Sennheiser HD595 vs Audio-Technica A900

[MikalCarbine]

I only want to spend around $200 for a pair of headphones to bring to college. I will be using them for gaming and listening to music (mainly metal). I have always been looking into gettin the HD959's but I read the Headphone FAQ and saw the A900's. After doing some research it seems the A900's are slightly better but the HD959's might be more suitable for metal (which is extremely important to me, great sounding music over anything)

Does anyone have any input? Also, what kind of amp would I need to make most of these headphones? I'm not a huge audiophile but I do enjoy good sound

[003]

I know the A900 is better for gaming. I'm not sure about metal. The Beyerdynamic DT770/80 is also great for gaming. Again not sure about metal. I would check out head-fi for better suggestions.

[Daveb2012]

I only want to spend around $200 for a pair of headphones to bring to college. I will be using them for gaming and listening to music (mainly metal). I have always been looking into gettin the HD959's but I read the Headphone FAQ and saw the A900's. After doing some research it seems the A900's are slightly better but the HD959's might be more suitable for metal (which is extremely important to me, great sounding music over anything)

Does anyone have any input? Also, what kind of amp would I need to make most of these headphones? I'm not a huge audiophile but I do enjoy good sound

I loved the HD-595's I just sold a pair for $140, I only sold them because I parted my whole rig out and wasn't listening to them i'm considering re-buying them.

[MikalCarbine]

I'm going to post this on head-fi, does anyone know anything of amps?

[Miwo]

I have not used the A900 before, but I will post my experience on the HD595.

I'll start off by saying that these are the best headphones I have ever used, coming from HD495s, Grado SR60, and the SR80. I use these for everything... gaming, music, movies and they never fail to impress me. I am a huge fan of Sennheiser sound because it is generally neutral. The 595s have nice tight bass and is slightly warm, and the sound is very full. It does not sound bloated in terms of bass and highs. They are also extremely comfortable, the headphone cups around your entire ear, which is perfect for me since I wear glasses. You don't have to worry about getting a good seal since its a perfect fit everytime.

The good thing about the HD595s is that they are low impedance so you do not neccisarily have to have an amp for them to sound really good. Unamped, my HD595 still sounds good on my X-Fi. Amps can make your headphones sound better, but I would not go diving into shopping for a high end amp, especially if you are strapped for cash. The HD595s are probably the most efficient out of the entire 5 series line, and it will sound great even on a portable like an ipod.

If you do want to use an amp, I would start out with a good value amp that wont break the bank.....amps can cost more than your headphones. The two best value amps are probably the Little Dot Micro+, or a PA2v2. These cost around $50~. Between the two, the LDM+ is much more neutral sounding. I opted for this amp because I do not like exaggerated boomy bass and sound It did tighten up the bass, but more importantly the midrange and highs seem much clearer. If you like lots of bass and highs, go with the PA2V2

but yeah, check out Head-Fi, there a billion A900 vs HD595 and LDM+ vs PA2V2 threads and combinations of both

[EsaT]

I'm going to post this on head-fi, does anyone know anything of amps?

Biggest thing leading to requirement for amplifier is high impedance, some of these more expensive headphones have very high impedance and require high input voltage.
(P=U2/R)

HD595 has impedance of 50ohm which is very low compared to common impedance level of many better headphones and should work well even with about all portable players.
If that other is Audio-Technica ATH-A900 its impedance is still lower at 40ohm so both of them should definitely work work in that aspect.

I myself have HD590 with 120ohm impedance which is too much for portable players but front panel of X-Fi Fatal1ty handles it very well. Also if there's one thing in those it's that Sennheiser really knows how to make comfortable headphones.
Neither I am any audiophile but at least with movie soundtracks (Hans Zimmer, John Williams, David Arnold etc) these open design headphones sound very good. Not that I would have had other equal class headphones for comparison but these work also well with other music I listen. (Stratovarius, Nightwish and like those)
I've read from few places that Sennheisers don't have strongest possible bass but again that propably has quite much to do with what kind of music is listened and very much to do with listener.

[MikalCarbine]

I decided I don't want the 595's because of the open air design, I will be dorming in college and would like some closed ones, so now I am deciding between the DT770's and A900s, but the Dt770s are really heavy on bass, which I am not that big of a fan of

[Drunner611]

I don't want to thread steal, but since were talking about phones for college gaming/metal, I'm looking more around the $100 price range. Any ideas? I've heard good things about the a900 so i was thinking about the a500?

[MikalCarbine]

People recommended to me the HD280pro's which are $75, you should look into them, I'm willing to spend more though :P

[003]

I decided I don't want the 595's because of the open air design, I will be dorming in college and would like some closed ones, so now I am deciding between the DT770's and A900s, but the Dt770s are really heavy on bass, which I am not that big of a fan of

Then the A900s are perfect for you. The HD280s are not great.

I don't want to thread steal, but since were talking about phones for college gaming/metal, I'm looking more around the $100 price range. Any ideas? I've heard good things about the a900 so i was thinking about the a500?

