From what I’ve seen in the many videos I’ve watched in the last week or two, this is seeming more and more true lol.
Fantastic. Good to know!
I really appreciate your input! Definitely helpful. If you wouldn’t mind elaborating a bit about the PC37Xs that would be fantastic please. Unfortunately the HD590-series are all either out of stock for me or way overpriced for my budget at the moment. The 599 doesn’t ship to my address either from Amazon and if I try get it from somewhere else the price is just waaaay to high. Especially the 598 even from Amazon for me. Pity. I’ll definitely be looking more into the SHP9500 though, thank you!
This response is… amazing! Very informative. Thank you!
Luckily with Overwatch pretty much everything is online until you actually get to the Tier 1 / Tier 2 level. Even a lot of the Tier 2 level tournaments are just online. I’m currently top tier 3 where we’re contending to make it into Tier 2 where literally all of our tournaments are online other than only 1 local tournament where it’ll be at a LAN. But even then, it’ll be with our own equipment because… well, because South Africa. That’s mostly why I would love to go open back because I can stand to gain more from that from what I can gather.
Fantastic to hear. This makes things quite easy for me as I can now completely negate the Zeros especially with what you said next. Awesome!
Seems quite nice, not something I expected from Coolermaster lol. I’ll look into it but I’m not 100% driven towards it especially because it’s closed back, doesn’t look all that comfortable either but then again I’m not sure.
Cool, screw marketing. Damn liers.
The problem with all of the modifications is definitely price. I don’t really know of any local place that has pads but I can look into it. If I had to get everything from Amazon, just the headphones and pads would fill my budget because of shipping. I’ll look more into it though. What pads would you recommend I look at getting because I have no idea about this.
I watched the Z Reviews video and I thought I remembered him saying it’s a tad narrow but nevermind then lol. Sounds damn amazing and this makes me feel even more like I want to get the 599 because I literally can’t get the 598 no matter what as it’s way out of budget for some reason. I can’t get the 599 either due to it not shipping to South Africa and there are no used ones in South Africa either.
Ahh that’s good to know, thank you!
Luckily in my case, it’s not too bad perse. I’ve lost about 60% hearing in my left ear but I’ve become accustomed to feeling vibrations. I handled footsteps on CoD when I was on console this way with my previous headset and I became one of the best in the country. So, not too bad. I’ve definitely got the drive to make sure I make it. In just a year of getting on PC, I’m already in the top 1% in Overwatch. Literally rank 74 for my hero specifically.
I’m having a tough time locating this anywhere where I can get it shipped to me so I’m not sure. Glad to see that it can at least be replaced by the PC37x lol.
My coach actually uses the DT990 and told me that it’s been amazing for him (he’s basically deaf on the left side so more hard at hearing than me lol.) So this seems like a good option. I’ll see if I can locate this and find the DAC you mentioned. Hopefully, the total will be at least around my budget. What do you think of the GSX300 from Sennheiser? It’s currently on a sale on one of my local stores for less than the selling price on Amazon. Would it handle the DT880 on 250 Ohms?
Yeah, I don’t think I’ll find this lol.
I think my motherboard should be able to supply enough power to the headphones. I have the Rog Strix Z390-E.
With all this said though. I’m very much so leaning towards the PC37x as it seems like a great overall option and quite simple as well as I don’t have to worry about too much. But I am thinking about the DT880s and the SHP9500.
If the DT880s with the dac are out of my price range do you think I should go with the PC37x or the SHP9500? Let’s think about the SHP9500 as stock though.
Thank you very much! I definitely feel welcome!
Not sure if you know Carbonite, there is a guy selling a new par for R2000
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ah okay, I wasn’t sure as some tournaments eventually have you travel to being in person which is where the in person closed backs come into play. Makes sense that Tier 1 is the more in person higher up competing.
That would be correct. However, when it comes down to going in person you could lose some of that skill as in person you have to switch to closed back for pure isolation so you will lose most of those benefits and rely on your own hearing, whatever crap headphone you are given, and your own skill.
if you need/want an open back you can freely skip the mh751. Even more so in the case of pc37x or shp9500.
you will get this quite often as they are paid advertising to hype up the gaming products as the “next fantastic thing for gaming” or “Top 10 gaming headset” or whatever. Razors advertising is cringe at it’s best.
