I need help picking out a £150 - £300 set of competitive gaming cans (or cans + stack combo) since I can no longer use my open-back Sennheiser Game Ones as I need to reduce both incoming and outgoing noise. Ranked needs are as follows:
Closed-back
Helps pinpoint footsteps and noise cues in Hunt: Showdown and other FPS - competitive advantage is key
£150 - £300 in price range for the headphones or headphones + DAC/AMP - but have been known to exceed budget by 10-20% when there is good justification
Don’t need a microphone (but its a bonus)
Having read previous posts on this forum, I’ve narrowed down to the following options:
Beyer DT 770 Pro 250 Ohm + DAC/ AMP (open to suggestions)
Beyer MMX 300 g2 - No DAC/ AMP - as the headphones are already £220
Steelseries Arctis Pro + GameDAC - I’m testing these over the weekend after a snap-buy due to the relatively cheap £149 price tag on Amazon
Happy to be convinced otherwise or have my mind changed (or budget blown!)
P.S: I never thought I would have so much fun educating myself about headphones - this forum is absolutely great as is Z Reviews (the apparent gateway drug!)
Thanks for the response Dboy. The Tygr 300R is hard to find in the UK, and isn’t it an open-back set?
I’m also interested in understanding why DT 770 over MMX 300? Are either more preferable for competitive and why? Should I be getting a DAC or amp for the MMX 300 and will it improve the sound or is it fine without one? How much better are both compared to the Steelseries cans for competitive?
Which one of the 3 amps suggested would be preferable for the DT 770 or MMX 300.
I’ve spent a fair amount of time read Falkenor’s post (which is so useful) - just can’t seem to make a decision among these 3 and am really looking for the best solution to fit within the £150 - £300 budget.
I havent tried the mmx 300, so I cant comment on that one.
On the other hand the dt770 are just what you are looking for in this price range, big soundstage and its tuning favors the treble region that you need for footsteps, gunshots, etc. In short provides an advantage over most consumer gaming headsets.
The amp/dac in this budget doesnt make a significant difference for gaming, the fulla is the most practical and better price performing. Then the fiio k5pro is usually more available. But really any renowned dac/amp that you get will do the trick.
A friend of mine has the steelseries arctis and while its a very practical product in its functionality, comfort and microphone the sound is not even close to the dt770 in terms of sounstage, footstep accuracy and dynamic range.
Edit: the dac/amp is very important, if you get any of those beyers the amplification will slightly improve the precision they deliver. I don’t think you can go wrong with those beyers choice as long as you use them with a dac+amp. The dac+amp choice again, also can’t go wrong if you go for the ones that are often recommended in this forum.
they are practically teh same headphone with an ever so slight different signature yet mmx over there is $300 while you can grab 770s at $100 potentially less off others… depends on price… either will be fine
while I doubt most gamers will agree to this less they have been down the road of headphones… steel series? they are decent cans but quite honestly they are kinda trash when in comparison to a 770 or alternative. 770s are better, cheaper, and can sound better musically. Their only issue unlike gaming headsets is they typically need an amp to go along with them
I think we’ve successfully narrowed down to the two Beyer cans and I’m heavily leaning towards the DT 770 250 Ohms - because it seems like its better bang for buck compared to the MMX 300 g2 and it will allow me to get a decent amp and DAC.
Last question then: I can’t get a Schiit Fulla 3 in the UK (constantly out of stock) - is the FiiO K5Pro the consensus amp and DAC combo to drive these? It costs £179 in the UK with the 250 ohm DT 770s costing around £125 which puts me square on budget. Don’t mind going cheaper or more expensive on amp and DAC if it makes sense. Feels a bit strange to be paying more for the amp and DAC compared to the cans but I’m sure there are good reasons for this.
The reason I recommend the k5 pro is because its a good dac+amp to start with (entry level) and it has more than enough power for the dt770 250ohm, its more than enough to take out its full potential (for gaming).
I believe its better to have power leeway in your amp, but actually you could go with cheaper options like the ifi zen dac, that one has just enough power for the dt770 and more than enough for the mmx 300 because that one is easier to drive.
for the mmx300 you could even do with a portable amp like a fiio q1 or btr5 and it would do very good, on the other hand the dt770 250ohm would be better paired with a desktop amp because it needs more juice, I wouldn’t recommend less than an ifi zen dac (which is also a great starter dac+amp).
Havent heard, but based on reviews its a good product and has very respectable power output, for your use case seems like a great choice, id go for it.
It’s not bad for a gamer… just make sure you get its software and firmware updates all situated so you can use high gain in the settings. It’s a nice budget unit. Just not what I would call providing a audiophile sound quality.
Thanks @Falenkor. I’ve been reading up on the G6 and it looks like driver support is spotty and lots of recent complaints have turned me off. Likely will go with either the K5 Pro for the Amp and DAC, or might just invest in an amp at the moment and buy a decent DAC later.
I’m also looking for a close set. I have the HD 600, and when I have the window open, the car noise is too loud (I didn’t have the problem with the Sennheiser GSP 300).
I was reading up on the cheap, closed headphone topic, and I remember that the DT770 600ohm was recommended, but I can’t find them anywhere, not even on the official site. Are they discontinued? Is there a vast difference between 600 and 250ohm? I have a D50s and A50s, so amp power is not an issue.
there actually used to be a 600 ohm version but to my knowledge this was discontinued. Not sure about in other countries. Infact you can specially order a 600 ohm mmx300 through beyer which is just a slightly altered 770 though granted the mmx300 is quite a bit more expensive then you find 770s for