This is my shootout for around $200ish (usd) headphones for music only. 880’s are my current daily driver used with eq from oratory1990 using peace apo. All tested using Emotiva BasX A-100 at roughly the same volume to my ears. Listened to each song all the way through with 1 headphone before switching to the next.
Green=1st place
Yellow=2nd place
Red= 3rd place
Grey= 4th place
This does not mean that any of the headphones are bad, they are not for sure. I forced myself to not go with any ties as the Tygr and 560s would likely have tied in at least 2 of the songs. It was a bit unfair to put the PC38X (suede pads) on here as although still not bad, was not on par with the other 3, might do a 58X comparison later on.
Listening to any of the other 3 on their own without any comparison to the others and they are all fantastic. I was listening to the 560s for hours throughout this week. Its only when I start A-B’ing when i really start to form preferences. I was surprised with much lower I had to put the volume at for the 560’s and the sound staging and imaging so I might throw them in a gaming comparison with Tygr and PC38X and see what happens.
UPDATE: Gaming wise on my Ps4, 880 and 560s just are too low volume to be useable directly through the controller. PC38X does an amazing job of in game sounds. Volume is maxed on the system and the headset, but theres some room to lower it from the headset and still be enjoyable. Wish the mic was on par with the modmic wireless being as large as it is. Tyrgr does a good enough job but id still prefer the PC38X purely for console gaming
@Cb1scu1t I am looking in the $150-200 range and if you had to recommend a set of headphones (ignoring my audio preferences) in this range which would it be? My current contenders are the dt880s, 990s, 560s, 58x, and tygr 300. They will be used for gaming and music not super competitive in gaming so I don’t need an amazing soundstage and imaging but I think I would prefer audio quality>imaging>soundstage. My audio preferences are all over the place but the single commonality is that my music tends to have vocal harmonies (think barbershop and shanty music).
if gaming at all competitively and wanting vocal performance definitely the DT 880 in my opinion there. Haven’t tried the 560s yet. Can say the 58x though sounds gorgeous with it’s neutrality and well rounded nature so that would work too granted I think soundstage and imaging is better on the 880s. Tygrs are not the best for vocality and are a redone up 990 both are recessed in the mids with the 990s sounding more recessed due the upper mid scoop
sorry my brain wants to understand but I want to make sure I completely understand. Left to right as in left is #1 and it goes down from there or left to right as in left is worst and it ascends to #1 furthest right?
Also I am not familiar with all sennheisers just by looking at their silhouette which pair are those? Also also what ohms are your 880 and 990s? I just finished zeos’ review of the 58x where he compares them to the 660s and that might have just sold them for me unless someone can convince me the dt880s, dt990s, 300r are better.
And no, the 56x’es are not like the HD660’s wich have more punch and more detail definition even after I mod the 56X’es, this is why I sold them after I pickt the 660’s.
For me, the 560s is tuned perfectly. I tried EQing it, but found the natural tuning on it to be excellent. Where it lacks compared with my Sundaras is in detail and resolution.
If the 560s had the detail, slam, sound stage, and resolution of the Sundara’s, it could be the perfect headphone.
Or the other way around, if the Sundaras had the 560s tuning, they are excellent, although I trust Sennheiser’s quality control much more than Hifiman.
As far as gaming goes, i want to say id got 560s > 880 > Tygr (have not heard 990s yet). Music id go 880 > Tygr > 560s. If im at my desk im using my 880’s, if im at my ps4 in the living room well i kinda have to go tygr by default although im thinking ill keep the PC38X to fill that niche and can easily take them on the go to a friends house.
for purely gaming yes. i liked the 560 the best but if youre talking about music and gaming, then id go tygr if you dont want an amp, 880 if you do use an amp
Any chance you can expand on this a bit more, just seems to go against some of what the other reviews are saying (560 more a reference/neutral for music and the TYGR is the more typical V shape for enjoyable gaming).
i guess what it comes down to is music the tygr are more fun sounding. 560 were too flat (extended well but flat) and boring for me. gaming i was trying to find something for my ps4 where i wasnt going to use an amp it would just be through the controller. tygr i had to max the volume to get comfortable and wished i had more room to go up, but the 560 was not quite maxed so there was more room. also i like the comfort of sennheiser cups just due to their shape but with comfortable pads beyerdynamic are still good
I’m gonna chime in and say 880 vs 990 for gaming is a no contest. The imaging on both is great but soundstage matters for distance. The 990 wins every time for me. With a balance and some real power I feel like the the lows and mids get brought up to the volume of the highs and you don’t get that harshness in the highs because you have your overall volume down. Having a stupid low noise floor is really something that shouldn’t be ignored either. Like for instance being able to hear someone turn so their feet pivot, but their character doesn’t actually take a step in a shooter like Tarkov really gives people away when they’re holding corners and things are dead silent. Oh and hearing someone that’s using dead silence in cod is another benefit. Whisper quiet sounds just become instantly noticeable regardless of distance. Just my experience and however subjective it may be it’s the setup I’ve fallen in love with. If I could get balanced t1.2s with a full open back like the 990s I think they might be a little more neutral but better overall.
About the rest, the 880s are pretty good I guess. Soundstage sounds like it has an exact cutoff point like 7 feet out. Thirsty like anything 600ohm.
I like the pc38x and decided to keep them but mostly for console convenience for the off chance I plug my xbox back in some day. They’re pretty nice for gaming but that’s about it. Maybe action movies too. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE THESE A PROPER BURN IN!
560s are awful for games in just about every way unless you eq. Soundstage is meh, not awful, but it’s there. Worth a buy for critical listening for life. Virtual surround like atmos actually helps these quite a bit with soundstage but its low bitrate.
300r is fantastic all around right out of the box. Soundstage is a little bit too small for my taste but it feels right for some reason with its sound signature. I do think the price is a bit high on the 300r.
And I swear to fucking god beyerdynamic needs to pull their heads out of their assess with the non detachable cable bullshit. Like why make a nice product like any of their 600ohm variants, Tesla’s included, and give people literally no option under thousands of dollars to power them cleanly without modification?
tygrs have similar staging to the 990 but the 990 has all that air and treble which makes it sound that much bigger… sounds like your a big fan of those headphones that have that air quality as 990 is great for that… Perhaps check out the Sundara sometime you may love that one to death though it pales a bit in the bass compared to 990
glad to see your enjoying them though, love my beyers… though definitely agreed that I wish their lower models had a damn detachable cable…
