Sounds Upgrade: Headphones & Soundcard

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So, I'm thinking of buying a new soundcard and new headphones. After surfing the net and reading several reviews it seems like Audigy 2 ZS and Sennheiser HD590 are the pair I'm looking for. Nevertheless, they will be costing about 300€ in total so I want to be sure that they really have a great sound quality and also last for the next 8 years, at least.

(Note that I just took the first reviews to hit my eyes in Google -they probably are sponsored.)

So, opinions? How would they compare against my current Live!5.1 and Philips HP800 combo?

 

I don't know much of the headphones, but from what I've heard, the Audigy 2 ZS is awesome if you can afford it. There's even a gamer version that comes with a ton of games that showcase the sound. I haven't used one myself, but I have used Creative Labs Extigy, and that was excellent, so I don't see any reason not to recommend the Audigy 2 ZS.

 

Guess I forgot to mention, but there is a bulk, non-platinum version available for only 60€ (only a little more than the age old Live! -serie). It *shouldn't* be a stripped version, but you never know...

 

I recently got the Audigy 2 ZS platinum and love it. Has more bells and whistles than most will ever use, and the sound is incredible. As for headphones, if you'd be interested in some 5.1 speaker headphones, check out the Kinyo KY-100 (from NewEgg.com). They're a little heavy, but sound great.

 

Those aren't too expensive either. My friend just spent 300 bucks on his pair of headphones.

 

Ordered the package and it cost me 324€, which is about as much in dollars, and had to pay ~20€ extra due of the retail packaging (bulk was sold-out in every shop I tried).

Better be worth it...

**EDIT**

Just to the curious: yeah, they are good, with firm bass, clear tunes, and comfy too. Have yet to try games that use EAX, but I expect them to be a little better too. As to the negative sides; the sounds are a bit too warm and, truth to tell, 300 bucks of a minor improvement like this is a bit too much if it is only one-time investiment (I intend to use them for the next 7 years, at least). In overall: good, not absolutely outstanding, but a solid choise nevertheless.

So, if you see these for a total of 200 bucks, do take them.

[ January 19, 2005, 23:56: Message edited by: Wirhe ]

 

How about these? These also look nice, but without the RF irradiation that the Koss units provide. These are also non-irradiating, but with a less artistic cradle.

I'm being just a little bit humorous, here. You can find wireless headphones for $100 and under. I wasn't kidding about the RF, though; I'd get IR before I got radio.

As for sound cards, I can tell a difference between the Nforce2's "Soundstorm" and the SB Live in my computers. The SB Live is a little better, but you'd only notice it if you were using a good set of headphones and the game relied on sound a lot. If you're playing D&D or Unreal Tournament 2004, you're not going to notice.