Do amp or dac enhance x2’s quality?
If yes which one is the best value and budget amp?
I assume you mean X2HR? It can help but not by much. Any amp will do really for that one as it’s not particularly picky nor does it scale. Just a forewarning that it’s quite bassy so not the most ideal. Something around the $100 range would be most ideal as it gives you more headroom and the ability to upgrade headphones later so something like Ifi zen dac, Schiit Fulla, soundblaster g6, soundblaster x3 will work fine
First off, thanks a million for this great thread!
Stepping into proper headphones after going through gaming headsets forever. I just ordered the 58x Jubilee. I’m a hybrid casual/competitive gamer, from home only, but I also wanted something all-around good.
There are two things I am looking at now: A DAC (portable?) and a microphone. I thought I might get a nice desktop mic. Although, I have a loud, clicky keyboard so not sure if I should just go with something like a mod mic boom instead (like the Antlion USB). I would definitely defer to audio quality over having “headset” convenience.
Budget for each is around $100, mic being the priority. I could hold off a little bit to spend more if it will make a huge difference.
Any recommendations? Thanks in advance!
Definitely need to get around to a rewrite on this one lol, been lazy about it as it’s a lot of typing. Still I appreciate the kind words.
Great starting headphone and good for all round use and neutrality. I don’t think you can go wrong there however, word of advice it will probably have skull crushing head clamp out of the box. You can fix this by bending the band a little or stretching it out over the course of a couple days. Sennheisers just tend to have a lot of clamp.
Do you already have an amp? Any reasons to want a portable unit? You need both amp and dac for your setup just something to take note on. Technically you can get away with connecting an amp to your pcs audio ports through specific cables but DAC will go much further in terms of audio quality
Definitely suggest getting a quieter keyboard if it’s that loud that would drive me crazy lol. You can get some Sorbothane as well if you feel up to some modification as well as some keyboard lubricant… installing the sorbothane in the keyboard and lubricating the switches will quiet it down by quite a large margin just be sure to look up videos and the like about it…
samson q2u with boom arm for a dedicated microphone… great starter and is a usb / xlr dynamic… great for those on a tighter budget with room to expand into a higher grade setup later. XLR microphones have the higher audio quality… dynamic mics are what you see in live concerts so they are great at blocking out external noise outside of your vocals. Modmic USB will work fine if you feel you’d rather that route… Blue yeti if you can find one cheap enough will be a fantastic condensor usb mic otherwise something like a Snowball will work just fine… just keep in mind condensors love to pick up background noise they are designed with sound proofed rooms in mind.
Can’t recommend any dacs as I am unsure if your looking for a dedicated dac, combo unit amp and dac, or what.
Doh! Yes, I meant a DAC/AMP combo. I don’t have either. If there is better quality to be had for a similar price, I’m not locked into a combo or portable setup.
This sounds like the path to go. Not gonna lie though, that thing is ugly. Anything similar that might pass the WAF (Wife Approval Factor)? If not, I will probably just have to put it away when not using it 
Portable amp/dacs aren’t particularly my area of experience. Though it will definitely depend on if you plan to use this for Console gaming due to the fact consoles require the optical port in the back of the unit.
PC wise you have 3 options. portable amp/dac like you mentioned, buying an amp for now and picking up a dac later using specific cables to plug into the pc this can lead to some issues since dacs are designed to clean up signals so any buzz or distortion may be able to be heard without the dac in the setup though good for a setup still being developed over time, lastly is a straight up regular combo unit.
Portables I really can’t speak on in the $100 range. Maybe something from FIIO. I would highly recommend reaching out on the forums for this particular recommendation in terms of portability.
singular amp buy a dac later option: More of a take your pick option in this case… I would say depends on what you can find. Magni 3+, Liquid Spark, JDS Atom, Topping A30 are all at the $100 marker and are plenty powerful with a good sound to them you may be able to find some at around $75 which can help in the long run. Dedicated units will generally be better sounding than combo units and they pack more power which can be useful. Keep in mind you need some RCA cables to connect an amp and dac dedicated unit together and if buying the dedicated dac for a gaming console the dac has to have an optical port.
Combo units: In your case probably Fiio E10K otherwise probably Schiit Fulla, Soundblaster G6, soundblaster x3, or ifi zen dac depending on price point.
Got a chuckle outta that one. Unfortunately, not really. You can probably dig around for a good budget dynamic they do exist however most dynamics are strictly XLR only meaning you need an audio interface to use them which adds an additional cost. Audio Interface(provided you get a good quality one) can also be used as a dac as well as your interface for your microphone so something to keep in mind as well if you choose to go dedicated units. Not as good as a dedicated Dac but respectable. Generally for entry into a great audio quality microphone setup… probably looking at about… I want to say between $150 - $200 maybe slightly more as you got to include the interface, microphone, pop filter, boom arm, etc
Would the Yeticaster be a setup that I would be happy with long term? Assuming I fix the clicky keyboard, of course. In stock at my local BB:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/blue-microphones-yeticaster/6277347.p?skuId=6277347
Condensor microphone, requires quiet room, would probably recommend a regular blue yeti with a separate boom arm and other accessory purchase instead as that yeticaster is rather pricey well that or the hyperx quad cast with the seperate accessories.
