• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Yet another budget headphone question

Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
116 (0.02/day)
Location
Satu Mare, Romania
System Name It's a box, it games, what more do you want?
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard TUF GAMING B550-PLUS
Cooling EVGA CLC 240 Liquid
Memory 2 x 16 Gb DDR4 G.Skill Trident Z Neo @ 3600Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT MERC310
Storage WD BLACK™ SN770 Gen.4 1TB NVME M.2, Crucial MX300 275 GB M.2 2280, WD Red 4TB SATA-III 256M
Display(s) Dell Alienware AW3423DWF
Case Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital RGB Black
Power Supply SuperFlower Legion GX Pro 850W
Mouse Mionix Naos QG
Keyboard Logitech G513 Carbon RGB Romer-G Tactile
Software Windows 11 x64
Just broke my Gamecom 777 (the plastic headband snapped) so i'm looking for a replacement. BUDGET replacement. So anything that's considerably more expensive than the 777 is, should not even be mentioned. I was looking along the lines of Sennheiser PC 320 or Creative Tactic3D Sigma (and even those are sort of over my budget). While I am looking for a "gaming" pair, I will be using them for everything, music, movies, and whatnot. And I will be using onboard audio, so please refrain from recommending me a dedicated audio card.
 

Fourstaff

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 29, 2009
Messages
10,018 (1.92/day)
Location
Home
System Name Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor 3570K // 10400F
Motherboard ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling Stock // Stock
Memory 2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s) LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w
Creative Fatality HS800, cheap and does the job.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
1,445 (0.35/day)
Location
Israel
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Motherboard B550 Aorus PRO V2
Cooling Corsair H115i RGB Platinum
Memory Gskill Trident Z Neo 3600 2x16GB
Video Card(s) MSI RTX 3070 Trio X
Storage WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME/Supertalent Teranova 2x1TB
Display(s) Acer XV340CK
Case Corsair 4000D Airflow
Power Supply Corsair HX850i
Mouse Logitech G502 Lightspeed
Keyboard Logitech G513 Tactile
Software Windows 10 Pro
The sennheiser is solid.
 
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
43 (0.01/day)
System Name Valhalla
Processor Intel 2600k
Motherboard Sabertooth P67 v2
Cooling triple loop water, cpu gpu's
Memory 16 GB Ripjaw X @ 1866
Video Card(s) XFX 7970 Black Edition Double Dissipation x2
Storage 2x OCZ Vertex 3 120GB, 4x WD Black 8TB total
Display(s) 2 24" ASUS + 27" Crossover
Case Caselab M10 w/extended top
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Claro Halo XT
Power Supply SeaSonic Gold Series SS-1250XM
Software Windows 7x68
audio technica m50
 
Joined
Nov 10, 2006
Messages
4,665 (0.74/day)
Location
Washington, US
System Name Rainbow
Processor Intel Core i7 8700k
Motherboard MSI MPG Z390M GAMING EDGE AC
Cooling Corsair H115i, 2x Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM
Memory G. Skill TridentZ RGB 4x8GB (F4-3600C16Q-32GTZR)
Video Card(s) ZOTAC GeForce RTX 3090 Trinity
Storage 2x Samsung 950 Pro 256GB | 2xHGST Deskstar 4TB 7.2K
Display(s) Samsung C27HG70
Case Xigmatek Aquila
Power Supply Seasonic 760W SS-760XP
Mouse Razer Deathadder 2013
Keyboard Corsair Vengeance K95
Software Windows 10 Pro
Benchmark Scores 4 trillion points in GmailMark, over 144 FPS 2K Facebook Scrolling (Extreme Quality preset)
I picked up a nice Klipsch Image S2 a while back. It's an IEM/earbud, but it does pretty darn well for gaming and general "home theater in your ears". No microphone, of course. I've found that IEMs usually pack the best punch for price/performance. I've been pretty happy with them and have been considering an upgraded model. If I want some extra punch, I use my Fiio E5 preamp.

