Hey guys, so I’m pretty new to all of this and until now I’ve been using a pair of HyperX Cloud II and now I’m looking to upgrade (around 150$ budget) and thought I’m better off buying good quality headphones and just pair it off with a mic rather than get a “gaming headset”.
The headphones will be used mainly for games such as CS:GO, but I also listen to music quite frequently so that’s important for me as well, I usually listen to rap and I do appreciate a good bass as well. I’m leaning towards closed-back for the better sound isolation and less leakage and out of habit.
After doing some research, I realized the Beyerdyanmics DT770 Pro 80ohm might be good, since I don’t have an amp/dac right and I don’t plan on buying one at least for now and they had generally really good reviews. But since I haven’t tried them yet and I’m not really an expert in the field, I would like your guys opinion on if they’ll be good for what I specified above and if not, then what do you suggest?
for future reference, gaming stuff goes in the gaming thread and we have a respective competitive thread for that
770s are good just a bit much in the bass but the imaging is superb as is the soundstage for a closed back… potentially the largest staging with the best imaging at it’s budget for closed so it works beautifully. However, the lack of an amp could pose some challenges. Is this pc or console and if it’s pc what motherboard are you using? Console will 100% need an amp as it can only handle maybe 30 ohms depending on the sensitivity of course but there are some motherboards that can handle all the way up to 600 ohms.
To explain the 770s signature though, it’s V signatured so bass and treble are emphasized but vocals are a little pushed back. If your in the USA you can snag a 770 for like $100 if you shop around though I am not sure what microphone you plan to pair it with or if you already have one… if you already own the mic for it you could definitely use the leftover budget to just snag a cheaper amp
Hey, thanks for your reply. Sorry for the misplacement of the post, I’ll be sure to get it right next time.
The motherboard I have is Gigabyte B450M-DS3H, I think it has a Realtek ALC887 Soundcard. Their sound signature sound pretty fitting to what I need unless there’s a better option and for the mic i’m just planning on getting a budget one for like 20-30$
Theoretically this should run the 80 ohms but not to the absolute fullest… you will get sound out of them to a good degree just not blaring and the bass and overall clarity may take a bit of a hit as the 887 anymore isn’t all that good in all honesty.
If all else fails see about maybe getting a cheap FIIO E10k as you can find these around $40-$70 and will run up to 250 ohms no problem. Plus it’s rather compact so it won’t take up a lot of space… Alternative to that would just buy like buying a Liquid Spark, Jds Atom, Schiit Magni 3+ and connecting them directly to the computer to use the computer as your dac… these would provide the most power but these will be more expensive less you buy them used at $70
To help you shop, provided your in the usa, you can use multiple outlets look at Head-fi, Amazon, Ebay, Buy/Sell and Looking for Thread here on the site, https://www.reddit.com/r/AVexchange/ here on reddit, USA Audio Mart, and lastly https://www.hifishark.com/ can scour multiple sites for a deal by typing in the item name in the search bar. 3rd party you will save a ton of money. just always use Paypal with an invoice so your protected financially and make sure they have photos showing the condition of the item and a little card showing the date and their username which proves ownership. Gives you security during sales
So without an amp, they will sound good but just not as good as they can be using an amp. Does it mean volume will be a big issue? Would I still be able to hear music and game at a good quality compared to lets say the HyperX Cloud II I owned or just any other gaming headset at around the same price range? Because I’m planning getting an amp eventually but its the time I’ll spend with the headphones without an amp that I’m concerned of
when a unit is incapable of properly powering a unit several things happen. One of which is that the volume gets rather quiet, now your motherboard should be enough to get it to moderate levels of volume just not what I would consider “loud”. other things that go is that the proper signature won’t show itself and you will lose some overall clarity… as well as the bass will take a hit and won’t land as hard… in some cases the bass could disappear entirely and sound hollow or tin-like.
