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Best $100 headphones and soundcard?

Started by November 04, 2007 12:12 AM
11 comments, last by ManuelMarino 17 years ago
Hi, I am looking for headphones that cost no more than $100, and I want them to be good for music mixing. So they need to have a lot of detail, and I also favor bass. On top of that, I need a good soundcard (for a laptop). So i need an express slot card. It must work with windows vista. The sound card does not need to support 5.1. I just need one thats good for audio mixing and my headphones without breaking the bank. Thanks.
DarkTech Software.
I got a pair of these a couple of years ago and they were by far my favorite headphones I ever used since they can kick some serious bass and the earpadding is quite comfortable.
The only bad thing about them is that they aren't built to last since sooner or later they will break like mine where the earpads swivel since they use some cheap silver plastic!
[size="2"]Don't talk about writing games, don't write design docs, don't spend your time on web boards. Sit in your house write 20 games when you complete them you will either want to do it the rest of your life or not * Andre Lamothe
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I was thinking of these maybe:
http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-HD-280-Pro-Professional/dp/B000065BPB/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-5225993-3181515?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1194158379&sr=8-1
DarkTech Software.
I used these for a while, and really liked them.
Quote: Original post by daviangel
I got a pair of these a couple of years ago and they were by far my favorite headphones I ever used since they can kick some serious bass and the earpadding is quite comfortable.
The only bad thing about them is that they aren't built to last since sooner or later they will break like mine where the earpads swivel since they use some cheap silver plastic!


That happened to mine and my mate superglued it a beaut and it has last longer this time.
Quote: Original post by Dave
Quote: Original post by daviangel
I got a pair of these a couple of years ago and they were by far my favorite headphones I ever used since they can kick some serious bass and the earpadding is quite comfortable.
The only bad thing about them is that they aren't built to last since sooner or later they will break like mine where the earpads swivel since they use some cheap silver plastic!


That happened to mine and my mate superglued it a beaut and it has last longer this time.

Yeah,I was thinking of ebaying my broken pair but I might just try the superglue and see how it works out.
[size="2"]Don't talk about writing games, don't write design docs, don't spend your time on web boards. Sit in your house write 20 games when you complete them you will either want to do it the rest of your life or not * Andre Lamothe
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DarkMortar-

I'd really, really recommend you do not try to mix with headphones. There have been many studies, papers and books that detail why mixing with monitors is more effective than with headphones.

If you have to get headphones for the time being, that is one thing, but I strongly recommend that you save up later for a decent pair of speakers. Need proof? Every single professional or semi-professional studio that I've been to, worked it or played in never (repeat NEVER) mixed via headphones. :)

I think you'll find you can get much better results with monitors, but you are right....they cost more money! Sadly, so does everything else related to professional level audio production. :( Why couldn't I love coin collecting or cross stitching.

I hope that helps!

Nathan

Nathan Madsen
Nate (AT) MadsenStudios (DOT) Com
Composer-Sound Designer
Madsen Studios
Austin, TX

The speakers I currently have are the Logitech z5300e 5.1 system. I
like them a lot, but they are obviously not monitors, and they are not
meant to mix with because of their bias towards bass, and overall
quality vs monitors. I was planning to use decent headphones at least,
and use my speakers as a bass reality check so see if anything is wrong
compared to what im used to.
DarkTech Software.
99$ Headphones: AKG 240S or 240M, very comfortable, excellent sound quality.
The HD280 are very tight - uncomfortable.

PS
Check this out, Nathan:

http://coins.about.com/od/famousrarecoinprofiles/p/1933_Gold_Eagle.htm

:)
Simply put, you are not going to get anywhere near a decent set of monitors for 100 bucks, while you can certainly get a very serviceable set of headphones for around that much. I use these: http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/headphones/7c784888146c212e/index.html

As for a laptop soundcard, well, I really don't know. I was in the same boat as you last year but I just went out and bought a desktop instead. I was looking at the Audigy 2 ZS notebook card pretty seriously though...
http://www.soundblaster.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=205&product=10769

And to continue the headphones/monitors debate...

I mix everything I do with headphones. When you go the monitor route, not only are the monitors themselves very expensive, but then you have to consider room acoustics as well. I know my headphones inside and out, and hardly need to consult outside speakers at all. Sure, monitors would be nice to have, but are they practical for me (or DarkMortar)? Not at all.

100% mixed in headphones, no outside monitoring: http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=5974255&q=hi

------------------www.audixmusic.com

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