Best Gaming Headphones

Gaming Audio Competitive
1

Hello everyone, I’ve just joined the forum and I’m new here. I’m mainly here because I’d like some advice on which headphones to buy for gaming. I’ve gone through all the guides, especially the fantastic one written by @Falenkor and a few months ago I decided to buy my first serious pair of headphones, the AD700X. I have to say I was extremely satisfied—before that I used Astro A40s or earbuds, and switching to this kind of headphone was like seeing for the first time :sweat_smile:.
Now, however, I’d like to move forward and I’m looking for an upgrade. But I feel a bit stuck, because the sheer number of posts on Reddit and here on the forum gives me a thousand doubts and I can’t figure out what I should get. I’m looking for an upgrade in every aspect. Soundstage-wise, I think I’d be fine even with something slightly smaller than the AD700X (sometimes I have trouble pinpointing footsteps in games). The most important thing for me is extremely precise, surgical, millimetric imaging.
My budget is around €350–400.
The headphones I’ve shortlisted are (feel free to recommend me other headphones of course):

HD560S – recommended by at least 90% of people, I think. Everyone speaks well of them except for a few. Comfort is so-so, but I can adapt (I adapted to the AD700X, which fit my head perfectly and have never caused comfort issues).

HD550 – I haven’t found anything about them on the forum, and I know they’re new and just released. I’ve read some people online saying they’re an upgrade over the HD560S, others saying hd550>hd490 pro. I’m interested in knowing if anyone has tried them for gaming.
HD490 Pro – I read these came out in 2024. Many say they’re like mini HD800S, others say they’re basically the same as the HD560S and that the doubled price isn’t justified. I’ve also read people saying the imaging isn’t that different from the HD560S and HD550. So, in short, what’s the truth in your opinion?
DT1990 – I can find them discounted on some sites, but I don’t really trust them. I’ve also read they’re very sibilant, and I’d be worried because I wouldn’t have the option to return them if things went wrong. On Amazon they cost too much, around €600.

Sundara – I’ve read that they have good soundstage and decent imaging. They’re probably amazing and all, but just looking at the picture on Amazon makes me tremble at the thought :sweat_smile:—those little sticks that hold the pads look extremely fragile to me. Also, I’ve read about some quality control issues, so I’m not sure.

HIFIMAN HE400se – Very advantageous price, but I’ve read that they require a lot of power, and I’ve never had a DAC/AMP before so I wouldn’t know how to go about it. Also, that would increase the overall cost.
HIFIMAN Edition XS – Again here, I’ve read extremely enthusiastic opinions and others extremely negative. Some say they’re excellent for gaming, others that they’re average or not good at all. I have them on my list because the price has dropped.

HIFIMAN Edition XV – I find these somewhat discounted on some sites. For these, I really haven’t found any gaming feedback online.

I absolutely dont want:

headphones with a non-removable cable. I bought the AD700X used months ago and went through two hellish months trying to find a technician outside my region who could replace the cable, which I later discovered was damaged. Now everything is fine, but I don’t want non-removable cables anymore. That’s why I don’t want the TYGR 300R, R70X, various Audio-Technica models, etc.
What would you recommend?

2

I’ve had or have every one of those. The HE400SE can be powered with an Apple $9 3.5mm USB adapter. Refurbished from Hifiman they’re a great value. For IEMs the Truthear Gate is what I use.

It’s an upgrade to what you have. The Sundara is a tight clamp, but more comfortable headband but take more to power.

3

What about the new hd490 pro and hd560s?

4

490 pro, 400SE, Sundara(can probably try the 400se for cheaper before swinging this and sundaras are picky on source amp), and the obvious upgrade from the ad700x going up the chain of headphones(1000x, 2000x, etc) would be the likely choices out of these all considering. 560s is a bit more enclosed on it’s soundstage compared to airier sounding headphones

as far as power depends on what your planning to use just to power the units, plenty of super cheap options these days

for music yes, for gaming I would argue that one is heavily debateable and up to subjective preference.

>.> I may or may not be this person spoke of in this sentence. Nonetheless, glad you found a headphone that really suited what you searched for.

5

What i fear with planars is the QC. Sundara photos to me are very horrible it looks like a headphone that could break at any moment. Those yokes….they look so weak omg.

