(update in progress) Falenkor's Competitive Headphone Write Up. Now with added Hardware explanations!

Gaming Audio Competitive
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The sennheiser 598 are virtually identical to the 599 however, the 599 has a ever so slight treble advantage in competitive. Both are fantastic, but the treble advantage is why I placed the 599 on here and not the 598.

Depends on the use factor here. If it’s for an all rounder headphone and you mean just to an 58x Jubilee than sure as this headphone can be balanced though you lose out on the 2.5mm boom mic option. However, starting at the 58x jubilee and beyond that point you lose soundstage and quite significantly which can badly impact performance in larger scale competitive fps. Of course if you only play linear fps games then your fine and stand to gain a much better quality of sound from taking it a step further like the 660 S, 6xx, etc just keep in mind that the main issue there is the soundstage. You don’t gain back that larger soundstage till you reach the HD 800 series which is very expensive and has some of the largest and widest soundstage on the market right now.

I would also recommend different amps as the later variations of the sennheisers are said to perform better on balanced or tube amps such as the Bottlehead Crack + speedball. Though you can be fine with the IFI Zen Dac if you are in a bit of a budget crunch for an amp/dac but still want a balance port

Edit: Placed more indepth explaination into the Sennheiser lineup above going into the hd598, 58x jubilee, and models created afterward

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@Kariak hopefully that was helpful information for you if you need more info please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask

Added Peace APO equalizer with download links to the write up

To others: If your wanting a more all rounder headphone or casual feel free to reach out to me with your sound preference(ideally sound signature will help a lot), budget, if you have an amp/dac/can purchase one/or want ampless. I will try to help if I can with what knowledge I have. You can also create a seperate thread on these particular subjects for recommendations here on the site. There is far to many to recommend all with different signatures and everyone has different tastes in sound.

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Hey @Falenkor ,
first off thanks for the in-depth-guide!
Since you have mentioned the MH751 / MH752 , what do think about their new series MH630 / MH650 / MH670?

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Hey there, welcome to hifiguides and thanks for reaching out!

630: 3.5mm detachable, mesh pad material, uses regular 2.0 stereo. cable has a lock feature. Cord is relatively cheap and looks to be able to tangle up fairly easy, same build quality as others, Omni directional boom mic that is not adjustable, mic is of fairly good clean quality for a gaming headset,

650: USB attached cable with RGB. Uses mesh pad material, Has 7.1 Virtual surround sound, fairly good quality cable that doesn’t appear to tangle as easy and is stiffer, same build quality as others, Omni directional boom mic that is not adjustable, mic is of same sound quality,

670: Wireless has 7.1 virtual surround sound, uses leatherette pad material, 25 hours battery life, has a different headband material and design and appears to be more bendable(questionable may be the same as the others on this) uses the same material as pads, same build quality as others, omni directional boom mic that is not adjustable, mic is of same sound quality,

Let’s get the big things here out of the room. 7.1 is bit of a joke in my opinion(I know that sounds harsh just hear me out), its a way to bring up the price for really no reason and tends to create artificial sound environments as well as improper sound placements in game while it helps in some cases it can be a slap in the face in others. You can just buy a seperate cheapo dongle for 7.1 or download dolby atmos or hesuvi for practically nothing giving you the same software so for $30 more this isn’t worth it just for the 7.1 the other big one is that the 670 is wireless this also becomes relatively pointless as outside of the difference in pads the 630 can turn into a wireless headphone by using a 3.5mm bluetooth dongle which will run at a very cheap price point.

