I heard some people buy the dt 880 for a lil bit wider on soundstage tho am not sure since i aint that familiar with the other dt beyer headphones 
Yep, but DT880 are semi-open i want closed :C
I normally recommend against brainwavz if one can get dekoni as the quality isā¦ wellā¦ rather quite poor and they can tear and break down easier. Though the fabric types are pretty much the same in terms of changes but it does depend on the headphones. I really havenāt sat and pad swapped the studios so I canāt say for certain what will happen to the signature. If your looking for competitive gaming thoughā¦ keep it velour as velour will keep the natural sound qualities and stock sound the mostā¦ after that would be a perforated padā¦ suede and leather will emphasize the bass to a great degree especially since its closed back and deplete the treble. Hybrid well it depends on the hybrid and most beyers respond differently to those so I canāt really say anything on that one.
770 is cheaper and is essentially the same headphone. there is some minor marginal changes in the sound signatures and mmx does have a mic as well as some different clamp forceā¦ but since you can find a 770 at 250 ohm for $100 off the used markets while mmx over there is $300 it makes mmx a bitā¦ worthless. Granted mmx is still an extremely nice headset and doesnāt need as much power to sound good unlike 770 which doesnāt sound that great in its same respective ohms. The same can be said between these two as the tygr and 990 as those two also are one in the same with respective differences as tygr is 990 without the treble problems.
would the brainwavz leather pads narrow down the soundstage? (and therefore affect imaging as well?)
they will narrow the soundstage as it removes the air qualities of the velours they naturally come withā¦ if you got thicker velour though it will increase it somewhat.
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I also heard that some people who used velour notice that the āclarity of detailā lessened abitā¦is this true?
Not sure where they get that the velour messes with the clarity if a beyer headphoneā¦ sound varies from person to person though velour keeps things airy and cleanerā¦ swapping to a thicker material makes things more intimateā¦ so I guess I could see things being a little clearer in terms of detailā¦ though when you deplete that treble you lose detail
are there other brands of velour pads (other than brainwavz) that you recommend?
Dekoni elite velour 100%. I absolutely love dekonis pads and I have tried custom brands(multiples I would have to search them up to supply names but none of them were really worthwhile), multiple stores of aliexpress on the hunt for pads of whichā¦ none of them really fit well and shipping was horrendous, brainwavz, shure(really thin pads but are quite solidā¦ though for beyers I wouldnāt recommend them), and of course ZMF pads(they donāt make velour thoughā¦ hell I wish they would)
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ight ill try to find dekonis then. (btw i heard from zeos that the choice leather also keeps a good soundstage?)
Itās strange but yes I will agree that the choice leather does well at keeping the soundstageā¦ though for the love of everything stay away from the sheepskinā¦ only a couple of the beyers sound good with those sheepskins onā¦ all others bloat and muddy up the signature rather badly not to mention losing soundstage. Choice leathers are a good optionā¦ but for stock sound and detail keep it velour or go for the perforated.
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ight thanks!
wait holdonā¦velour pads give better detail than choice leather? wHaT?!?
depends on the headphoneā¦ since its a custom studio and it naturally comes with velours it makes sense that a beyer with velour gains the higher level of detail from its own natural style of padsā¦ making velour the more obvious choice to stay withā¦ the choice leather as like any leather does deplete some in the trebleā¦ when it comes to beyerdynamic headphones the treble adds quite a lot in terms of detail retrieval in what can be termed as, āfake detailā or āover-detailedā. While the choice leather isnāt as severe depletion as the sheepskin or suedes its still noticeableā¦ however, it still maintains the signature quite well and keeps a good level of detail retrieval making it a good pad choice. Every headphone responds quite differently but beyers tend to respond to the same degree with their pad swapsā¦ the only few that responded ridiculously different were the 1990 vs the T1 and of course the T1 3rd gen which is such a backwards signature of the beyers that I donāt even recommend a pad swap to that one as it butchers the hell out of it
if you want a good example of how it effects the headphone, go check out dekonis graphs over on the 1990 and you will get a good idea as to what each pad can do in terms of signature. Since 1990 is quite neutral outside of its peaky treble its a good example
in most cases though adding an airier pad can clear up a signature and potentially add a bit more detailā¦ however, since we hear things different a more intimate approach signature such as what the leathers provide can provide some people with a more present detailed sound. Hope that makes a bit of sense
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yeah i understandā¦Thanks again!
First thanks Falenkor for your very well explained guide, i just joined this forum because of this thread.
Im looking for a new headphone for fps gaming, i had the AKG 7xx not satisfied, hard to pingpoing enemies, big soundstage but poor imaging and i think thats the problem with alot of headphones the soundstage its big but then the imaging get lost and lose accuracy.
In my research between reddit youtube reviewers and other forums i found that for fps competitive gaming the options are quite the same among them
1 HD560s
2 Pc38x
3 Tygr 300r
4 1990 pro
Now i know that the best option its the 560s but i really hate their design, my question is if i dont care losing a bit of soundstage and go for a 660s that know it has a Really good imaging and the fact that i enjoy alot HI-RES music i would enjoy them for music aswell. do you recommend them over the 560s or even over the 1990 pro? i use headphones for a very prolonged times 4 to 6 hours ( i dont mind the brightness) i currently have 225i Grados soā¦
PD: i play Tarkov, valorant for fps gaming.