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Bass mid and treble
What role are they
In music
:
:
:
In gaming
Note: I really like m40x. I think that I don’t like treble. I heard that neutral or balanced headphones are for a critical listener(detailed) but if some tracks are mixed or recorded bad then when you listening to it with a headphone then it will sound bad Am I right?
So that make me more on the side of fun headphone
for the most part yeah, depending on the headphone. Some, like for example dt 990 or definitely the dt 1990, love to be extremely revealing and pick out every little fault in the song. Youtube is pretty horrid for absolutely terrible recordings and low bit rates.
I have already explained what sound signature is ideal for gaming above. Theres nothing more I can say outside of repeating that. Bass ruins your placements in fps the rumble kills your footsteps and other sounds. Upper mids and treble being raised raise the sounds of those more subtle footsteps, breathing, glass, etc more into the mix allowing better placement. In music its just preference.
The -ideal- signature isn’t mandatory but it does help by quite a large margin.
I should have some time to update this posting a bit more sometime next weekend. Will be a lot of rewriting so I will probably only have it fully updated once I am done tweaking it inside of a .doc. I need to adjust some of the headphones listed, potentially add a few more, some better explainations, and some straight rewrites for example seperating audeze mobius from the listing as it definitely isn’t worth that price tag(more so when penrose is there)
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Still rewriting this, taking a bit longer than I expected. I plan to add a few here and there and restructure the whole thing. Also removing things such as mobius, orbit, and steel series as anymore I find them quite awful all considering. Gotta look into the commands I can make use of on the site too such as headlining and drop down menu stuff.
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Hi! Im currently looking to buy new headphones for gaming ( mainly ), what i play mostly are competitive FPS, Overwatch, R6, COD: War Zone etc,
Readily available on my country ( Costa Rica ) i can find at store:
HD 559 for $80
HD 599 for $162
and i found a guy selling a 2nd hand 58x for $147
so my question here would be
How competent are the 559 for competitive FPS gaming ( trust me ive googled a lot and still havent found a clear cut answer). would i achieve a better gaming experience cashing out double the amount and gunning for the 599/58x?
i read the differences between the 599 and the 58x favoring the 58x as an all rounder but slightly worse at gaming. but would you still consider the 58x as valid in gaming for my use cases?.
The other sennheiser headsets available in country ive found are
HD 200 pro at $72
HD 400s at $62
Thank you
Hey, Welcome to hifiguides.
I should probably immediately ask, why is it that your deadset on Sennheiser’s brand of headphones? They aren’t anything particularly “fantastic” when it comes to gaming, it’s just that they are very neutral with a more mid-centric sound and fairly average soundstage that makes them passable. In other words, they have no drawbacks but due to being a Jack-Of-All-Trades there are other headphones that can outperform these quite well.
If by that currency that’s considering the USA Dollar increment, then that’s rather cheap for a 559 as they are normally right around $100 here. However, I would immediately tell you to skip the HD559 as it has far too much bass for competitive gaming.
I would not recommend this headphone at this price point, at all. After much more testing with the Sennheisers, 599 does have quite a bit of bass that also gets in the way, it does have a slightly sharper sound though. HD 599 is not worth more than $100 maximum. Skip this one.
That’s about $20 off new price.
Here’s your clear cut answer. They are awful for competitive gaming and I will highly recommend you to skip that particularly headphone for this use case. It’s great for a casual gamer, terrible for competitive.
In terms of the HD 599? Sort of, it has a slight bit more sharpness but it does have that bass that will get in the way. In terms of 58x Jubilee, that one is more neutral which is the better all rounder and just generally has a better quality of sound amongst the lineup.
This is one of the reasons I am rewriting this write up(taking a while though due to my day to day life). My opinions have changed quite drastically and I no longer consider HD 599 to be a good use case less you want a more casual friendly headphone that can be used in competitive gaming. Ideally, you would want either the HD 598 or 58x Jubilee.
I wouldn’t really worry about those in comparison.
Hey @Falenkor!
Thank you very much for your prompt reply!. i couldnt reply earlier due to work ( what a drag! ).
Like i stated before im from Costa Rica ( Central America); i could import any headset/headphoen from Amazon.com/Ebay/Drop.com but that would incur into additional expenses on top of the stores prices ( freight forwader + importartion taxes) so i was looking to buy locally and skip those charges/use that money in a better headset/headphone.
there are several computer/audio shops here but they dont have huge selections available ( they are ok though) and prices on what they have usually are on par to what Amazon/ebay has.
from coments and feedbacks i understand Sennheiser is a relative good brand with good products so thats why i was looking over there.
is that bass tameable via an EQ ? ( sorry i insist on this model i feel its a good price haha).
Ok thats good advice i like it. i could try and get that 58x on second hand like i mention ( i do understand from an US perspective its only $20 less than a new one. but actually importing a brand new one would make it an $80ish difference.
