Headphone recommendations for playing retro and mondern+FPS gaming

Looking for headphone recommendations with a primary use case of playing older games. NES, SNES, Sega Genesis- What do you think I should look for in a pair of headphones if this is my primary use case? What would you recommend? As for budget I am very flexible. I’d also use it for general purposes.

EDIT: I’d also like to use this for modern gaming as well. I am not a pro gamer but I do play games that would benefit from positional sound. I am not a hardcore FPS player but I do play games like Overwatch, TF2, Dota 2, Fortnite, PUBG, and APEX. This is all on PC as I am primarily a PC gamer.

Some background: I own a Magni/Modi 2U stack which I use pretty much everything (and soon Loki). I’ve primarily used Sennheiser Game ONE headset for general use and also own a pair of DT 770 PROs which I do enjoy (though they do get a bit hot during the summer months like now).

Koss Porta pros or ksc 75s, or even the kph30i? Cheap, good, and closer to the era of the games your playing lol.

lol ok let’s set a minimum price of $150 in that case

What about something like a 58x or an HE4XX? If you wanted a little more, you could go for a Sundara

I can’t see a fantastic reason to overspend on that application. If it’s multi-function, sure, but for reproducing the bleeps and bloops of old school games just get something comfortable to wear while you play.

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Kinda agree. While there are certainly bangers from this era of games, it’s kinda pointless to go too far headphone wise if they are only being used for that purpose. I would suggest to stay well under 200 for that purpose, because you can get a very good headphone for that price. I would assume high quality comfort and build would also be desirable, so that might contribute to the higher priced items. But I wouldn’t suggest going overkill

also agree the cheap koss headphones I find are perfect for that application as they sound great and are cheap and comfy.

Okay okay, totally understood guys. Let me expand on the use case then. I’d also like to use this for modern gaming as well. I am not a pro gamer but I do play games that would benefit from positional sound. I am not a hardcore FPS player but I do play games like Overwatch, TF2, Dota 2, Fortnite, PUBG, and APEX. This is all on PC as I am primarily a PC gamer.

If we were to consider these factors as well where do you think we could go?

I kind of assumed there would be a correlation in recommendations of retro gaming with say, listening to synth.

Sorry to misunderstand then. The 58x would be great for gaming and have great imaging and positional awareness.

Edit: if you wanted even more awareness the audio technica ad900x has better imaging, but is sort of bass lite and has a non detachable cable

Oh it’s totally on me, I really didn’t expand on everything in my initial post. I like the idea of getting something with the best imaging and sound stage possible. I don’t like the idea of losing all the bass though since that is the ‘fun’ factor imo.

The bass isn’t gone on the at, it’s just not as present, but I think the ad900x has better imaging and a more accurate soundstage for gaming then the 58x. For an all rounder I’d pick the 58x, but for pure gaming, the audio technica ad series is really good, but it isn’t as comfy as the 58x

Maybe I should ask now, is there anything higher end in the Audio Technica brand that would fit this bill as well? Or maybe just not worth it?

Well if you really want to, the best competitive gaming cans I’ve used are the AD1000x. Probably the only headphones that I really feel are a noticable improvement in my gaming performance. You could also consider the HD660s as well, as it’s a step up from the 58x. Or possibly the DT1990 as well. But with the headphones I mentioned above, after that you hit diminishing returns kinda quickly, and these mentioned options are better than above, but TBH only by a bit. I can’t really give an arbitrary number, but you will get most of the sound you want out of the ad900x and 58x unless you are shooting for top tier performance

Fair enough, thanks so much for all the input

Sure thing. Also if you enjoy your beyers, the dt880 600 or 250 ohm is pretty good for gaming

If you are willing to spend some cash, the 660s and dt 1990 are some of the best gaming headphones around. Plus they are fantastic for music, too.

I’v picked up the ad900x… And so far I can’t seem to get comfertable on my head. The ‘wings’ feel like they don’t support anything and the cups are always resting on my ears… Am I missing something? Am I wearing these things right? It’s not the best feeling.

Going to keep trying them out but right now the comfort is not for me.

That’s kinda how they would sit on my head as well, if you like the sound, you could do the rubber band mod, kinda like this: https://www.overclock.net/forum/18-sound-cards-computer-audio/1524389-audio-technica-rubber-band-mod-open-closed-headphones-picture-included.html#/topics/1524389

You could also padswap with larger pads to make them sit better on your head if you really liked the sound

Edit: sorry about the recommendation then, I should have mentioned that the stock fit isn’t for everyone. I just have mine stock and it didn’t bother me that much once I got used to it and the pads broke in a bit.

No worries on the commendation these things take trial and error. I got it through amazon so if I ultimately decide to return them it won’t be hard to do so. I’ll be honest- if a rubber band is required for the feel to be up to snuff then it’s absolutely not a product for me. I’m thinking I would much prefer the feel of a pair of Sennheisers as I never had an issue with the feel of the game ones. I could definitely tell the difference in terms of bass though. Not 100% sure on how I feel with that but I think I would like more while staying with open headphones. Didn’t really give it a lot of time though it’s only been 1-2 days.

So let’s say I want to go Sennheiser on just feel alone. Where does that bring us back to? 58x? HD 660s? Price isn’t a problem it’s just feel and quality and I aiming for. What do you think?

The 58x and 660 are built almost identical, but for true nitpicking I prefer the hd660 build because of the matte finish instead of the shiny finish in the 58x because the shiny finish picks up fingerprints. The 58x and the 660 have very similar tuning, but the 660 is more detailed and has better imagining and soundstage, but someone who was unaware wouldn’t be able to tell the difference immediately, so they are relatively close

Edit: also the 660 might be a better buy because you could easily return them if you did not like them, unlike the massdrop product. But I still think the 58x has much better price to performance

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