Sometimes you can find them for around $200ish, but even at $250, they're a great deal.
Personally I have the Astro A40 headset, and it's pretty nice as well (at $150). Add a Dolby Headphone capable sound card (for either set) and enjoy.
The Sennheisers are almost certainly better headphones, but I like the removable/switchable mic on the A40, the quick disconnect cord, and maybe it's silly but also the styling. And they sound pretty damn good.
I swear they used to run $200 for the headset alone, which was high, but $150 seems like it might be a fairly reasonable price.
God damn it people stop buying gaming headsets for personal use! Get this http://www.modmic.com/ and slap it on a real pair of headphones.
Don't get me wrong a "headset" is simple and easy (I stock my home LAN with them) but there isn't a single one that has proper headphones on it... the closest you'll get are the various Sennheiser products. The modmics are great quality mics, and you can slap the stupid thing on a proper pair of $Texas cans!
You can buy extra magnets for them as well and it comes with a nifty carrying case. I swap mine between a Senn HD800, HD8, and 280pros. Great group of people as well. I busted my 3.0 entirely due to my own fault messing with it, and they gave me an option of another 3.0 for free, or paying 10 bucks for a 4.0 several weeks ahead of release date! I took the 4.0 and it's amazing. Granted it's 50 bucks, but the mic quality is almost as good as some of the professional grade several hundred buck headsets I've used for work. Plus it let's you add a mic to your audiophile quality cans rather than screwing around with "gaming" headsets.
Honestly? I'd probably still get a proper headset, just for convenience/form factor. Single cord, all that.
But I've also got plenty of money for extra sets of headphones. I only use the headset when I need voice, otherwise yeah I use my regular headphones.
Good recommendation, though, and something to consider.
Nothings stopping you from buying some vinyl sleaving + shrink wrap and binding the modmic to the headphones that way. Most gaming headsets still have analogue jacks on the end anyways. You can create a headset out of any cans that way.
I know I will hate myself for asking, but... From my PC to my Headphones through onboard sound. Do I need anything else? Like a DAC as well?
You have a couple options here. Using the Magni straight from the PC line-out is doable and you have the option of adding the Modi later. Using the Modi or another DAC will yield better results, since it bypasses the PC sound card altogether.
Using something like the FiiO E17 (which is a combination DAC and amp) is another way to go and it gives you the option of using it as a portable amp, which may or may not be of interest to you.
You really can't go wrong either way and I would suggest letting the features be the deciding factor. If you think you want portability, go with FiiO. If you're unsure of all this business, the Magni will help you see the light.
Sometimes you can find them for around $200ish, but even at $250, they're a great deal.
Personally I have the Astro A40 headset, and it's pretty nice as well (at $150). Add a Dolby Headphone capable sound card (for either set) and enjoy.
The Sennheisers are almost certainly better headphones, but I like the removable/switchable mic on the A40, the quick disconnect cord, and maybe it's silly but also the styling. And they sound pretty damn good.
I swear they used to run $200 for the headset alone, which was high, but $150 seems like it might be a fairly reasonable price.
God damn it people stop buying gaming headsets for personal use! Get this http://www.modmic.com/ and slap it on a real pair of headphones.
Don't get me wrong a "headset" is simple and easy (I stock my home LAN with them) but there isn't a single one that has proper headphones on it... the closest you'll get are the various Sennheiser products. The modmics are great quality mics, and you can slap the stupid thing on a proper pair of $Texas cans!
I've been using a simple lapel mic that I bought for a buck and it works better than my old Logitech headset.
I should add that the Magni will sound better than the E17, given similar sources.
It's entirely possible that the PC soudcard may not sound good or may introduce unpleasant sound artifacts when plugged directly into an amp. A DAC will more or less bypass the PC source, but you may still get artifacts from a bad USB port (in my experience, optical is immune from that kind of added noise).
So, if the line-out from your PC is passable, the Magni should give you the best sound for the price. If not, adding another $100 for the Modi might be necessary to achieve the best results. In this case, it would be cheaper (not necessarily better) to go with a DAC+Amp from FiiO. Sound quality is subjective, so you'll be the best judge of what works best for your ears.
Since I've started using DACs years ago, I haven't bothered with extra sound cards. Although, my current motherboard has good onboard sound and one of my headphones usually stays plugged into it.