In your case? 100% velours. Use Brainwavz or if possible with budget Dekoni(the pad size is that of beyerdynamics DT series). The pads themselves stock are a velour style and you want to keep the brightness to the headphone so that it maintains the ability to locate your fps cue cards. Technically, SHP9500 can be bought for roughly $50 and fully modifying it costs anywhere between $100 - $200 just depending on how much you want to throw at it however you live in South Africa so that’s a bit of a complication.
It really just depends on how you look at it. Personally, I see it as more average for the 500 series and definitely narrow in the 600 series. PC37x is alright too for its soundstaging. Also, be wary of reviewers. Even in Zeos’s case he can hype something up that you may hate.
only technically. 58x sound wise can crush pc37x in my opinion but just really depends on what you have available to you.
Skip those amps from Sennheiser of the GSX series, they are dreadful and weak. I can’t speak precisely for the 300 however, I did own the GSX1000, a step above, and it is just a let down yet horridly expensive. There are quite a few amps out there that may be available and able to drive the Beyers. I think the others may definitely be able to help you more so if they are from your area.
Something to keep in mind here. I am not even remotely surprised he uses the DT 990(open back) however, the dt 990 has a bass issue for competitive unless you can get around that. It has extremely superb imaging and very large soundstage with bass being the only issue for competitive use. However, it’s a huge hit or miss headphone just like DT 880(semi open back) and DT 770(closed back) due to brightness and is going to depend on you as a person and your hearing. Sibilance is the common concern amongst headphones categorized as “bright”. If your wondering what sibilance is or sounds like to a very large degree, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-07flDfK4Q get to around 30 - 40 seconds in and you will hear what Sibilance is however, that’s cranked like all the way up. The other issue of course for beyers is that they can be quite demanding of power
The GSX series will not handle beyers at 250 ohms you will need a seperate amp choice. There are quite a few but I fear it may be quite expensive for you. If your okay with tweaking your budget slightly you should be able to swing one though. Among a huge variety of headphones I have tried in competitive Beyerdynamic headphones are a breed apart. Beyerdynamic DT 880, AKG K702, and Sennheiser 58X Jubilee are all fantastic but I definitely believe the beyer and akg to be fantastic for this use case with beyer being better than the akg for its imaging and sound placement.
didn’t think so. Beyer has made it hard to get as it is plus it always goes out of stock. No worries if you can get one of the others.
If I recall correctly that uses the SupremeFX S1220A combination meaning it should have some small built in amps onto its ports… if that is the case it should be able to run the 250 ohm beyer(definitely no higher) granted you won’t have the “best” audio quality, only cause you would need an amp, it should work. I would definitely ask the others though for definitive clarification on this. Most very high grade motherboards for gamers come with those high grade audio chips so you may be alright here. It may be something to create a seperate post about if nobody can relay information on the motherboard here in particular. I think that may be something to look into for consideration. If your motherboard can power the beyer then I immediately would point to saying buy the Beyerdynamic for your use case and just get an amp/dac later on when you have a comfortable budget to do so just so you get a better sound out of it. You can of course also use like your coach the dt 990 if you feel thats more up your alley. If your coach lives nearby perhaps also consider asking him to borrow his 990 for a moment to check it out for yourself and see if its right for you. Keep in mind of course whatever ohms of impedance hes using on his 990 as there is different variations.
pc37x would be the hassle free option. SHP9500 would be a larger soundstage option but it can really do to need some alterations to it and DT 880 stands above both of those quite easily with 990 being just ridiculously overkill outside of its bass issue.
hmm, I think pc37x would be alright but you wouldn’t get the most “optimal” or “ideal” performance out of them at your playing level. SHP9500 I would be very concerned in stock as it has next to zero clamp force and the pads are a bit gritty so they can be uncomfortable. I think pc37x would be the better option for the sake of comfort less your okay with a more loose headphone on your ears than it would definitely be shp9500s
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Oh nice, yup I know Carbonite. I’m actually selling my current headset there lol. Are you talking about the SHP9500s? Also not sure if it’s worth because I can get a new pair for R2100 from Amazon lol.