So, the biggest selling point on that 630 is not only is it cheap but it can make use of V-moda boom pro as well as a 3.5mm bluetooth dongle making it quite something. I haven’t gotten around to sitting with it myself and can only go based on what I hear. These headphones are still based on the Takstar pro 82, much like hyperx does with its brands of clouds. Comfort level is pretty solid across the board and people have subjectively said that the 650 is of a different tuning though I doubt this is the case since they also mentioned the 630 was too quiet which leads me to believe they just didn’t have enough drive power and were using a very bad codec. There does appear to be more emphasis on bass frequency with this cooler master making me more inclined to think this is more of an all rounder headphone instead unlike the mh751 which isn’t so much as a bassy but more of a neutral bright with a respectable soundstage. It appears to be a budget friendly option to the mh751 so I won’t rule it out as being bad as multiple people have said it’s very similar in sound performance.

So my thoughts on it? Not a bad choice if you want to really have a good sounding budget gaming headset with a fairly surprisingly good sounding microphone. I would skip the 670 honestly as it’s more expensive for $60 more for very little reasoning outside of niche extra options but the other two? Well, if you are okay with usb, want to spend a bit more due to the connectivity, want some rgb, and want to skip searching for external software or dongle for your 7.1 then I think its a safe option to go with the MH650 otherwise save the extra small bit of money and just pick up the MH630. These have a bigger driver than the mh751 too which is surprising that they are at a cheaper market in comparison.

As for adding it to this list? I will wait to get a more indepth look at it myself before I consider it. Gaming headsets as it is are already hard to even recommend in the more audiophile sense as they tend to have big drawbacks in sound quality, especially when you go wireless.

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Added Ananda and had to slightly restructure the post as I hit the character limit lol

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Recieved a couple questions about Vokyl Erupts. I have no opinion on a headphone that I have not personally tried. They are still in prototype stages and have quite the amount of complaints involving the sound you get from their pads, as apparently the pads kind of suck for the sound supposedly. If and when they come out of the prototype stages I do plan to pick them up to try them as long as they actually have a return policy. I would love to sit down with that headphone to gain some thoughts on it cause they look rather nice.

If you’d like to offer input as you have tried or own this headphone by all means. If you know a way I can try this headphone without risk of the not being able to return them hell by all means let me know. Otherwise, I am rather stuck waiting on that one. I have monitored the forum 🔶 Vokyl Erupts over there and heard some mixed things which puts me on the fence quite a bit since they do not have any return policies.

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Wow, I’m again as positively astonished by the length and quality of your response, thanks a lot man.

Did I understand this right? You would go for the 751 because it does have less bass and so less distraction. But for saving money the 630 can be recommended from the things you’ve heard.

The thing why I’m looking into a budget headset is that I would need this for gaming, I dont want to the hassle of a second cable like from an external mic and the most recommended mics like v-moda or ModMic are quite expensive in my area. So I need a coomplete package.

So to sum it up your recommendation for a competitive-budget-headset would be the MH751, right?
Or are there any other competitors you would recommend under 100$?

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Of course, I like to help others if I can and try to be as in depth as possible without going too overboard

So, I sat down and dug around a bit, even took out my own mh751 as I own a pair, as I wanted to find out more information into the MH630 series. So what I found caught me rather off guard with what I had thought about them just a little while ago. So the frequency appears to be more of a U shaped signature or bass is raised treble is raised and the mids are more neutral. The low bass is a bit below the neutral but the rest is raised quite a bit higher than the mh751 which is more neutral with an ever so slight bump in the higher bass. Due to this I can see mh630 series as most definitely more “fun” as it has a lot more rumble in it in comparison and the mh751 will better for competitive gaming while the mh630 will be a good all rounder. It’s not that the mh630 has a whole ton of rumble it’s just that any rumble at all completely gets in the way of competitive cue cards. In this case. Go with the mh751.

Understandable and unfortunate that v-moda so expensive as I would figure you could just pickup like a $50 shp9500 and grab the v- moda. But if you need a gaming headset I stand by the above mention that the MH751 would still be the better option in competitives.

