depends on game or music really, but in most cases yeah its rather minor. Not bad enough to write off the headphone.
Hello Falenkor!
Hope you have a great day!
Iām looking for a headphone that I can use without an AMP. My use case is kind of specific:
I play on a XBox Series X. Audio comes from a MixAmpTR 2019 which outputs at 48Ohms. Power is comparable with a mobile device / laptop / motherboard. I use it in Stereo uncompressed mode and Signal comes through clean. I will use the headphone to play Halo Infinite primarily (Battlefield 2042 second).
I already own and enjoy:
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TYGR300R: Really like the precise imaging and soundstage. Although I feel the bass is sometimes too much. In Halo you use a lot of grenades. After awhile that gets annoying, sometimes it can cloud up quiet sound cues like Shield-Recharges and Footsteps.
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ADG1X (AD900x): I enjoy the rolled-off bass on these. Imaging, sound and comfort is great as well. Sound separation could be better. With lots of sounds going on its sometimes hard to listen for specific sound cues.
Preferably I am looking for a neutral (or rolled-off bass) to bright sounding headphone with good soundstage and precise imaging. I am thinking about purchasing one of the below:
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DT880 (32 Ohms): I know recommendation is to get 600 Ohm. But since I need to work without AMP would you still recommend these over the TYGR / ADG1X?
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DT900 PRO X: I see mixed reviews on this. You heard and compared it to the TYGR already, right? Would you recommend these over the TYGR / ADG1X for my use case? How does the bass response compare to TYGR and DT880?
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HD560S: Neutral to bright. Good imaging. Checks all the boxes. Although 120 Ohms they might be sensitive enough to be powered by the MixAmp.
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Hifiman HE400SE: Could be a winner. I hear their imaging is great, especially for verticality. This is invaluable in Halo. They look kind of uncomfortable though. How is their bass response?
Let me know your thoughts! Would you have any other recommendations?
Hey there, thanks for reaching out to me and I hope your doing well all the same. I will split this into multiple quotes to cover as much as possible.
This is quite unfortunate, the new xbox for some reason doesnāt have much at all in terms of amps and dacs that are compatible with itā¦ makes a lot of choices for headphones, and some headsets actually, very restrictive.
I canāt really speak on a game that I havenāt gotten to sit with so recommendations towards this game and its respective sound engine is not possible. same with 2042, though I can recommend things I know work in most cases at least.
yeah, I can agree with this assessmentā¦ I do caution people that the bass can sometimes be a bit too much, really depends on the game and its own bass. Sounds like you need something a bit more on the neutral side of things in this regard or recessive.
Sound separation is a large issue with this series of headphone, only fixed later on through AD1000x but that had its own problemsā¦ the best case of that was ad2000x but its quite expensive.
hmm, if your really okay with this much brightness and a large depletion of sound quality then I can recommend themā¦ but they can be rather picky on the powerā¦ worth trying at the very leastā¦ they perform remarkably well regardless of ohmā¦ just sound at their best in 600
hmm, depends on the game. so the 880 is a solid alternative but its more semi open back. Meanwhile these are heavily neutral with a bit of a bright curve. 880 is definitely better at being analytical and detail oriented so in very fickle placements the 880 will come out on topā¦ though this is a better well rounded headphone for ampless reasons and it can place sounds further outā¦ Personally I like the 880 more as I like to pad swap a bitā¦ and I found the 900 to be on the more uncomfortable side of things, this would be entirely based on use case and preference between the 880 and 900ā¦ however, 880 can be bought used for likeā¦ $125 meanwhile these are $300+.
Wouldnāt recommend trying this considering the use caseā¦ you might get enough powerā¦ maybe but I wouldnāt take the gamble less someone can speak otherwise
these demand a pad swap to make full use of their placements, you can speak to pokrog on this as hes done more research into this particular headphone and swaps. as for bass, like most hifiman the bass is on the more recessive side.
Nope, not particularly.
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Thanks a lot for your thoughts! Actually the poster above who uses the HD560S confirmed that it can be used with a MixAmp. Anyways, will try out DT880 (32Ohms) see how it sounds. Iām from Germany order/return will be no issue.
would be another solid option then.
sounds good.
Can definitely confirm it again. The Mixamp has absolutely no problems powering the HD560S. If I turn the game / chat balance control to the middle position and the main volume control as well, the 560S are already more than loud enough. At least it is the case with CoD Cold War, Vanguard, Warzone, Forza Horizon 5 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint (these are the games Iāve tested with the 560S for the past few days). If I go up to about 75% of the possible volume, it is uncomfortably loud for me.
Hello everyone,
I would just like to give my two cents in relation to the PC38x and CS:GO.
For context, I am ranked as Supreme/Global in CS:GO. While being no where close to professional rank, it is a relatively high rank and I think my opinion on what is required of sound in the game is well informed.
I run the PC38x paired with the Creative G6, with no SBX settings and direct mode Off.
The PC38x is woefully overrated for competitive play. The separation is poor poor and the imaging mediocre. That said, it is a decent headset, but no where near the god-tier some claim it to be. To my ears in anyway.
I merely share my experience in the hope that it might be of assistance to others.
