Disclosure: I’m a noob. I’ve been apart of the audiophile community for about a month now.
When I began my journey into the audiophile world, I have consistently been told, “gaming gear is bad!” For the last three years I have been using the Sennheiser GAME ONE PC Gaming Headset; and never thought they were bad, but I wanted an upgrade because apparently I am missing out, and because they DESPERATELY needed new ear-pads. After weeks of research (YouTube, reddit, and this forum), I made the decision of purchasing the DT 770 Pro @ 250 Ohms. When I have free time, I spend about 50% of my time gaming and the remainder listening to music/videos. I purchased the 770’s because I wanted to try out a close back headset since I live in a very noisy environment, and I had to constantly adjust the volume on the GAME ONEs to drown out the noise.
I have owned the 770’s for a week and three days now; they are being powered by my Fiio K5 Pro. I initially HATED the 770s, but my opinion changed after about a week of daily driving. After a week I went back to the GAME ONEs, and found that certain types of music sounds better on the 770’s like rap and electronic music, while the GAME ONEs sounded better for metal music. I preferred the GAME ONEs for gaming, but this was pretty subjective because I don’t think the 770s sounded bad for gaming.
Recently, a few friends of mine got together and spent several hours trying out each others headphones - here is what I had the opportunity to try out (we didn’t try gaming, just music listening):
1More Triple Drivers - these sounded better for rap and electronic music, but where extremely uncomfortable and I couldn’t see myself wearing these all day.
Monoprice M570 - Not as comfortable as the GAME ONEs, and I still preferred listening to music on the GAME ONEs.
Sennheiser GSP600 - Same as the Monoprice M570s, but horrible build quality.
Sennheiser GAME ZEROs - Just a straight downgrade in every way.
Superlux HD668B - Bad build quality, not comfortable, but not terrible sounding. About the same as the GSP600s.
Am I insane? I realize I’m a noob and don’t have the vernacular to accurately describe what I experienced, and why I enjoy my GAME ONEs so much. I have until the 27th of Feb to return my DTs to get a refund. Can anyone offer any insight, advice, or recommendations?
To my knowledge the game one is pretty decent. Maybe a bit overpriced for what it is but overall good. As for the DT770 what is it you are having a problem with? Are high note to sharp/painful? Is the bass too much in games? Does the mid range (voices, guitars, etc) feel like it’s lacking? I personally like the DT770. It’s built like a true work horse and has a great reputation for lasting forever. They can be taken portable if the cable doesn’t bother you (and have a portable amp/dac). I like them for games as well since the treble is nice and sharp which can add some snap to gunshots and the bass is fun for explosions and what not.
Unless you DON’T like the DT770 or can’t really afford to keep it, I would say keep it. If you find any issues after a while it could always be a good excuse to start pad swapping (but seriously don’t fall down this rabbit hole if you can avoid it).
When I first tried the DT’s, I consulted my list of songs that I have heard numerous times. The first one was Johnny Cash’s Hurt, and towards the end of the song, I felt like they were too sharp and painful, and that I debated taking them off but I reluctantly decided to keep going. The majority of the music that I listen to is metal, and particularly with the guitars I feel like I hear more detail with the GAME ONEs than I do with the DT’s.
The other day I decided to do a proper video game test and booted up Squad. After about an hour of playing with both headphones I found the sounds on the GAME ONEs were much more enjoyable, but the 770s offered more bass so explosions were more satisfying to listen too. I couldn’t really tell a difference with imaging with either headphones.
Thanks for the recommendation, I was on the fence about getting those or the 600/650. I watched a Zeos Reviews video on the 660s and almost pulled the trigger but decided against it because I was a noob, and it didn’t feel right to just drive into high end audio with little experience.
I’m not sure why he liked the 361 more tbh, they are a pretty mid-range focused headphone, and the 371 has better technicalities with a more coherent signature imo, but if you wanted a mid-range focus the 361 ain’t bad
@Teabeezy if you can get an open back, and you already have the Fiio K5 Pro, the Beyerdynamic DT880 600 ohm is the best competitive gaming pair for the price range. The K5 Pro would have no trouble powering these at all.
If you need a closed back though, I would recommend the AKG K371, Zeos had a really weird take on it, but imo it has great technical aspects for the price range for a closed back, and has more bass and better quality than the K361.
Those are my recommendations.