Best gaming headphones

[James Shock]

I want the best gaming headphones for 200-300 pounds. I'm gonna add the antlion MOD mic so it's doesn't need a mic. It needs to be comfortable and great audio quality

 

[nednerbish]

I just bought a pair of Hyperx cloud2 (100$us) and must say i absolutely love them. I got tired of turtle beach after owning x12, xoseven, tango, and x11. I wanted to try a different brand. I also has a set of tritton 720. Im liking these better than all of those. The built in sound card is pretty good. Push button 7.1 surround, detachable mic, super soft ear cups (use them 8hrs every day), and theyre built really really well, no plastic crap.

 

[ssddx]

given that you live in uk, you may want to take a look at beyerdynamic. the dt770/dt880/dt990 are all fairly decently priced over there. you will need a decent soundcard (suggest at least creative z) or using an external amplifier. great comfort however they do run a bit bright so you might want to eq them down a bit if you dont like that.

what is best for you depends on what kind of sound you prefer. the beyers are going to be v-shaped with detailed energetic treble combined with decent bass response with somewhat subdued mids.

the hd598 will be more mellow and neutral. for more money the hd600 and greater maintain that mellowness but add more bass and quality.

if you wanted great advantage in games at the expense of having audio sound quite as nice, the audiotechnica ad500/700/900x are good. great soundstage and treble/mids but very poor bass response.

likewise, akg cans tend to be the same way however are much harder to drive.

generally any hifi headphones are going to blow any gaming headsets out of the water completely in terms of sound quality.

 

[BlueFireZ]

The Antlion Modmic is a good desicion, here are some of the best quality headphones.

Audio Technica ATH M50x or ATH M70x

Sennheiser HD 598

Beyerdynamic DT 990 (make sure its 32 Ohms)

AKG K550

Sony MDR 1ADAC

Shure SRH 1440

 

[ssddx]

a few notes..

it should be noted that the m50 has a very small soundstage which will make it seem very closed in so may not be ideal for gaming by the standards many people seem to have. i have the m50s model (previous gen but nearly identical) myself and certainly notice this but i generally do not use them for gaming and its not a huge deal to me. good headphone for the price though certainly not for everyone. also, the earcups are small so it may not be comfortable for everyone and after a few hours they do get a bit hot to wear.

also, the 32ohm dt990 is only available in the premium model which is much more expensive than the dt990pro-250 (nearly double on uk market) which. its really only worth going premium for the 600ohm model unless of course you accept the poor value of the 32ohm but want something portable anyways. it should be noted that the 250 and 600 impedance sets have much better control over the drivers so will sound slightly better as well.

of the dt770 closed cans, the 250 is the most quality sounding, the 80 is the most bassy while the 32 lags behind in all areas a bit.

unless you do not plan to get a soundcard or amplifier of any sort, you can worry a bit less about impedance and more about what sound you want - but do budget for a way to power them (which can be done in the same budget you listed in the first post). also a side note: impedance (ohm rating) is not the only way to determine how hard a headphone is to power. the sensitivity matters greatly as well. for example the k701 is only 62 ohm impedance however is far harder to drive than the dt990 250 or 600 due to being less sensitive. just thought i would throw that out there.

 

[James Shock]

i want pure sound quality and i dont mind spending some money on an amplifier, i was thinking about the dt 770s but i didnt know the different between the 880s and the 990s

 

[ssddx]

the dt770 are closed
the dt880 are semi-open (please consider them fully open though)
the dt990 are fully open.

not sure if the drivers are all the same between models or related (i've heard both). they do share the same characteristics though.

dt770 are going to be more bassy with just a bit less treble than the 990. the 80ohm is most bass. the 250ohm is most quality.
dt880 are going to be a bit more neutral with a bit more subdued bass and treble.
dt990 are going to be a bit bright on treble with more low bass than 880 but less than 770. they do have more mid bass then the others.

