Hey all, figured I’d make a thread for discussing something I have been pondering for a bit and researching a little into, more so after I’ve been using the meze with their new boom mic offering quite often
So, with the changes that have came out such as Meze releasing a boom mic terminating to duel 3.5mm, Modmics that create essentially a gaming headset out of any headphone, adapters allowing any headphone utilizing 3-pin mini xlr to be converted over to 3.5mm and use the v-moda boom pro. It’s got me thinking of alternative options that I really haven’t seen mentioned in the gaming market. Nowadays any headphone can be transitioned over to being a gaming headset as long as the impedance is forgiving enough to be plugged into a controller and let’s face it… most gamers are not wanting to buy extra hardware such as amps and dacs let alone care to understand all the fundamentals behind them.
A lot of people keep going over to steel series thanks to some new pads that came out, their ridiculous claims of 10/10 ratings, and the more annoying constant recommendation that comes from streamers but lets face it… the audio quality is atrociously bad and the mic is just as bad… meanwhile the recommended steel series is the nova pro wireless which stock price is at $350… plus the recommended new pads at $30 your talking after tax at $400 just because really its wireless, comfortable, and for others it makes a bit more sense with the extra feature software… however what about those who don’t care about software?
It’s got me thinking then… what options are there for headphones with such low impedance to run off a controller and still make use of these newer boom mic options? What headphone would really come out on top while keeping everything within the same budget of $400 after everything is purchased in the case of wired headphones that could far surpass anything in the gaming headset space? With gaming in general we look for a lot of things that help with immersion or competitive gaming so there really is a lot of sound characteristics to take into account.
At the same time the bigger question would be towards wireless, since wireless headphones concerns would be towards latency, console compatibility, as well as price since wireless hardware is typically more expensive? As it stands, open backed wireless headphones also barely exist I can’t think of many off the top of my head that would be even worth mentioning so this creates several limiting factors, such as being locked to closed back, while making something like turtle beach atlas air be placed in a weird niche area and others like Audeze maxwell become more of a gold standard through sound quality alone. So then, what wireless headphone can not only be transitioned over to having a proper boom microphone that is also wireless(only one i can think of is antlions) but doesn’t suffer from heavy latency, tends to be extremely comfortable, and doesn’t go over the pricepoint of these self-declared ‘best headsets’?
I have admittedly tried a lot of headphones and really none of them really sat as the gold standard or king among all others for me personally.
haven’t experienced anything better than “acceptable” that’s been marketed as a gaming product since Siberia V2, IME controllers have really bad audio outs so unless they’re running long af cables to the TV/Consoe wired isn’t really a good option and wireless has its own issues.
maybe when valve brings back steam machines with steam os other consoles will unlock their ecosystems a bit more so there’s better options for everyone.
interesting thought and agreed on the controller port but thats the current state of things we are in, hence I began to really wonder about this. The vast majority of regular gamers aren’t running cords to the tv or sitting there buying an amp/dac… so really something that performs exceptionally well from the controller would be the ideal way to go about it or wireless… but then it becomes what headphone could fit that space?
something high enough impedance to not pick up all the electronic noise from the controller but able to be powered by the controller, probably a slight V tuning so it’s pleasant to most people. lot of boxes to check
Too many boxes XD but I would still like to research into this to find out which headphones can really fit this use case for general purpose while not sounding like complete trash from a controller / wireless port. I mean there’s IEMS since those don’t take a lot of power that might be able to counter balance it… but most gamers opt for over-ear not in-ear
The newer Astro A50s are actually VERY good in terms of audio quality.
They also let you adjust the tuning with pretty robust PEQ. Same with the mic, they let you adjust how your voice sounds with PEQ. The default tuning is very close to Harman 2018 OE as well. I personally reduce the ear gain a bit and add a little bit of a dip in the rise up to the ear gain, similar to how Hifiman does it, which gives it a wider soundstage. I also boost the lower sub-bass a little bit. They sound very good. Like better than most “audiophile” headphones that cost more, quite honestly (DSP is cheating, no doubt). You would have to be coping hard not to recognize it. And I own/owned a ton of audiophile BS costing thousands. Lol
They are an endgame headset for sure. My only problem with them is how cramped the earcups are, which understably might be a dealbreaker. I mostly just use IEMS now.
When I sat with it, I would agree this is a rather large problem as its just not that comfortable imo, while the mic is fantastic I wouldn’t necessarily agree that it has superb sound quality but rather only acceptable, the build quality isn’t really something I would label as very sturdy, and the software has a history of just being a problem
While I would say it’s one of the best ‘gaming headset’ marketed products I wouldn’t particularly put it in the category of best in class
comfort is fine, it doesn’t have intense clamp force like an HD 6X0. Build quality is also good. It’s plastic, but it’s fine. It’s durable. You can toss them across the room and they’ll survive. It’s also just a fact that you can use the PEQ to adjust them to your liking. Once you introduce PEQ and you know what you’re doing, so long as the default tuning is solid and nothing crazy is happening in the treble, it’s easy to adjust to taste. I personally do not thing Harman is the be-all end-all, but allowing you to adjust is key, which this is the only one that does it adequately. They aren’t the best ever, but the DSP makes them better than most things, period. Most things including headphones costing THOUSANDS. And I’ve owned many (ZMF, HD800s, Several Hifiman, High-end Focal, etc). Just saying this is my point of view. You don’t have to agree. But for others, this is something to consider, strongly, IMO.
