Overwatch isn’t as demanding in terms of sound and the like in comparison to games such as cs go, valorant, tarkov, siege, etc though so generally just picking up a headphone and your alright as long as you don’t have something that just sounds awful. linear soundstage works fine… positional audio or imaging really just is all you need in overwatch.
True, I will add that I have played a ton of CS, Siege, etc. Games that do require better positional audio. Overwatch does require good positional audio as well, but just not as core as a game like CS.
My main point was that as someone who has a ton of experience in competitive games, you don’t need the best headphone for competitive gaming to be a great player.
1 Like
Yeah, if you also bring in Siege or god forbid something like Tarkov where large staging and absolute laser accurate positional audio and sound cues like footsteps are critical? Nah you would want something more in tune.
As someone who has over 15 years in competitive gaming amongst a vast array of games in the fps genre I can agree that headphones don’t make the player. though, they damn sure can help. However, if your going to venues you aren’t going to have all those sound benefits. Your either using a closed back or an iem setup. Overwatch is probably one of the least demanding though in my opinion. I think though if you want to be at a relative advantage, albeit small, having a headphone that really pushes out the fps sounds like footsteps can make it more enjoyable and interesting.
Yeah that’s a good point, I agree.
Anymore, headphones like the Arya, HD 800S, DT 990, DT 1990, DT 880s and in some cases some of the lesser sennheisers seem to be seen more on those playing competitives even during streams I have seen quite a few using them depending on the game. Headphones like DT 1990 can tend to make things a bit unfair as the large soundstage lets you place sounds almost picture perfectly from a massive distance which you just don’t get with your regular closed back or really anything you would have in venues. Honestly, if your goal was to actually attend the tourneys and get somewhere I would probably tell you to grab a closed back of a general variety. You actually stand to be worse in tourneys by using headphone gimmicks like that and you won’t be used to the regular run of the mill balanced playing field sound you get with the hardware used during tournaments. Rather different going from open back and closed backs and more so when your going to an IEM and your not used to wearing IEMs.
Maybe I’ll save and get the DT 1990’s too eventually if they give you that much of an unfair advantage in games. One guy on Reddit told me you have to use an EQ to get them sounding good. Is that true?
what? no definitely not. They sound good out the box and can have 3 different signatures. A pads or analytical is neutral bright best for competitives. B pads or balanced pads give it a hell of a lot of bass used for casual use or immersion and if you want the third its a seperate purchase from dekoni with the dekoni elite velour which balances out the sound while keeping the bass and treble slightly raised so it becomes well rounded out. Best to pair with an amp/dac that does not increase the brightness
As for the advantage. Arya and HD800S(especially the 800s here) can do the same thing due to their accuracy and staging. 800s over there has potentially the biggest soundstage in headphones right now
It’s not a major advantage but it is still something to take note of if you play a game that relys on placements and footsteps more than your typical game like overwatch or in some cases cod
I agree that spending cash on many entry stuff might not be ideal. I for once did not want to go that route. That being said I got on the audio gear train about a year ago. A friend of mine lended me a pair of Beyer dt770 and was impressed with it. Got a topping nx4 to play around. Jumped on the phantom’s and a powerdacv2. Early 2020 a pair of ollo S4. About a month ago I auditioned the clears for a week and…bought them. I sincerely don’t see myself going much higher. They are great with my kind of music and do great in gaming (CoD). Bought a lake people g111 and gonna jump on a soekris. And that’s it, not gonna lurk around the audio gear longer. It gets very expensive very fast. That said I believe the Arya will do well with gaming, but so will other cheaper cans. The most improvements I got was with my music listening. FPS gaming was marginal, or at least the diminishing returns was much higher. I’m actually considering a dt880 for gaming. I’m sure they will do just as well and the comfort is great. It’s also a way to put less hours on my beloved Clear.
Other cash will go towards a proper 2.1 speaker set up in 2021/22…
Pick your cans first then look for the proper amp for them, it’s the best advice I can give you.
1 Like
The clear has been said to be similar to that of the Aeons in some cases as well as the 1990s. It’s definitely one hell of a headphone and sounds great. I was able to sit down with it last weekend and it’s quite something and definitely does not surprise me that it can be used in gaming due to its signature. Yeah, the 880s will do just fine for gaming though and are cheap to boot. Very mid centric with raised highs though not so much in the bass region.
