Hrm hrmm so looking to buy a pair of headphones for the purpose of game playing... Just got Doom 3 (for $20!) and a GeforceFX 5500 (for $30 w/ rebate... don't you just love these Christmas sales?) So looking for a pair of headphones (preferably 5.1 with onboard subwoofer so it jars my head too) to complete the experience..

Hrrm... i guess the only stipulation is that i want one of those closed-ear ones... that just wrap around your entire ear and shut out noise from the outside (but don't need that noise-canceling stuff though)... i guess something in the $50 range...

Any recommendations?

Bose Quiet Comfort 2 headphones

in your price range i can't really suggest much... maybe some sennheisers... i dunno HD500? 5.1 headphones are stupid... you want 5.1 sound you get a 5.1 setup

Grado Labs SR60

I have the SR80's, a step upwards, and they are reaaaally good, especially for costing US$90 when my dad was on a business trip to NY, which comes to about €75. The local Helsinki Audio shops would be selling them for €160! Long live the weak US dollar!

Only fault with the SR80's is that the sound passes through them both ways due to the open-air design, even if you aren't listening to music at a loud volume. Whoever's sitting next to you can discern voice-tracks, drums, everything except most of the bass. It doesn't block out exterior sounds as well as my Sony Fontopias (then again, what does?) I can hear the rumbling diesel engine, the sound of the train gliding on rails, or grade-school children squealing. Which means I can't really use them on the train or bus or in the library. But, otherwise I'm noticing stuff I've never heard before on good recordings. They're really good, Call of Duty United Offensive and other FPS games where projectiles zip by your head are even more intense. Plus you can hear people clomping around better than ever and can locate them by sound alone.

5.1 headphones in your pricerange will all suck. 2 channel headphones are the way to go. Sennheiser's HD497 are the best bang for buck intro headphones, around $50. They don't require an amp, unlike the higher end Senns and other audiophile headphones.

Sennheiser > *

Whats wrong with regular headphones?

Sennheisers will be your best bet for sure. I've got a pair for my CD player, the awesome thing is that they seem to magically know what I want, when I'm listening to music in class, but also trying to hear the teacher, I can hear both crystal clear, and then focus on the teacher when it's important, and the music when I'm working quietly, but when I'm commuting to school, a slight increase in volume cancels out even the sounds of the subway train. They're simple street-style, behind-the-head ones, ones with sound cancellation or whatever will definitely suit your purpose, but the price will probably be somewhere between $75 and $100 CAD

I was reluctant to get 5.1 headphones, becuase the ones that semed to be the only ones around were the Zalman's, which I had used before, and they sucked. If you dig around deeper though, you'll find MUCH better ones.

I myself bought IO/Magic Sound Asault 5.1 headphones. (IOMagic makes cd burners, you may have heard of them). They were around 70 dollars, but they are REALLY nice. One of the cool things about them is that it has individual channel adjusters on the headphone cables (Front, Rear, Center, and Vibration). If you have big ears, you may not like them,b ut I have a small head, so they fit me fine. It has insanely accurate 5.1, because it actually uses 4 speakers in each ear, instead of 2 in the left, a center in the left, and 2 in the right. I highly recommend them if you are looking for 5.1 headphones. Waching ROTK and Saving Private Ryan on them is just....amazing.

But, if you still don't wanna get them, definitley get some Senheissers. (or, spend the big bucks to get Bose Noise-Cancelling ones). Both Bose and Senheisser are the best in the buisiness.

Hrrmm i guess i'll look into the sennheisers...

Was just in the Bose store today, man Rob those quietcomfort 2 's are awesome... but they're $300! RaWR

hrrm hrmm there are actually 5.1 headphones? I was just being sarcastic... gwahh now i'm sitting here thinking how a monstrous contraption like that would look like. (i'm imagining this kind of x-shaped thing, and then there's this little speaker that stretches out on your forehead... and this box sticking out the back that houses the subwoofer)

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Panasonic-Traditional-Headphones--RP-HT355-/sem/rpsm/oid/15099/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

i have these and really like them. cheap too.

that said, the senns are supposed to be better but i dont have a pair to compare these panasonics to... they perform really well for being only piddly 25$ headphones.

by very well i mean very well, and they are closed cups, so thats significant. usually you have to get open air cans for good sound quality.

two qualms though, the in-wire volume nob gets crapped out after about a year and it makes the left channel staticy when you adjust it. I fixed this with some washing and reconstruction of the actualy device.

also the headband broke on mine... but i still use them even though its frustrating because i like them.

