I currently have a SteelSeries Arctis Pro + GameDAC which I have been very happy with compared with any other ‘gaming’ headset ive listened to but im interested in trying something new.
So far I’ve been looking at Beyerdynamic DT 990s and Sennheiser HD599 or something similar. I’ve heard HiFiMan are also really good but I’m not sure where exactly they stack up to the other two ive mentioned.
Budget is $800 give or take, I’m planning on buying a separate amp/dac to run them, and i dont care if i have to buy a separate mic aswell.
Any and all suggestions would be welcomed!
You might want to take a deep dive in the “compettive” section there is a ton of recommendion you can find there.
But first off when it comes to mics, if you want something that is on the headset - you cant go wrong with a mod mic, sticks to pretty much any headphone and sounds way better than most built in mics.
A good starting headphone is the Tygr 300R, its pretty much the gold standard when it come to gaming nowadays punch way about its pay grade in that genre - side benefit you can buy the bundle with the USB mic. Another benfit of the Tygr is that you dont have to have a Amp/DAC but it does benefit if you want to invest in one
Just a few questions for some clarification
What is the use case for these as this wasn’t placed within the gamer tabs, may have to ask the moderators to move it over accordingly based on either casual gaming or something more competitive?
Is $800 for everything or is the budget still relatively flexible…? Understand that for a gamer the initial entry cost is usually the most expensive part long as you don’t jump down the rabbit hole.
What kind of sound preferences do you have, do you listen to music at all? do you care about sound quality within that music? what genres do you prefer in this regard or is this solely for gaming purposes? If for gaming then what kinds of games… some headphones excel at certain games such as for example Doom being a bassier style of game and others like RPG’s you may appreciate a more encompassing sound of sorts for better immersion. There are some headphones much like how I see @Naturallymorbid mentions with the tygr 300r over there that tend to cover all bases… they just don’t particularly excel in any one spot so they are more of a jack of all trades similar to that of the HD 560s from sennheiser.
Do you prefer open back or closed backed headphones? To understand this, open backs will leak sound but generally have a larger soundstage, the sound travels more around the head meanwhile closed will place the sound within your ears to the center of your head, on the other hand open backs tend to have more air and better mids - highs in terms of sound meanwhile closed backs tend to be warmer and bassier but the sound isolates itself so you get a much more closed off enclosed space of sound instead. Closed backs do heat up quite a lot in comparison to open backs since their is less breathing room and closed backs are inherently designed to have a harder clamp on the head to isolate the sound better
Would encourage this for sure, provided your okay with this being attached to your headphones but also to advise some caution with the UNI in particular as that one runs quite hot in comparison to the other two… USB and wireless run fine… wireless is a bit of a stretch considering its price is within the same ballpark as dedicated desk mics that are also USB such as a yeti, elgato, etc
Pretty much this, the general crowns seem to be either Tygr or the HD 560s respectively… depending on the persons listening preferences these two easily go head to head right now especially for their price and ease of drive… most pc’s that are up to date so to speak can run either ampless just fine but it definitely depends on the motherboards power
Audeze Maxwell came out recently at $300 and got great reviews. The best wireless headset... period. - YouTube
I’d agree with above on HD 560S as well.
Hi, thanks for the response! $800 is for the headphones by themselves. I fully plan on getting an amp/dac combo. Possibly a Fiio K7 or something similar.
Use case is gaming however I dont really play anything super competitive or high level anymore so I’d much prefer some headphones that have fantastic sound quality over something thats geared more towards strictly gaming. I can hear footstep audio and direction more than well enough with my current set so no problems there.
After trying out the set of DT990s i just got my partner I’m 100% set on another set of open backs for myself.
To summarise: Must be open back, i will be driving them with an amp/dac, dont care about them having a mic, sound quality and accuracy is preferred over gaming/directional audio quality if thats even a thing
Wouldnt call a 800$ budget entry level 
But you got a ton a choice for that kind of budget (if its headphone only), i think one of the top contenders should be the Meze 109 or maybe you could go for 2 headphones that complement each other like an Hifiman edition XS and something warmer like a Harmonicdyne Zeus
Sorry to do this to you but ive changed my mind on the budget, ive decided id like to get a new set of headphones aswell as an amp/dac sooner rather than later so Im now looking to go a bit cheaper!
So far im torn between Dt990s, Dt900s, HD560s, Hd599. So lets say around $400 aud or less. Any other suggestions in that range?
Thanks!
Maybe the 560s but the rest of i’d avoid - its not like that they are bad headphones but for that kind of budget you can find way better.
Hifiman Sundara is a solid choice but it needs an amp, Harmonicdyne Zeus if you like a warmer sound (bassy and full sound but you lose some of the details)