If you really want a good mic, especially if you're going to drop $50+, go whole hog and buy a Blue, Samson, or Shure USB mic.
Any of them will kick the crap out of any mic that uses a 3.5mm plug, because having a half watt of continuous power lets you build a significantly better mic than trying to use the phantom power of an audio port.
Plus USB mics have their own built in DACs.
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frenetic_ferretwildest weaselEast Coast is Best CoastRegistered Userregular
If you really want a good mic, especially if you're going to drop $50+, go whole hog and buy a Blue, Samson, or Shure USB mic.
Any of them will kick the crap out of any mic that uses a 3.5mm plug, because having a half watt of continuous power lets you build a significantly better mic than trying to use the phantom power of an audio port.
Plus USB mics have their own built in DACs.
This depends on your soundcard honestly and other things. I have a http://www.mxlmics.com/ as well for various things but I prefer the modmic.
Battery power = transportability and clean power, win/win.
The PanAm is discontinued and almost out of stock. They're selling the stack I got for $200 off. Basically, I got the amp, the battery and an extra set of tubes for what I would have paid for the amp by itself. It's such a small amp with a lot of power and there's a DAC in there, too. It sounds amazing with everything I've plugged into it.
No one knows what their working on next, but they've said they don't have a PanAm replacement in the pipeline. If you're interested in an excellent tube amp, get this one while you can.
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
I'm keen on the Schiit midrange gear, namely the Valhalla 2 and a fully upgraded BiFrost. Not gonna happen unless I come into a huge pile of money, though.
Awwwwww yeah, Audiophilia thread. Try not to get too jealous of my new swag, alright?
But in all seriousness, my dad gave this to us as a housewarming gift. He's always been really into old, antique gramophones and whatnot, and when I was a kid he and I would buy them together and work on fixing them up. This one was actually one of the first ones we bought together-- a Victor Victrola VV-IX. I think it dates somewhere around 1910-ish?
It's not particularly impressive, nor rare or of notable value, but I do think it is a really cool piece of audio technology, and we kind of compared where things came from to where things are now with vinyl on my home system.
Now, if you'll excuse me. It's time to go drop the beat with some My Old Kentucky home on this bad boy.
Sup audio thread. I have a buddy who is a complete Bose fanboy. It is my understanding that while Bose does make quality equipment they're overpriced, so one can get a much better set of gear given the same spending price. I am however definitely lacking the expertise to advise him otherwise.
He's got his eye on these. Can anyone recommend me/him something better in the same price bracket?
Sup audio thread. I have a buddy who is a complete Bose fanboy. It is my understanding that while Bose does make quality equipment they're overpriced, so one can get a much better set of gear given the same spending price. I am however definitely lacking the expertise to advise him otherwise.
He's got his eye on these. Can anyone recommend me/him something better in the same price bracket?
The QC20s are actually pretty good, if he needs the noise-cancelling. The QC15s are nice too, with the same caveat.
A lot of the anti-Bose flak is on the home theater front, where their products aren't very good for the money.
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
Bose does noise canceling phones as well as anyone. That said, I don't really like the concept of noise canceling in-ear phones. Unless you're a jackhammer operator, you get more than enough noise cancelation from regular in-ears via passive isolation, and active noise cancelation is pretty much a waste.
If I were your buddy, I would look into whichever set of Shure in-ears got his budget. That might be something like the SE425 or maybe even the SE535, depending on the going rates in your country. They'll both sound far better, for more comfortably, and provide enough noise isolation for the vast majority of people.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
Nah, skip Shure and go with Westone or AudioFly. There are tons of inexpensive IEMs now. It would be fairly easy to find a pair that sounds just as good as Bose and cost less than 50 bucks.
You don't need noise cancellation with in-ear headphones. There are plenty of tip options that have very high isolation.
Out of all the IEMs that I've used, which is a lot (including Bose), the AudioFlys have been the most musical and the most comfortable. I'm currently using the AF180's with Comply tips, but everything above the AF120 use the same housing and would have the same comfort level. I also have the AF78's, which are hybrid (dynamic driver and balanced armature) same as the AF120's, but with a different design and not as comfortable.
But, if the guy wants to buy into Bose's marketing then he's on his own.