Ive also read hd490 pro is very good like a mini hd800s thats why i was so curious about them. Have you tried in games like tarkov, arma, rainbow? What interests me the most is the laser imaging. Soundstage has to be good but not huge i can accept a minor soundstage compared to ad700x

6

Oh i was about to forget. They have non removable cable i dont want them. It would be a mess changing the cable.

7

What about hifiman xs? The price dropped really fast 1 year ago they were double iirc.

Are they good for competitive gaming?

8

ill sum this up, but since you dm’d me ill write a further response out there.

I might receive hate for this but this is the reason behind my swearing off Hifiman, and many planars as well. Planars can crinkle if not careful, and even break rather simplistically when dropped due to their inherent design philosophy. With Hifiman I have had 9 instances of pathetically poor quality control issues, while Hifiman did indeed fix those issues upon recieving the headphone back in some cases they introduced new issues which causes an immediate return.

While my experience is likely on the rare side of things, it’s still worth noting and is the reason I inform others to be wary of them.

Planars are fantastic cans just a bit on the fragile side of things. Though if you wanted a lightweight headphone, I wouldn’t usually encourage planars as typically they are far heavier than dynamics

800s is huge to the point of a bit annoying in my opinion. It’s artificially inflated so much that for music it’s great but for gaming it creates a unique problem in placements depending on the game sound engine. 490 pro are the superior one in that case not only being cheaper but have a more dialed in soundstage while still being expansive. Imaging is fine and performs exceptionally well, ad700x has always had issues so I would say a definitive step up in that regard..

always go cheaper when trialing hifiman, most of their products sound similar, use similar build quality, and similar pads with the main difference between the design change with ananda vs sundara. Makes it easy to know if you like a product overall with some minor nitpicks by just trialing their cheaper models in the lineup. Before I get flamed for that, I am not counting models like Arya in terms of technical performance

In this case I would simply tell you the recommendations from me would be

Planar: anything on the cheaper side from hifiman or Fiio Ft-1 Pro Open

Dynamic: 490 Pro or HD 550s depending on the size of soundstage, specific sound your looking for, comfort/weight, and pricepoint. 550s are the more musical of the two offering better timbre, sub bass presentation, and body.. Both are capable of EQ personalization. 550s out performs the 490 pro in the jack of all trades category big time for gaming if you don’t need such a large soundstage and are comfortable with EQ as necessary

Note: be wary of the impedance requirement, get yourself a cheap dongle starting out. Plenty of recommendations just make sure it has enough power like Fiio KA11(there might be an alternative there but I am unable to remember at this moment)

9

What about hd490 verticality quality?

Need that for games like rainbow six

ad700x were decent but idk why now after some time ive totally lost their imaging capacity. Vertical imaging is in particular non existent( my ad700x are 2hand and the original non removable cable has been replaced because it was broken, maybe the new cable altered the imaging?)

10

I would say 490 is a rather large step above ad700 in that ad700 really didn’t have a lot of depth for something like this by comparison. 490, 800s, and maybe the 550 in sennheisers lineup all are fairly good with the first two being the best in their lineup for that sort of thing. Then again, I would definitely give hifiman the crown over the 490 for something such as verticality

11

Okok ive ordered hd490 pro.

What kind of cheap DAC/AMP could i get to be sure to power hd490 pro efficiently? Can i order them even on aliexpress if there is EU price difference

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less someone else can recommend a higher unit, recommend asking less someone sees this, probably just something cheap like Fiio KA11, JCally JM20 max, or units in that caliber of chipset(or higher) that are plug and play. If the pc doesn’t have a usb-c connector on it just get an adaptor usb-c to the regular USB connection.

While not the “greatest audiophile sound” or whatever, they are cost effective enough to get the job done for the regular gamer and then some.. providing plenty of power and not making headphones sound terrible.

13

Okok. How much ka11/jm20 will alter hd490 pro original sound? Cause when i play i disable everything including windows sonic, i dont want the original hd490 signature gets alteres and losing maybe some imaging performances or something else. I just want the clear original signature and if those dac/amp will alter it i dont honestly want to buy them

14

distortion is relatively low on the units, and they don’t necessarily alter the sound in any major perceivable / negative way that would cause issues unless you were genuinely searching for differences. Something like the KA11 is a bit warm yet still natural and detailed, keeps that forward sound characteristic that one tends to look for with sennheisers. I prefer the jcally jm20 max over the ka11 as I found it a bit clearer to my ear and more natural without as much alteration. Both do the job just fine as I said for a gamer.