As far as cheap headphones go, I picked up a Sennheiser HD 202 and I was pretty disappointed. Sound quality was decent, but they were uncomfortable (wish I'd gone for the HD 201 instead). I had a Logitech Precision (or similar?) headset that gave out in about a month of light use. It had absolutely zero warranty, so I was SoL. My former earbud was a Sennheiser CX300 which I used every day, but seemed to degrade in sound quality over time.

I'd suggest poking around headphone.com for reviews. They do a lot of very high end stuff, but still give good reviews on less expensive options.
 
Joined
Jan 18, 2012
Messages
751 (0.17/day)
System Name My PC
Processor i7 4790k @4.4ghz
Motherboard Gigabyte z97m-d3h
Cooling Corsair H105
Memory 4x4GB Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133-9-11-11-31-1T
Video Card(s) GTX970 Stric oc
Storage Samsung 840Pro 512GB
Display(s) Asus ROG SWIFT
Case Lian Li 359
Audio Device(s) Denon DA-300USB / Denon AH-D5000
Power Supply Corsair AX860
Mouse Roccat Kone Pure Optical
Keyboard Corsair K70
Software Win10 64-bit home
everyone i know with budget sennheiser headphones is dissapointed. This brand is only good for high-end headphones.
At this price point, I would firstly be concerned about comfort and then about sound, cause sound wont be "omgamazing" anyway at around 50 euro.
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
116 (0.02/day)
Location
Satu Mare, Romania
System Name It's a box, it games, what more do you want?
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard TUF GAMING B550-PLUS
Cooling EVGA CLC 240 Liquid
Memory 2 x 16 Gb DDR4 G.Skill Trident Z Neo @ 3600Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT MERC310
Storage WD BLACK™ SN770 Gen.4 1TB NVME M.2, Crucial MX300 275 GB M.2 2280, WD Red 4TB SATA-III 256M
Display(s) Dell Alienware AW3423DWF
Case Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital RGB Black
Power Supply SuperFlower Legion GX Pro 850W
Mouse Mionix Naos QG
Keyboard Logitech G513 Carbon RGB Romer-G Tactile
Software Windows 11 x64
Joined
Aug 17, 2009
Messages
849 (0.16/day)
Location
Argentina (South America)
System Name Classy Gal
Processor i7 2600K
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3-B3
Cooling CM Hyper 212 plus
Memory 16GB Kingston Hyper X
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX1070 FE
Storage 2x120GB Vertex 3 - 1x1TB WD
Display(s) LG 23" 1920x1080
Case Coolermaster Cosmos S
Audio Device(s) Creative SB Titanium HD
Power Supply Seasonic M12II 750W
Software Win10 / Linux Mint
Razer Carcharias, i have a Gamecom 777, and the Carcharias is a better sounding headset (a little less bass though) and way more comfortable than the 777.
I use a sound card, so i don't know which is better with onboard sound.
 
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Messages
43 (0.01/day)
System Name Valhalla
Processor Intel 2600k
Motherboard Sabertooth P67 v2
Cooling triple loop water, cpu gpu's
Memory 16 GB Ripjaw X @ 1866
Video Card(s) XFX 7970 Black Edition Double Dissipation x2
Storage 2x OCZ Vertex 3 120GB, 4x WD Black 8TB total
Display(s) 2 24" ASUS + 27" Crossover
Case Caselab M10 w/extended top
Audio Device(s) HT Omega Claro Halo XT
Power Supply SeaSonic Gold Series SS-1250XM
Software Windows 7x68
A bit too cheap, maybe a little higher.


A bit (and by a bit and mean a LOT) too expensive. I did mention budget, didn't I?