Yes the mh751 would be best. SHP9500 + V-moda provided in the price range would be a very huge competitor there and would win if they were priced at the same margin of $100 max budget. As far as gaming headsets though? No, I firmly believe that mh751 in the $100 maximum range is a reigning champ in the gaming headset market followed by an immediate competition to the PC37X. PC37x on the other hand has slightly less than neutral bass but still practically neutral as well as more neutral mids with slightly raised highs with practically next to no rumble whereas mh751 has a little bit of rumble just not a whole lot however negatives can be seen in terms of comfort as the pc37x pads are very shallow and oval so larger ears may not work as well. Plus pc37x is an open back offering more breathability, better soundplacements, and more soundstage however the SHP9500 would still win over the pc37x due to versatility and better sound alongside a larger soundstage

EDIT: alright so, something I found out is that the new MH series has also a built in equalizer software and the wireless variation appears to have amps built into the ear cups. So, again while I won’t rate this better than the mh751 I will still give due diligence to this headphone that it is capable of being used just fine in competitive due to the adaptive sound that isn’t usually found in this price bracket. I do think the mh751 is still better in general for competitives due to it’s natural tuning but the newer cooler masters are a much welcome change of pace in the same budget but with some added software to make them a bit more flexible overall and you aren’t so much limited to just straight leather pads anymore from the looks of it which is a very nice change of pace. In the terms of the new wireless though it also appears to be able to be used in portable situations as the mic is detachable, it doesn’t look gamey, has proper isolation, and the headphone has portable swivel which is honestly pretty damn impressive considering all the options on this what I will now consider to be a gaming headphone at that point as that particular hardware and portability is something that made the audeze mobius so great but now you have an option like this at a hell of a bargain with good sound.

I will leave my final notes on this since I compiled my thoughts: Due to the natural tuning of the mh751 I feel this is better however, due to the overall versatility of the new cooler masters here I believe they can go neck and neck. While I do not know the true extent of the equalizer I think it should go without saying that you would be able to fix the rumble issue with that headphone as well putting them at odds with each other. I think if you want a softer plush material and a better looking headphone with fun capabilities that the newest cooler master is a fantastic choice and the wireless having portability just adds one more use to this headphone. I still stand by my statement that the headphone will lose out to the shp9500 and in the case of the pc37x it would lose out only due to open back and soundstage. I think it will boil on preference here in this regard entirely based on the person. Personally I like breathable pads and more flexible sound so I would sooner venture to the new cooler master but if your someone who doesn’t care for all the bells and whistles and just wants a straight good sounding gamers headset with the proper sound signature for competitives you would be good with mh751/752

It is due to this flexibility in the newer headphone that I am considering a personal purchase to sit down with the headphone myself with the potential to add to the list or potential to even replace the mh751

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If you can’t get the PC37X in your area just look for the Sennheiser Game One headset, they’re supposed to be similar.

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They are but pc37x is generally considered better. I didn’t particularly like the Game one as much when I sat with both of them. PC37x had a more respectable low frequency and not as lacking in my opinion as well as slightly more raised in the treble while both kept the same neutral mids and soundstage.

Edit: something I forgot to add on the Game one though is that while trying to use them mid game at times the mic would pick up some sounds coming from the headphone at a moderate to high volume which was relatively annoying. I didn’t have that issue with pc37x.

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Wow, thanks for all the info @Falenkor!
I use my headphones for basically everything but I’m looking to improve them for gaming if I can.
I have a FiiO e17 portable dac amp and a Schitt magni but I’m not currently using them since I moved.
What would be a step up from my 598s? One that is in general better than the 598s but makes a big jump in competitive use cases too? If that’s possible.

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Depends, what are you looking to improve? What is it you like in the 598 and what is it you dislike? What budget? Large Fps or Linear FPS?

