Sennheiser 448's

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Reaper84

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Hi All

I see Takealot have the Sennheiser 448's for only R778(used to be approx R1300)

I am needing headphones but want the best bang for buck and these look good. Currently using the HD201's

I was also looking at the Coolermaster Sirus headset, heard some good things about them. Does anyone have a set of either headphones or can anyone recommend anything up to R1000.

I want to place the order soon

Thanks
 
Don't bother with any gaming headsets. Seriously.

The HD 448 should be good, most of the Sennheisers are, I've never used that model personally though. I can definitely recommend something in the 5xx series, their sound is amazing. Do yourself a favour. The 555 is about R1500 locally but you might be able to get it cheaper.
 
i have a pair of 418's, absolutely excellent bass response. Im sure the hd448 will be epic :)
 
Thanks guys. Forgot to mention I have a asus xonar dg sc as well but its giving issues so not sure I want to keep it.

Prefer closed headphones as the sound leaks are not great. What are the 555/595 sound leakage like ?
 
Reaper84 said:
Thanks guys. Forgot to mention I have a asus xonar dg sc as well but its giving issues so not sure I want to keep it.

Prefer closed headphones as the sound leaks are not great. What are the 555/595 sound leakage like ?
Click to expand...

They're open-backed so everyone will be able to hear. You just don't get the same quality and soundstage from closed headphones unfortunately. Although if you're looking for those try the 380 pros, also around R1500 iirc. What's wrong with the Xonar? It should be great....
 
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The xonar sometimes doesn't pick up in windows and i have to take it out and reseat it. I think its because its so close to my gfx card. Will keep looking but are the coolermaster sirus really that nasty ?
 
Reaper84 said:
The xonar sometimes doesn't pick up in windows and i have to take it out and reseat it. I think its because its so close to my gfx card. Will keep looking but are the coolermaster sirus really that nasty ?
Click to expand...

Probably not to someone who hasn't heard Sennie HD555 (or better models/brands), which can be had for R500 more...

Once you have HD555 or better, then yes any "gaming headset" will sound nasty.
 
Make sure that your Xonar DG's power connector is properly seated too. I've had issues with my Xonar DX's power until I cable-tied the thing to the board.
 
Pada said:
Make sure that your Xonar DG's power connector is properly seated too. I've had issues with my Xonar DX's power until I cable-tied the thing to the board.
Click to expand...

My first thought as well, but it seems the DG doesn't have a power connector, it gets all it needs from the slot.
 
That is correct, the DG does not have a power connecter. I am pretty sure its because it is just so close to my gfx card. 1mm :confused:

Not sure if I should take the plung and buy the u3 external card. Apparently its am external DG?

What do you guys think
 
Keep the DG and see how it performs, then decide. It's advertised as providing some amplification, so that's a bonus as well.
 
I have the U3. Not worth it at all unless you want it for a laptop/netbook with REALLY crappy sound. It only has stereo analog out, and the sound quality is nowhere near a DX/D1 (not sure about the DG). The only thing the U3 is good for is the Dolby Headphone support. How close cards are to each other should have no effect, it's probably just Asus' terrible drivers screwing up. They really are buggy as hell unfortunately, but the hardware is great.
 
Sorry about that. I've mistaken the headers with the power connector from the image on the Asus site.

TJ99:
With what headphones/hardware/software did you test the U3 to compare it with the DX/D1?

I'm very tempted to use a line-in male-male cable and to run tests using special audio diagnostic software, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get the time to do that :(

For me it was worth it to get the U3, due to optical out + surround sound emulation for headphones + the sound quality is better than that of my laptop.

When I used the Xonar U3 at the church, I could still hear a buzz when everything was muted and the same goes for the stupid onboard sound card and my Xonar DX. We've now installed an awesome M-Audio Delta 66 sound card, and now the buzz is barely noticeable on the Yamaha LS9 mixing console.
 
Pada said:
Sorry about that. I've mistaken the headers with the power connector from the image on the Asus site.

TJ99:
With what headphones/hardware/software did you test the U3 to compare it with the DX/D1?