In general the 770s shut down the clouds in entirety as they definitely aren’t the best for sound quality.
if you are okay with waiting and saving up just a little bit more on the budget I would suggest taking the waiting route and stay with your clouds just for now. Search for the 770s at either 80 ohm or 250 ohm depending on how good of a sound you want… just keep in mind 250 ohm may sound the best but it will take more power so a more expensive unit will be required(not by much but it’s worth noting). It will be ideal for you if you can snag the 770 right at $100 less than that even more ideal as they typically are a $200 headphone… I got mine right at $100 and it stays in my collection, one of my more favorite closed back budget headphones. The amp itself the prices will fluctuate… you can definitely swing something from fiio they are more than just the e10k they have the e3 k3 k5 BTR3k among others… the amps I mentioned above are just the amp not the dac and generally you want both… a combo unit that can drive 250 ohms would also be Schiit fulla 3 which I have seen sell for $60-$70 on the markets. If you still want to go to 250 ohm… see if you can swing a solid $100 and grab the soundblaster g6(g5 is okay but g6 is better) these can power up to 600 ohms… you may actually be able to find one at $80 if your lucky… if you swing a g6 you won’t need to worry about potential upgrades for some time less you get a lot further down the rabbit hole where you will need a full upgrade. Any higher than $130 for an amp and dac your better off with dedicated units instead of cheap combo units.
If you prefer the 80 ohms… any of the cheaper units I suggested will drive them just fine without any issues.
Right now I can get both the 80ohms and the 250ohm at the same price. The 250ohm will require both a DAC and an AMP to actually sound good from what I’m understanding which seems to be all a bit too expensive for me at this point. Will the 80ohm provide good sound with the device in the link you posted? Or will it be a noticeable change from the Fiio E10K for example, which you also mentioned
all units if you need an amp you want the dac. Dac or digital to analog convertor cleans up that sound and provides a higher quality of sound. Amp or amplifier is what gives you your power and maintains the signature. That little dongle dac says it can actually power the 250 ohm dt 770(I have not tested that but I know it definitely fully powers the 80 ohm) it’s $20. That dongle is a combo unit meaning it’s both an amp and a dac together
They would be close to the same… not “audiophile” grade of course that would be a lot higher on the budget but definitely respectable enough to not sound like complete garbage and a huge upgrade from the clouds.
took me a quick search on hifishark and I see several up between $95-$120 on the 770s. Oh and yes, reverb is a legit site… that’s where I bought mine
Okay, so as an entry-level headphones they sound really good if you’re saying it’ll be a huge upgrade from the clouds which I thought to be quite good sound-wise (at least from experience).
Dongle seems very good as it saves me from buying both a DAC and an AMP. I think I’ll go for the 80ohm version of the 770s since I don’t want to push my luck with the dongle and I’ve heard the 80ohm has better bass
take it as subjective opinion. I have seen some people actually even prefer that hyperx flight over some headphones. everyones tastes in sound are different and when it comes to this hobby, it’s heavily opinionated. I can however, speak entirely of how good the 770s are for competitives. Just keep in mind competitive gaming… bass is an issue for footsteps it clouds them up.
it does, however 250 ohm is a bit more flexible and more refined… the 250 ohm can have it’s bass pushed a bit more as it’s not as fussy on an equalizer as the 80 ohm is and 250 ohm can make use of tube amps a bit better which naturally add warmth to the bass. Then again were talking gaming here… so 80 ohm should be just fine for you.
if you want an equalizer for your pc look into PEACE APO it’s free… can download to your amp/dac unit there and adjust your sound around even tone back the bass if you feel it’s a bit much just keep in mind using an equalizer takes a bit more power… at 80 ohms that dongle has a little room for that… just try not to push it too far… and always remember when you adjust to increase some of the preamp or amplification to your headphone to make sure the sound evens out.
the dongle dac has it’s own software equalizer though, so make use of that.
I see. Will messing around a bit with the software equalizer and maybe lowering the bass a bit will yield better results in competitive gaming? I saw they have good soundstage for closed-back headphones and I would like to be able to hear footsteps for example quite well
I have a write up explaining this so I will copy that real quick
I think it’s important to elaborate on the most “ideal” sound signature traits you should be looking for in a headphone for gaming purposes. For a competitive gamer, you want the least bass possible, raised upper mids, and raised treble aka bright headphones but also depending on the fps your playing you more than likely want a large soundstage(how far you can hear out) and as accurate imaging(how accurate can the headphone place that sounds location) as feasibly possible. You can get away with some alternatives but this is just the most “ideal”. You may hear others state that soundstage and imaging are everything, this is only the half truth… the reason being is that bass(lows) involves rumble… this characteristic in the bass will get in the way of hearing your footsteps, breathing, etc of the fps sounds meanwhile the treble(highs) is where most of these sounds are located so an increased treble frequency will allow you to push those sort of sounds forward to hear them better this goes the same for the upper vocals(mids) just to a lesser extent. You do not -need- every portion of the ideal sound except the imaging and soundstage but it is very noticeably helpful.
so yes, dialing back the bass will indeed help… it’s not going to make you this sudden amazing gamer or anything but it will help and maybe even make things more interesting for you.