Obviously higher end devices can offer other characteristics but these are fine for practically any use case when it comes to gaming.. there is extremely negligible gains from strong amps and dacs when it comes to comp. gaming and while you can notice things like tubes these aren’t particularly common scenarios where people use them. Higher end units I would tend to recommend more for casual gaming, single player, immersion, and a music mixed with gaming oriented people.

No, you won’t lose imaging performance. The only ‘large gain’ you may or may not gain from some amps is things like spatial recreation but when it comes to something such as the 490 pro this really isn’t all that necessary if at all.. I would sooner encourage something like that if the headphone was more intimately focused like the 550 if one wanted a bit more colored or larger spatial sounding.. same for something pickier like the old dt 880 or a hifiman sundara of sorts as those really sing with certain setups similar to how my T1 2nd gen I swear by absolutely needs certain equipment or it can sound awful

I will say that I heavily encourage making sure you have a return policy of some form on the headphones, when it comes to trialing new equipment.. we all hear very differently so having the ability to walk a decision back is of importance in this hobby.. something like KA11 is fine to just have on hand in general though so not as important

15

Ive tried the new hd490 pro in the afternoon on r6

Idk what to say

With velour pads the imaging and soundstage are incredibly worse than my previous ad700x

Good imaging but not pinpoint and had difficulties to hear far than 10-15meters

With mixing pads imaging improves drastically, i have to test and keep playing, but i have a strange feeling the ad700x imaging still is a bit superior? Idk

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the imaging is likely not changing for you but rather the sound profile itself due to the change in pads and their respective material. Mixing pads are very bass lean compared to the velour. Both excel in placements. Considering the more neutral signature of the sennheisers like 490 you may need a brighter headphone like the ad700 instead

what are you running the headphone off of?

17

Plug and play

Another thing i have to do is turning up the volume. With ad700x i kept windows volume to 30, in game 100, because they are very brighter imo

With these hd490 pro, i already turned it up to 45. I have to try 65-75 because i dont feel fatigue honestly. With 40 imaging with mixing pads is very very good, i have to test in other games

18

mixing pads should be exceptional on the 490 but also depends on the game considering sound engines annoyingly enough.. you may need to tinker a bit. I would never ever encourage plug and play with higher ended headphones as a pc will introduce far larger distortion and can heavily mess with the sound. Even in the case of your ad700x I would consider picking up some form of dac like mentioned, if anything just to clean that sound up more.

Both headphones have angled drivers, may be worth looking into the EQ and dialing up the treble a bit more if deemed necessary so you can highlight certain frequencies to try and match some of the old characteristics your used to

19

I tried using sonar as i was telling you with my ad700x

For example on battlefield 6, my ad700x without EQ were excellent. Idk why everyone says the engine bf6 audio is terrible, to me it was exceptional.

Anyway, using sonar with ad700x caused some problems, like i could hear footsteps louder yes, but there was some strange distance delay, for example i knew where enemies were but their movements were always delayed, or anticipated compared to the audio source( i hope to explain well sorry my english sucks)

With hd490 pro i still have to test everything maybe my brain isnt used to the sound

I will order jm20 on aliexpress it costs few euros

I only have tested them on rainbow six, and idk in some cases they were with mixing pads incredible, in others meh

20

if you were to sit and do some graphs on audio you’d very quickly realize its an absolute massacre in terms of sound designs and the games sound engine is quite literally all over the place.. this is why you get random moments of silent tanks, footstep sounds can be misplaced, etc. Games great, and the sound engine isn’t as pathetic as a COD title, but I would not call it exceptional by any stretch.

well that’s a rather interesting problem.. that sounds like some weird interaction with how its setup or conflicting with another program. Worth looking into, unfortunately I cannot help with that as I do not have those issues with sonar.

get the jm or ka11, give it a few days to sit with them, maybe tinker a bit more specifically in the cases of treble and see what you think. All else fails, it likely just means you need a brighter sounding set of cans that are open and air-y instead of a more neutral one and helps you narrow down to your specific needs. Nothing wrong with that, my buddy swears currently by his 490s right now since I got him those last christmas but I swear by my beyers.. different strokes for different folks since we all hear different

make sure its the jcally jm20 max if your doing aliexpress.. theres some fakes on there, just be wary.