Well, of course…? They are overall better sounding. But people choose AD500x/700x/1kx/2kx for their very specific sound presentation, that suits competitive gaming and 3D environments very well. Not as good as Sundara, but 1/5th the price. Also very old compared to Sundara or HD660. Going steps above AD700x, for gaming, I would choose: Vokyl Erupt(best I’ve heard), HD660, LCD-1. Or really, just save a ton of money, and buy IEMs that sound absolutely amazing, like Urbanfun YBF($59) or Moondrop Starfield($109). Headphones can’t compete with IEMs anymore, for SQ.
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hmm, going to say agree to disagree in this case as I don’t feel like arguing but I completely disagree especially on the IEMs being better for competitive gaming. also Sundara is $250 while ad700x is $130 so not sure where you got 1/5
It’s been $499(still is on HiFiMan.com), and today is $349. AD700x today $109.
There’s no way I’d take a budget headphone over a budget IEM these days. It has to be at Vokyl Erupt or Sundara level or above. (And even then, the isolation that IEMs provide is a huge factor)
Your mindset is that of a casual gamer or casual listener. If you were to play competitive you would never want an IEM as it doesn’t provide a proper field of sound despite it sounding subjectively better. Vokyl Erupt is said to sound like crap when it comes to music despite being good for gaming. Sundara blows away most of its competition and can be found on Headphones.com for $250 in an open box form or from other people in mint conditioning. In the terms of competitive gaming you want full range of sound, balanced sound or v signature for the low and high frequency increase, large wide sound signature, seperation of sound, and analytical imaging with a comfort to allow you to wear it for multiple hours. You do not get this from an isolated IEM as much as you would an open back headphone especially with the IEM you listed Moondrop Starfields as I own those and my DT990s put them to shame so hard I would never even remotely consider them as a competitive fps option. If you want to get really technical you can get a DT 1990 for the $300 region and is currently considered one of the best gaming headphones in the market right now. IEM cannot come close to that headphone
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Because I’ve been talking about competitive gaming equipment, in a thread about competitive gaming headphones? ._ .
I will disagree. And let’s look at the absolute trash gear that pros(people who rely on sound to make money) do use:
Many Quake pros use IEMs, if not also PUBG pros like TGLTN & Kaymind. Pretty much all twitch “pro” streamers just use random trash headsets. PUBG pro, AndyPyro, used to use DT770, but switched to IEMs - a rare case of a pro player actually having used decent headphones. (I think the newer HyperX Cloud probably sound better than DT770, admittedly)
I’ve heard the Vokyl, and (I thought) it sounded way better than my Stax L300 for music.
Well, lucky for those few people who can score this rare deal of a used headphone(that’s currently sold out there), I guess!
I have never, ever, ever heard that as the signature desired by gamers who lust after being able to remove the bass and hear footsteps better. That sounds exactly like what you’d want in music headphones/IEMs.
Can’t comment on Starfield vs DT990 sound, but I’d bet money the Starfield has that more balanced, realistic sound you like for gaming, and better comfort & isolation. And like I said, getting to Sundara/Erupt/DT1990 level is where a $500 headphone finally outdoes a $60-100 IEM or earbud.
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Yeah… no.
The way this works during a tournament (lots of noise arround the players), they get a headphone that somewhat seals with white noise and have IEMs underneath that actually play game sound. (How that looks in practice in that case they use Bose NC cans)
The tinniest shittest IEM will do as there is next to nothing below 200Hz.
What?
That is almost the opposite of what you want.
For competetive team gaming, you need clear voice (think air traffic contoller), no bass/rumble, very present midrange.
Comfort is a non-issue. Dead-focused on the game for ~1 hour, then break and restore energy. (Maybe in training you want comfort, but speakers exist, so…)
Narrow helps.
Ask yourself why Razer and the like “tune” their plastic toy-feeling cans the way they do.
Sorry for going way off topic. 
Edit:
To make this very clear, some pictures of (aviation-) headsets and IEMs in use.
True statement, you dont need the greatest of sounds or highest price headphone or IEM for tournaments or competitive. Most “pros” will use a specific brand that they were sponsored by much like clothes and other offers they get so they make more funds. Though nowadays they wear a set of earbuds an aviation and the sponsor deal around their neck. IEMs do work and are more preferred in most cases. In my opinion I just find headphones better outside of the isolation factor that an IEM can provide. Unless your in an extremely loud environment like a tournament or loud house I don’t really find the isolation a requirement and find open sound better in competitive. Again, this is opinionated as I will assume most of us are not “professionals” getting paid to play.
Present midrange is fine as long as it isnt too recessed this is alright and Vokyl is highly regarded despite multiple people claiming this had a V signature to it. I don’t know this headphone myself but I will also agree that a heavy bass or rumble can throw off things like subtle footsteps depending on the surface. I personally find comfort an issue… why would one want to sit with an uncomfortable pair for hours on end? You can be glued as much as you want but that uncomfortable feeling could throw you off
But needless… lets not derail this topic further? this is a discussion to make the ad700x better.
Y’all got my head spinning. It sounds like y’all saying the ad700x isn’t actually that good but yet I was recommended it on here.
So you saying I should upgrade?
Haha. I think AD700x(or 500x) are the best you can get for that price, pretty much. 
But, they may not have a sound signature that feels natural to you. If that is the case, you should try another headphone(or IEM) around that price range, based on what you think might sound more natural to you.
All you can really do to tweak the sound is software EQ, and pad swapping, but that won’t change positional accuracy(which is just OK for those). For example, increase 53Hz to hear crawling sounds in PUBG better, or use a volume limiter/compressor to hear footsteps better.
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What would be my upgrade options will give me better positional audio
If you can keep your AD700x, I would try an IEM out. If you want to try another headphone, hm…
IEM:
- Urbanfun YBF ($59-69 - absolutely love them)
- QKZ VK4 ($12 - haven’t heard them yet)
Earbud:
- Yincrow RW-9 ($26-ish - not quite natural sounding, but sound pretty good in games to me)
Headphone:
- Hifiman Sundara ($350 - extremely accurate, but sound thin/light)
- HD660 ($499 - look for used/sale. I like them a lot in general, but not as accurate(or thin) as Sundara)
- DT880 or DT990 ($150-ish - a different sound than Audio-Technica; not my preference/taste)
- HD58X / 6XX ($200-ish - I’ve heard good things, but would get HD660 over these)
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I’ll go check all them out
The HD660 you can find for 400$. ive seen them go on sale for that price
Honestly the dt880 and 990 are the only ones that is priced reasonably imo, does it matter which version I get
DT880 has the most balanced, “better” sound to me. DT990 is more V-shaped, and bright. DT’s can often be excessively bright, and you might not like it. Soundstage might be larger on the 990. Make sure you can return them if you don’t like the sound!
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I’d try Fidelio X2HR, actually. Give that a shot But I would still highly suggest the YBF, which you might still be able to hear sounds better with than X2HR/DT880/DT990-level headphones. If you get both, then you can try both out, and return the headphone if it doesn’t win. And there’s no small loss on the YBF, since it’s gonna sound great. It’s important to get that experience with both, so you know the answer for yourself(and attain more general audio experience & knowledge).
Those actually may go down in price a bit once the x3 and new shp come out… rumored to release next month but the bass is quite a bit on the heavier side for competitives. Still one of my favorite set of headphones in its price range.
This