Best headphone for gaming and music (prices listed below)?

[hRci]

Hello guys
So I would like to get a new headphones as said. If I need to express myself,I will be using new headphones 60% music and 40% games. I care a lot about sound quality and positioning audio and that's why i think open headphones would be the wisest choice. I am from one small country in Europe so I won't be buying any headphones from Amazon,eBay and so on,other than that,prices in my country are quite higher than in USA,UK,Australia and so on and the choice is not so great.
These are headphones I consider and are available in my country:

Audio Technica AD500X - 143$
Audio Technica AD700X - 201$
Audio Technica ATH-M40X - 115$ (yes I know,they are closed design but if they are really good why not)
HyperX Cloud - 100$ (headset with really good reputation,but closed design...I don't know really)
Sennheiser HD518 - 140$ (closed again)
Shure SRH440 - 97$
BeyerDynamic DT770 PRO - 177$
AKG K 240 MK II - 167$


There are no ,Astro,Turtle Beach,Grado, products in my country,very few Sennheiser also.

Also,my MBO is Asrock Z87 Killer and I was thinking about buying Asus Xonar DG and pair it up with my new headphone just to use as much of its potential. Would that be a good choice?

Thanks in advance

 

[ssddx]

do not bump threads, be patient. if, after a day or two nobody reads the thread (it got lost in the stream of new threads) then you can make a reply but please add new content which is beneficial to the thread. "bump" is not allowed. thanks.

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Audio Technica AD500X - 143$
open, wide soundstage, airy sound, good treble, fair mids, accurate but poor bass, comfortable.

Audio Technica AD700X - 201$
somewhat better than the 500x.

Audio Technica ATH-M40X - 115$ (yes I know,they are closed design but if they are really good why not)
closed, decent sound quality, bassy, tiny soundstage, not for people with large ears or glasses. honestly the m50s or m50 (not m50x) is a much better set to get if you were into these.

HyperX Cloud - 100$ (headset with really good reputation,but closed design...I don't know really)
good sound for a low price. it will not compete with higher end headphones very well but it does compete with the cheaper (under $100) headsets here in the usa pretty well.

Sennheiser HD518 - 140$ (closed again)
out of the 518 - 558 - 598 series, this one has the most bass but least highs/mids presence. the 558 is the middle ground. the 598 has the best highs mids and soundstage but not quite as much bass.

Shure SRH440 - 97$
i know nothing about this one.

BeyerDynamic DT770 PRO - 177$
better sound than the m50. fairly decent soundstage for being a closed design, comfortable, good bass without having poor treble. v-shape sound profile

AKG K 240 MK II - 167$
do not know much about the akg's but i do know they tend towards bass-light and detailed highs/mids (though can be piercing/sibilant at times). compare to the ad500x and ad700x.

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you need to make a decision...

do you want the widest soundstage, great clarity on treble/mids but not so much bass. if yes, the ad500x/ad700x are great (or maybe akg)
do you want the middle-of-the-road option with decent soundstage, mids, bass. if yes, the 518, 558 or 598 are worth looking at
do you want a smaller soundstage, decent clarity and better bass, but isolation. if yes, the dt770 is worth looking at.

the cloud isnt a bad choice if you wanted to spend the least but still get something you can enjoy, though it honestly is not going to compare to the higher priced choices you have available. it is your choice on what you want to spend.

any of them should be powered by the xonar dg soundcard fine. (the dg also gives you access to virtual surround if you wanted it).

 

[hRci]

Thank you for your reply. I would like to ask one more question. Now I have Logitech Digital Precision gaming headset which is quite old and not good at all. If you could give me some ideas how well my new headphone from above will compare with this logitech one it would greatly help in choosing new headphone. Will I expirience big improvement? I really dont know for example what difference will be in bass,mids,highs and soundstage when comparing new headphone with this old one?

 

[ssddx]

no idea how your current set sounds but given the really low price and bad reviews... my guess would be that it will be quite a substantial change in sound "quality" at the very least.

i gave you a rough idea how the above sound.. you need to answer the "you need to make a decision" part on my previous post.

