Do bass-heavy headphones benefit gaming?

rnd456

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Mar 30, 2014
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Hi, I just tried a headset (Hyperx Cloud) which IMO greatly emphasizes bass/lows. Yup, totally not for listening my favourite metal (but they're advertized for gaming anyway...)

Anyway, since I wanted them only for games, are bass-heavy headsets/headphones supposed to benefit your gaming experience in any way? Talking of singleplayers to competitive games where you must hear where the sounds come from, plus regarding talking with people via voip (I was thinking maybe their [headsets'] sound helps to make it easier to "pick" voices?)

Do you think some headphones/headset really are more suited for games because of their sound and if so, why's that and what to look for? Do you think a pair of flat sounding headphones does a better job than bass-heavy ones? - I only intend to use them for gaming.

Thanks for your answers!
 

mudpuppet

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Jun 20, 2012
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I had the old logitech gaming headset that went behind the ears (http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Gaming-Headset-G330-Black/dp/B002I3OZB2). After a few years the back finally snapped and I thought about trying something that was noise canceling. I grabbed the Razer Kraken Chroma (http://www.amazon.com/Razer-Kraken-Chroma-Gaming-Headset/dp/B00MTWV0RO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1444071601&sr=1-1&keywords=razer+kraken+chroma) to give it a shot. As far as Bass goes, I can hear footsteps in BF4 like I never could with the G330. It's a personal adjustment for me because I love the sound quality of a bigger gaming headset, but I miss being able to hear whats going on around me irl without the GF trying to break a bat over my back to get my attention. They might not help you in PvP on WoW, or even in LoL, but I imagine FPS games where they do tend to get detailed sounds they are a must for serious/competitive gaming.
 
actually headphones which lack bass give more advantage to fps gaming since you can hear footsteps easier.

headphones with more bass are just more fun to enjoy games with which is why many gaming headsets are slightly bassy.

if you want the absolute best in terms of advantage in fps gaming then headphones like the ad500x (and 700x, 900x) are very bass light (punchy mid bass but no bass extension to lower levels) with detailed treble and huge soundstage.

if you wanted midway between the hd518 (and 558, 598) are fairly neutral and more laid back sounding.
 

rnd456

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Mar 30, 2014
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Thanks for your informative answer, I guess then I don't really need bassy headphones especially because with my in-ear phones, which are supposedly flat'ish sounding, I enjoy the games I play more - it feels like I can hear a bit more with them while with this amount of bass everything seems to sound "drowned".
Also thanks for the headphones suggestions.
 

iam2thecrowe

Distinguished
Moderator
i would say headphones with a relatively flat response from 20hz-20khz, low distortion and high dynamic range would be best. This will let you be able to hear all the detail. Pair this with something with a headphone amp that has good eq, like the soundblaster Z, and you can select any EQ curve you want to emphasize any particular range. sbZ Also has scout mode to assist with hearing enemies far away.