(Ranked #2 on Head-Fi) and there the same price as the Sennheiser PC 320's. Maybe you should edit your post then
 

Fourstaff

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 29, 2009
Messages
10,018 (1.92/day)
Location
Home
System Name Orange! // ItchyHands
Processor 3570K // 10400F
Motherboard ASRock z77 Extreme4 // TUF Gaming B460M-Plus
Cooling Stock // Stock
Memory 2x4Gb 1600Mhz CL9 Corsair XMS3 // 2x8Gb 3200 Mhz XPG D41
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 // Asus TUF RTX 2070
Storage Samsung 840 250Gb // SX8200 480GB
Display(s) LG 22EA53VQ // Philips 275M QHD
Case NZXT Phantom 410 Black/Orange // Tecware Forge M
Power Supply Corsair CXM500w // CM MWE 600w
(Ranked #2 on Head-Fi) and there the same price as the Sennheiser PC 320's. Maybe you should edit your post then

Ranked #2 only because everyone was told to get them as the first recommendation. At current prices they are just average.
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
6,666 (1.43/day)
Processor 7800x3d
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling Custom Water
Memory GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s) MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s) HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case ThermalTake P3
Power Supply SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687
I have the jvc rx700's. I like them. Had good reviews. $30
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
Messages
854 (0.17/day)
Superlux HD668B

Trust me, can't be beat for the price. Diamond in the rough. Only down side is it doesn't have a mic.


I sold my $150.00 Alessandro's and kept my Superlux headphones.

Clarity you have never heard before.
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
116 (0.02/day)
Location
Satu Mare, Romania
System Name It's a box, it games, what more do you want?
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard TUF GAMING B550-PLUS
Cooling EVGA CLC 240 Liquid
Memory 2 x 16 Gb DDR4 G.Skill Trident Z Neo @ 3600Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT MERC310
Storage WD BLACK™ SN770 Gen.4 1TB NVME M.2, Crucial MX300 275 GB M.2 2280, WD Red 4TB SATA-III 256M
Display(s) Dell Alienware AW3423DWF
Case Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital RGB Black
Power Supply SuperFlower Legion GX Pro 850W
Mouse Mionix Naos QG
Keyboard Logitech G513 Carbon RGB Romer-G Tactile
Software Windows 11 x64
(Ranked #2 on Head-Fi) and there the same price as the Sennheiser PC 320's. Maybe you should edit your post then

I actually checked the price and is more than double the PC320, so no.
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
116 (0.02/day)
Location
Satu Mare, Romania
System Name It's a box, it games, what more do you want?
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard TUF GAMING B550-PLUS
Cooling EVGA CLC 240 Liquid
Memory 2 x 16 Gb DDR4 G.Skill Trident Z Neo @ 3600Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT MERC310
Storage WD BLACK™ SN770 Gen.4 1TB NVME M.2, Crucial MX300 275 GB M.2 2280, WD Red 4TB SATA-III 256M
Display(s) Dell Alienware AW3423DWF
Case Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital RGB Black
Power Supply SuperFlower Legion GX Pro 850W
Mouse Mionix Naos QG
Keyboard Logitech G513 Carbon RGB Romer-G Tactile
Software Windows 11 x64
Razer Carcharias, i have a Gamecom 777, and the Carcharias is a better sounding headset (a little less bass though) and way more comfortable than the 777.
I use a sound card, so i don't know which is better with onboard sound.

The Carcharias was actually one of the ones I have been looking at, but it's out of my buget. Also, because I would use and onboard audio, the THX dongle from the Sigma looks mighty enticing (i have tested THX TruStudio Lite and it works superbly, so I can only imagine what the Pro version can do with a dedicated usb dongle)
 
Joined
Dec 19, 2011
Messages
212 (0.05/day)
Location
Stockton, CA
I actually checked the price and is more than double the PC320, so no.



Senns: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006RF9HX8/?tag=tec06d-20

ATH-M50: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ULAP4U/?tag=tec06d-20

Not sure where you got double the price from.
 
