Which Headphones for PC . . . £100

[Digger]

So decided to stop relying on the monitor's speakers which are not terrible if I am honest, & purchase some over or on-ear headphones for PC usage. Majority of use will be playing World of Warships . . . maybe some Spotify in the background.

I purchased some Sennheiser HD559 but returned as the sound just seemed bland.

I have always had Sennheiser in the past when choosing full-sized headphones, so fancy a change now.

I am currently looking at the Audio-Technica ATH-M40X which seem to fit the bill

www.amazon.co.uk/Audio-Technica-ATH-M40X-Professio...

Any other suggestions welcome . . . ideally within the £100 budget.

[Scrump]

AKG K92

[Foliage]

Scrump said:

AKG K92

Thats what I've got as well, absolute bargain at £25

Next pair i get will be open backed though something like the classic Philips SHP9500 or AKG K702

Or you could get the wireless sonys everybody is raving about, CH700s? or CH1000s i think it is

Edited by Foliage on Friday 14th August 15:46

Edited by Foliage on Friday 14th August 15:48

[Digger]

Is there much difference between open & closed back designs? Sound leakage is irrelevant as only for home use.

[Digger]

Foliage said:

Scrump said:

AKG K92

Thats what I've got as well, absolute bargain at £25

Next pair i get will be open backed though something like the classic Philips SHP9500 or AKG K702

Or you could get the wireless sonys everybody is raving about, CH700s? or CH1000s i think it is

Ordered a pair . . . should be here today.

Those 702's look tempting! Might try them if the AKG's don't work out. Open-Back do seem preferable as my head does get quite warm.

[Donbot]

Digger said:

Is there much difference between open & closed back designs? Sound leakage is irrelevant as only for home use.

Open backs (tend to) have a more natural, HiFi like sound with a wider soundstage. They also don't make your ears hot as air passes through.

[Digger]

Foliage said:

Scrump said:

AKG K92

Thats what I've got as well, absolute bargain at £25

Used for an hour or so last night. For £40 very impressed so far. . . .

Donbot said:

Digger said:

Is there much difference between open & closed back designs? Sound leakage is irrelevant as only for home use.

Open backs (tend to) have a more natural, HiFi like sound with a wider soundstage. They also don't make your ears hot as air passes through.

. . . longer session this evening, expecting them to get a little toasty, we shall see.

[Scrump]

Digger said:

Foliage said:

Scrump said:

AKG K92

Thats what I've got as well, absolute bargain at £25

Used for an hour or so last night. For £40 very impressed so far. . . .
. . . longer session this evening, expecting them to get a little toasty, we shall see.

Glad you like them. I also have AKG K550 and the difference in sound is not as great as the price difference would imply.

Being closed back there is a heat issue but I find them more comfortable than open back on ear headphones as the AKG over ear headphones don’t press on my ears!

[Ian-27xza]

A big improvement to sound will be to use a DAC to bypass your PCs soundcard.

I currently use a Cambridge Audio DacMagic XS v2. This will clear up your sound, provide a better sound stage, give lower frequencies. There are literally hundreds of DAC options out there but for £50 this is a little gem.

Plugged into my Denon AH-MM400 headphones, which I think sound pretty good. They sounded better than Sennheiser Momentums and B&W P5 when I tested them all in 2017.

[Digger]

Thanks. I have a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z which seemingly has a half decent DAC, so probably no current need to spend any extra.

[conkerman]

I bought a pair of refurbished K612 Pros from Scan for £60.

Arrived today and are better than expected.

I wanted an open set to try out before spending out on some expensive open phones.

I might mod these to within an inch of their lives.

[Digger]

Interesting & those 612's look good value! Are you planning on running them through a headphone amp as they seem power hungry?

Are you able to compare them with any other recent headphones?

[Digger]

Foliage said:

Next pair i get will be open backed though something like the classic Philips SHP9500 or AKG K702

Discovered you can get a pair delivered to UK for approximately £93 incl Priority Shipping & $21 of Import fees.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ENMK1DW/

[conkerman]

Digger said:

Interesting & those 612's look good value! Are you planning on running them through a headphone amp as they seem power hungry?

Are you able to compare them with any other recent headphones?

I have an iFi ZenDac DAC/AMP. You are right, the AKGs do soak up a fair bit of power. I have the ZenDac at about 2 o'clock on the higher gain setting (that is pretty loud though). My mobile phone can just about drive them.

I was toying with buying some DT1990s, but have never had open headphones before, but to be honest. I'm pretty happy with the AKGs at the moment.

[Digger]

Digger said:

Foliage said:

Next pair i get will be open backed though something like the classic Philips SHP9500 or AKG K702

Discovered you can get a pair delivered to UK for approximately £93 incl Priority Shipping & $21 of Import fees.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ENMK1DW/

Ended up ordering these as above. Ordered on a Thursday, arrived Monday! Been using for a week now

Obviously more expensive than the K92. Sound is more relaxing & more natural overall, there is quite a bright treble but have become used to that. Importantly the 9500's are much more comfortable to wear with quite light clamping on the head, also better when wearing glasses.

As the cord is detachable, I then have the option of adding one of these mics down the road . . .

https://www.amazon.co.uk/V-MODA-BoomPro-Microphone...

[TameRacingDriver]

What's the bass like on those?

I've not managed to find an open pair of headphones I like simply because the bass on most is seriously lacking for my ears. I even tried the likes of the Beyer DT990 and HD580/600, all headphones renowned for decent bass and they were all so thin sounding compared with my B&W P7s. Before anyone says it, yes they were properly amped from a variety of amps!

It's a shame as I like the more open sound they offer but the lack of bass makes them totally uninvolving. I've heard the Philips have better bass than most.

[Digger]

I am no audiophile so my descriptive powers may seem lacking.

Compared with the K92 , there certainly appears to be plenty of bass, I wouldn't want any extra! What I have yet to work out is the quality. It depends on what I am listening to, but overall, maybe not quite as tight as i would like, but that's just my preference. They don't really need a helping hand out of the box, but with an appropriate DAC & / or amplification the bass could be tamed? I would need to have another listen to check, as my ears aren't quite what they used to be.

For myself, the relaxed nature & increased comfort make up for any deficiencies, especially at this price point.

[TameRacingDriver]

Yeah it sounds like yours have slightly boomy bass overall then, that seems to be what you’re describing. This can often be changed depending onto what its plugged into. I’m not sure how you’re plugging it in (apologies if I’ve overlooked that in a previous post) but some headphone jacks have a high output impedance due to being a resistor based design from a more powerful amp - e.g. the jack on an integrated amplifier.

Certainly a headphone amp will clean it up, but you may find the same as me, once you do, the sound is a bit too clean and sterile!

[Digger]

Currently it is through my PC running a Sound Blaster Z sound card which drives them just fine as they are only 32 ohm cans.

[TameRacingDriver]

Should be ok then, there’s not enough power there to warrant the use of a resistor so i doubt the impedance would be that high. The only issue you might have is insufficient power (but not necessarily, I know very little about that sound card). By all means if you can borrow a DAC/amp to try then go ahead, or buy one and make sure you can return it.