Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, Captain Ned
liquidsquid wrote:Why people drop $100+ on headphones which consist of some magnets, wire, and some plastic is beyond me. These same people will shop around to save $5 on the $50 device playing the music using compressed audio streams or compressed files as the source, or playback on a smart phone. To me I see headphones as a status symbol these days. Dr. Dre or whoever, those products plain SUCK, yet people buy them. At one time I could purchase amazing Sony earphones for $40 10 years ago. Now they dumbed down their line and are pumping out crap at that price range to encourage those who care into the over-priced hype line. Grrr....
First get a good source, then plug in some good earphones.
As usual, I am sure there are exceptions to the rule, as many here likely are, but from the young adults I have met, $200 earphones plugged into a $100 portable music player with terrible output.
At least the headphones mentioned on this thread are good, I just am not sure they are $150 good.
superjawes wrote:Ha Ha. Well it is easy to fall in such a trap if you aren't careful, a lot in the same way that companies market "gamer headsets" with awful quality at a premium. But it all comes from the iPod, and now that music players are integrated into smartphones, headphones are the primary method most people use to listen to music.
On the specific topic of source versus headphone, since most audio is digital now, a $100 dollar device, the DAC in your smartphone, or the audio output of your PC is "good enough" to enjoy, so getting a ~$200 pair of headphones that sound great and fit well are the best value for improvement. At least that's my opinion.
Not to keep plugging them...but since you pointed out celebrity headphones, so here's an article reviewing a bunch of them. It's a fun read.
liquidsquid wrote:Why people drop $100+ on headphones which consist of some magnets, wire, and some plastic is beyond me.
liquidsquid wrote:Why people drop $100+ on headphones which consist of some magnets, wire, and some plastic is beyond me. These same people will shop around to save $5 on the $50 device playing the music using compressed audio streams or compressed files as the source, or playback on a smart phone. To me I see headphones as a status symbol these days. Dr. Dre or whoever, those products plain SUCK, yet people buy them. At one time I could purchase amazing Sony earphones for $40 10 years ago. Now they dumbed down their line and are pumping out crap at that price range to encourage those who care into the over-priced hype line. Grrr....
First get a good source, then plug in some good earphones.
As usual, I am sure there are exceptions to the rule, as many here likely are, but from the young adults I have met, $200 earphones plugged into a $100 portable music player with terrible output.
At least the headphones mentioned on this thread are good, I just am not sure they are $150 good.
Meadows wrote:I reiterate my suggestion, get the HD 558.
I honestly tried to find something better for the price, but I failed. I tested them personally against many others, both cheaper and more expensive, in a regular store using the same source. The only reason why I didn't get them is because I already have the HD 595, which I believe are no longer sold today.
liquidsquid wrote:Why people drop $100+ on headphones which consist of some magnets, wire, and some plastic is beyond me.
Tharbad wrote:Milo Burke and Firestarter: The computer is emitting ~20dba on standby and ~45dba in games. As far as I'v read about open vs close, close are better in this case. I don't intend to fall in the "premium gamer headset trap, pay a lot of money get moderate quality" so no headset is required.
Milo Burke: About the sound card. My current card is integrated HD Audio - VIA VT2021. Is it good enough so I would notice the difference between the new headphones to my current (Silverline XT-HS75MV)?
Firestarter wrote:liquidsquid wrote:Why people drop $100+ on headphones which consist of some magnets, wire, and some plastic is beyond me.
And it will stay that way until you actually get to experience your favorite music through a premium set of headphones that you like. If you aren't really into music or your preferred kind of music doesn't work well for you with headphones, then I guess you'll just have to take our word for it that there is definitely a lot to be gained from buying $100+ headphones. Me, I bought myself Sennheiser HD595's a long time ago and even though I really don't use them a lot anymore, they were worth every damn cent and then some.
edit: Tharbad, to answer your question, if you're looking for a headset, that is, headphones with a microphone, then I can personally recommend the Sennheiser PC 330 "G4ME" headphones. I can't say much about other headsets, but I can tell you that I'm very happy with these.
The computer is emitting ~20dba on standby and ~45dba in games. As far as I'v read about open vs close, close are better in this case. I don't intend to fall in the "premium gamer headset trap, pay a lot of money get moderate quality" so no headset is required.
cynan wrote:The computer is emitting ~20dba on standby and ~45dba in games. As far as I'v read about open vs close, close are better in this case. I don't intend to fall in the "premium gamer headset trap, pay a lot of money get moderate quality" so no headset is required.
Unless you normally listen to headphones at really low levels, 45db or less of white noise probably won't be enough of a distraction to make too much difference. I'm in the same boat with my computer and don't have any issues using open headphones.
Things to worry about are noises like people watching TV/talking in the same room, etc. (Or, of course, bother other people who are doing those activities).
Milo Burke wrote:If I was on a budget, I'd purchased Grado headphones, perhaps the sr60i or the sr80i. Grado headphones are not world class, at least not those models, but they sound ridiculously good for the price. Yes, they're ugly. Deal with it, because they sound great. A lot of people really like Sennheisers. They're not my preferred flavor, but some models are good.
Tharbad wrote:Milo Burke and Firestarter: The computer is emitting ~20dba on standby and ~45dba in games. As far as I'v read about open vs close, close are better in this case.
Tharbad wrote:I don't intend to fall in the "premium gamer headset trap, pay a lot of money get moderate quality" so no headset is required.
liquidsquid wrote:Why people drop $100+ on headphones which consist of some magnets, wire, and some plastic is beyond me. These same people will shop around to save $5 on the $50 device playing the music using compressed audio streams or compressed files as the source, or playback on a smart phone. To me I see headphones as a status symbol these days. Dr. Dre or whoever, those products plain SUCK, yet people buy them. At one time I could purchase amazing Sony earphones for $40 10 years ago. Now they dumbed down their line and are pumping out crap at that price range to encourage those who care into the over-priced hype line. Grrr....
First get a good source, then plug in some good earphones.
As usual, I am sure there are exceptions to the rule, as many here likely are, but from the young adults I have met, $200 earphones plugged into a $100 portable music player with terrible output.
At least the headphones mentioned on this thread are good, I just am not sure they are $150 good.
Sunburn74 wrote:BTW, in the headset community, Dr Dre's beats headset are considered a total joke for the money they ask for. A complete joke.