(update in progress) Falenkor's Competitive Headphone Write Up. Now with added Hardware explanations!

sounds about right as usaudiomart is a thing over here instead. I wouldn’t say that its worth while going with an A20 though still… thats quite a lot in all honesty.

Hi Falenkor thanks for your guide!

I bought a TYGR 300 R last year where I read through the entire TYGR thread and am enjoying it so far.

Now I’m thinking if there’s an upgrade path for it that you can recommend, I had to get the Team TYGR bundle because that’s the only way it’s available and I needed a mic anyway.

If you feel there is no upgrade path that’s OK as well, because my friend’s headset is breaking down and hence was wondering if I should just get another Team TYGR or a different set up that is more budget oriented (with a focus on competitive FPS because that’s what we play more)

Thanks so much for your advice!

Depends on budget, use case, and overall setup…

Tygr is hard to beat as is bested by its brother dt 990 if one can tolerate that much brightness… outside of that within the $200 range from my experience there is nothing… technically smaller fps will gain more from more intimate soundstages which makes the sennheisers such as 560s and 58x be a little better than tygr

Thanks Falenkor.

I think I’ll stick to TYGR 300 R for now the games I play are so varied and so far the imaging and soundstage of all the games I play seem to be quite fitting of the headphone.

Take and and be safe everybody!

Actually just wondering is there a significant difference moving onto DT 1990?

Different sound signature, analytical as hell, very bright, built a hell of alot sturdier, imaging and separation are superb with the staging being larger than the tygr though not by very much.

Essentially yea… in most cases the 1990 is a large upgrade but it’s so bright and analytical it loses that charm the tygr has since tygr can comfortably fit into more casual uses… tygr is also noticeably lighter but the weakest spot is that the tygr has recessive mids or vocals and tygr isn’t very bright… since these are more emphasized in the 1990 the 1990 can easily outpace the tygr in fps placements.

Not to mention 1990 is the clearer, more detailed headphone naturally…

The focal elex and dt 1990 are the upgrades to those who use the sennheisers in smaller fps and those who use larger soundstage cans or the previous beyers… t1 is also in there as a solid alternative to the 1990

Falenkor, I’m buying that used Liquid Spark which I’m excited about. Thanks for encouraging me to check the used markets.

I started playing Warzone with a guy that uses DT 990 with 600 ohm and swears by them which screwed up my purchasing decision because I was all set to get DT 880 600 ohm. I reread most of the thread above, I understand the 990 will be brighter but between the DT880 and DT990 which would be better for competitive FPS? I’m also starting Valorant.

thats quite a difference between those two headphones lol… 880 is the oddball

better would be fairly subjective considering the games of choice here not having the best in terms of sound engines… if this was tarkov or arma or something it would 100% be the 990 but in this particular case its more of a pick what you enjoy more…

880 is going to be less bassy than the 990 but with more present mids and smoother highs… its semi open meaning it has a slight isolation factor but due to this it doesn’t have the largest of sound stages… still large but not as big as the 990s in that regard… imaging is still spot on and separation is still very strong… the 880s are extremely well regarded in music and gaming communities more so when you upgrade the amp to them or place them on a tube amp as they scale to a ridiculous degree. The 880 is essentially the little brother to the T1 in terms of signature and slightly more towards 1990…

990 on the other hand is a V shape signature… and a very very sharp one at that. The headphone has a huge hit or miss factor in its treble in that the treble is so blatantly hot that any form of the S annunciation can be very unpleasant or even painful. The bass of the V signature also is a bit too much for fps but its not too over the top to be a deal breaker. Soundstage wise its fully open and just as accurate as the tygr(they are the same headphone after all just differently tuned signature wise). Soundstage will be the same as the tygr 300r however, due to the increase in treble and air the 990s can be noted to sound bigger and clearer. The mids are a huge miss here… they are noticeably recessive so not a good choice for those who want mids… that would be more the 880s job.

In signature they both suit the needs of the fps gamer. however, it really depends on the use case… the 880 is going to be able to fit into more areas alot easier than the 990 due to the hot treble… at the same time 880 doesn’t have as large of a soundstage as the tygr… making the tygr technically a better choice than the 880 for the regular gamer as the tygr doesn’t have those bright issues and yet maintains that stage and imaging of the 990. Mind you the 880 is no slouch though either… some people like the slight isolation of a semi open back, and the 880 can be 600 ohms making it capable of growing with a persons setup, 990s are capable of the same as is the T1, if they wanted to really dive into this hobby… at the same time unlike the tygrs which are extremely picky to pad swaps and equalizing… the 880 responds extremely well to any form of pad swap or eq and even adapts to different variations of its sound signature even so much as going more towards a dark sounding headphone… the 990 responds well to same changes but is a bit pickier on the pad swaps… nonetheless the hot treble of the 990 can be resolved through the tygrs foam inserts, pad swaps, and eq

out of the 3 the 990 will be the “best case scenario” for the fps use… this is because it has the brightest treble that makes the fps sounds quite clear… meanwhile 880 and tygr will go head to head and depend more on what the persons needs and uses are

Glad I could help, but don’t forget you still need a dac to hook everything up

The DAC option is there but I’m extremely concerned about audio delay. The Astro A50s I’m using right now has 80ms latency and I definitely notice it. The chipset on my motherboard has really low latency (Asus Tuf X570).