The issue with Sennheiser is that they have a house sound that is essentially just neutral. Other brands have their own house sound like beyerdynamics are generally very bright and a V signature, Focal have a lot of Mid-centric neutral Bright, Hifiman are planar magnetics with a neutral bright signature generally, so on and so forthe. It makes picking a headphone that’s similar fairly difficult without some form of change, or more along the lines of pros and cons, so it would be best to pick out what would be more ideal to be improved upon and what would be best kept due to the persons preference in sound. Comfort is another large deal as for a gamer you want to be able to sit for extended periods of time without issue

WIth sennheisers in particular, the HD 500 series has around moderate levels of soundstage and change ever so slightly depending on which model you go with for example the HD 558 will be bassier than the HD 598, the HD 559 can be slightly muddier in the bass than the 598, the HD 598 is more balanced than the HD 599 as the HD 599 has slightly more treble. These are generally extremely identical headphones with some minor changes to them and potential changes in the pads too based on thickness and overall firmness. However, when you go past the 500 series with the 58x, 600, 650, 6xx, 660, and 660 S you stand to gain quite a bit more quality in sound and they also will have their own respective tunings but you trade your soundstage. What was originally a moderate soundstage now is a very linear soundstage outside of the 58x jubilee which while isn’t as large it’s still of respectable size and why it’s highly regarded in the gaming community as it maintains that balanced sound and good signature but now can be balanced and adds better sound quality that is better than the 598.

You may wonder well if it’s so good and better than my 598 why isn’t it on the competitive list? It’s labeled as an alternative. This is because there is a difference between a headphone that is good for all-purpose use or what I label as an all-rounder headphone compared to a headphone that is just better than the others for a strictly competitive use like the HD 599. HD 599 has a larger soundstage and has more treble making competitive sounds stand out more than the 58x however overall sound quality is better on the 58x. Hopefully that makes a bit of sense. It really boils down to what you are looking for.

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Reached out to steel series to ask about their keyboard since they want to advertise having the “fastest switch” on their keyboard with the longest lifespan I was curious on the key caps. You can find cherry mx switches with double shot pbts for like $100 range and this keyboard is in the $200+ would figure okay surely it must have double shot pbt right? No not even close. That keyboard has cheap ABS keycaps with laser etching. The good news is though that the key caps like Hyperx’s pudding double shot and others will work on this keyboard so for around $200-$250 you can have the keyboard with the best switches with the strongest style of keycaps with an aircraft grade alloy base and some amazing rgb though granted that wrist rest is pretty awful and not sure what the hell they were remotely thinking with that one.

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Anything used on an aircraft is aircraft grade, ever heared of aircraft grade carpet?

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lmao yeah. It says aircraft grade alluminum alloy. Gives me a chuckle when I read that as one of their selling points sure makes it sound great though. If I could just purchase the omni point switches myself I wouldn’t even bother with their keyboard at all.

However, it does use aircraft grade Series 5000 aluminum which is some fairly strong stuff. Not sure how that would work out for silent keyboard strokes though lol

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@Falenkor Thanks for the info!
Budget: $600 max I’d say.
I’m looking for a competitive headphone for Call of Duty so I can place footsteps better but it’d be awesome if it’s still fun to listen to music as well, I generally listen to techno, rap and r&b.

I don’t know what I do and don’t like about my current Senns because they’re first good set of cans I’ve owned. I do know I like open back more than closed and like good base and clear vocals but that doesn’t fit with catching footsteps to well.

I have a yeti nano for a desk mic so it doesn’t have to have a boom but I wouldn’t mind one since it would make business calls a bit better.

I like the look of the Beyer 1990 but they’re up there in price and I’ve heard their treble can melt the brain a bit. Have you tried them?
The Tygers are sold out on beyers site but I heard they’re great value.

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So, I think any of the headphones here would work in that regard. Some more than others can be deemed fun and you could do just fine with the bass that is said to be more towards neutral. Fun Factor tends to involve bass that generally isn’t found in the more ideal sense.

I own them myself. I didn’t write all these headphones up and not try them for myself and quite a few are in my collection. DT 1990s are something else entirely incredible at competitive though just not the greatest if you cant handle brightness. I stand by my notes I wrote on them above. Fun alternative to the dt 1990 would be either the 177x GO or the T1.2 however t1 demands a good amp.