You are too cool man. Honestly. I wish I found you sooner and I wish I could have a face-to-face conversation with you but this’ll do.
Yeah, here you would have “Overwatch league”. Tier 2 “Contenders”. Tier 3 “Contenders trials”.
Luckily in my case, they use the fricking David Clark H10-13.4 Aviation Headset so at least it wouldn’t be crap at least which is pretty fantastic. Even then, when I do get to that stage where I’m in Tier 1 or tier 2, I’ll likely make the move to the best-closed pair that I can get my hands on so that I can get used to it. But for now, I’d just like something that can help me as much as possible so that I can make up for other areas that are lacking, like ping for example.
True he did seem to really make the PC37x seem like something amazing in his review ngl but luckily you’re here to set me on a better path :D.
Ok so I don’t think Sibilance will be a major problem for me. After watching that video that you linked to me at full volume it wasn’t too harsh for me so I think I can handle it, I didn’t flinch or anything but I can hear that it’s there but I don’t think it’ll annoy me too much. The DT 990 is actually cheaper than the 880 by quite a large amount on Amazon for me so I’m quite keen on that especially with what you said later about the motherboard. I’ll look more into what it can do though to be sure I don’t need a DAC right away but if I do I’ll look into expanding my budget by maybe waiting for a month but I’ll look into that then no worries. Rest assured I won’t look anywhere near the GSX DACs then, thank you for that!
for reference:
https://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-880-Premium-250-Over-Ear-Stereo/dp/B06XGKQS3H/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=DT880&qid=1601233851&sr=8-2&th=1
vs
https://www.amazon.com/beyerdynamic-Over-Ear-Studio-Headphones-construction/dp/B0011UB9CQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=DT990&qid=1601233566&sr=8-1&th=1
Not sure if the price is the same on your side but the DT990s are R3500 incl. shipping where the DT880s are R5100 incl. shipping. Am I looking at the wrong headphones maybe? Not sure to be quite honest as this says premium and stuff and not just 880 but maybe it’s just their marketing. Also, fixed wire? Oh boy. If it breaks it’ll really screw me. You mentioned they’re built like a tank. Would that include the wire’s durability? From all you’ve said I’m basically looking at the checkout button on the DT990s but I wanna be 100% sure by next week Saturday if I’m making the best feasibly and practical decision for my competitive advantage.
Sorry, but would you mind elaborating on the bass issue? Does it have rumble or is there something more to it that would be of a concern to me? I’m okay with a bit of bass because one of the heroes on the game has quite bass-heavy footsteps but the rest of the heroes are more on the normal end I suppose.
Unfortunately, he lives in the Netherlands and is moving to China so trying out his audio setup is definitely not an option… RIP. Would’ve loved to do that though.
Is this like in a good way or a bad way? My coach said the same but I didn’t ask him to elaborate on it because there were a lot of other things to go through. But please do tell me more about this bass issue.
Crazy to think that the SHPs are so good at such a low price that you’d even recommend it in stock if my own preferences aren’t bothered.
OK so as it stands right now. (I can’t find any HD58x that’ll ship to South Africa)
Hassle-free option: PC37x ~R 3,300.00 ~192$ (incl shipping.)
Best option: DT990 ~R 3,500.00 ~204$ (incl shipping. excl DAC which’ll come later)
Budget-friendly option: SHP9500 ~R 3,000.00 ~175$ (incl shipping. ~R2,100.00 stock + pads)
(Oh btw I saw on Amazon there’s a SHP9500S and a SHP9500, were you recommending the plain 9500 or the 9500S? I can’t get the S as it doesn’t ship to South Africa but the 9500 is on a nice sale right now on Amazon.) Amazon.com
Also, my bad, I’m using the ROG STRIX Z390-F mobo. Whoops.
" SupremeFX S1220A teams with Sonic Studio III to create an aural landscape that draws you deeper into the action " so you were right on the money with that one. I hate the software though. A real pain in the ass.