Personally, I think that someone whos just getting into headphones even for gaming would be better off going a bit on the cheaper side to find their sound preference as we are all different. Find an audio store go in try different signatures or hell pick up some different signature cheaper headphones just for an audition with a return policy. Find what suits you personally and roll with it finding a great choice for your own preferences while fitting your needs. There is just way to many varietys of headphone to just up and shell out almost $2 grand without knowing your own preference
So it comes with two different ear cups I can use on the DT1990s? I think I decided I’m going to go with the Bifrost 2, Monoprice THX 887, and Aryas for now. Maybe eventually I will experiment and try different things by getting the DT1990’s and even a tube headphone amp like the Liquid platinum.
Yeah, 1990s come with both A and B pads with Dekoni being a seperate purchase if you so chose to pick up. If you go with the 1990s I would suggest probably… I wanna say RNHP as a good higher tier amp for it makes it really sing. Bifrost 2 does well with it as well.
I love this amp to absolute death but it isn’t without its drawbacks. It doesn’t sound as good in my opinion unless your using that balanced plug on it. It’s alright but I find if your going to just use the LP’s single end your better off with alternatives.
Don’t most headphones come with a balanced plug anyway? I’m only thinking about getting the Liquid platinum because maybe it will make my records sound even better when using headphones. Since it has tubes. Plus the turntable is already connected to a tube preamp.
oh no definitely not. You either need a 4 pin xlr or a duel sided cable connection with balanced cabling and half the time said cables are sold seperately at an added cost. With the liquid plat it would definitely just depend on the headphone your pairing it to. Like the dt 1990? Can’t be balanced it doesn’t have the plug its a 3 pin mini xlr. Though the 177x GO or T1.2 from beyer? 4 pins and can be balanced. headphones like the sennheiser 500 series? cant be balanced Beyers dt 770/880/990 have to be actually modded to become balanced
How do you know if the headphones you have can be used with a balanced connection? Could the Aryas? Maybe they would sound could with the Liquid platinum
Most headphones from hifiman iirc use duel sided cables including the aryas, sundaras, and anandas so yes they can be balanced but the cable is sold seperate.
Liquid platinum will offer quite a bit of warmth to your sound and can really open up some headphones. I got it when using my aeons and it blew me away completely in terms of sound. It remains one of my favorite amps and I don’t see changing in the foreseeable future when it comes to tube hybrids. However, in some cases where it can’t be balanced or where the headphone just doesn’t respond so well to tubes a Solid State can be better and in other rare cases a straight tube amp may be better
look at the cable connection. Is it duel sided 2 pole cables? Is it a 4 pin connector? If so it can be balanced
It would be ok, but the THX 887 is a very analytical amp that can be bright. I owned the THX 887 and the SMSL SU-8 Dac for a while. Then bought the Arya’s.
It is NOT a good pairing, as it was wayyyy too bright for me. The Arya’s are already a neutral bright headphone, and you pair that with a bright Amp it doesn’t end well imo. Unless you aren’t sensitive to it.
The Arya’s also need a better amp to get everything out of them. Something like the V280 would compliment it nicely and bring down the highs some. That and the Bifrost 2 Dac, as that is a really good Amp/Dac pairing.
The Arya’s are a great headphone, very large sounding, comfy, and very speaker like. But your signal chain would need to be better for them to get everything out of them imo.
Cool. Most commonly recommended headphones on this site over $300 should do that. Especially if you haven’t heard anything better than that before.
Geshelli Labs Enog 2 + Geshelli Labs Erish
or
Schiit Modius + Schiit Asgard 3
Cool. I used the Sony MDR 7506s for probably 5 years. I feel that. Still a good setup tbqh.
Bright af. Don’t do that. Try not to go THX. Lifeless and not nearly as competent as it’s direct competition (despite the measurements).
Good amp. If you want to go that high originally, it’s definitely not the worst option. Fancy features too.
Be very careful listening to Z…
Then the RME ADI-2 will not be worth it.
Simple? Read the recommended beginner setups above. Upgrade amplifier to RNHP, Monolith Liquid Platinum, or Headamp Gilmore Lite mk2 if you feel it’s too lowbrow.
The problem is until you’ve tried them all you’ll likely get curious. I would keep extra money in the budget for a second pair or for using to upgrade components you’re not happy with. Just my two cents.
Good. You’ll probably be just as happy with a Sundara as with an Arya then. If you really want to stretch right now, buy a Hifiman Edition X V2. Should tick all your boxes.
This is why you start small and get a few pairs of cans / source components so you can figure out what you like and don’t like. That’s how I ended up with the setup I have, and I have no real desire or need to upgrade for a longgggg time (like the next step up is $2000+ gear).