Thanks for all the information, I’m starting to get the hang of it. I’m not relying on it to make me an amazing player or anything like that haha, just want the headphones to provide an enjoyable sound quality for both music/movies and FPS games and not for it to be all muffled up while playing. Also wondered how do they feel wearing them for long sessions, since I tend to use my headphones quite a lot
I always tend to tell people to just find a return policy on the headphone or just a way to try the unit before fully purchasing it off say the used markets… as otherwise if you don’t like it you gotta stomache putting it back up for sale lol. Though, personally I really like it… and you can always get some other pads for it which change the sound by quite a lot.
just depends on you and comfort… they do have some clamp for sure but it’s because they are closed back and designed for isolation… you can stretch them over their box or something about the width of your head and leave them that way for like 3 days and it should relieve some of that clamping force if it’s a bit much… they are built like tanks so should be fine.
the pads they come with are velour which are very airy breathable material… kind of like those soft plush blankets but with some pressure on the ears. You can get a variety of other pads from places like brainwavz, higher quality would be dekoni audio, and highest quality would be ZMF. Typically I just use dekoni but purchase 3rd party mint as you can get them like half price that way
I have zero issues wearing the 770s for hours on end though.
Well I plan on buying them from Amazon which has a return policy I’m pretty sure which is helpful.
I really appreciate all the help you provided me, seems like I’ll be going with the 770s 80ohm since I don’t plan on getting a high quality amp for the time being, and from what you’re saying a budget amp could maintain the sound signature of them quite well. However, I’m still debating for which DAC+AMP combo I should go for between the Play 3! and the BlasterX G1 unless something a bit more expensive like the FX-Audio DAC-X6 would make a big difference from the other cheaper two.
I have used all dt770 ver any under 250ohm sounds like ass ngl.
if you are looking for a good gaming headset why not( TYGR 300 R ) the team TYGR comes with a mic, or MMX 300 fairly good and both are ez to drive
rather subjective, I know quite a few that have used the 80 and stick with it… granted I will agree compared to 250 ohm they aren’t as good.
because for starters team tygr is outside of his budget, tygrs are not a headset they are a headphone, tygr 300r is open backed and he wants closed back, and lastly fox microphone is trash at it’s price point and your better off with something like blue yeti.
these are just a redone up 770 with a microphone at 32 ohms(but actually sounding good) but again, this is out of his budget… title states under $200 and this is a $300 headset.
ah my bad uk its 236. I would still rec good headphones and a sep mic ex modmic or xlr or usb mic than a headset my rec then dt770 250ohm or dt 990’s depending on how loud the background noise of your house is but from my experience the dt770 pro and my hd6xx the hd6xx can hear more footsteps ect.
(like for example i remember playing apex with 2 of my m8s and both of them had the best gaming headsets one had best logitech one at the time and the other best astro and i could hear ppl they could not with the gaming headsets was kinda funny)
(in the uk 990 and 770 pro 250ohm are 105quid and the modmic USB is 80 so under 200)
(no idea about US but my rec budget setup then mb get a dac/amp combo if you want a little more volume with em)
I have both of those, i would say it’s mainly due to the bass on the 770 that clouds them… once you equalize it back by a few db this isn’t so apparent and the 6xx also has really strong imaging however the problem with the 6xx is that very narrow soundstage… so in larger fps the 770 is going to definitely come out on top as it’s much larger so it can easily place sounds further out. Both are fantastic… and I 100% agree 250 ohm sounds much better than 80 ohm… but I won’t deny 80 ohm works just fine for someone on a limited budget and ampless… its definitely better than those gaming headsets by a very big margin
it’s funny yet sad…
Over here 770s at 250 ohm are like $200 new + modmic usb is $80 so $300 for all brand new(gotta consider tax and shipping) less you buy off the used markets of which 770s can be bought at $100 and usb can be bought for around $50.
I can get the 770s pro 80ohm version for around 120$ plus shipping (not including taxes), while I can maybe get the 250ohm version in Like-New condition for around 160$. Question is if it’s really worth going for the 250ohm considering I’m going for a budget AMP+DAC combo for around 50$ (Currently looking at KGUSS DAC-K3 and FXAudio DAC-X6).