Well obviously this is going to be opinionated and subjective. I do think the comfort is fine provided the fit is good, I have quite a few friends who own the a50x and really appreciate it, however I can’t really say the comfort is fine when myself and quite a few others I’ve spoken with can’t really make good use of the small cup size / pad size… so the headset is unfortunately not very welcoming to everybody.
While I can’t speak on tossing the a50x lol, I have had my nephew toss the old a40s which caused them to break immediately, so I am not sure if the build quality is really all too different in that regard.
For the average user yeah, like I said its practically one of the best labelled as a gaming headset not so much a headphone. Likely right now it’s the absolute best wireless option provided the fit is okay while still staying able to be used by all the consoles. Can’t really claim the audeze maxwell is the best because of it’s mic quality but also the large weight is what I would deem as a very large problem with the maxwell
yeah, I own both the maxwell and the A50x. In terms of sound quality, I put the A50x slightly higher, even for default tuning, but that is super subjective. The Maxwell is a bit too hot in the ear gain for me, stock. The a50x also has the PEQ, while the Maxwell just gives you really limited basic EQ controls. You can make the A50x sound similar to most any other headphone, at least as far as overall tuning and being tuned to Harman 2018 out of the box is a great starting point, IMO.
Interesting to hear you’d put the a50x higher in terms of sound quality to audezes planars… I definitely have the opposite feelings towards that but maybe I am just a bit more biased towards planars.
I definitely agree with you on the ear gain though, I think personally maxwell has far too many issues for gaming specifically to really be truly worth while. Meanwhile for a50x really only the fitting is the problem… its sound quality is still perfectly acceptable for gaming and can thanks to PEQ like you state be very immersive or even be flipped to be better in competitive fps. While I won’t say it’s better in more indepth characteristics such as a headphone with a better soundstage or imaging since PEQ won’t necessarily fix that… it’s still an extremely good headset.
I agree that going with the harman tuning is a fantastic starting point… since it’s one of the most agreeable tunings
That still begs to question though here if the astro a50x is contended as the best in terms of wireless at the moment, then what would the wired be since theres a vast amount of options by comparison since many actual headphones can be brought into the mix instead of only gaming headsets
The Maxwell drivers definitely have more “potential”… especially if you want to like crank sub-bass.
You can adjust things like soundstage and imaging with PEQ.
I’m not 100% on imaging, but with soundstage, I’ve found it’s in the rise to the ear gain area that will more or less determine soundstage “width”.
For example, if you EQ this out of the HE1000SE, it completely “ruins” the soundstage effect. The headphones become completely bland sounding by comparison. Soundstage goes away completely. Worth a try if you have not tried it. Completely changed my perspective on technicalities like “soundstage”. I actually add this dip to the A50x and it makes them sound wider.
Just a thought but do tws adapters that use the low latency codecs exist that arent junk? Preferrably aptx-ll but i guess adaptive could work casually. Just curious after noticing zeos managed to make a few headphones wireless in that fashion.
I personally use the Fiio BTR17 a lot. IT’s not fully TWS, but i prefer it over the silly dongles hanging off the sides like Zeos does it. I just run the cable down my shirt and into my pocket into the BTR17. And it takes APTX Adaptive. You can also Utilize the newer LC3 codec which is super low latency (30-40ms by default and can go incredibly low with an option in the settings if you’re okay with some slight but definitely noticeable audio compression added). LC3 has good audio quality, better than APTX LL, comparable if not better than APTX HD as well. The Creative BT-W6 BT Transmitter is the only way to get this currently AFAIK… the range is just not as good as APTX with a better/larger transmitter but works great in the same room. The nice thing about the BT-W6 is it will work out of PS5, Switch, AND PC pretty seamlessly as well.
The BTR13 supports APTX-LL, which I also use with IEMs. Doing the latency tests on youtube, it’s extremely close between APTX-LL and APTX-AD. Both fall under 100ms for sure. The BTR13 is also supposed to support LC3, but I can only get it to work with the BTR17.
I never paid attention to specs, but I use the Sennheiser HD598 for nearly 10 years, and am now using Sennheiser’s HD620 S. For my mic setup, I just use Venture Electronic’s bundle microphone with their Megatron AMP/DAC.
Fair enough, I just wondered if maybe one of those dongles could supply enough power but also support the low latency codecs
Sennheisers really last a crazy long time, been using 490 pro plus and meze aer for my chill headphones. The design for 560s, 620, etc is bad for my ears unfortunately
While a dedicated setup is nice, most gamers will just opt to try for the typical couch setup where they just utilize the controller port
Most definitely! While this is not a recommendation for you, the HD 620S and HD 550 allow for the use of a cable with an in-line mic, so I think people should consider them. The HD 620S is more suitable for gaming due to its closed-back design.
I hope they continue the lineup with the 490 design in mind… its practically perfect for someone like me with bigger ears and head… one of the most comfortable sennheisers ive worn. I just wish theyd create a cheaper price bracket version. Lot of friends love it but when i tell them the price tag lol definitely doesnt go well
As a gamer i think the sweet spot on price is around $250 with $300 being the top(especially when astros a50 and audeze maxwell sit there).
Hmm, looks like maybe technology just hasnt got to that point maybe? Like at those prices i doubt any would go for it except audiophiles. Maybe strap a BTR to the headphone? Lol
