Well-Rounded Headphones?

[thehunter1320]

i have a 5.1 sound card but not a 5.1 amplifier for my TV stuff... what would be the best pair of headphones to take advantage of 5.1 on my PC, 5.1 on my gaming consoles and DVD player, and for use with my iPod (just as headphones, not 5.1) without having to buy alot of extra hardware

any help would be appreciated!

 

[folken]

The only 5.1 headpones on the market are the zalman ones. That would only allow you to have 5.1 on your computer though. For the best all around headphones I'd just get a nice expensive pair of sennheiser or bose headphones and not worry about the 5.1.

<A HREF="http://www.folken.net/myrig.htm" target="_new">My precious...</A>

 

[phsstpok]

There are about a half dozen to a dozen 5.1 headphones on the market.

In addition to the Zalman a partial list includes Kinyo, LTB, Gainward, Ezonic, Midiland, Medusa models. Some have microphones.

I have the Kinyo's. Good bass. LFE, low frequency effects, are impressive. You feel the sound. Very good for DVD viewing. Clear vocals and very dynamic sound add to the experience. Strong sense of space but poor directional cues (AFAIK, this is the weakness of all so called 5.1 headphones). Not great for music, no obvious weakness but music is just underwhelming, boring in fact, except for drums if you have subwoofer channel enabled. You must use a subwoofer channel via the 5.1 preamp if you want decent bass from these headphones. Pure stereo sources produce much less bass, the front drivers can't produce the same levels as the subwoofer channel

These headphones use a mini-DIN connector. Kinyo provides a 1/8" headphone adapter but the adapter blends sounds to all six drivers (three for each ear). The resultant sound is dreadful, phasey and has a collapsed soundstage. Use the powered preamp for better sound.

The Kinyos really do provide a nice DVD experience but a good quality convential headphone is a better choice for general purpose.

[addition]
Kinyo provides an assortment of connectors and adapters, everything you need to connect to a 5.1 sound card, a home theater receiver, and game consoles. Only one at a time though. There is a nice pass thru feature so you can connect pc 5.1 speakers to the headphone preamp, just turn off the one you don't want to listen to.

<b>A mind is a terrible thing</b><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 12/14/04 01:41 PM.</EM></FONT></P>