Exactly. This 110%.
Guide is not super thorough and kinda biased, but still has a good selection of cans. Read it for brief recs but don’t read it as the gospel. Sorry Falenkor 
I have a lot of issues with the guide but I don’t have the time to hash them all out. Props for doing it though (and a lot of it is good quality and mostly accurate).
Mostly positive cause the people who buy them are measurement purists. Tbh they are just supposed to be very lifeless and not fun to listen to at all. There is equivalent gear that measures just as well but actually sounds good (see Geshelli Labs).
You’re jumping off the DAC deep end off the bat. I’d highly recommend holding up and just going with a Modius or Enog2. You can always sell them and upgrade.
Literally anything in the $500 range (RNHP, Gilmore, MLP, Cayin, iFi Micro, iFi xDSD…etc). Jot is a good amp but from what I’ve heard, outdated and surpassed in the range. Lemme know if I’m wrong there.
Then you’ll want a clean amp to pair with unless you get a real sterile pair of cans imo. RNHP, Erish, or Gilmore Lite Mk2 should fit ok?
Way above.
Would highly recommend not.
They are definitely not the end all be all of reviewers. Z in particular is not a reliable reviewer (though entertaining at times). Josh has some pretty bad personal biases (THX being one of the particularly bad offenders).
Here’s three sets for gaming and music at different price ranges…
- ‘Low’ end
- Hifiman Sundara, Geshelli Labs Archel 2.5 Pro or Erish, Geshelli Labs Enog 2
- ‘Medium’ end
- Hifiman Edition X V2, Monoprice Monolith Liquid Platinum, Schiit Bifrost 2 or Denafrips Ares II
- ‘High’ end
- Focal Clear, Violectric V280, Denafrips Pontus
I would HIGHLY recommend the low end for your first set of cans. Resell value and demand is great on all the items, and it’ll give you a very good idea of what to get next.
They don’t. That’s a myth lol. 1990s have a great FR for games, great durability, and good stage / imaging for games. But that alone won’t make you a good player. ever. Worth getting, but not to give you an unfair advantage lol, cause that’s 110% bullshit.
EQ is a hotly debated topic. I am of the opinion that if a headphone needs to be EQ’d to sound good, the designers fucked up and should go back to the drawing board. However, feel free to fuck with EQ however much you like, nothing wrong with it at all.
uhhh. Prolly a bad idea. That’s gonna sound sterile af. 887 is not something you’re gonna want to drive the Aryas with imo.
No. Only high end cans do semi-reliably (+$1000).
Liquid plat + tube preamp will sound super gooey. Not good for games, and probably not super great with records unless you have a $5000 turntable, tonearm, and cartridge. Get a cleaner amp. See recommendations above.
Hifiman and mlp sound good together from personal experience. Not good for games imo, but that’s just me. Sound sig is also not to my preferences.
Headphones with detachable cables can almost always be run balanced by just replaced the single ended cable with a balanced one.
That’s what I am thinking. Don’t do it. Also don’t start with Aryas, please. Get Edition XX or Edition X V2s. Elex, Elear, Elegia at the very least. Sundaras preferably. Maybe Aeons or DT 1990s. Aryas are a bridge too far right now, especially without a demo.
Hope that helps.
13 Likes
feel free to shoot a message if you feel I can alter or change it personally then. Wasn’t written to be a gospel but as a basic write up with a good selection and best bang for the buck involving “strictly” competitive. Not all rounders. Not casuals.
Also, very well said. Covers all the bases well enough
2 Likes
A lot of backlash against the THX… is interesting. Certainly one of the main people pimping the 789 was Zeos, and he’s about the last guy I’d call a measurement purist.
That said, no particular reason to agree with him, either. I like the Monolith 887; various ways to modify the sound downstream. However… it’s far from the only game in town now at the pricepoint. If I were as ready to spend as OP, I’d get a Topping A90. Think about tubes much later as an option.
Headphones… well, we have one member here who prefers the Harmonicdyne Helios to the Arya. This is not likely going to be a widespread preference, but… goes a long way to telling why people are saying “learn what you like” before spending that much. For me? Again if money were no object, I wouldn’t hesitate to start with the Arya. Buy some side-grades or downgrades with different characteristics, later.
All that said, I’ll defer to anybody on the gaming side. I’m talking music strictly. To me, all headphones sound the same when I play checkers or monopoly.