" All SupremeFX audio solutions provide decent audio amplifiers with an impedance sensing feature to maximize the potential of most headsets from 32 ohms to 600 ohms for exceptional gaming-audio and music-listening experiences. " Like I said though, definitely looking at getting a DAC to help out regardless because getting that extra audio clarity would be great if the motherboard isn’t the best. I mean, sure, it can power the headphones from what I can gather but the real importance is if it can deliver the headphone’s quality audio. More like, is it good enough to give me what I need until I can buy the DAC?
If the bass issue isn’t so bad and we have all of this in mind I’m quite interested in the DT990 right now to be quite honest. It’s looking like one hell of a solid choice but more advice would be awesome.
Again, thank you so much for all of your insight! You’re a fricking blessing. I appreciate it. Getting a response like this is perfect and honestly makes me happy for my birthday lol.
oh those? yeah, those aren’t to bad.
sounds good. You could just move to mh751 or DT 770 at that point.
Don’t take my words like a gospel lol. Very opinionated but I have learned some trial and error in gaming at least.
huh, you may be a little like me then. I love bright headphones and it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Good thing for competitive too
keep in mind there are different editions to 990 and 880. The pro and premium(or in some cases I believe its labeled “edition”). You want the “edition” as it has the straight cable(and a carrying case which is nice too) the other has the coiled cable which is more for studio users.
oh most definitely, if your willing to just wait a bit even then I highly recommend it. I personally play competitive(ex professional so no longer really in the scene lol) with the DT 1990 beyer but I started my more audiophile route using the DT 990(courtesy of Riceguru who first got me into them) and can vouch for it outside the bass its absolutely fantastic even in games like Escape from Tarkov where sound is everything. Granted the 600 ohm sounds smoother and is definitely more musical but you can do just fine with 250 ohms on either 990 or 880 not a huge deal breaker for a gamer in my opinion.
I really wish they would drop the price on those. They are so not worth it.
Do not go with the Black 250 ohm DT 880s they have a different tuning. Keep it the original. Black 990s are aesthetic only the 880s black 250 ohm edition was strangely a separate tuning.
switch those to Premium(or edition whatever it says).
going to be very different in price due to reasons I listed above. Suggest switching those out then comparing price point.
lol yes
Beyerdynamics are built like tanks. Unless you rip that cable or jerk the hell out of it it’s not going to detach. You also can mod it to have a detachable cable or pay someone else to modify it for you later if you wish. Otherwise just later down the road upgrade to the DT 1990(much more expensive but in another league and a potential “end game” for a competitive gamer) which has a detachable cable already.
yes it’s fine… people have used Beyers products and they last for years just actually take care of it. The only thing you should really worry about is the pads themselves. After a while velour loves to grab onto grim, dirt, etc. If you have a pet or something definitely get a cheap lint roller. Store your headphones away when your not using them. You will probably need a pad change after about a year or two but they aren’t too expensive.
get verification on your motherboard(you definitely need to make sure you can power them.), change around the edition and what not, then make your decisions
I will do one better for future reference I did write this in my own write up guide on here but I will elaborate it again. So, to explain bass the main issue for competitive is the rumble that deep bass sound can rumble and block out very light sounds such as footsteps. Raised bass is usually a negative for a competitive gaming(provided your going for the most ideal). That isn’t to say you can’t equalize it out but you need extra amplification power to equalize it. This is one of the reasons people will opt for DT 880 as it has more neutral bass without the rumble issue however you lose that larger soundstage, better imaging, and even brighter treble. It’s a toss up on what you feel is better for you between these two. However, if you wanted more bass on the 880 you can also equalize them or switch their pads later.
There are some headphones that are practically the polar opposite of the ideal… it definitely takes a bit of looking into to find that out… Good example is something like an Audeze or Nighthawk Carbon as these have practically the absolute opposite of what you want. Very large amounts of bass and rumble plus a Dark sounding treble and under neutral upper mids. However, the polar opposite are more “fun” and engaging typically for the more casual gamer as its very immersive.
