Would it help if i said ad1000x was more bright leaning towards neutral? not the greatest in terminology yet. Still fantastic for games in my experience with them. I brought up 6xx cause like the 58x its a solid pick for gaming but also a good all rounder. definitely not the best but a good pick if you want something thats good in multiple areas
It’s personally not something I would call neutral since of the heavily colored signature in the treble as well, so it’s like a bass light brighter signature that’s tuned towards Asian music from my experience. It is great for gaming though
I think the 58x and 660s is a solid pick for gaming and mixed use, but the 6xx just isn’t that great of a choice due to its meh treble for gaming and decent imaging for gaming but the 58x is something I would much prefer for gaming due to the improved imaging
hmm… Will have to work on my terms and study that a bit more. Sorry your description on that is much more accurate. Nonetheless… AD1000x I got to test on the side for about 3 days at a buddies place… really solid buuut I wouldn’t buy them over my 1990s. Agreed on the imaging for 6xx. 58x especially for competitive is straight up better than 6xx
Anyone knows if there is an upgrade for comp gaming with optical in? Currently useing Soundblasterx G6
The sound blaster G6 is a pretty nice amp/dac and you should be fine with it… upgrades from that would be costly and would be a dedicated setup also known as a “stack” provided you had the setup with the optical in port on the dac which is what plugs into the pc or console. Also, sorry for the late response just now saw this. Been a little preoccupied and answering other questions.
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MON i’d very much like to know what your Top 5 would be for gaming purposes (imaging, detail retrieval and sound seperation weighing the most). Also ik curious how are you able to hear so many headphones do u work in a store that sells them?
Noooo I can’t give a top 5 lol, that would go against what I say all the time, also it would vary and change too often anyways
I tend to buy and try stuff alot, I try and go to as many shows as I can, and also I have a decent amount of friends and family that are into audio so a large amount of ways I can try stuff, I guess just being too involved tends to allow me to try too much for my own good
Id really really appriciate it. I know it would based on your experience and it wouldnt neccesery translate to my taste. Based on this moment and all your current experience knowing it will be outdated pretty soon.
This’ll be good.
Alright would you feel comfortable listing 10 or less headphones great for gaming. In whatever order?
mids and highs and extremely accurate imaging
and thats it
all you need, look at some graphs
m40x is a decent one for dirt dog cheap
source, i played pretty high level competitive (lan and online comps but nothing like large spectator) in halo 2, 3 reach and cod4- black ops 1 and battlefield 2 to bc2 and bf3. I could have joined an mlg team if i was aspiring to be anything other than a neet when i was a teenager.
i prefer closed because you get ALL the audio because every.single.cue.is.right.there
but those purple ath audio technica cans that arent sold anymore i think are god tier for open cans
AD700 i think it was
but closed is king
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Hmm i got a open back right now probally gonna order a closed back for comparison
get m40x for comparing
dont go cheaper or anything else unless they directly compare to them and you can get some real sick nasty decent closed later on.
m40x are sick cause you can easily swap to better pads if you want to and it wont completely destroy the sound.
you can also try them for a week and just send them back if you got any grievances, amazon is awesome
if you REALLY like open and dont hate senn pads, then get the PCwhetevrthefucknumberX from massdrop, theyre nice, decent mic for online, cheap enough that you can replace them on a whim if they break or you blow them out or something and it also has a mic which is just so nice for online games.
and theyre $120
EDIT: M0N made the beyer suggestion, i kind of agree, they are very sharp, you can look at their closed versions too and compare the curves
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Audio Technica lineup I wouldn’t say go m40x less you plan to pad swap them and maybe mod them a bit then they are good otherwise Just go get an ad700x, ad900x if you want better sound for music, ad1000x for again better for both worlds but proper seperation this headphone just has some coloration but is really good for gaming.
Another option is akg lineup with the k702, k712, and k7xx. All of which are fantastic for gaming have some of the largest soundstage with extremely accurate imaging. K712 is the one with the more fun-ish sound while k702 is more analytical from my experience.
Beyers option is tygr 300r for ampless dt880 for jack of all trades semi open back, dt 770 for isolation and immersion, Game One or MMX 300 for alternative gamer versions of their lineup like the tygr 300 r, and dt 990 if you have a proper setup that can dial back the treble. Higher end variation would be 1770 / 177x go a step up from the 770s and definitely worth it. Step up from the others would be the T1 gen 2 or dt 1990 which 1990 would probably be better due to more accurate analytical imaging you can pick this up usually around $350-$450 used in good condition
Sennheiser lineup would be 58x, HD 598 for a better soundstage dunno about 599 could be better, gsp 500 / game one / game zero / pc 37x / gsp 600 / gsp 670 all of which are very solid gaming headsets and a step up would probably be HD 660 s.
Philips lineup would just be shp9500 and Fidelio x2 hr but these have a hard bass frequency making them better for all around and less competitive. The company has announced the X3 as of this year and it should be coming out in a couple months supposedly sporting a much wider soundstage
Dan Clark option: Aeon open x is another thats good but the treble is rolled off making it very solid for all around but not the best for competitives however, one of my favorite. Could mention ether but all that I have read support the idea that aeon is better in gaming in most cases but this is subjective
Hifiman Lineup: 400i, he4xx, Sundara, Ananda each one better than the other imo as each step up will have a better soundstage imaging and overall sound to them especially ananda for having an extremely wide soundstage though sundara imo is a very good all rounder which you can grab an open box off headphones.com for $250. Be wary of this brand they have quality control issues.
Focal lineup would be Elegia, Elear, and Elex would recommend sitting down with these especially elex if you can due to its strange adaptive bubble like soundstage.
