Which headphones of Drop's currently available?
I have some rewards points to burn but there's no obviously good options on Drop right now for headphones Contenders Ultrasone - maybe? I don't own any Ultrasones, so curious. Looks like garbage travel headphone which could be useful also. Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro. - Maybe? I have the DT 880 Good price point, really uncomfortable headphones but could be interesting to try the upgraded version. E-MU - strong contender but $400 is a bad price point for what it is. Which of the above would you choose and why? Nothing else on Drop is relevant to my interests, because Already own 6xx 820 800 s Ether cx Garbage / Consumer grade Meze 99 - garbage bass canons, hard pass No gaming headphones obviously Sennheiser wireless - no to wireless/bluetooth Hifiman - I have 2 of drop hifimans and they make really bad cheap shit on Drop, hard pass on HE-R7DX Aeon - I own the closed, Drop refuses to address #padgate so no reason to buy open Beyerdynamic 177x - wireless, nope Too similar 8x / 560s...
Mar 28, 2024
My previous headset was a Hyper X Cloud, so that is the basis of my comparison.
Sound: Overall, sound of the headsets is pretty similar to my ear. I actually think the Hyper-X has a bigger bass response than the Sennheisers, but that the Sennheisers have an overall clearer/more accurate sound. The HUGE difference though, is that these Sennheisers have an open can design, as opposed to a closed back. This is, in my opinion a good thing. I can hear my own voice when I'm talking, which is nice. Also, the sounds just seem more "natural," if that makes sense. The closed back design of most other sets DOES do a better job blocking out ambient sound, so in that way, the Sennheiser isn't as good if you're in a noisy place. Also, there's more sound-leak to your environment when using an open back design. Still, I feel like
Mic: This mic is far better than the old boom mic on my Hyper X set. First off, the noise canceling is much better; it picks up less of my typing noise and breathing and ambient stuff. Secondly, the muting by raising the boom is fantastically convenient. Lastly (perhaps most importantly) the voice quality it creates is more natural and less nasally/cell phone sounding than other mics I've used in the past.
Comfort: The velour texture of the ear cups and the headband is very soft, cushiony and pleasant. Haven't done any marathon gaming in them, but seem very up to the task. They are pretty light-weight, for what that is worth.
Look: I love the all-black look. They don't scream "1337 haxor gamer," but rather a more subdued, cool look. Obviously, this is subjective.
Nice touches: I love the raise to mute boom, super convenient and intuitive. Also great: the on headphone volume wheel on the right can. Cable is fabric wrapped, and generously long, not needing an extension.
Overall: I'm very happy with this set, and feel like it is a meaningful upgrade to my previous set. I hope you all get yours and enjoy them as much as I am.
Do you have anything you could recommend me? Never knew there's such thing called external sound card...
Another option is an external sound card, something like a Sound BlasterX G5 another user recommended on here. It plugs into USB and has mic, different audio ports, and other features depending on what type you get. They usually also have some special software to control different things like surround sound or voice recording effects.
A third option is a DAC (digital to analog converter), which sometimes also provides amplification. I bought a Dragonfly Red (Dragonfly Black is a cheaper but still nice alternative). It plugs into USB and has a normal audio jack, that's it. You will still probably have to plug it into the back of your case because it doesn't have anything for the microphone jack.
Both external sound cards and DAC/amp devices have the ability to sound a lot better than your onboard sound, depending on what one you get of course hah.
Maybe in the future I'll get the real dedicated sound card to play with.
Thanks! :)
Reading your comment makes me think using Dragonfly Red is way better than the internal card option.