curve graph 880-990-770 to give an example of strength of bass/mid/treble between the lines.

here is a graph comparing it to the 598, q701 and hd600

soundstaging will be biggest on the 990 and 880 and smaller on the 770 due to being open vs closed. however, for a closed headphone the dt770 soundstage is on the larger side. other headphones like the AT ad-xxx series will have larger soundstages than beyer cans though the beyers are fine for gaming if you like how they sound.

good source to check out http/www.headphone.com/pages/build-a-graph for response curve graphs of different headphones.

from the response curve graphs you can infer about what they will sound like in terms of quantity. for example a headphone with a mostly flat curve will be considered flat. a headphone with sharp peaks will have more noticible (example bass, mids or treble) compared with the rest of the spectrum which is not so peaked. a more shallow curve is less aggressive and blends in a bit more instead of on less frequencies.

please remember you can not infer QUALITY from graphs. things such as how detailed headphones are, soundstaging, positional audio, dark/light or warm/cold are all things best heard from personal opinions (though they may of course differ from yours) or by listening to them yourself (ideal but not always possible).

beyers are great for people who like more than average bass response paired up with bright detailed treble. they all will sound a bit recessed in mids though the 880 is a bit more flat.

i mentioned a few alternatives earlier although i know in uk many of the choices are quite a bit more expensive than the beyers. of course the cans i listed arent the be-all-end-all of lists you can pick from just ones i am fairly confident recommending and comparing against one another sonically. head-fi is a great place to read some reviews on different cans or try to find less well known choices that may be also a good price in your market (country).

 

[James Shock]

what would your personal choice be?

 

[ssddx]

depends on what my needs were at the time honestly as well as budget.. i generally do not game on headphones much since i have a hifi 5.1 system hooked up so my needs may also vary from yours. most of the time i use headphones to listen to music or podcasts when traveling or at work so noise isolation is also important for my current needs.

if i had your budget?

i have the m50s now, so the dt770 is a shoe in for me if i needed new cans. all around better than the m50s and great for my needs of noise isolation.

for open cans and gaming.. perhaps the 990.

i'd likely give thought to headphones like hifimans and others before making a decision though. in general i prefer bass response a bit greater than neutral though so while not a basshead i do like more than some others.

 

[James Shock]

What hifi headphones do you recommened

 

[ssddx]

depends on what you expect out of the headphones and your preferences... so far you really havent let us know anything about your preferences at all so i'd be taking a stab in the dark.

if you like bright treble or do not mind tuning it down with eq settings and if you like a fair bit of bass the beyers arent a bad choice. if you want something easy listening though less detailed the sennheisers i listed are good. unless you're looking for gaming advantage the akg or audiotechncia ad-series i'd say would only be ideal if you do not like bass response or are looking for headphones without much for fps gaming advantage reasons.

 

[James Shock]

I Dont really know soundstages all i know is i like the little details like footsteps or birds tweeting i also live the impact from explosions

 

[ssddx]

hearing footsteps at the same time as having large explosions you can feel is often hard to do since bass can sometimes mask footsteps. the dt990 can do explosions well and has bright and detailed enough treble for footsteps and such things as well so you could give it a try. your choice - ideally if you live near a store which sells them you can hear them firsthand though not always possible i know.

 

[James Shock]

any amps you recommend?

 

[ssddx]

if you are happy with stereo sound the fiio e10k would be a good choice as it would warm the dt990 up a bit. its both a dac and amp.

if you intend to use a soundcard or onboard sound with them [normally people do this if they want to use virtual surround from a soundcard or specifically want to use on-soundcard equalizer software] then the fiio a3 would work. normally i'd also say the e09k would work as well but i dont see it on amazon uk.

the o2 amp would work a well but its significantly higher priced in the uk market. if you're into the sort of thing.. i've heard tube amps can be quite decent as well though i have no experience with them and they are a bit more fragile.