I posted a while ago and I was looking for a good pair of headphones and an dac/amp to use for my gaming setup. I ended up getting the Sennheiser Massdrop HD 58X Jubilee and a Schiit Fulla 3. They were amazing and I loved the sound they produced. However, I found the 58Xs very uncomfortable. They are very tight and (this is hard to explain in words, but) they touched my ears in a very annoying way. A way that bothered me very much. So much I couldn’t stand wearing them for more than a few minutes at a time. Because of these problems, I sold the headphones on eBay.
I recently bought the headphones that were also recommended to me the last time I asked. I got the Philips SHP9500. Again, these headphones sound great, but I also find these uncomfortable. They are extremely loose and touch my ears in the same way the 58Xs. So I am thinking of returning these and trying another pair, but that is where I need your help.
I am looking for a pair of headphones, preferable open back (but it does not matter too much), that is great for competitive fps, like Call of Duty, but also submerses me in games like Red Dead Redemption or Jedi Fallen Order. I will be using these headphones on PC through my Schiit Fulla 3 (I believe the website says this can push up to 300 ohms, but I could be misreading the spec sheet). I would like to stay under $200 if possible.
Uses: ~40% Competitive Shooters (Mainly Call of Duty)
~40% Other games (RDR2, Jedi Fallen Order, Civ VI etc.)
~20% Other tasks (Watching YouTube, movies, playing games like Among Us or Papers Please where audio is not that important, chatting on discord)
Type: Open back preferred but not required
Budget: $200
Location: US
Notes: I do not need/want a microphone attached to the headphones, but if you believe that the best pair of headphones for me has a microphone attached, please mention them.
Please recommend headphones you think would fit my situation. Do not worry about your personal experience with comfort because all heads are different. Any headphones that fit my description and you recommend will be fine, I will try comfort for myself. Also, I am looking to buy headphones new, so if they are sold out or no longer made and I have to buy them through eBay or something, I am not too interested.
Sennheiser HD598’s are great and do not clamp hard. They have been my gaming headphones for around 5-6 years.
200 bucks is a tight budget, especially when you are looking for a headphone that can be used for competitive. Beyerdynamic’s TYGR is getting some attention, might be worth looking into
Have you considered loosening the metal in your headband before you ditch the 58x? Pretty easy to do and helps quite a bit.
Extend the headband fully so the entire metal part is exposed.
Hold on to metal band and use your thumbs to gently bend the metal part to loosen it up. Do NOT hold on to the plastic part or make sure the band is not putting any force on the headband or chasis.
DT 990 are extremely comfortable and I thought the sound stage was pretty pin point. They might have sharp highs, a lot of people seem to complain about that however I never had a problem with them. The detail they present is fantastic also.
ouch, not sure if this was a good call. The sennheisers have that kind of shallow cup but also skull crushing headclamp. That headclamp is what can cause that massive discomfort you speak of, and is easily fixed by putting some bending pressure on the metal band or just stretching it over a box for a few days to break it in a bit more.
Common problem of the shp9500 is this issue, granted you can modify them and get some thicker pads for them. Modhouse adapters + dekoni pads work well. Won’t be the most snug fit though that’s for sure.
he already does not like the 58x jubilee for shallow cups and headclamp so this headphone would not work… This headphone has that same particular problem.
Cannot recommend this unless someone can tolerate that much brightness.
DT 880 and Tygr 300R. Tygr 300r may not be fully passable for you however due to the pads, if this is the case switch to the DT 880 at 250 ohms(shop around they can be found at around $125 in new or mint. do not buy special edition black. Chrome or “premium / edition” are what you want at 250 ohm) and pick up some dekoni elite velour unless you want bass than pick up suede if you want V signature pick up hybrids for it these pads are all much thicker and plush so you shouldn’t have any issues at all. These two are also fantastic for your use case as a general daily driver. If you needed isolation switch to the DT 770 instead. These all can be ran fine off your fulla 3
Built like tanks, extreme comfort, great weight distribution, attached cable(negative point), no mic(potential negative point), though fits exactly what your use case.
Tygr are more of a warm headphone, dt 880 are a bright headphone. DT 880 post pad swap adopts a different signature and is an extremely good headphone. Both have large soundstage with tygr being larger… both have fantastic imaging though granted Tygr is laser accurate
I mean, in that regard your pretty much just making a pseudo tygr 300r out of the DT 990. Just higher ohm capabilities. It’s an interesting idea for sure if you can get those foam discs from them.
Uhh no, the 990 sounds far more open and much more airy than the TYGR, the pads simply reduce the peak heights, which are not as strong with the 600 Ohm version as with the Pro or the 250 Ohm model.
By the way, if you remove the foam pads from the DT 880, you will see an additional foam ring underneath that is glued directly to the driver, you would otherwise surely have this intense Beyer peak on the 880 as well.
not sure how you figure, considering the tygr 300r mimics the dt 990 and they are one in the same other than some slight alterations between the two. More so when beyer has made a few statements on this regard “We do have a headphone that mimics the 990 , but it is specifically for gaming. It’s called the TYGR 300 R. So they’re fully open, but it’s at 32 ohms so you don’t need a headphone amp with this one.” just as an example.
this is quite common with beyers headphones that have these foam filters so not surprising.
I have been rather curious on these discs in all honestly to begin with, I will give them a call later.
