The Headphones Thread - Page 21

what is your budget for a computer setup??

Grace 901 + Xitel Pro USB (www.xitel.com) = $800.00 (Grace will be used and you can get a new Xitel)

Grace m902 = $1700.00 ??

Bithead

M-Audio firewire audiophile

M-Audio USB Audiophile

M-Audio Sonica

Echo Indigo PCMCIA

LOADS of options

I don't want to spend more than $200 CAD on the laptop setup, as I don't use it too often (when I'm avoiding work at my uni. library) . I do have a pretty good setup on my PC. The amp is a different story; the amount I am willing to fork out really depends on the equipment.

just get the echo indigo to use with your laptop...

k, do you know where a Canadian might pull off acquiring one of those?

I dunno really...I can find a good place to buy in the USA and ship it out to you if you like.

Cheers!

Maybe I'll check London Drugs, I know a guy there that can order most ANYTHING at cost + 10%. If that does not work out, I might have to call upon your services. Anything you need from Canada? Maple Syrup perhaps?

A new girlfriend

The old one is dying for an upgrade


Seriously - in Erie (where I am right now) we could use a little more snow HA HA HA!!!

Freaking blizzard goin on outside right now!!

Canadian girlfriends rock! any special requirements? attachements? skills i.e. flexibility. You have lots of options if you are looking in this area. You need to go to the rockies (between Banff and Kamloops) if you are looking for snow. There are towns there that get 4+ metres of snow a year.

Hey gs, I saw your site. Unfortunately, I don't have $600 to spend :P Would you be willing to build one of the lower amps, like a CMoy or MINT? I don't have much to spend after buying stuff. I never had much in the first place. This week I'm getting Sennheiser 497's, Sennheiser 280's, Sennheiser MX400's, M-Audio Audiophile Firewire. I was hoping to get a bid on the Delta 66 with the Omni Studio, but I don't have that much. Audiophile Firewire for $75 is good enough though

And also, do you want help setting your website up? I may be able to help a little. Not much experience in the field of shops and whatnot, but I've done a little PHP.

Wow, long thread. I've never used headphones before, but I need some now. I just bought the Sennheiser HD497s, and while the sound is amazing (speaker-quality), the comfort is not. They're not comfortable... not to me. It's possible the headband is just too tight and I need to stretch it, but I don't think supra-aural headphones are for me. Does anyone else find them uncomfortable as I do?

UPDATE: I returned them to CompUSA and bought the HD515s there for $100. These are *much* more comfortable. Technically the padding material isn't as good as the 497's, but the padding literally doesn't touch [my] ears at all; it's almost disconcerting at first. My ears are entirely within a hollow space. This is vastly preferable to me.

But I haven't seen them mentioned here much. Being as I am, not an audiophile, what are your opinions of Stennheiser's HD515 headphones?

How much did you get the HD515's for? Just being curious. I got HD497's for $43 and am getting HD280's for $70, which is a pretty nice deal from what I've seen. I'm looking to buy used Grado SR60/80's off of eBay too, but not a priority. The 497's are actually pretty comfortable, even though the padding does touch my ears. They're just mid-sized as opposed to full-sized. I haven't actually gotten my 280's yet, so I can't tell you to get those :/

I bought the 497s for $75 and the 515s for $100. They were bought retail though, which is usually more expensive than buying online. But it let me immediately evaluate them... I was able to buy the 497, return the 497, and buy the 515 all in the same day, and I could buy/return more today if I cared to. Even if I stick with the 515s, I could return them and buy them cheaper online... buying retail is thus a great way to evaluate things, though their stock is limited of course. But CompUSA had the Stenn 202s, 515, 497s, 457, and PCX-250, quite a good selection relatively speaking. And Circuit City has the 212 Pro.

After using the 515s more, I have to say I doubt I'll find a more comfortable headphone... as headphones go, you can't really get more comfortable than this. But the sound is definitely worse than the 497s... it seems muddy.

I've read alot of reviews, but the problem is I've read barely any reviews from gamers. Surround-sound is another important consideration for me, but it's useless for music and not very useful for DVDs. It's extremely important in games though, because you're actually in a game, with things going on all around you -- you're not merely watching it.

Oh, and keeping in mind that I've never used headphones before... it's very obvious, with both the 497s and 515s, that the sound is coming from right outside your ears. I assume this is true of all affordable headphones? (Ignoring ear-canal 'phones.)

Uhh, I've never really had a problem with directional sound using headphones, just so you know. I've used 5 dollar, no-name headsets, and I used to play CS all of the time. Most headphones are very good at this, since it's pretty easy to direct all left and all right sound. Headphones are better at emulating 3D sound than speakers, in my opinion.

I also don't think good headphones are necessary for good game play, just quality sound/music.

Well I tested the HD 515s by playing Half-Life 2. They handle direction only in stereo, like a 2.1 system. It works, yeah... adequately.

there are 5.1 headphones, but apparently they aren't very good. I think that's more along the ways of how HL programmed it to be, but maybe not. We always played HL2 using two huge gigantic speakers anyway.

Hey guys,
I just received my pair of HD414 pads for my SR60's which are the pads that vwap used to make his mod. Shortly, this is a must need for anyone with a grado pair of cans. The high and mids and are much better and the bass more present. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Marc

How did you cut the hole? Any pics to share? Also - making slite from the center outward a bit will also help fit and comfort.

My company is now GOLD!!

www.veda-audio.com

Just use scissors to cut a round hole the size of a quarter in the Grado SR-60 pads. No rocket science or special procedures required.

Not rocket science but I like a nice clean job. I used a metal bottle cap, put it through a grinder to sharpen the edges. I just press down on the pads and rotate it to make a clean cut. Earlier I was using X-Acto blades...

Scissors are messy in my experience...