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
I've never used Audioflys so I can't comment, but I can say that I vastly prefer the Shure tone to Westone's sound signature. It's a personal preference thing, but worth pointing out. Ideally you'd want to try out a few and see what fits your preferences best, or at least buy from a retailer with a generous return policy.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
I'm not a fan of active noise cancellation. I feel it affects what you're listening to too much. With a good fitting set of foam tips, most IEMs give around 22+ dB of isolation anyway, which is good enough for using them when switched off as safety earplugs for hearing protection in an industrial environment.
I'm not a fan of active noise cancellation. I feel it affects what you're listening to too much. With a good fitting set of foam tips, most IEMs give around 22+ dB of isolation anyway, which is good enough for using them when switched off as safety earplugs for hearing protection in an industrial environment.
Safety earplugs merely protect your hearing from damage, though, they don't necessarily reduce noise to an acceptable level for listening to music and such.
I'd agree that active cancellation is overkill in most situations, though. Planes are the one exception that always comes to mind.
I've never used Audioflys so I can't comment, but I can say that I vastly prefer the Shure tone to Westone's sound signature. It's a personal preference thing, but worth pointing out. Ideally you'd want to try out a few and see what fits your preferences best, or at least buy from a retailer with a generous return policy.
The difference between Shure and AudioFly is that the Shure house sound is clinical and bright with a strong mid-range hump.
AudioFly is balanced throughout the entire frequency range and tends to be slightly on the dark side of neutral, with an emphasis on musicality.
The Shures I've owned more or less required good sources and better recordings. My Audioflys are very versatile, playing well with all kinds of sources and music.
frenetic_ferretwildest weaselEast Coast is Best CoastRegistered Userregular
BOSE Buy Other Stereo Equipment, no highs no lows must be BOSE!
It's kinda meh stuff sold at prices better brands can command. Active noise canceling is bunk anyways. If you think you need it look into getting custom ear gels made. Several great brands actually will give you a voucher for an audiologist to get this work done.
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Descendant XSkyrim is my god now.Outpost 31Registered Userregular
edited August 2014
So this morning I may or may not have left my B&W iems in a shirt pocket that is at this moment doing a spin cycle in my washer. I tried to retrieve them as soon as I realized what I'd done, but the door locks and will not open until the wash is finished.
I'll be able to assess the damage at noon, but what do you guys think are the chances that I just ruined a $180 pair of iems?
EDIT: Looks like they're fine. That'll teach me to check my pockets before doing laundry.
Descendant X on
Garry: I know you gentlemen have been through a lot, but when you find the time I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter TIED TO THIS FUCKING COUCH!
Normally for electronic equipment like that, you're going to want to make sure that the item is completely dry (ie, store it in a bag of rice for a few hours) before trying to put an power back into it.
Glad it worked out for you though.
Burtletoy on
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frenetic_ferretwildest weaselEast Coast is Best CoastRegistered Userregular
Yeah it's the current that does the damage. You can't physically damage electronics with water unless you soak them in cola or salt water, water itself is not so bad (hell even distilled water won't conduct). The problem is when it has power and gets wet, that when things go to shit.
Hell you fix video cards by unplugging them, washing them, and then reflowing the solder in the oven! Just don't plug it back in while it's wet or still hot!
I guess this is kinda the opposite of what this thread is all about, but I'm looking into getting some ear plugs for anti-tinnitus-ness for gigs and such. I'm on a bit of short notice, so local shops are going to have to do. Is there anything I should be looking out for when buying these? I've only turned up one store that sells them in Manchester so far, but it has a small selection:
I have a set of Etymonic ER-20's for when I go to see shows and they work quite well. I do find them slightly uncomfortable and they muffle the sound a bit too much for my taste, but that's a livable trade off for how my ears usually feel after seeing a loud live show. http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html
The ones you linked look to be very similar to the ER-20's, if not just rebrands of the Etymotics ones.
Looking to get my son a new headset for gaming. He wants wireless, I have a G930 that I won't recommend due to having to replace it almost yearly and software/driver issues. What's the go to wireless sub $200?
I like my Astro A50's and the can be had for 200 refurbished.
Their lesser model should probably be good, too.
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
edited September 2014
The Playstation Gold headset is getting rave reviews from pretty much everywhere, including threads on this forum. It's USB, so it can be made to work with PCs as well.
The Playstation Gold headset is getting rave reviews from pretty much everywhere, including threads on this forum. It's USB, so it can be made to work with PCs as well.