 

[hRci]

Well,as said I care about positional audio but I do care more about the sound. I really want headphones that are able to reproduce everything clearly,reproduce the music the way it is supposed to be listened. I listen electronic music a lot and I play FPS games also.
Now,I heard that open back headphones are healthier than closed ones since sound is not pumped directly into your ears but rather gives a feeling that sound is not coming from a headphone but your surrounding and because of that they have less bass? Now another problem appears,I really have no idea how great quality,clear,deep and powerful bass sounds like at all,I have no idea what should I expect if I buy an open back headphones. On the other hand,closed back headphones give isolation but I don't care about isolation since I would be using headphones at home only and they have limited soundstage but greater bass.

From all of this,it seems that I need a headphone that has all these characteristics otherwise I would be unsatisfied. One thing to point out,I wear glasses and you said that M40X is not for those with glasses so M40X is not an option anymore it seems. M50s cost same as M50X here and there is no M50 (non S and X) version here.

To conclude,only three headphones seem good to me after reading your post and those are AD500X,DT770 PRO (80 Ohm) and HyperX Cloud and still have no freakin' idea what to buy... Something tells me that since I am beginner in audio world I shouldn't get any expensive headphones yet but then again,I want headphones that will serve me great in the upcoming years without changing them.

 

[ssddx]

i'm not sure about how "healthy" closed cans are though will say something that is proven: hearing loss (actually damage to the hairs inside your inner ear which are what get damaged and limit your hearing range) is caused by loud volumes. as long as you do not have pounding volume (i know, the pounding volume sounds great when you're rocking out but its not ear-healthy) then you should be fine. keep in mind that loud volume on open cans can be just as harmful.

you say "how it was meant to be listened" if by that you mean "natural" or "like in life" then perhaps a more neutral flat sounding headphone may be your style. they arent as "fun" sounding as the v-shaped profile cans though do not distort the sound into such a pattern. mids, treble, bass all get equal importance.

the hd598 has a flat response. open set of cans, wide soundstage with good treble, mids and fair bass (though not extremely low sub-bass). it might not sparkle on the highs like some cans or thump really low on the bass but it recreates things equally more like you'd hear in life. the dt880 is similar to this though harder to drive (would need an amp the hd598 does not).

the 990 is not flat, it highly accentuates highs and lows while leaving out the mids. while this is very engaging and fun it is not as true-to-life sounding. keep in mind the 990 also needs a decent amp.

the 770 gives up soundstage for bass and isolation. same v-shaped sound stage as the 990 though less sparkle in highs.

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i'd see what the hd598 costs in your country. also see what the 990-pro costs. i'm thinking due to costs of amps the hd598 is likely the better choice.

the hd518 and hd558 are going to be similar to the 598 though not quite as nice. as a "budget" choice it may also be worth looking into.

 

[hRci]

HD598 is around 260$
HD558 is around 180$
Both quite expensive. I also noticed there are lots of sony headphones here. What would be the best sony headphone in your opinion for music and gaming under 125$ for example?

Thanks for your help, really appreciate it.

 

[ssddx]

first you should say if "flat" is what you wanted in a sound profile. its not quite as engaging or "fun" but is more "natural".

i do not know much about good sony models though i have seen the sony mdr-6 compared to headphones in the $70 range (competes in the same class as the creative aurvana live! headphones and the hyperxcloud headset). supposedly it is fairly neutral.

 

[giantbucket]

i don't recall ever liking the sound of the AKG 240 stuff. i have a pair of 280 Parabolics that are wonderful, but don't know if they still make them. i now have K77 but rarely use them. have a pair of Senn HD280 that are just awesome, clean, but sometimes a touch bass-heavy and being closed (on ear), they get tiring after a while.

never used any AT or Beyer cans. or Shrure, for that matter. have AT and Shure mics, though.

 

[hRci]

Hmm... So what's better in your opinion? I really can't say what do I like more since I have no idea how v shaped cans sound like and other than that how flat sound sounds like also. I don't know what I want,if I could hear some audio demos of these sounds I might be able to figure out what I like but I doubt it's possible.

 

[ssddx]

http/www.sonicsense.com/resourcecenter/app/audio?load=category&key=headphones.html&preset=headphones_100_to_200&source=result&track=akg_k267_tiesto_club

while not 100% accurate since you wont get the actual levels of tonal differences the headphones have... it gives a good idea how they "compare" to eachother.

 

[giantbucket]

best thing is to bring a sample CD and try out a few pairs - see which you find accurate, comfy, and engaging. not all places let you try headphones, though... for some, it's like trying condoms.

(damn, now i have this urge to put on some Dadawa - Sister Drum)