So afew months ago I was looking at upgrading from my SHP9500s and wanting to get a stack and new headphones. Based on a ton of research and posts here, I decided to go with the Tygr 300r. I got lucky and saw back in mid-March the 300r were in stock at Beyerās website. I ordered them when it said 7-10 days ship time and continued to try to decide which stack to pair them with.
I called Beyer afew times since then and they kept saying itās been delayed by a week, call back next week, it shouldnāt be much longer, etc. Today I received an email saying the Tygrās had a manufacturing issue and wonāt be available until late July or early August here in the US!
Soā¦ I can either wait, or move on to something else. They also recommended the 990ās or 1990ās(way too expensive for me) as other options through them. Would going with a pair of Sennheiserās or another brand be close to the Tygr? I primarily do all types of gaming while also watching movies and listening to music with the headphones on almost all the time.
BTW @Falenkor what do you think of this?
Passive headphone filters | DIY-Audio-Heaven (wordpress.com)
it seems that its the perfect solution for alot of headphones, the most the 1990 pro
kind of a mixed bag reallyā¦ depends on the games own sound engine and the headphone. those akg k series do have some imaging issues but they arenāt as big of a problem on smaller fps like cod for exampleā¦ but if you took it into tarkov its quite glaringly annoying
just from the tarkov statement alone I would smack out the sennheisers get to that in a momentā¦
curious how you figure the best option is a 560s? maybe for like super reference grade sounding cans sure but for gaming? the soundstage is around average if not slightly on the narrow side, imaging is alrightā¦ if anything id say its just a better sounding pc38xā¦ which the pc38x is hot garbage for tarkov and overhyped beyond belief if I had to choose explicitly a sennheiser for my competitive gaming purposes it would be a toss between 560s, 58x jubilee, and 660sā¦ depending entirely on the game the 560s has the better soundstage but the 660s has the best imaging while 58x over there is the better jack of all trades.
if its tarkov? I would never recommend a 660s for someone like that unless they truly didnāt care about the narrow stagingā¦ with the 600 series sennheisers in tarkov its a very noticeable issueā¦ its not like you canāt adapt to it though as I know some who use the 6xx quite effectively but comparing those to a 1990 or my own T1? there is no real competitive thereā¦ the 1990 train wrecks those sennheisers in tarkovā¦ 660 is a wonderful headphone just not the best use case for this game in particular
I would recommend a beyer handsdown in this use case but of course you also need to make sure you have an amp to drive these headphones tooā¦ not going to sound right to begin with if your not fully powering them
Typically when it comes to tarkovā¦ my recommendations gravitate quite heavily towards beyer in the earlier budget price rangesā¦ focal and sennheiser both can perform admirably but in comparisonā¦ beyer and hifiman kinda edge out in front as they have that soundstage you really want or rather need in the case of tarkov and they tend to have good imaging especially from beyerā¦
not a fan of them but I know they work. I hear half and half reviews when it comes to their performanceā¦ stuff about reduces clarity and overall sound quality is quite common.
Honestly, I would sooner recommend some normal filter inserts or a pad swap before I would say go to this lengthā¦ and even then EQ exists so I donāt see very much reasoning for this.
in terms of soundstage? no other than AKG and fidelio x2hrā¦ in terms of imaging? yea sennheiser 660s has some damn good imaging to it just that sennheisers suck at soundstage. Sennheisers arenāt bad and I feel they suit more of a jack of all trades approach better than most other headphonesā¦ I just find them very uncomfortable due to the natural designā¦ I easily prefer any other brand due to that.
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@falenkor first, Thank you so much for your detailed response, you cant imagine how helpful is to us the feedback you provide with your experience with headphones in gaming.
i though the 560s was the perfect headphone based on reviews, i dont have the chance to hear them first where i live so i just have to rely on that, i saw the video linked early in the thread about the Pro gamer doing a vs and he put it on top, and others reviewers too speak very well of the headphone, besides the neutral signature of the headphone makes them good to hear microsounds as the bass is nonexistant. Buut dont like its design thoā¦
For what are you saying the 560s is not that good of an option so if i were to buy a headphone with excellent imaging and okey soundstage in the 200 bracket what would be your choice? i mean i want 2 options 1 budget to 200$ and other to 500ish so if the improve worth it i go for the better.
I did more reseach and i think to me its more important the Imaging to be able to ping point enemies even in tarkov, because even is the map are larger than the usual map of cs or valorant most of the fights are close quarter and moving between rooms, so i prefer the best imaging obviously without losing too much soundstage.
I like the signature of the 660s for music and it has excellent imaging i though it could serve both purpose.
on the other hand there is the 1990 pro that i know its really good for gaming but to be honest im afraid that with more soundstage i will lose imaging and it will be hard to hear where the sound is coming from exactly when im close to an enemy. For music its cool too having big soundstage because i love orquestras big band jazz and i know i will enjoy that kind of profile too.
so the fight in the 200$ bracket now is in blank as the 560s is not longer an true option. or is it?
and in the 500$ bracket there it is 660s and the 1990 pro, but as you say i need a proper amp ( i have a little dot 1+ its an hybrid amp i did opam swamp and really cool tubes the gold sylvanas, as a dac i have 2 a MOTU 2 and a schiit Bifrost Uber. not sure if its enough to drive the 1990 pro.
Again thank you so much for your help men
PD: hows your T1 in Imaging?? just curious it could change my plans to buy a budget Headphone and save for the t1 instead of the midrange