Fostex series would be the modded versions like dekoni blue, argon mk3, t50rp other alternatives, and others outside of those would be the massdrop fostex which were discontinued but are still good like the purple heart, e-mu, and other variations.
Essentially what you will want is already been said… for strictly competitive you want an emphasis on mids and highs with very accurate imaging… you want a large soundstage to go along with that accuracy for a good field of sound to really pinpoint enemy sound location if the soundstage is too small you may not be able to place the sounds from a distance very easily. You either want an all rounder or something thats just strictly good for competitives… its really up to you. Good amps would be liquid spark, Schiit magni 3+, Asgard 3, and a few others and for strictly gaming amp/dacs if you don’t care to much about music you can always grab a soundblaster x3 or g6 or if you want a schiit grab the fulla and you will be fine. Fiio e10k is worth mentioning here as well as a budget friendly amp.
Audeze lineup: lcd-2 and the mobius are probably your best bet here other than the gx gaming headset they offer but thats around $1000 margin
Hyperx Lineup: gaming headset brand. cloud 2 or alpha work fine… best product form them is the wired version of the audeze mobius which is called the hyperx orbit switch out the pads to the cryo pads from audeze for the best comfort and your good to go
Steel series lineup: worth mentioning due to being a very solid competitive headset. Very simple… grab the steel series arctis pro + Gamedac if you want the best here otherwise grab the arctis pro wireless or arctis 7.
Astro lineup: only one to mention here thats worthwhile and thats astro a40s + the mixamp gen2
Theres a whole slew of other headphones that can be recommended that are cheap and pretty good but these are worth mentioning
If you need a microphone simply either grab a gamer headset, if this is not an option look into a modmic preferrably the usb variation as it sounds better and isnt as “hot” otherwise get the wireless version, another option here would be a lavalier mic which attaches to the headphone cable or your shirt, last option is the streamer style setup using an XLR mic you will need an audio interface to go along with this and I would recommend getting a Dynamic microphone for this setup to help with any background noise as condensor mics love to grab sound from around you… usb mics can be used without an interface but these are typically condensors and are pretty sensitive without a lot of settings being changed and proper room setups getting involved USB also tend to break in the weirdest of ways and don’t offer the best sound quality in comparison to XLR.
Edit: something to note here. Closed is never the best option in competitive… they don’t offer the widest sound and you remove some soundstage and open-ness to your headphone with it being closed. Only in tournaments, lan parties, or environments where isolation is necessary are closed backs more of a benefit. While closed do work fine… from my experience of over 15 years of competitive gaming open back has always been the better option. Tournaments have changed over time from just using closed backs given from sponsors and now IEM and Earbud setups are now being put into place… these aren’t really necessary and you will gain more benefit from headphones in generally every single scenario. Open backs aren’t seen in pro circuits due to lack of isolation among other things. You tend to wear whatever the hell your sponsor is otherwise you will see them using a headset setup with their sponsor headphone around their neck in some cases.
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we’re talking about competitive gaming
music should not be a thought here
also open back are not as good as a comparable priced close for gaming
thats not a thing
you dont need to mod the m40x in anything but comfort and you dont need comfort for trying them out, i literally said if he liked them to padroll
I threw this in there as a general consideration. Music is plenty fine to consider much like casual gaming purposes. Not everyone does strictly competitives so its good to think of all rounders not just bass lacking competitive extreme headphones as such the list compiles of both. I also listed the difference for the ad1000x due to its good seperation as the ad700x lacks in this area and causes sounds to be kind of blended together which in some cases even in gaming can throw you off a little.
There are plenty of good priced open backs that are in the same price range as closed backs and it boils down to preference. Closed backs vs open backs is a preference based. again this is subjective and there is no “best” option. calling something the king is your opinion much like my opinion and experience with open backs. Closed backs center the sound towards the center of your head… they enclose your atmosphere usually have a smaller soundstage and a heavier bass frequency and typically will have leather pads. Open backs have a larger soundstage and more open sound… from my experience you typically have a better 360 field of vision in sound form an open back and it allows you to pin point to a much better degree in game whereas open backs will normally have a velour or suede pad and be the more breathable yet less isolated option. From my experience with practically any gaming headset that has been deemed “good” and quite the few headphones that are deemed great for gaming I always find it easier to play competitively with open backs while closed backs are better for immersion in game and definitely casual gaming. Again though, this is my perspective and opinion
I simply said to change pads and mod but I would more recommend ad700x due to the sound signature being much more in tune to a competitive atmosphere and you don’t have to be concerned with pad rolling them. I didn’t find the m40x’s positioning and sound staging good for the most part. They sound good I will give them that but I don’t find them good for competitive gaming
its gaming
your goal is to hear footsteps, if you are recommending open cans even slightly preferentially then its just wrong HAHA
Really depends on the can imo. I would only worry about closed vs open if your environment is loud or not manageable. A fair amount of open cans are excellent for comp gaming, really comes down to the headphone itself
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This would definitely be a subjective opinion… there are many open back headphones that do a really good job at hearing footsteps and other subtle sounds just fine… K7 series and ad— series are really good at this feature due to lack of bass frequency. It depends entirely on the headphone.
when you are serious about games, thats your preference
open cans are not a preference for serious people who want to seriously hear the right things in a game
open cans are probably best though for non serious games, more atmosphere
you dont want atmosphere in a competitive game
there is no spectrum in competitive gaming, everything has a meta and everything is defined
preference in competitive gaming is just for people who arent sweaty
there are already enough shiny things in games, the last thing you want is a pretty headphone, you want sharp, crisp, ALERT FOOTSTEPS
the only explosions you should know of are the visual cues and the ping, not the bang
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