I'm very tempted to use a line-in male-male cable and to run tests using special audio diagnostic software, but I'm not sure if I'll ever get the time to do that :(

For me it was worth it to get the U3, due to optical out + surround sound emulation for headphones + the sound quality is better than that of my laptop.

When I used the Xonar U3 at the church, I could still hear a buzz when everything was muted and the same goes for the stupid onboard sound card and my Xonar DX. We've now installed an awesome M-Audio Delta 66 sound card, and now the buzz is barely noticeable on the Yamaha LS9 mixing console.
Click to expand...

Well I'm just going from how they sound, there is actually enough difference to hear. I tested with my Sennheiser HD 598, and the CX300-II IEMs. I noticed that especially the bass was very light with the U3 compared to the DX, but I thought it might have something to do with the laptop so I tried it on my desktop PC as well. Tried all 3 headphone power settings, but left the equalizer at default for both (U3 and DX). My on-board sound on the desktop (Asus P8P67 Evo board) makes a very noticeable buzzing noise with the volume past halfway, on the headphones and even my "cheap" Logitech X-530 speakers. With the U3 it's less noticeable but still there, and with the DX there is none at all even at max volume.

Compared to the laptop (Lenovo T400), the U3 is worse, it adds a lot of sibliance to even the CX300-II's in some songs, it actually irritates my ears if I turn the volume up a bit where the onboard doesn't do that. Maybe the Lenovos just have very good sound? I also tried it on my LG netbook, there I have to admit the U3 is better than the onboard. I also got the U3 mainly for watching movies, the Dolby Headphone works great. But when I just listen to music at work I use the onboard. At home, I need something with 5.1-channel analog output. I actually also want to try the testing software to get a more objective reading, I know the DX/D2X/D1/D2's allow you to loop back the output from the DAC's internally without a cable but it looks the U3 doesn't have that function.

Also, you listen to music in church? Shouldn't you be listening to what's being said? :p
 
K i got 1.6k to spend, which one should i buy and will the xonar dg be fine for it? What is the best place to buy them, i will phone frontosa and see if they sell em. My clan mates are sick of the feedback coming from speakers.

I could buy the asus one but i am not that keen to spend 2.5k on a headset but it could be done :D.
 
I bought the Asus Xonar Xense the other day, was expecting to be blown away, but seriously, my cheap Matrix Warehouse Somic e95 5.1's sounded just as good.... as for the card itself, it sits so damn close to my GPU, its scary. I constantly monitor my GPU temps while gaming just to make sure its running cool.

The different modes for the xense sound awful, I cant use the gaming mode, its hollow and echoey.
 
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IRG said:
I bought the Asus Xonar Xense the other day, was expecting to be blown away, but seriously, my cheap Matrix Warehouse Somic e95 5.1's sounded just as good.... as for the card itself, it sits so damn close to my GPU, its scary. I constantly monitor my GPU temps while gaming just to make sure its running cool.

The different modes for the xense sound awful, I cant use the gaming mode, its hollow and echoey.
Click to expand...

Eish ok so that is out the question :eek:.

2.5k later and they suck. Hectic.
 
killadoob said:
Eish ok so that is out the question :eek:.

2.5k later and they suck. Hectic.
Click to expand...

I hope not, maybe I set something wrong and need to RTFM! Will stuff around with them today again...

I must say though, the HD6870 I have only ever peaks at about 75C which is at least 10C cooler than my old GTX280. So temps look good! The headset tho is probably the most comfortable ones I have ever worn!

So let me re-look my settings and maybe I'll come right! Also MW3 has really shyte sound compared to Black Ops!
 
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IRG:
The the game mode does have a hectic echo if you're listening to movies/music, but it works perfectly well in games due to the better 3D positional audio.
The music/movie modes sux, except that they boost the bass slightly.

My HD555 really impressed me in games, compared to my previous HD465.

I was also expecting more out of the Asus Xonar Essense STX, but that's probably just because the Xonar DX was so good already.

I have to agree with you that CoD:BO has exceptional positional audio! From all the games (BF:BC2, BF3, CoD4) that I've played so far, its audio is the best.
 
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