Im going to post pictures of the other headsets/headphones ive seen available locally, if you see something worth recommending please let me know!.
Thank you very much for your help though!!
Once again thank you for lending me your hand!
ah okay, that is understandable. Yeah they are quite nice especially if you like Vocals or a more neutral sound. It can be seen as boring though if you have specific preferences in sound and it isn’t the best on soundstage and imaging, more along the lines of very jack-of-all-trades.
Technically, yes. It is tameable but it distorts a little bit from my experience so it’s not something I can recommend.
I mean, in my opinion it’s worth that price as it’s a pretty nice headphone. Just definitely depends on if you like it’s signature.
I would assume you ahve access to more than that. Also, ignore the gaming headset lines they are 95% garbage and not even remotely worth their pricetags. Only a very small handful of headsets are worth buying and that’s only if you don’t feel like using a modmic / dedicated microphone or a amplifier/dac
I would say go with the sennheisers if you like that neutral approach. However, I cannot recommend you any headphones at all unless I know what your sound preferences are, music preference, and overall budget.
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Hey Falenkor. I currently have K712pros and I do enjoy them for gaming and music but I fancy an upgrade. I also used to be a pro in an FPS and I am getting back into it. Used to use GAME ONE’s also. Would DT1990 be a big upgrade for imagine on the K712? The soundstage is fine. I do also watch films/videos and listen to music at my PC, so I would like something more than PC38X for music and so on. Any other suggestions under 500?
Reading through the comments I see you no longer recommend the 599s. Would the 560s be a good substitute.
I want something I can use for listening to classical during the day, gaming at night. Not competitive, more immersion oriented. I game on Playstation and while I can get an amp later, for now it has to work with the controller mic in. So that takes a lot of options off the table. As I understand it, the 560s still gets enough juice to work on the pad.
I favor the Sennheiser for the good build, warranty and it works with my vmoda mic with a cheap aftermarket adapter.
I could also go 58x or PC38X, but I have to import those to Canada.
Apologies for the late reply, work has kept me rather busy of late.
so, it depends really… the 1990s are fantastic headphones for gaming in general but they are quite bright, you can deplete that brightness a bit by pad swaps or equalization however if you have sensitivity issues this may be a deal breaker. At the same time, is it an upgrade over the k712? Depends on what you appreciate about the k712’s signature, as that particular signature is mids and highs forward with under neutral bass with rather large pads as well. As far as imaging is concerned k7 series has issues with it so yes, the 1990 would be an improvement that plus sound quality, detail retrieval, and the ability to go from bright to V signature through the two pad sets provided.
The only concern I would have about that 1990 as a regular driver in films/video is the brightness can lead to some uncomfortable sibilance in vocality and higher pitch tones, it’s not the best for every use case unfortunately.
Thati s correct, and yes it would be a good enough substitute for the HD 599. This is due to the extra bass on the 599 as while yes, it does have some added treble the bass is just too much for me to consider it “ideal” and it bleeds quite a bit, not particularly a good headphone imo for this use case. 560s on the other hand is extremely neutral so works for pretty much anything, however, if it’s just for gaming purposes you could get away with just using the 58x Jubilee instead and save a bit of money.
none of these are going to work for that use case on the ps4, this is because the ps4’s sound card is dreadfully bad and can’t power headphones 32 ohm and above. 560s is 120 ohms, hd 599 is 50 ohms, and 58x is 150 ohms so you will need an amp for these. in some cases they may be able to get a bit on the louder side however, they will not be driven correctly and it will make the sound off by a good margin.
It gets loud, but it doesn’t give driven correctly, neither does the 58x. HD 599 is debateable due to low requirements however, it still just has an issue. PS4 is by no means good for audio power amplifications.
builds alright, warranty is expected, v-moda cannot be used on 58x jubilee’s due to used duel sided cabling. due to the use of the ps4 I would tell you grab the HD 598 since it’s 50 ohms and still used that 2.5mm plug.
only get this if you absolutely have to, I am fully convinced this is shilled at this point and is not worth it if you like music or sound quality. It’s pretty bad across the board and only particularly useful in competitives… it doesn’t sound great compared to a few other gaming headsets for more casual ended use or regular movies and videos.
hmm, I really can’t on good faith recommend anything without knowing preferences a bit more in this case. While you mention fps you also mention films and video which makes me think you need a more well rounded use headphone, which makes me concerned about recommending something such as a DT 1990. Keep in mind, if you don’t have an amp you will also need that as well.
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I have a schiit stack magni 3+, I quite enjoyed my PC363D’s but I prefer the detail in K712’s for music and gaming. My problem with the K712’s is sometimes I hear a footstep and it doesn’t seem to be where it should be. Could just be me losing it, or might be an inaccuracy I don’t know.
I don’t really have a huge preference. I also own QC35’s and I enjoy them for walking around or commuting, but I prefer the detail in my K712’s for music. I did also consider Sundara, Tygr’s and PC38x (but getting them to EU would be expensive) If I had to put it to a percentage, gaming is 80% of what is important to me here, I don’t seem sensitive to treble and as long as they are decent for other stuff than gaming I am happy.