Hi, I am in a tight spot right now choosing my headphone because I have read/watched so many reviews of these that an amateur got lost at this point and everything felt so blended together: 1. SHP 9500 + VModa BoomPro 2. SHP 9600 + VModa BoomPro 3. MH752 (same price with 751 in my region) + VModa BoomPro
My background, I play Paladins (heroes shooter) every day and if there are 10 more parts of Tomb Raiders I will play all of them…and also stream for fun. I have never tried a proper gaming headphone both closed or open-back (I use an apple earset or XB950N1 plugged in). I enjoy music and movie but usually on speaker (Soundsticks 3). I don’t like heavy bass for my music (despite owning sony IKR). I hope this helps. I have watched all the reviews of those candidates and that I wish there would be a finer border when tiering them.
The second issue is my access to shp9500/9600 would be through AliExpress…it is such a popular source that I don’t even know if it’s legit:
If you can vow for its legitimacy, feel free to hit me up with some reviews. I have bought here so many times but never products with brandings b4 <3
Thanks for reading and i look forward to your help <3
I have heard its comparison before and can feel the better quality of the boompro but none the less cooler master makes amazing mic for it from what i’ve seen.
I’m also in the same boat and curious about the answer. I’ve read that the imaging on the SHP-9500 isn’t very good. That’s why i was considering the HD58x. I hope the that the SHP-9600 have better imaging than the SHP-9500.
I did see this video about them. Basically he concludes that the SHP-9500 are better for gaming than the 9600’s and the SHP-9500 and -9600 are both better than the HD58x for gaming.
Hmm, I think this will depend on your budget overall and what your running it off of. Paladins isn’t a particularly demanding game but you also meantion you don’t like heavy bass. Let’s get a little into the nitty gritty on these ones you have listed.
so the thing about the shp9500 is that while it’s a great starting headphone for a competitive gamer it can also be bought for like $50 making it quite cheap. However, if you wanted more flexibility with this headphone (as it’s just a bright headphone meaning not a lot of bass or vocality but a lot of treble at the same time the pads are quite questionable on comfort) you can modify the headphone. Modhouse audio sells 3d printed pad adapters, or you can scrape the glue off the regular adapters but this is a bit of a pain to do. With the adapters you can freely change the pads to whatever you wish and the headphone will adopt a different kind of sound signature. Velours keeping it bright, Suedes making it a bit of a more harman style tuning or slight V, leathers making it a bit more on the warm side or real bassy, and hybrids will make it a solid V shape tuning. Shp9500 takes the same size pads as a Beyerdynamic DT headphone and dekoni pads are recommended due to quality and comfort. At the same time, like mentioned you can use v moda boom pro but also if you wanted a wireless option there are 3.5mm bluetooth dongles you can make use of to turn the 9500 into a wireless gaming headset as a lot of these dongles that work have a built in mic. While it won’t be low latency it gives you an interesting option. All of these additions however, of course really bring up the price. Normally around $150 - $200 for a full modification of one of these. At the same time, it depends on what your plugging it into, as if you have a weak motherboard or ps4 it’s very possible you would need an amp to get them acceptable listening levels.
So, this is just essentially the same headphone as the shp9500 but with slightly deeper pads, an overpriced price tag, and a warm signature(bassier without much brightness so polar opposite to the 9500), at the same time is not mod friendly like the 9500 is as of yet due to nobody having created any adapters for the headphone. If you wish to use a headphone for sound placement, this isn’t ideal due to the added bass being an issue for competitive gaming. This also has the issue of potentially needing an amp
gaming headset, not a headphone. Based off Takstar pro 82 like hyperx cloud headsets. MH752 already has a mic so v-moda is not necessary. It comes with a built in software equalizer so you can adjust your sound accordingly, runs ampless, and is generally considered one of the best starting competitive gaming headsets you can get your hands on depending on pricetag. Same time, does not have the sound quality of a headphone, mic quality is not the best, build quality is not the best, it’s overall just average and is a bit bright out the gate.
Yes, aliexpress is fine. I suppose it depends on your country but I would still recommend shopping around to see if you can get cheaper or potentially a better setup going.
First of all, thank you so much for your reply. Not to sound dumb, but I have been waiting for your reply after reading so many other threads.