Thank you @Falenkor for the extensive effort you put into this thread and these forums generally. It is a great help and very much appreciated.
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I have tried fairly hard to push people away from that damned headsetā¦ the amount of shill that thing got is ridiculous. Tried it myself, didnāt take me long whatsoever to realize how pitiful this highly touted headset was with the ālarger soundstageā and āvery good imagingāā¦ multiple inaccuracies in diagonal placements, bad separation, around average soundstage, comfort is meh, build is meh, aesthetic is meh. If someone is hell bent on using sennheiserā¦ they should opt for either the 560s which really is a damn good headphone(essentially just a better variation to the 38x if you want to get very technical) or the 58x jubilee which is an extremely good well rounded headphone.
Anytime, more than glad to help. I more than welcome those who play competitively in the higher ranks to speak up on their experiences
So Iām in a bit of a pickle here. Letās say that my trusty m40xs are showing a little bit of wear. I was going to upgrade my dac/amp this month, but Iām a little bit unsure/hesitant. First of all Iām not sure if I should upgrade my dac/amp before new cans or not and second of all Iām not sure which cans should I get. As far as sound goes, Iām pretty much an open book. I definitely like m40x sound, but also like something a little bassier (e.g.Blon BO3). Price range about 400-450ā¬ish or about 400-500$. Iām currently running a SMSL M3 and Iām planning to upgrade to Sabaj D5. All input is highly appreciated.
I mostly play FPS and listen to techno.
I mean, depends on what you already are using. M40x isnāt the most demanding. Though if its just showing some wear like pads you can always get new pads on it.
So something on the bassier side of things, and good at fps?
Hmmā¦ DT 990 could fit there, i am just worried about that treble. T1 and 1990 fit thereā¦ both of which can be pad swapped and be extremely good sets of cans
warmer balanced sound could be like 58x jubilee, maybe the focal its not as bassy though so that may not fitā¦ definitely very mid centric
Tygrs are a good warmer option from beyer
Aeons are around $500 ishā¦ similar to the m40 in signature. Sound great, extermely well rounded. RT is more V shaped open-x is the more neutral one.
personally, I think nighthawks are a good option in there tooā¦ just not the best in the case of treble since they are dark sounding.
Yeah me too and nonremovable wire is a bit off putting, also T1 is a bit out of my league.
Iām worried about their soundstage tho, same with Aeons Open-X as I heard DMS say that they are quite front focused and I canāt find RTs anywhere in EU, but Open-Xs are on sale on Drop and they ship to my country, I checked.
I can find Elegias for a decent price, if they sound similar to m40xs, but better and have a great sound stage, then I donāt have a problem paying for them(570ish range).
Iām tempted to buy Argons anyway, so maybe, getting a more neutral set isnāt such a bad idea and would actually complement them better.
Unfortunately the only set of Nighthawks I can find on sale are about 1050$.
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first, sorry bout the late response didnt see this. secondly can always modify beyers with a detachable cableā¦ I would just suggest tygrs if needing bass and competitive advantageā¦ not much else in there less you jump the price up quite high and with that comes the need for better amps and dacs.
aeons are definitely just not front focused to my earsā¦ I never had an issue with the encompassing sound though the sennheisers yeah they are more front and mids focused.
more emphasis on the mids and highs than the V shape m40 naturally haveā¦ aeons, tygr, 990, 770, 1990(B pads only), 1770, T1(2nd gen w/ pad swap), some of the akg(kinda messy on the imaging though same with soundstage) will have similar signature traits your after.
argons are bassy as hell, I would never ever encourage their use in competitive but for casual use I love that headphone.
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Thank you for responding nonetheless. I decided to go with Aeons, some how I was drawn to them the most and they were on sale. Now Iām not sure what kind of dac and amp to pair them with. If you could point me in the right direction, that would be great. So far Iāve been considering Sabaj D5, itās pretty much plug n play as far as stacking anything goes and I could, in the future, just add another amp to it if I wanted to.
Sabaj D5 output power:
Balanced : 1912mW @ 32ā¦ / 1025mW @ 64ā¦ / 455mW @ 150ā¦ / 231mW @ 300ā¦
Single-ended : 480mW @ 32ā¦ / 265mW @ 64ā¦ / 115mW @ 150ā¦ / 58mW @ 300ā¦
aeons are a bit power demanding due to the fact they are a planarā¦ but I think the Sabaj should do fine. Would definitely encourage using the aeons balanced thoughā¦ hopefully the aeon you got was either RT or open-x variationā¦ as the originals just werenāt that greatā¦ known as Flow iirc
I got the Open Xās. Iāve already looked at balanced cables for them. But what about using them SE for the time being or should I just get a balanced cable as soon as I can?
worth trying SE but from my experience with themā¦ depending on the amp the headphone tends to respond better balanced. I use my aeons to the Liquid Platinum and definitely need them balanced on that setup
I might actually need a better amp. LPs output SE is pretty much the same as D5s balanced.
its not so much power as much as the balanced port vs SE port on many amps LP included sound drastically different in terms of sound quality. Lot of the better circuitry goes into that balanced port instead
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Alrighty, thanks for helping me out.
yep, hope you enjoy the aeonsā¦ I had those for quite some timeā¦ really nice set of cans
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