I do a lot of Court transcription &amp; need headphones to enhance / clarify vocals &amp; plug into laptop / PC. Recommendations?
1805400
I'm assuming that what you're doing is listening to audio recordings and transcribing from those? If so, these would be a great choice for your job, for a few reasons. Firstly, being open backed recreates the acoustic environment inside a large courtroom better by enlarging the soundstage and providing better instrument (or in this case voice?) separation. Secondly, the dt990s themselves are quite analytical sounding; what some may view as overly harsh/bright highs may be beneficial to you by making voices clearer! On the whole though, although these would indeed be a good choice for listening to vocal recordings, you'd experience a larger improvement by changing up your setup, i.e. the recording source (e.g. by using better microphones); so, I'd try that first. These headphones will certainly like help regardless.
1072451
I prefer the M-Audio for sound, but these are pretty good too and I like the size of the Audioengines better for my desktop. If I were recording music, I would go for the M-Audio. I am just listening to podcasts and music at my desk with the Audioengine speakers and they are great for that. Hope this helps!
1464483
This is pretty much the industry standard - Express is bundled with Mbox so its a good deal - but it is time consuming to set up - your choice of microphone will really determine the sound for your guitar and vocals - if you are on a budget I would recommend the Behringer B1 or something similar.
1038301
I would go with one of the Shure SM series microphones, they have much better response in the mids. The sennheiser is okay for recording voice but it's better as an instrument mic, if you use it to record your voice, might want to overdub it or it will sound thin and tinny.
939316
I can't speak for that specific DAC/Amp you are talking about, but yes a high quality Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) and a dedicated headphone amp should sound better than your standard MacBook outputs for any headphones including the HD595's. I personally have a Universal Audio 2192 (DAC - $3000) that goes through a Central Station (Headphone Amp - $500) in my home recording studio which definitely clarifies the sound but that would probably be overkill for you!
61689
Go for a Personus audiobox, or m audio USB interface. Both are quite cheap and worth the money.
1945005
There is the Andrea USB mic, http://www.amazon.com/Andrea-Electronics-NC-185VM-USB-Hi-Fidelity/dp/B003VW41G8/ref=pd_cp_MI_0 - at only about $44, no adapter required, which is specifically recommended by Nuance, as well as some version of Plantronics, however, reportedly there is nothing that is equal to the accuracy obtained by this Sennheiser, so it is up to you to choose what is most important. Read the reviews on the Andrea, as they are good. For my tastes, and knowing how finicky voice-to-text is, I am going to spring for the Sennheiser ME 3-EW. There is a list of approved hardware for use with DNS on nuance.com. It took some clicking around to find it, sorry I don't have the link. But these two are on the list. There is also a site called emicrophones dot com where they have tested the best equipment for use with DNS, and they sell this Sennheiser with a longer cord. Here's wishing the best of success to you in your endeavors.
386669
I use them to monitor a music workstation. They are fine for my purposes. I have not used them for voice recording. The better your ear the better the headphones you need.
1372178
Really depends on the sound device your computer has and what you hope to get out of an attached device. A decent sound card will give you as a good a DAC as the one in this device, so you could most likely "get away with" a less expensive headphone-amplifier only - there's really no reason to pay for the DAC component if you don't need it.
458701
You didn't mention if you're going to simply be listening or doing recording/editing, so I'll give you a general answer. The built-in speakers aren't great, but you if you're doing something like editing tracks, you should be using monitors or a headset anyway. I've used both a bluetooth headset and a gaming headset with USB connector and have noticed a couple of things. The Bluetooth sounds spectacular. The USB has a faint hiss as soon as you plug it in, though not as noticeable in the USB 3, and definitely better than the on-board speakers. I think the hiss is just general noise from the electrical-from not having perfect shielding on the internal wires-but that's a bit much to ask for any laptop. I was a music major and studied audio engineering in college, so I get where you're coming from. I wasn't that impressed with this thing at first, but it's shown me what it can do and now I'm impressed and honestly really fond of it. You won't want to master anything on this, but it's going to be insanely portable and can handle a lot, considering the price point.
453317
If for home use then I suggest something more like the 558. If you have the cash though. It's more for better comfort and have the cans just engulf your ears. The 439 is a great headphones though and it will serve you well. I personally think they're better for office headphones though.
1111133
Thanks so much. Do you think the BEHRINGER ULTRACOUSTIC AT108 will work? I am looking to spend a little less.
1667295
Don't know about the HD429, but you might think about getting headphones with more treble response than the HD428 for use in transcribing. Depends on the tonal balance of your audio source. I know our VOIP phones at work chop off the top end of the audio.
1040615
Yes you can! I bought them and was pleasantly surprised to see that my laptop actually did recognize them as an inline mic, as most of the time it doesn't recognize headphones with inline mics as having a mic as well. Oddly enough, it DID NOT appear on the list of recording devices but they were definitely picking up sound as evidenced by my skype conversation partners. Your mileage with them may vary though!
505577
Almost any pair of headphones will benefit from a higher quality DAC and/or amplifier. These sound quite solid even driven by more common sources such as a laptop headphone port. Because of this I find the difference between 'normal' sources and a nicer setup to be a little less pronounced but still appreciable, though your milage may vary.
1768062
Well if you mean in terms of hearing, no...you won't hear any difference for basic use. But in terms of pure sound quality, a headphone output always lowers the quality of the music, hence why most audiophiles use an actual audio interface from their computers! Hope that helps!
943747
There is an XLR version (connect to computer via audio interface), and a USB version, connect directly to the computer. Based on how you are going to use it, I highly recommend the XLR version. Pick up a Focusrite Scarlet 2i2, a good mike cable and mic stand all for around $300, (new)-- you'll be very happy with the results!