Sennheiser PX-200's. Never look back.

I've used sennheiser...it's...meh. I prefer my AIWA HP-CN6's


Edit: WTF is prefere-ing?

hrmm are there any stores that actually let you try them out? I know Best Buy sells them but there's no actual display... Would circuit city/good guys have headphone displays?

d-d-d-d-d-DOUBTFUL

I think you misunderstood me Yoshi.

Sennheiser > *

Hopefully that cleared things up.

i like these

http://www.koss.com/koss/kossweb.nsf/SPdispCall?ReadForm&THEPLUG

cheap and good sound quality

take a while to get comfortable though

Plantronics Gaming Headphones. ~$40 CDN. <3 these headsets, all the lan centres and everyone I know use these.

I have a Plantronics headset too, but not that particular model. Mine is a "behind the head" model. I must say that I'm quite happy with them.

Some people on this thread have been trashing the 5.1 Zalmans and I feel compelled to speak out since I bought a pair earlier in the year.
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....yeah they're kinda ****ty.

Hrrmm well my compies are in the living room... along with other people that use the TV, talk, other noise-creating activities... so i was kinda looking for the closed-ears ones that sorta "shut out" the rest of the environment... not necessarily noise-canceling...

And i guess just looking for gaming headphones... so good low tones?

hrrmm looking into these sennheisers.. the hd 497, 500, 515s... they all look around 40-60.. hrm and those px-200 ones too.. any specfic recommendations?

When I move off to university I will definitely be purchasing a nice massive pair of Sennheisers for home computer use. Can't say no to German efficiency, and as Red Alert's tesla coil will prove, Germans can do great things with magnets and electricity.

(Probably Sennheiser HD490 headphones due to peer pressure)

CM: Sennheiser is okay. If you prefer them, fine, but I'll take my AIWA HP-CN6' over any Sennheiser anyday.

That got an lol out of me.

If you want good bass and cheap phones, go with the sennheiser HD212 Pro's. Probably the best headphones you can get for 50 bucks.

hrrmm so those other Sennheisers are open? According to Molgrew's site the only closed ones are the HD202, HD212, and PX200... are those the ones i should be looking into instead?

hrmm looking at the HD202 and 212s... i'm reading that they're more semi-aural.. as in they don't completely sorround the ears... wondering if they still out block out the environment sounds well enough though..

sorry but the price+noise cancelling make me look away...

noise cancelling in that price range tends to half *** both the noise cancelling and the sound quality

No highs no lows? It must be bose!

Get the senns. You won't regret it.

...you are comparing budget noise cancelling headphones to all products made by a company considered to be one of the best audio experts in the world? Why don't we put your AIWA HP-CN6s next to some amped Sennheiser HD580s, 650s or other models from the 500/600 line and see how they stack up? Have you even heard those cans from a good, amped source? I didn't think so.

Don't feed the trolls Emon, he's actually stating his opinion without telling everyone else how stupid they are for once.

Ah yes, the HD202 and 212s. Headphones for the deaf. I'm serious, they have such a horrible amount of bass that they are perfect for the deaf that want to feel music or sound effects. Without tweaking the bass the 212s easily projected vibrations throughout my chest. It was cool at first until I realized the rest of the sound sucked. I believe there's a good can in there somewhere, but the bass is so much it's terrible.

If you want closed headphones, look at the HD280 Pro or Silvers (not sure what the difference is, if any). They should be $60-80. They are considered Senn's best closed can in that price range and they don't need an amp.

Search the Head-Fi forums for reviews and discussions on headphones mentioned in this thread.

more like $80-100+

you can get reconditioned headphones for $57 which i may have to go with since the HD280s are what i really want and i NEED headphones ASAP... i just had to use more duct tape on these to hold them together

I prefer my Technics hphones

yeah like i said factory reconditioned

I like my SR-80's (though they were open headphones). I'm sure I'll like my modded SR-325's even better though. :p

The SR-60's would be great budget headphones, but they are open phones. Haven't really listened to enough Sennheiser phones to recommend them, but the PX200's are a great portable phone from what I hear. The HD25-1's are supposed to be really nice, but those are pretty far out of your price range.

Hrrmm i guess right now i'm between teh HD202 and HD212s... i've read that they're extremely bassy, from other sites, too... i guess that would be alright... they're mainly for gaming on my computer so i guess that would be alright. I've found the HD202 for $20 and the 212 for about $40, just looking around at all the electronics stores trying to find a place that actually lets me test them out.. Anybody know of a big national chain (or any store in the San Francisco Bay Area?) that lets you try out headphones?