As for the rest of the signature to look for next to neutral or recessed bass. Upper mids are important as is the treble being raised as these are what you use to essentially highlight and bring the more subtle sounds forward such as the footsteps, breathing, glass shatter, grunts, reloading, etc
Soundstage is how large your headphone can place a sound out. The bigger the soundstage the further out you will hear. In large FPS this could cause you to even be able to place sniper shots in some cases(i have done this a few times honestly when they aren’t using a silencer). However, something to be careful of is that in some headphones while there may be a “large soundstage” it could also be more left to right or a strange oval shape so it won’t be very good at certain directions of placement. PC37x is one of those that isn’t great in certain directions… those that are more above or below or diagonal are a little rough to track while still possible its a bit iffy from my experience with them
Imaging is your accuracy of placements. Without your imaging your not going to place any sound at all… hell you could hear a sound and he’d be right next to you in your hearing but he could be all the way down a hall. The more accurate the imaging the better. (beyers tend to have extremely accurate imaging plus a 360 degree soundstage even on closed back).
in the 990s case the bass isn’t like horrendously in the way it just rumbles in some case which can screw you up every now and then depending on whats going on. It’s still respectable enough though for proper use.
ah thats very unfortunate. I am thankful to have family and friends who are in this hobby so I get to try stuff a lot.
The headphones overkill because for overwatch you don’t need a massive soundstage the game really can’t use it and you will always hear the maximum range the game allows. Plus the imaging is ridiculously accurate for a game where everythings alright loud with the characters yelling and firing loud weapons. It’s probably one of the least demanding competitive games for a headphone user lol
As for bass like I mentioned above, it’s fine to an extent it can cause some issues… but you do gain some from going that route. Plus if your okay with getting an amp/dac later on sometime you can just fix it later without much hassle on your pc. Keep in mind that use of programs in tournaments is of course forbidden.
that headphone has a legendary status on it for a good reason. It punches above its price point and sounds great but it does have some drawbacks mainly in the overall build and to be honest its not the “best” sounding bright headphone… it just really destroys most in its price point least till you get to Beyers dt series.
no big deal skip it
those are so insanely close in price I would tell you immediately get the beyer if you can drive it with power. That’s rather high in currency though for any of those. Over here shp9500 can go for $50, PC37x can go for $90 - $100, and DT 990/880 can go for $125-$200.
oh yeah that. Same headphone just some minor differences like the cable was changed in S. don’t worry about that. Not that big of a deal.
then yeah, you should be able to run the beyer. It does indeed have the duel op amps on the board.
this is always a good idea… for when your doing something else like music or whatever an amp and dac will give you better sounding audio… which is always nice in my opinion as it lets you really bring that headphone to it’s fullest.
is it going to give you amazing superb audio quality? No, is it going to drive the headphone and sound the way it needs to generically? Yes it should. I still highly recommend making sure others agree that it will power it… Recommend you create an alternative thread to this and ask. I am sure someone like M0N or one of the others can definitely verify this… just make sure to let them know you plan to get an amp/dac later on they will be more than happy to steer you in the right direction for it.
I won’t lie that I am a bit biased towards that headphone in particular. It was my first entry into good sounding audio alongside my entry level amp and dac I had at the time. I haven’t found another headphone that sounds quite like it so it’s very unique in sound characteristics. However, that unique sound can be a straight up curse due to that glaring brightness. Either headphone will work just fine for you, I don’t think you will have much issues with either just keep in mind that 990 has a lot more bass than the 880s. The 880s are more mid centric and bright which technically means they are more ideal in signature. At that point between those two? It depends on use case, and your own preferences. I definitely can’t make that call for you as both will work just fine.
Of course, though I am sure a lot of others could help you just as well as I can. I just happen to be another gamer who used to run professionally so I find it nice to help out a aspiring future pro. Also, happy birthday.
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Thank you!
Does this part matter that much? The price difference is huge. For the “Edition” DT990 or DT880, I’d be spending roughly R4800 which is about 280$ I wish I was living somewhere in a first world country so that the prices aren’t so ridiculously high lol.
yup no worries there.
Right now I’m waiting for a response from the other thread that I made re the mobo to hear what people think about it. But yeah if I could go for the one that has the coil cable if there’s no real difference then I’d definitely go for it because yeah the price difference is just absurd for my liking and genuinely destroys my budget by a large margin lol.
You’d be shocked if you heard my lecturers and how their Ss sound with their mics. I don’t mind it too much though.
