The games I mainly play are single player games, mainly open world RPG’s, but I’ve also played CoD and other shooters. A massive soundstage isn’t as vital for me. I’m more interested in fun, detailed, accurate, and immersive. As for music, I mainly listen to 80’s, 90’s and early 00’s rock, but also like to listen to epic movie/game soundtracks.
That’s what initially attracted me to the Denon 9200. I’m not sure how overpowering the TH900’s bass would be, but I remember Z giving it glowing reviews when it comes to casual gaming
Yeah, it’s the 909 that drives him nuts, lol. The 900 he likes a lot. I should also clarify that I’d like to get a good pair of headphones that won’t need a crazy sophisticated $3-5k DAC/AMP setup just to realize its potential, lol.
I have the verite open back. Personally, I don’t feel I have much need for a closed back. Yes, I found that it was significantly better than what I had previously used on the topic of gaming. I find it to be more engaging than my other headphones for this, which are the aeolus, pc37x and nighthawks. I asked zach how he would compare the open and closed versions and his response was “Verite open has a little more outward “space” that you get with an open headphone, and a little more linear response. The closed has more isolation, sub-bass and a little more upper mids. They both are excellent, and I wouldn’t characterize one as better than the other.”
I have 3 phones and the first it is more for music and use it for Gaming too.
And i find is suffisant enough in two condition.
For sure better as a cheap Headset.
But save a bit Money for a good Dac/amp.
Take a look to the Denon 7200 or D2000 with E-mu cups will spend a great stage.
Second hand FostexTr x00,or Sennheiser Hdxx60 from Massdrop,Audioquest nighthowl
Or other in the 300-500$ range for sure the Denon 7200 cost a bit more and where suffisant.Is a good allrounder.
Some says it find better as the 9200 because is not so analytical and cutting the Music.
When you go in the under class from Fostex phones you have a bit more possibility to change some chararistica to the phone with the E-mu cups or Lawton cups and modding option.
But when you don‘t want this go to the D7200.
They have a neutral, but punchy bass. I’d describe it as ‘just right’ for whatever the music is calling for them to do. They aren’t as picky as my other zmf, they can be driven to satisfaction with less, but I’d advise at least a bifrost 2 for them for the dac. As far as an amp, I’m using them with an RNHP and Tuba. They definitely do scale, and will likely scale into $$$$ when I feel like upgrading my desktop dac and amp in the future. Keep in mind, zmfs have a lifetime warranty for the drivers, so you’d probably be keeping them for a long, long time if you liked them. Made it easier to part with my money thinking of them as a long term investment.
Sounds like you mainly just need something that will render sweeping scores and cinematic scenes well, in a clean and exciting way. That’s a less specific sound signature goal and less rigorous technical bar than headphones that work well for competitive multiplayer. You may as well steer toward a headphone that renders music in a way you like.
I’ve got plenty of that in my collection as well. Probably plenty of people here do. My first CD was Alice in Chains Dirt, if that says anything.
I’m also up to ~30 pairs of headphones now, and I’ve gotta say, I enjoy rock and soundtracks on any any all of them.
I think the best perspective I can offer: there is no one top.
Going from regular consumer headphones to ~$200ish range you’ll find plenty of headphones that take sound reproduction seriously and do lots of things right, but there are usually some minor tradeoffs to be found. Maybe bass or treble rolls off early, maybe detail is so-so, maybe there are slight tonal quirks. However, the good far outweighs the bad.
Stepping up to ~$500ish you’ll find plenty of options that all sound fantastic. The weak points fade away and instead become intentional tradeoffs: V-shaped signatures, neutral cans, a focus on imaging, detail monsters, etc.
North of that, maybe in the vicinity of ~$1000, live headphones that build on those earlier preferential styles and push them toward perfection. The $500-ish tier is getting good enough that it can start becoming difficult to tell the difference in moving up without direct A-B comparisons. At this point you’re starting to pay serious premiums for small gains.
And, finally, in Summit Fi territory you will find the undisputed best of the best. Refinements can be extremely small over very good $1000-ish cans, but if you’re willing to pay anything for state of the art performance, you can get exactly what you want.
The struggle I’m having right now is telling you what I think you might like when I think you might like all kinds of stuff around the $500 range. As far as (closed back) all-rounders that are good at gaming and 80’s - early 00’s rock, I’d still stick by:
Focal Elegia
Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro
ZMF Eikon
And it’s not that Eikon isn’t a technically marvelous headphone–it’s one of my favorites–but that’s starting to get seriously expensive and into the territory of wanting better DACs and amps to get the very most out of them, and I feel like they’re steering slightly in the direction of specialists for vocals and whatnot as I stated before.
I personally like Elegias as an all-rounder; they’re pretty much my go to for exactly what you’re describing: immersive gaming and rock music, plus pretty much anything else I want to hear. Everything sounds good on them to me.
The 1770s are a recent acquisition and have great forward mids and punchy bass. I think they are more specifically exciting than Elegias even, and they’ve been great for what little gaming I’ve tried. They may be the smartest move, given the price. I have been especially enjoying them with high energy stuff like KMFDM (German synergy, lol). I’ve been listening to Nirvana on 1770s while typing this up, and really enjoying this presentation.
Anyway, I hope somewhere in all this I’ve managed to convey a little perspective. There’s plenty to love, no matter what you end up picking.
Wow, a lot of great info from everyone Really appreciate it! I think I’m going to try the Fostex TH900’s first. The people who have it totally love it for gaming (including Z), and it definitely doesn’t seem as overkill as getting a Verite C. If it’s not my flavor, I’ll try the Denon’s next - and since they’re on Amazon, I could easily return them without any issues.
I found a TH900 Mk2 with stock cable and pads used “B-Stock” on reverb.com for $1100. Is this reasonable for a used TH900? Or should I buy a brand new one just in case?
Really appreciate it! I think I’m going to try the Fostex TH900’s first. The people who have it totally love it for gaming (including Z), and it definitely doesn’t seem as overkill as getting a Verite C. If it’s not my flavor, I’ll try the Denon’s next - and since they’re on Amazon, I could easily return them without any issues.