HD 518

The HD518s were my first good pair of headphones. Really loved listening to music on them because they just had a pleasant, warm sound. But when I later upgraded to the DT 990 Pros with their surgical like ability to present music it was a whole different feeling. Suddenly lots of songs just sounded kinda crappy due to bad mastering and/or mixing. I still like them for that, its a way different approach to enjoying music than the HD650s that I got later are. Pretty sure they also gave me mild tinnitus.

Is this your first good headphone? I want to share a bit of my experience about my first good headphone (sennheiser hd518) and upgrading from there. It sent me down a huge rabbit hole and most ‘upgrades’ didn’t give me the satisfaction that first headphone brought. I was reading forums and chasing the highest fidelity and detail. But those first headphones had something special. I was used to that sound and the soundstage was amazing. I wasted money and mostly time trying to find something better. In the end I did find a better pair (for me) but not through reading reviews. I had the chance to try them, no prior info/knowledge and they were really great. If you want something new, try them out first!

V-MODA Crossfade-2. Some tips: You'll want to pick up an aftermarket modification for the earcups as the ones they come with don't provide the best padding, especially for long sessions. As far as BIFL goes, they're made by a company whose primary business is manufacturing headsets for the US Military. Durability is their first, middle, and last name. I have a pair and I can tell you that "military grade" is not an exaggeration. Had em for almost a decade (they don't even make the version I have anymore), dropped them 1000s of times, a friend dropped a sofa on the headband, and while it did break a chunk off, it still does the job well. The worst thing that happened was one of the screws holding the driver/earcup to the headband sheared off, but the company mailed me a repair kit free of charge. They're still holding strong to this day. Low latency, high quality, and most of the headsets have a wire-mounted microphone. Alternately, Sennheiser has dedicated gaming headsets. Although I do have growing concerns as to the brand's pivot in recent years, I have yet to be disappointed by their durability and build quality. I've owned, over the years, multiple HD518s and HD598s, and am currently geared out with an HD800 headset and an e835 microphone routed into a Yamaha Mix8/Onkyo HT-RC260. At bottom, if you want a good system that's going to put in the work and last a long while, stick to trusted, legacy brands that have an emphasis in pro-grade audio (talking things that actual audio engineers and concert halls use, or, with V-MODA, the US Military as well as top-grossing EDM producers & DJs). The second note is that the more features you add to a system, the more points of failure you introduce into it. Buy a microphone, a stand, and a simple Focusrite Scarlett 2 Channel interface. That way if one component of your signal chain malfunctions, it's far easier to troubleshoot and/or replace parts, and doesn't completely cripple you by having one single point of failure.

There are dedicated subs for audio which is more useful, but the truth is for the majority of PC use cases, any decent set of headphones is good enough. I have an ancient pair of Sennheiser HD5-- headphones that are still awesome. A monitor or any other PC part from that era is basically garbage today.

Sennheiser’s HD500 series models used

The build quality feels so much better than the 5 series. It's a shame the HD550 didn't inherit the metal headband. I absolutely love the comfort and isolation with these. I use the 500BAM microphone for phone calls. Pretty good value as I got them brand new for $213 + $66 for the 500BAM.

I honestly really like the stock cable on the 620S and the 5 Series headphones. It's not a fancy braided cable, but it's smooth and the kinks loosen up fairly quickly. My only issue with the 620S' build is the glued-on headband cushion. Surely they could have come up with some other solution, like the velcro on the 490 Pro.