Welp.The PC37X just went out of stock
DT 880 600hm then hook up a speaker amp. You will hear everything… even…God??
Soundstage O P E N
Bass - Great (GOod enough to enjoy not too much it will get in the way)
Mids (nice and rich, well represented and does have some mid range magic when paired with tubes)
Treble - What you need - the DT 880 W H E N P R O P E R L Y P O W E R E D has amazing seperation. God like seperation.
This would be my bet if you have the shit bucket underneath your chair. Otherwise. Shp9500’s PC37x’s or Beyerdynamic MMX 300’s
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Am I a try-hard? Yup. Am I rich? Nope. Problem with this is budget. Trying to get a DT880 for me is already way out of my budget (Which I would just save up for a bit to get) But then there’s the problem to get a dac that can power the damn thing especially at 600 Ohms. I’d rather get a dac that can just power the 250 ohm. I think what you’re suggesting might be way out there for me rather for enjoyment than for actual professional use for competing. But I do appreciate your input. Thank you!
that’s really stupid honestly as the differences are just an extra case, some aesthetic, and a cable, maybe some slight difference in the pads. Yeah in that case provided you can get over the idea of the coiled cable you will be fine with the pro version.
250 is just fine… it’s not that big of a deal for a gamer.
confused by your recommendations here thot. MMX300 is $300 and over budget easily.
and this is way over budget you also do not need a speaker amp. 600 ohm is always more expensive at $200 exact for us here in the US and more expensive for him that and the amp is definitely more costly as you need more power
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Thanks again for everything. I’ve made my decision through a lot more research and a lot of what you’ve given me. I really do appreciate it. You’ve made my decision far easier and I’m pretty sure I’m gonna love it. You’re awesome Falenkor! And don’t forget it! Cheers!
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Of course, I hope with your decision that you enjoy your setup. Do feel free to stop back in and post your thoughts on what you are going with or ask more questions if you feel you need more insight or recommendations on something such as an amp/dac.
Good luck in getting to Tier 1 man and glad I could help.
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Thanks man I definitely will when the time comes! I’m going with the studio DT990s and later on in the year I’ll look into a perfect DAC.
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That’s nice to hear. So a 250ohm 880 with something like a magni 3+ would be pretty good?
I would generally recommend something like a Liquid Spark from Monoprice before I would recommend the Magni but, yes that will work fine. Liquid spark adds more warmth and rolls the treble a little so in my opinion goes better with the dt 880s sound.
Sorry for the late reply.
I like their comfort, but dislike the tuning and the Drop only availability. So that’s why I’d personally stick to something that is more readily available and not on a 6 month waiting list. Mind you this is purely from a musical and logistical standpoint.
For pro-gaming they might actually be good. But I would personally lean for something like HD600 or HD700 that I’ve used myself. For anything that would require you to play at an actual venue, then I would either suggest IEM’s or closed / semi-closed. DT880 would probably be a better all-rounder that fits all kinds of scenarios.
If budget wasn’t a limit. I would have suggested something like the Focal Elegia. That imaging is absurdly precise. Cable is stiffer than a corpse and clamp can be a bit hard. But the isolation and imaging is 
But that’s more on a different tangent so you can disregard my ramblings if you want.
On the amp side I would avoid GSX series. Underpowered and overpriced. I would much rather use something like the EL AMP or Element 2 that has similar design. Price is higher but so is the quality and they have actual power to drive shit. Speaking of Schiit, the HEL is an amazing combo if you want to use built in mic, or something like a ModMic together with your headphones. It’s also a very decent headphone amp that fits the whole gaming segment well. Give it a look and see if it strikes your fancy.
Haven’t finished reading this whole thread so not sure on if you’ve decided on anything yet. Just wanted to respond since I was late with the reply.
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Heyo
no worries about the late reply. I really do appreciate the info. I’ll give it all a look as I haven’t made the purchase yet but I’m set on DT990s and then I’ll be buying a DAC later that can do the job as right now my motherboard can power the 250 ohm DT990s just fine. That Focal Elegia is crazy expensive lol but seems interesting. Maybe that’ll be something I get after my professional career in like 2025 or something lol.