Joined
Mar 17, 2011
Messages
116 (0.02/day)
Location
Satu Mare, Romania
System Name It's a box, it games, what more do you want?
Processor Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Motherboard TUF GAMING B550-PLUS
Cooling EVGA CLC 240 Liquid
Memory 2 x 16 Gb DDR4 G.Skill Trident Z Neo @ 3600Mhz CL14
Video Card(s) XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT MERC310
Storage WD BLACK™ SN770 Gen.4 1TB NVME M.2, Crucial MX300 275 GB M.2 2280, WD Red 4TB SATA-III 256M
Display(s) Dell Alienware AW3423DWF
Case Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital RGB Black
Power Supply SuperFlower Legion GX Pro 850W
Mouse Mionix Naos QG
Keyboard Logitech G513 Carbon RGB Romer-G Tactile
Software Windows 11 x64
Not sure where you got double the price from.

I can get the Senn for 95$ from official retailer, and cannot get the Audio for any less than 200$.

If I were to order from amazon, with shipping and whatnot, would still end up with around 180$. So, still no.
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2007
Messages
2,817 (0.45/day)
Location
US
Processor Intel Q9400
Motherboard asus p5q-pro
Cooling Ultra120
Memory 6GB ddr2
Video Card(s) NVS 290
Storage 3TB + 1.5TB
Display(s) Samsung F2380
Case Silverstone Fortress FT02B
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi
Power Supply 750W PC P&C
Software win 7 ultimate 64bit
Do yourself a favor and try legendary Grado Labs headphones. SR-60i and SR-80i are all under $100.
I wear SR-60 for up to 15 hours a day and they never get old.
They have really nice, clean and crisp sound to them. They just sounds very natural.

http://www.gradolabs.com/page_headphones.php?item=f4ba8830232696b5f580bd531134b668



Also, I wouldn't use any USB dongles. All of them sound just too artificial.
You might as well be wearing $5 headphones.

And I know you will not buy a good sound card (can be had for ~$20), but they really do make a HUGE difference in sound.
You have no idea until you try. The difference is day and night.

Just my 2c.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Messages
12,062 (2.77/day)
Location
Gypsyland, UK
System Name HP Omen 17
Processor i7 7700HQ
Memory 16GB 2400Mhz DDR4
Video Card(s) GTX 1060
Storage Samsung SM961 256GB + HGST 1TB
Display(s) 1080p IPS G-SYNC 75Hz
Audio Device(s) Bang & Olufsen
Power Supply 230W
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD+
Software Win 10 Pro
Joined
Feb 7, 2008
Messages
682 (0.12/day)
Location
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
System Name The Phoenix (rev. 3.0)
Processor Intel Core i9 9900K @ 4.9GHz (1.18V)
Motherboard ASUS TUF Z390 PRO-GAMING
Cooling Custom Full Loop w/EKWB & Swiftech components
Memory 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200MHz (C15)
Video Card(s) MSI GTX 1080 SeaHawk X EK @ 2.15GHz/5.5GHz
Storage Samsung 970 EVO+ (2x500GB) + Toshiba X300 (4TB)
Display(s) LG 29UM65-P (2560x1080 @ 75 Hz)
Case Thermaltake Core V51
Audio Device(s) Razer Kraken 7.1 & Scarlett 2i4 w/M-AUDIO BX5-D2
Power Supply Corsair RM750 (ver. 2019)
Mouse Logitech G700s
Keyboard Razer Blackwidow Chroma V2
Software MacOS 10.13.6 "High Sierra" & Windows 10 Pro x64
Mine are doing a perfect good job since i got them few months ago, they're the Tritton PC510 HDa, true analog so it's a real 5.1 (not emulated, you have to hook up 3 audio jacks + the mic one, also every side carries 4 real speakers) so you can hook it up in any 5.1 soundcard w/o needing special drivers for the headphones. Also you have manual controls for Front/Rear/Center/Subwoofer volumes to adjust them while in the game and the microphone is removable.

They're so comfortable (similar as some professional AKG/Technics) ... true 5.1 sound, Win/Mac/Linux compatibles due to the previous explanation, amazing quality when listening music and/or movies (and the possibility to "equalize" it on the fly) and in your 90-100$ range.





:toast:

PS: The USB port is used to light the TT led on headphone sides as well as the remote controller one, which indicates if mic is on/off, audio is not in the middle.
 
Last edited:
Top