DT-990 sound card

[Hazzer]

Looking at buying headphones for gaming, found the Beyerdynamic DT-990 Pro, will they sound any good on motherboard soundcard (MSI b85-g43, apparently it has an audio boost) if not, what's the best cheapest sound card I can get for them?

Otherwise, any suggestions for good headphones for gaming, with or without soundcard under £150

Thanks

 

[ssddx]

the dt990pro is a good set of headphones. afaik the pro is only available in 250ohm so you would definitely want something to power them.

the cheapest card which would do the job is a xonar dg for $30, however quality is really only as good as your onboard but it does provide virtual surround and a more powerfull headphone amp. of course you could hook up a cheap fiio amplifier up to your current onboard and accomplish something similar but in a more clunky way and with no virtual surround. a better choice would be the soundblaster z card for $80

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the ad700x, ad900x, hd558 and hd598 are all common gaming headphones worth looking into. the ad's have wide soundstages but poor bass. the 598 has slightly better bass but slightly smaller soundstage. the 558 has an even smaller soundstage but more bass than the 598. the 990 is going to be more bassy then any of them and is generally a good choice for people who want open headphones without sacrificing too much bass output.

 

[Hazzer]

the dt990pro is a good set of headphones. afaik the pro is only available in 250ohm so you would definitely want something to power them.

the cheapest card which would do the job is a xonar dg for $30, however quality is really only as good as your onboard but it does provide virtual surround and a more powerfull headphone amp. of course you could hook up a cheap fiio amplifier up to your current onboard and accomplish something similar but in a more clunky way and with no virtual surround. a better choice would be the soundblaster z card for $80

--

the ad700x, ad900x, hd558 and hd598 are all common gaming headphones worth looking into. the ad's have wide soundstages but poor bass. the 598 has slightly better bass but slightly smaller soundstage. the 558 has an even smaller soundstage but more bass than the 598. the 990 is going to be more bassy then any of them and is generally a good choice for people who want open headphones without sacrificing too much bass output.

Thanks, still quite expensive though, Is there a pair of headphones that are open back, comfortable and have good quality that paired with a a sound card of your choosing is less than £100 ish?

It feels silly spending too much when there is decent stuff out there for less, not really sure what to do, currently using some plantronics 780 but want a slight upgrade.

What about the cheaper audio technica's like the ATH-TAD400 ?

 

[ssddx]

< 100gbp is quite a hard budget to meet when you consider that most of the good studio headphones are 100-180usd and that the uk market has a rather hefty markup on prices typically and the fact that you want/need a soundcard on top of it.

amazon.co.uk prices i saw....
the ad700x is 130gbp
the ad900x is 140gbp
the hd558 is 120gbp
the hd598 is 150gbp
the dt990 is 134gbp

the xonar dg is 25gbp
the xonar dx is 52gbp
the creative z is 66gbp

you said you wanted to stay at around 150gbp or below in your first post... which is doable... or a bit above. but not sure about 100gbp or below... at least not with models i'm familiar with and can recommend.

the dt990 (134) paired with a xonar dg (25) would be only 159gbp so only slightly above this budget. while the dg does have the amp which can power the 990s they would really do better with the z (66) for a total price of 200gbp. this pair of headphones has a fair bass response for being an open design, has a good soundstage a bit less than the 598 and good clear crisp highs. it does need an amplifier (such as the xonar dg) to really work well. the 990s really are worth the price.

the ad700x (130) or the better ad900x (140) do not need an amp so you could use it with your motherboard audio. you would notice a bit of difference using a soundcard but you could get one later if you wanted. these have a nice wide soundstage, crisp sound but are very bass light.

likewise the hd598 (150) or hd 558 (120) do not need an amp. they dont have the soundstages of the ad's but do have a bit more bass although not anything huge. the 558 is a bit more bassy than the 598.

now... if you wanted virtual surround sound.. you would definitely need a soundcard for that. you can try the free razer software which is supposed to work fine without getting a soundcard but i never had much luck getting it to work right so i always recommend a soundcard solution.

the headphones in question should be a rather noticible leap in terms of quality from the plantronics 780. perhaps not black/white or night/day but certainly enough for you to not want to go back to them.

sorry, i am not familiar with the ath-tad400 and generally i dont know a huge amount about the cheaper headphones without doing some research of my own. the ad-500x might be worth looking into though if you dont mind fairly bass light headphones with a bit less build quality and sound quality than the ad700x for about 66gpb shipped from japan on amazon (you would need to pay import though likely). i heard a note that the ath-tad500 wasnt bad but again, i'm not familiar with them so i couldnt say for sure.