EDIT: To further clarify, I can use the DAC on my Nuprime IDA-8 if need be. It’s excellent: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/nuprime-ida-8-integrated-amplifier

Quick update, i finally went for a DT770 250ohm, and im quite happy,

The soundstage its really good, better than Grado 225i that i have (not that hard to beat but the grados are openback HP). i never experienced a closed HP before, and i expected to be really narrow and in a box but the reality its far from that.

The imaging its just perfect, in games like Quake Champions its just perfect, in tarkov im getting used to it still because the maps are really big so its all about getting to know the details in sounds like how loud gunshots or granades are and know the distance from that sound and get used to it, but you can tell the the changes in sounds, for music i didnt test them yet.
The Isolation its amazing too, thats the main reason i choose the DT770 because i was getting alot of noise from outside that distract me and get me out of focus.

Now, i heard that with pads you can increase the Soundstage, or you can tame the hights, or get less bass. not sure if a pad can do all of that, but you guys have experience with pad swap to which is the best for gaming?? because the cons i have with this HP is that the bass its not that much but it is there, i would like less bass so it will not get congested when alot of action its going, and tame a little bit the highs. And of course the soundstage if its any chance to improve it even more via pads im in 100%.

from what i recollect from forums and youtube, its the Fenestrated sheepskin from Dekoni are really good for taming the highs and get less bass, not sure about the soundstage.
The choice leather or the Alpha pads gives more soundstage but also increase the bass so thats a no.
Not sure about choice suede or what changes could provide.

Thanks @Falenkor for your help, the next buy will be a 1990 or i hope so.

Hey there, glad you enjoy the 770s. So about the soundstage, this is indeed accurate but it is mainly due to using a thicker pad which places your ear further from the driver adding a bit more space. As for treble, this depends on the material that is used… keep in mind certain materials will heavily emphasize the bass among other things… if you just want a stock signature with a bit more soundstage maybe a touch less on the highs keep it velour and switch over to dekoni elite velour. As for depleting the bass though? A thicker velour may help but as I have mentioned about this headphone its a natural issue with gaming… the only fix is this is either adapt or eq it back. Switching from a velour to a leather tends to actually emphasize the bass… as the pad is less breathable. Though I canot speak on the perf for the 770s specifically. Suede absolutely increase bass

Hi @Falenkor

Keeping on the DT 770 theme, I’m looking for a good (but cheap sub £200/£150) DAC amp combo. I’ve been recommended the FiiO K5 Pro in another post, and you’ve previously recommended the SoundblasterX G6. Any others you would recommend at the entry level range to drive 250 ohm DT 770s - with a specific view towards competitive gaming? I’m looking at the FiiO Q1, or E10K, or dare I say the Syba Sonic or Fosi Q4? Trying to understand what I’m losing the lower I go in price range here.

none of those are very strong let alone good for the beyers as they cannot power them. You cannot go super dirt cheap and get a lot of power let alone sound quality out of amps and dacs… k5 and g6 drive up to 600 ohms and are what I will recommend within that price… typically a minimum ideal stack is $200… anything less is usually what I will say not worth it outside of the units recommended as most of them are pretty bad

Thanks @Falenkor. Really appreciate the advice.

Hi,

i could really use some advice when it comes to the size of the earpads. Im currently using the Game Ones but they are falling apart (creaking, taped together mikrophone, loose contact somewhere), because of the buildquality and buyout i dont really wanna go sennheiser again.

The TYGR seems to be the best all around from what i could gather for my purpose, but i couldn’t test them anywhere.
However I was able to test the DT 770 and Amiron in a shop nearby, while the DT 770 put a little pressure on my ear, the Amiron where alright the short time i had them on. Beyerdynamic support could only give a nonspecific answer that their headphones are similar.

What is a good headphone for arguably bigger ears that i can wear comfortably for a long time?

are you talking about pressure from the shape of the pads or the depth?

Yeah should have specified that, the shape was the problem. I put the DT 770 on and could feel them “scraping” on the top of my ear.

all of the DT series has the same basic pad shape so you may be out of luck. dekoni pads add more depth but there’s no way to say if it would help in your case.

for its price yeah for the most part tygr are a champ.

the amirons are the cheaper brother of the T1 2nd generation which make use of curved drivers and a more open design… the 770 are supposed to put more pressure and do not make use of curved drivers… they are closed back so they are designed to seal to your head.

dead honest, their customer support of late has just been absolute ass.

Their headphones are not all similar…

^ this is true and will be the issue using beyers as they are all the same size… Granted beyers use the standard size of slightly over 100 mm pads…

You can get thicker pads for them sure but if your issue is them being too small go grab a pair of brainwavz XL pads or alternative of that kind of sizing, the issue with this though I will mention is that it doesn’t fit very well on the headphones and they slide around a bit. May not be the right fit for you if the pads are a deal breaker here… due to this would also rule out sennheiser as well… suggest trying AKG k702/k712/k7xx as they use bigger pads… slight imaging problems but nothing deal breaking.

Thanks for the detailed response.
The pandemic makes it really hard to find a good fitting and sounding Headphone, shops have either closed down or are out of stock so you cant really test anything.
My plan for now is to buy a good dac/amp, and even is i dont like the practice, buy a pair and if they dont fit comfort and sound wise make use of my right to return them.

I know many recommend the G6 from Soundblaster but im willing to spend more if its good and lasts.
Im eying the Modi/Vali from Schiit they seem a good entry point that should cover my bases, and 340 dollar with import duty/tax/shipping its not on the extrem side. Would i be wrong here?