They are, you can read my thoughts on them as someone who owns a pair from my link in the honorable mentions section.

So fun but good for competitive… hmm, I wanna say the aeons then or maybe the T1 in that regard as I find them some of the better of the options. Both really demand an amp but they are rather superb for having bass yet being able to play competitively especially in the case of the aeons. Aeons have a bundle on them at around… $650 margin on dan clark audios page that gives you a schiit hel, modmic uni, and the aeon RT.

You can also do fine if you are okay with modifying the T50RP as it has an extremely changeable sound signature. The same can be sound about the SHP9500 though granted the new version is hinted to be releasing next month. Thieaudio Phantom is another moddable friendly headphone. If you are okay with investing in pads and other accessories these could provide a wide variety of sound.

Fideliox2 HR is the bassier brother of the shp9500 while the shp is neutral bass fidelios is raised and more muddy in sound while keeping a good neutral yet slightly bright signature. X2HR shares the detachable cable as well though granted changing the pads can be a bit of a pain in this ones case unlike the shp where you can buy an adapter ring and just throw the pads on.

In the case of audio technica youd probably be looking at something lke the M40x as it’s more of a V signature though demands a pad change. 2.5mm detachable cable allows for a mic or bluetooth. Not bad for a portable closed back honestly. Said to do best with a cowhide pad swap.

AKG probably more towards the k7xx in this case as its bassier than the k702 while putting the treble more towards neutral instead of bright and sharing all the build qualities sound staging etc from the other k7 series.

Focal are just that… Focal. Tending to be mid centric with present brightness yet more detailed and said to be a tad bit more well rounded in the brightness so not as fatiguing. The one with the most fun signature in my opinion was the Listen Pro which is a very large W signature. Recommended trying these headphones if you have an audio store. They are really quite nice.

Sennheisers: just in general sennheiser is known to be mid centric and very detailed with an overall neutral or rather balanced tonality. 500 series is the ones with the larger soundstage and 600 series has the linear soundstage. Since its cod you could do just fine with the 600 series as they also have the best sound quality in my opinion however you could pick up a 58x Jubilee and be just fine as its the middleground. Recommended looking into the differences in their signatures as that would require me to type out a very large page of information due to just how many headphones are in those series. 500 series has the 2.5mm detachable cable and 58x jubilee and higher into the 600 they switch to a duel sided cable that can be balanced for even better sound though you need a balanced port amp for that

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Thanks again for the in-depth explanation.
Since neither the pc37x nor the shp9500 are avaiable at an affordable price (starting at 200) in my country I probably will go for the mh751. Thanks again for the help!

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Of course, Glad I could help. If you have any questions, maybe the mh751 just wasn’t good for you, or you just want to drop in let me know how its going with your choice please feel free to come back and chime in on your thoughts and what you feel could be improved or what you like. I would be glad to offer some recommendations or advice from my own experience if needed.

I will add for others who want to ask me anything. If you feel the need to ask for further advice or something. Feel free to message me personally here, drop a message here, or create a thread. If I can help I will gladly chime in

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Received a bit of feedback. May convert this over to a .doc at some point if I ever get time to go more indepth with more recommendations including more all rounder headphones as well as a better explaination into amp/dacs and I don’t feel I explained things such as focals or anandas enough. I feel the write up is nice but after having it pointed out I do see some potential flaws that I could sit and remedy. I wrote this up in a bit of a rush as it’s a hell of a lot to type up. So, I may at some point go and attempt to fix it up. Not sure yet. Just don’t treat this as a gospel or ABSOLUTE GUIDE or anything. Anything in audio should always be taken as subjective opinion.

If you feel you can offer insight to improvements or potential additions please reach out and let me know. I will be happy to consider alterations or additions.

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