So it boils down to this I am a “gamer” not hardcore but I put enough time into it to say I’m more than casual. I play a lot of first person shooters so positional audio is a key component to the experience. Through weeks of research I’ve gotten it down to three choices.
Sennheiser PX37x, Phillips shp9500, or cooler master mh751/752’s.
All highly recommended so the question is. Which one do I drop on my head for the foreseeable future that will give me what I need for my games as well as music/movies ECT. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Welcome citomors,
Thr DT 880 on Sale 125 in the Deals Thread from Beyerdynamic Homepage. Where do you live?
What type of music do you listen to?
Hey there @citomors, welcome to hifiguides.
I think it would help us to figure out what would be a good setup for you if we knew a bit more information. What would be your budget for your setup here? What would you say is your preference in sound as in when you listen to your music whats more enjoyable? What kind of music do you listen to? Are you based in the USA or other country as this can help us pin down sales and potential better alternatives?
I don’t see this deal in the usa beyerdynamic store… This makes me sad cause that’s a great deal.
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Yea it’s even 600 Ohm
DT880 600 Ohm + an AMP and hes good to go If you live in Europe.
But what Kind of Headphone are you using now?
I will try to answer everything as best I can. I live in the United States. My music taste varies greatly from day to day so trying to pic a headset based around that isn’t too great. An example is today at work I listened to Vivaldi’s Winter by Dark Moor followed by some of the Escaflowne OST, and then some Barn Courtney, followed by some classic jazz and funk, and finally some Zomboy, and Excision. I enjoy feeling the bass but not being suffocated by it, though I know that for the games I’ll need good mid-highs.
Budget is about 200-250 but that includes a dac/amp which I want the Shiit Fulla 3 it’s ability to be portable is required because I’m going to be using it with both my gaming laptop and home desktop.
As for what I’m using now it’s terrible but Turtle Beach Stealth 600’s that after 2+ years have started crackling and popping after the battery gets below 50%. I’ve never really been a big sound guy I’ve always just gone with what’s cheap and works good enough, but I just built this new home computer for myself and I really wanted to treat myself to something nice this time around you know, a whole package. And after doing all the research and finding Zeos through tech reviewers doing headset reviews. (As in they recommended something and I went to find a few other sources) I discovered that I had never even realized what I had truly been missing. That’s why I was asking about the 3 I picked because I just want to be sure this time.
PS. Sorry for the text dump lol
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Alright, so this is feasible if you went shp9500. Heres some math calculation for you. In the USA you can find shp9500 for around $50. SHP9500 is compatible with V-moda Boom Pro microphone which is around $30. You generally want to change the pads to be more versatile so to do there either you need to pop off the pads and scrape the glue off or go to modhouse audio and purchase $10 pad adapters(should probably only need the circular), Lastly we need a set of pads you can go cheap and thin from like shure and pay upwards of around $15 potentially some brainwavz pads they are a bit more expensive up to like $30 or go even higher up to Dekoni which is what I use and will run you around $40 the pad choice will change the sound. Velours for the brighter leaner bass sound, suede for a bit of a mix still slightly bright but quite bassy, perforated leathers adds some bass keeps the brightness, solid leathers very bassy brings the brightness in to around neutral making it sound rather warm. Maximum your looking at 50+30+10+40 = $130 + Schiit fulla $100 = $230. It sounds complicated but is actually very easy to do this setup and you can get the pads potentialy on sale from time to time. Pad size for the shp9500 is the same size as beyerdynamic dt series note they can be a slight pain in the neck but you will get them on… just takes a bit of finesse not too complicated.
There is two extra alternatives to the shp9500 if you want to get even more creative. Modhouse sells closed adapters which makes the shp9500 a bit more of a closed back if you need more isolation. You can also get a 3.5mm bluetooth adapter(some of these have a mic built in to them) and make the headphone wireless.
If your budget was higher I would of course have some other recommendations but I feel such a flexible headphone in sound signature by a simple change in the pads may help you find your ideal sound as well… The shp9500 I personally think will be better in this case otherwise pick up the pc37x if you want neutrality in your sound as shp9500 is a brighter headphone like mh751 is a brighter gaming headset.
Edit: Another alternative is that you can buy an HD 598($100 range) alongside a 2.5mm such as this one https://www.amazon.com/Microphone-Compatible-QuietComfort-Sennheiser-Headphone/dp/B01NAQWCGS alongside that schiit fulla and be fine as well. If you know the popular gaming streamer markiplier he uses this headphone. Sennheisers tend to be very neutral in their sound signature so they get along with a wide variety of uses just not the most -ideal- for competitive.
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Thank you for such a fantastic reply! I think I’ll start with the SHP9500’s because of the mod ability I can find my ideal sound and then go to something a bit further up the ladder later.