After being slightly fed-up with the mediocre quality of "gaming" headsets on the market which seem to be more like overpriced, over-hyped junk I decided to get something of higher quality.
Allen and Heath design professional DJ equipment. Some have gone as far to say they are the "Rolls Royce" of DJ equipment. Well I like me a Roll's Royce so I decided to jump in.
I decided to purchase these headphones after reading several reviews online from places like Amazon.com and GuitarCenter.com. The average review was about 4.5/5 stars.
I shopped around at Amazon.com, eBay.com, and a few others. These suckers retail for $250.00, but I was able to get a "B-Stock" set from a retail store seller on eBay, Unique Squared (http://uniquequared.com). Follow them on Facebook, Youtube etc, they do great video reviews.
Once they arrived I could feel the quality right away. I could even literally smell it as these headphones use leather for the ear cups and headbands.
Pricing
$179.99 to $249.99
Where to buy
US $179.00
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Xone XD2-53 |
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Denon SUPER DJ HEADPHONES DNHP1000 List Price: $169.00 Sale Price: $129.99 |
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Roth RothDock Wireless iPod Dock List Price: $179.99 Sale Price: $95.00 |
Messing with the sound
I used my PC with two different sound cards. First I us
ed my on-board RealTek Audio 7.1 sound card. Honestly, these did not sound that bad when connected to the on-board sound. I did hear a bit of noise which is to expected when using any type of on-board sound card as there is a ton of interference which you can here. I also hooked them up to my SteelSeries Siberia USB 7.1 sound card. The audio quality was just about the same, but the scratchiness was not present
We need more power Scotty!
These type of headphones need a bit more thrown at them to be set to their full potential. What I decided to was purchase an ASUS Xonar Essence STX sound card. Luckily they had one at my local Fry's Electronics for a good price. The reviews on that card are stellar, and I can speak for the how amazing this card really is. After connecting them up, it completely changed my feeling on these headphones from really great to F'ing amazing. Playing with the mixer and other headphone settings on the Xonar's sound panel brought this thing to life.
Not so good...
Well if I had to come up with something to complain about, it would be that these beasts are a bit heavy. For some reason I have a bit of issue with heavy headphones putting pressure on my head. I would prefer a setup like the Siberia V2 game head set provides. Also these are a closed type of headset and they tend to make my head warm after a while.
To buy or not to buy?
I can 100% recommend these headphones as a great option for music enthusiasts or pro DJs.
Product Information
Tech Specs
Excellent sound reproduction
• 53mm diameter drivers
• High power neodymium magnet design
• High SPL capacity
• Rotating earpieces for easy one-ear monitoring
• Adjustable metal-reinforced headband
• Folding design for compact portability
• Long listening comfort
• Carry pouch included
• OFC [Oxygen-free Copper] wire cables
• 3.5mm [1/8"] connector with 6.3mm [1/4"] jack adapter
• Type: Closed-back Dynamic (circumaural isolation design)
• Frequency Response: 5 – 33,000 Hz
• Maximum Input Power: 3,500 mW
• Sensitivity: 105 dB/mW at 1 kHz
• Impedance: 36 ohms
• Weight: 320 g
• Cable: 1.2 m (Coiled)/Max. 3.0 m (OFC)
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