Im at a spot where I can’t find it anywhere as a second hand or even new. Amazon doesn’t have both the 9500 (3rd seller) nor the 9600 (not even there yet)
Im in Finland, getting those mods here would be too much pain in the ass.
The reason why I include the Vmoda for all options is because that I stream for fun. So wireless isn’t an option here. Thanks for suggesting tho.
This is lovely, I enjoy my ear not touching the driver itself → less intrusive. I have small ears to begin with, so I think mine wouldn’t even touch 9500.
Both of these headphones are at a reasonable price for me but is also my only source for them right now.
So in conclusion, after hearing all of this:
I cant mod the 9500
I would use both of them with the vmoda for streaming for fun
I would use it mainly for gaming
The mh752 is out of the race cause i recently tried gaming for a longer time on my xb950n1. It makes me a bit toasy inside, not fun at all
Can you give your final thought on the 9500 vs 9600? I would love to hear more to settle down finally based on what I just said.
The dumbass part is that, I need help cause my logic would always be to go for the “newer one” but it isn’t the case for stuff like this. I usually go to bed thinking that my dumbass ear wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference between the two as I’m not an audiophile to begin with. I blame myself for watching too many reviews that made me question its differences so heavily that i have to go to a dedicated forum like this. Thanks for putting up with me.
Somehow, not surprised. I get direct messages quite a bit now in this regard too lol.
that’s rather unfortunate, then again, shp is alright… but once you get a bit further up in budget it can get replaced rather quickly. Some have told me headphones like HarmonicDyne Helios and Shp9500 were in the same ballpark price roughly… of which I would normally tell them grab the Helios in that regard if they cannot mod the shp9500… this would be the same thing I would say for many other headphones slightly more expensive… just most cannot make use of V-moda boom pro.
I kind of figured this may be the case, quite unfortunate lol.
I really wouldn’t recommend a v-moda for streaming, like it’s alright but not of a streamer quality clarity microphone. Just depends on how serious you are about that… in some cases Modmic USB sounds better than v-moda… and mod mic can be used on any headphone out there.
you may be fine in this case then, just keep in mind the 9600 isn’t -as- good as the 9500 for competitive use case. If they are extremely close to the same price tag however, this will depend on what your wanting in your headphone personally.
hmm, alright then.
hmm, so it completely boils down to cost. The main issue of the 9600 is that it’s quite overpriced for what it is, as for it’s initial cost you could modify the 9500 and get the same sound results but higher quality and comfort over all in comparison but let’s go ahead and just narrow out the differences between the two in stock
Shp9500: Bright headphone, lightweight, extremely little clamp force and may be a huge deal breaker, highs have some slight grain to them and could cause some discomfort in the sound, bass lite, mids are clean and clear but not raised, decent detail retrieval, sounds great for orchestra or classic and due to the signature is good for a hardcore competitive gaming session. Large soundstage and decent yet passable imaging.
Shp9600: Warm headphone(bassy), lightweight maybe slightly heavier than it’s previous model, more clamp force here but not to a large degree and will loosen back up with time, better looking aesthetically but build quality is of the same cheap material, bass is noticeably raised very punchy and impactful with the mids dialed back a hair and the highs now right around neutral sounding still slightly raised above neutrality. Pads are made of the same material as the 9500 but very very slightly deeper. Cannot be modified without some thorough work on owner behalf(cutting off the glue of the pads). Due to the nature of the sound signature this is better for a more casual friendly use case, however it can be slightly muddy and bleed into the mids due to the extension in the bass. Soundstage on this sounds slightly larger or rather deeper and the imaging is close to the same between the two. sounds better for alternative, rock, edm, etc
I know a lot of people who have this issue, or feel this way. The thing is between these two is the differences are very noticeable, like night and day as in audiophile terminology the signatures are the opposite to one another. One is more fun but can’t be modded and looks better, while the other is cheaper has a legendary status can be modified and has the proper signature for a competitive gamer.
Hi, I just received it yesterday, It sounds super nice, a very pleasant listening experience. The ingame sound and surroundings is super clear.
Wearing them for longer session does not make me toasty or hurt my ear at all.
Thank you so much for the final suggestion.
