourself can't discern if there really is a difference.
Yeap. Don't let the "placebo effect" take over you
Turiel wrote:What are the benefits of a "dedicated external USB" DAC/AMP over a sound card?
Ryu Connor wrote:TwoEars wrote:My experience is the exact opposite, internal soundcards are an amazing value since you don't have to pay for case or psu and the boards are mass produced.
The titanium HD and Essence STX are better than any external DAC/AMP solution I know of below $350.
Especially the Essence STX and a pair of HD650s is possibly the single most bang-for-the-buck audio setup I know of.
O2 Headphone Amp
ODAC Released
O2+ODAC Combo - $285
Airmantharp wrote:Turiel wrote:What are the benefits of a "dedicated external USB" DAC/AMP over a sound card?
Mostly that they're designed with a single purpose in mind, instead of many purposes.