New Headphones/headset

[Clyras]

Greetings,

I was looking at getting new headphones as I'm now on my reserve ones, but I'm wondering if it's worth going for a fairly expensive (£100+) pair of Sennheiser headphones. Anyone know if it's worth actually paying that kind of money for a pair? Is there genuinely a quality increase from the usual £20-30 pair to £100+? I was looking at something like this:

Sennheiser HD 558 High End Open Headphones with E.A.R.: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Or perhaps a closed cup variant. Any advise? Thanks!

[Zulthus]

Really no point in going that expensive...

Turtle Beach Headset : Ear Force PX21 (PS3): Amazon.co.uk: PC & Video Games

I use these for my PC and the sound quality is amazing... it has lots of tools on it, and you can even buy a 5.1 surround (maybe 7.1 as well?) tool that plugs into the usb of the headphones. You can manipulate chat/game volume, bass, enable the expander to accentuate the sounds from both earphones, and if you want, you can use it on a console if you have them.

[p0intman]

currently running a pair of these and a standalone desktop mic:
http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/RP-HTX7-K1

[Vancha]

Really no point in going that expensive...

Turtle Beach Headset : Ear Force PX21 (PS3): Amazon.co.uk: PC & Video Games (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Turtle-Beach-Headset-Force-PX21/dp/B002BU0DPE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339357450&sr=8-1)

I use these for my PC and the sound quality is amazing... it has lots of tools on it, and you can even buy a 5.1 surround (maybe 7.1 as well?) tool that plugs into the usb of the headphones. You can manipulate chat/game volume, bass, enable the expander to accentuate the sounds from both earphones, and if you want, you can use it on a console if you have them.
You tell him not to spend that much and then recommend the worse performance/price brand I'm aware of. :p

I'm not a practiced audiophile so it's quite possible a £100 pair of headphones may be a waste of money without a decent sound card and/or DAC, but what I know for sure is that you want to avoid all gaming brand headsets if you want to get the best sound quality for your money. Buy as good a pair of audio headphones as you need, then either get a desktop mic, a clip on mic that doesn't sound terrible or an adhesive boom mic.

1: Also (http://www.head-fi.org/)
2: Obligatory (http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/)
3: Links (http://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/)

Edit: Oh, BAM. (http://www.head-fi.org/a/buying-guide-headphones-by-price-range)

Edit II: Apparently the Creative Aurvana Live! headphones are one of the best deals under "$100", too.

[Zulthus]

What's wrong with Turtle Beach? I've had them for a year and a half and I couldn't be happier with them. They sound great. I've used Sennheiser, Logitech, Razer, etc, let me tell you, there isn't a noticeable difference.

You must have had a bad experience with gaming headsets but they aren't all bad.

[Pella]

Go for comfort over anything.

1: Light
2: Soft Padded around the ears
3: Padding on the strap bit at the top

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Fatal1ty-Detachable-Noise-Cancelling-Microphone/dp/B000P5VR16

Best bang for your buck. Put the rest of your money towards a comfy chair.

[Vancha]

What's wrong with Turtle Beach? I've had them for a year and a half and I couldn't be happier with them. They sound great. I've used Sennheiser, Logitech, Razer, etc, let me tell you, there isn't a noticeable difference.

You must have had a bad experience with gaming headsets but they aren't all bad.
Logitech and Razer would still fall under "gaming brand", so yeah, I imagine the quality was roughly equivalent.

Why must I have had a bad experience with something to believe it to be inferior? Every audiohead I've ever seen agrees that gaming headsets are more expensive than equivalent quality headphones. Maybe it's an IPS monitor/mechanical keyboard/SSD thing. If you've never known the better, you're satisfied with the lesser.

[Zulthus]

It's a totally subjective thing, I guess. I've used various headsets and I just can't tell the difference. The sound is great for me, though. I'm just not much of an audiophile myself.

[Clyras]

Thanks for the responses guys, will take it into consideration. Though I want to be careful it seems as if I go too expensive I'm looking a headphones that require an amp as well.