It's good but a little bulky and totally goofy looking to wear. Comes nowhere close to my PC pair, the Bose AE2's, easily my favorite pair of headphones ever. Amazingly comfortable, amazing sound quality, and noise cancellation without any pressure on my ears typically associated with such a feature:
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
The AE2s are super comfy, but not wireless.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
There is a wireless model of the AE2s, it's just expensive. $220+
No surprises there...
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
Ohhhh, I hadn't seen that. Yeah, I think that's a biiiiiiiit much for those headphones, regardless of their comfy design.
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
There is a wireless model of the AE2s, it's just expensive. $220+
No surprises there...
Yet still short of the $300+ Beats wireless, which I see fucking everywhere at the gym. My policy is apple earpods in public, headphones at home or working elsewhere. And never Beats, nothing about them justifies the price.
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minor incidentexpert in a dying fieldnjRegistered Userregular
edited September 2014
Are those wireless Beats really north of $300? That's just goofy.
minor incident on
Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust
Posts
God damn it people stop buying gaming headsets for personal use! Get this http://www.modmic.com/ and slap it on a real pair of headphones.
Don't get me wrong a "headset" is simple and easy (I stock my home LAN with them) but there isn't a single one that has proper headphones on it... the closest you'll get are the various Sennheiser products. The modmics are great quality mics, and you can slap the stupid thing on a proper pair of $Texas cans!
You can buy extra magnets for them as well and it comes with a nifty carrying case. I swap mine between a Senn HD800, HD8, and 280pros. Great group of people as well. I busted my 3.0 entirely due to my own fault messing with it, and they gave me an option of another 3.0 for free, or paying 10 bucks for a 4.0 several weeks ahead of release date! I took the 4.0 and it's amazing. Granted it's 50 bucks, but the mic quality is almost as good as some of the professional grade several hundred buck headsets I've used for work. Plus it let's you add a mic to your audiophile quality cans rather than screwing around with "gaming" headsets.
Registered just for the Mass Effect threads | Steam: click ^^^ | Origin: curlyhairedboy
But I've also got plenty of money for extra sets of headphones. I only use the headset when I need voice, otherwise yeah I use my regular headphones.
Good recommendation, though, and something to consider.
Nothings stopping you from buying some vinyl sleaving + shrink wrap and binding the modmic to the headphones that way. Most gaming headsets still have analogue jacks on the end anyways. You can create a headset out of any cans that way.
You have a couple options here. Using the Magni straight from the PC line-out is doable and you have the option of adding the Modi later. Using the Modi or another DAC will yield better results, since it bypasses the PC sound card altogether.
Using something like the FiiO E17 (which is a combination DAC and amp) is another way to go and it gives you the option of using it as a portable amp, which may or may not be of interest to you.
You really can't go wrong either way and I would suggest letting the features be the deciding factor. If you think you want portability, go with FiiO. If you're unsure of all this business, the Magni will help you see the light.
I've been using a simple lapel mic that I bought for a buck and it works better than my old Logitech headset.
It's entirely possible that the PC soudcard may not sound good or may introduce unpleasant sound artifacts when plugged directly into an amp. A DAC will more or less bypass the PC source, but you may still get artifacts from a bad USB port (in my experience, optical is immune from that kind of added noise).
So, if the line-out from your PC is passable, the Magni should give you the best sound for the price. If not, adding another $100 for the Modi might be necessary to achieve the best results. In this case, it would be cheaper (not necessarily better) to go with a DAC+Amp from FiiO. Sound quality is subjective, so you'll be the best judge of what works best for your ears.
Since I've started using DACs years ago, I haven't bothered with extra sound cards. Although, my current motherboard has good onboard sound and one of my headphones usually stays plugged into it.
Any of them will kick the crap out of any mic that uses a 3.5mm plug, because having a half watt of continuous power lets you build a significantly better mic than trying to use the phantom power of an audio port.
Plus USB mics have their own built in DACs.
This depends on your soundcard honestly and other things. I have a http://www.mxlmics.com/ as well for various things but I prefer the modmic.
The PanAm is discontinued and almost out of stock. They're selling the stack I got for $200 off. Basically, I got the amp, the battery and an extra set of tubes for what I would have paid for the amp by itself. It's such a small amp with a lot of power and there's a DAC in there, too. It sounds amazing with everything I've plugged into it.
No one knows what their working on next, but they've said they don't have a PanAm replacement in the pipeline. If you're interested in an excellent tube amp, get this one while you can.