The A500 is a good headphone for gaming/movies but music, not so much. You need to say what you will be using them for, what type of music you will listen to, if you need open or closed and what you will be using them with (what you will be hooking them up to). I could help you but you will get even more help if you too go to head-fi.

[aMp]

Metal means bass and good separation. Gaming means a wide soundstage and detail. College means dorm, which means closed cans unless you want your roommates to kill you and hide the body.

The last bit there excludes the Sennys, which are open. The A900s are an excellent choice. For the music you listen to and the gaming, you might also want to look into the Beyerdynamic DT770 Pros. I've got a pair and they're unbelievable for gaming.

[edit] Must...read...intervening...posts....

[Drunner611]

The A500 is a good headphone for gaming/movies but music, not so much. You need to say what you will be using them for, what type of music you will listen to, if you need open or closed and what you will be using them with (what you will be hooking them up to). I could help you but you will get even more help if you too go to head-fi.

Oh, well I thought that was implied in my post that i'm looking for the same thing as Mike. Gaming/ Metal headphones, closed design for college, aroudn $100. Even $50 - $100 would be great!

[XenatR]

arent the Beyerdynamic DT770s too little power for a pc?

they only give 96db SPL... surely you would need an external amp?

[MikalCarbine]

I picked up some DT770/80s used for cheap, they are in now and I am burning them in. They sound great! Here is a question though, my 5.1 system has a wired remote control with a headphone port, do you think that the subwoofer would act as an amp if I plugged them in through that port compared to just my Audigy 2 ZS?

I'm not home right now so I can't try it :S

[aMp]

There are two versions, the 250ohm and the 80ohm. The 250ohm absolutely requires amplification; the 80ohm doesn't. Plugged into the front bay of my X-Fi the 80ohm can blow my ears out. They could probably still benefit from a little amplification simply for sound quality, but not much. On the other hand, you certainly can't power these things from an iPod and expect anything like good sound.

[aMp]

I picked up some DT770/80s used for cheap, they are in now and I am burning them in. They sound great! Here is a question though, my 5.1 system has a wired remote control with a headphone port, do you think that the subwoofer would act as an amp if I plugged them in through that port compared to just my Audigy 2 ZS?

I'm not home right now so I can't try it :S

Which system?

[MikalCarbine]

I have the 80ohm version, and my sound system is the Creative Megaworks THX550, under its specs it says that it's subwoofer has a built in amp

[Helmore]

I don't know about that set but I guess that that amp is meant for the speakers and won't do anything for the headphone jack. That's just my guess and I don't know much about speakers and audio but you can always test it.

[aMp]

I can't tell from Creative's specs whether there's a built-in headphone amp, but let's just say I would be very surprised.

Try them out, see how they sound.

[MikalCarbine]

The headphone port seems to be weak, I have the volume on it around 90% and the volume isn't even that loud (comfortable for music/gaming), but I can tweak the bass (I don't like all that much) and treble from the remote :P

About the headphones, I've been burning them in all week, and I absolutely LOVE them, CSS has never sounded so better, I can once again track people through walls like I used to in 1.6, and music is soooo nice. I showed my friend them today and he nearly shat himself haha

I'd definately recommend these to anyone looking for a pair of headphones within these specs

[aMp]

Try plugging them directly into the feed from your Audigy, I'll bet it outputs a stronger signal.

[MikalCarbine]

Oh it certainly does, but if I do it that way and want to switch back to speakers I have to go into the creative program and change the option, I do have my front panel audio set up, but it doesn't change the speaker type upon plugging them in, nor can I adjust bass/treble and what not

[aMp]

Doesn't the ZS have an option you can check off where it'll automatically switch from speakers to headphones when you plug them into the front panel?

[003]

Plugging your headphones into the headphone jack on a set of surround sound PC speakers is about the worst possible thing you can do. The only thing you can do worse is use an Audigy 2.

First of all, headphone jack on speakers like yours is not there to be a quality feature. There was no time spent in designing and implementing it, and it was just added so they could advertise another feature. You can not use a speaker amp to power headphones.

Second, about the audigy 2. If there is one thing I could suggest to you, it would be:
GET RID OF IT, AND NEVER LOOK BACK.

It sounds like crap. It upsamples everything to 48khz and then back down to 44.1khz before outputing the signal. It is just an all around peice of as far as sound quality goes.

If you NEED gaming or multichannel features, then get an X-fi. It does not upsample everything to 48khz and it has a decent digital out so you could properly set up an external DAC.

Also, regarding your choice on the DT770s -- I would think that after you described the kind of sound you wanted the A900 would be a far better choice than the DT770.

[古強者死神]

On topic, I am looking to buy the HD595's or the A700's and really cant decide.

I want to use them directly from the x-fi card I have in my computer with the CMSS headphone mode for gaming mostly, but will also use them for music.

I like bass and alot of it, but not distorted.

The main diffrence between the two I guess is one is closed and one is open.

FQ responce is better on the AT's but the resistance is lower on the HDs...

So looking for feedback.

Are open air design headphones loud to those around you when at a generous volume??? if so that pretty much eliminates the HD's right away since most of the time I use them when my wife/kids are sleeping.