But in all seriousness, my dad gave this to us as a housewarming gift. He's always been really into old, antique gramophones and whatnot, and when I was a kid he and I would buy them together and work on fixing them up. This one was actually one of the first ones we bought together-- a Victor Victrola VV-IX. I think it dates somewhere around 1910-ish?
It's not particularly impressive, nor rare or of notable value, but I do think it is a really cool piece of audio technology, and we kind of compared where things came from to where things are now with vinyl on my home system.
Now, if you'll excuse me. It's time to go drop the beat with some My Old Kentucky home on this bad boy.
He's got his eye on these. Can anyone recommend me/him something better in the same price bracket?
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
The QC20s are actually pretty good, if he needs the noise-cancelling. The QC15s are nice too, with the same caveat.
A lot of the anti-Bose flak is on the home theater front, where their products aren't very good for the money.
If I were your buddy, I would look into whichever set of Shure in-ears got his budget. That might be something like the SE425 or maybe even the SE535, depending on the going rates in your country. They'll both sound far better, for more comfortably, and provide enough noise isolation for the vast majority of people.
You don't need noise cancellation with in-ear headphones. There are plenty of tip options that have very high isolation.
Out of all the IEMs that I've used, which is a lot (including Bose), the AudioFlys have been the most musical and the most comfortable. I'm currently using the AF180's with Comply tips, but everything above the AF120 use the same housing and would have the same comfort level. I also have the AF78's, which are hybrid (dynamic driver and balanced armature) same as the AF120's, but with a different design and not as comfortable.
But, if the guy wants to buy into Bose's marketing then he's on his own.
I'm not a fan of active noise cancellation. I feel it affects what you're listening to too much. With a good fitting set of foam tips, most IEMs give around 22+ dB of isolation anyway, which is good enough for using them when switched off as safety earplugs for hearing protection in an industrial environment.
Safety earplugs merely protect your hearing from damage, though, they don't necessarily reduce noise to an acceptable level for listening to music and such.
I'd agree that active cancellation is overkill in most situations, though. Planes are the one exception that always comes to mind.
The difference between Shure and AudioFly is that the Shure house sound is clinical and bright with a strong mid-range hump.
AudioFly is balanced throughout the entire frequency range and tends to be slightly on the dark side of neutral, with an emphasis on musicality.
The Shures I've owned more or less required good sources and better recordings. My Audioflys are very versatile, playing well with all kinds of sources and music.
He's pretty far down the river already, so I don't know if there's much hope!
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
It's kinda meh stuff sold at prices better brands can command. Active noise canceling is bunk anyways. If you think you need it look into getting custom ear gels made. Several great brands actually will give you a voucher for an audiologist to get this work done.
I'll be able to assess the damage at noon, but what do you guys think are the chances that I just ruined a $180 pair of iems?
EDIT: Looks like they're fine. That'll teach me to check my pockets before doing laundry.
Glad it worked out for you though.
Hell you fix video cards by unplugging them, washing them, and then reflowing the solder in the oven! Just don't plug it back in while it's wet or still hot!
http://www.soundbasemegastore.com/ear-plugs/17156-acs-er-20-earplugs-musician-ear-plugs-6944465501341.html
http://www.soundbasemegastore.com/ear-plugs/16460-ministry-of-sound-ear-protectors-6944465500320.html
http://www.soundbasemegastore.com/ear-plugs/34728-acs-pacato-earplugs.html
http://steamcommunity.com/id/pablocampy
I have a set of Etymonic ER-20's for when I go to see shows and they work quite well. I do find them slightly uncomfortable and they muffle the sound a bit too much for my taste, but that's a livable trade off for how my ears usually feel after seeing a loud live show. http://www.etymotic.com/hp/er20.html
The ones you linked look to be very similar to the ER-20's, if not just rebrands of the Etymotics ones.
Their lesser model should probably be good, too.
It's good but a little bulky and totally goofy looking to wear. Comes nowhere close to my PC pair, the Bose AE2's, easily my favorite pair of headphones ever. Amazingly comfortable, amazing sound quality, and noise cancellation without any pressure on my ears typically associated with such a feature:
No surprises there...
Yet still short of the $300+ Beats wireless, which I see fucking everywhere at the gym. My policy is apple earpods in public, headphones at home or working elsewhere. And never Beats, nothing about them justifies the price.