Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide: (Updated: 5/17/13. Skullcandy PLYR 1 added) - Page 538

an E17, perhaps?

Why would you need a new sound card?
Does your sound card output the kind of 5.1 or 7.1 signal that the MixAmp needs to function properly?

If this is for strictly PC gaming, a sound card might actually be all you need, not a MixAmp.

Oh you definitely need some decent amping for the DT770s and according to MLE the mixamp isn't enough.

 

 

It's a little pricey. Does it do more than the E7 realistically?

 

 

Edited by Paradux - 10/5/12 at 4:19pm

Didnt know that there was a headphone gaming forum on here. I need some advice on which gaming headphone to buy.

I am planning on getting an Xbox 360 soon and I am very interested in getting surround sound through headphones. I own a pair of Audio-Technica M50 and also the Sennheiser HD 598, which Ive heard are pretty good for gaming. However, I was thinking of getting the Earforce XP500, since it is wireless and would support voicechat. Is the Earforce worth the $220 or am I better off just getting a Mixamp and pairing with the headphones I have?
 

Edit: Okay, did a little bit of reading and it seems the XP500 is not a good headphone for gaming compared to other headphones. The HD 598 seems to be very good for gaming because of its soundstage. I've decided to order a Mixamp, but now the problem is that it seems to be out of stock everywhere. Does anyone one know where they are available at the moment?

Edited by DarkAndroid - 10/5/12 at 5:09pm

Should be better than the E7. IIRC, it should have a treble and bass EQ in it as well. It's kinda pricey, that I agree, but it does everything you want and should drive those DT770 with no troubles.

HD598 are good, especially if it's your first serious pair of heaphones. You don't tell us where you're from, so I can't really suggest you where to get a Mixamp. One thing I can say though, is that if you don't care about online chat, then you could just grab an used Ear Force DSS (first version preferably) from ebay or somewhere else for cheap.

Hello, i do not know which one of these headphones are the best for gaming, im looking for comfy, good directionality, and ofcourse good sound, which one would YOU Choose and why?

I recently re-purchased a set of AD900s...lol. They were modified, re-cabled, and on the classifieds for pretty cheap. When properly amped, the Q701 deliver a much more fulfilling experience, than compared to the bass shy AD900s. I bought them already knowing their sound signature, which completely changes one's impressions. I would say that the Q is a much more well rounded 'phone, that will sound better on many more genres than the AD900s (esp. bass heavy tracks). With the AD900 you hear bass, but don't feel it, like with the Qs.

I believe that the Q's are harder to amp than both the Senns and the AT's though... like MLE said you might want to list what setup you're using in terms of source, amp, musical tastes, and usage of the hp (other than gaming: music? movies? ect.)

The AD900 is in no way a bad hp, actually I quite like it, but buying it new was a little more than I wanted to spend.

Hi, I was interested in buying a good pair of PC headphones. My current setup is a cheapy HTF-600 and Xonar DG.

 

I was interested in the AD-700s as they seem like a real solid for sound staging. If I did get the AD-700s, would my Xonar DG handle them well? Or would a better mixamp be a good idea? 

 

Also I was interested in the part where you mentioned the DT770s have the sound placement you've ever heard, but are ruined by bass. Is it possible to fix this with EQ? Because the DT770s 80 ohm were something I was interested in for music listening as well so they could possibly fulfill both my needs if the bass can be tamed to reach comparable levels of detail as the AD-700s.  The DT770s most definitely require an amp from what I've seen so far, correct?

 

My current selection of headphones are the Monoprice 8323 (felt like everything was so dark and veiled), Incipio F38 (felt like it was missing something), and my HTF-600 which feels rather balanced to me (although I am pretty inexperienced).  The other set of phones I have are the IEM Senn CX-300 II which I do enjoy mostly, but get uncomfortable to wear. (Not sure if I'm considered a bass head, but I feel I may be.)  Also currently using the Zalman Mic, although I will be ordering the DX mic as per your suggestion.

 

TL;DR Can the DT770's bass be tamed through EQ to the point it can compete with the AD-700 for spatial awareness?

 

edit spelling

Edited by ArdentWings - 10/5/12 at 10:03pm

The AD700s will do well with almost any source (the Xonar DG should be fine), as they don't require much power. Depending on what ohm model you buy you might be able to power the DT770s, WILL require additional amping however however they will benefit from additional power. Even with bass boosting I don't think the Ad700s will approach the levels of the DT770s. Although this is an unfair comparison between open and closed headphones. If you consider yourself anywhere near a basshead I would avoid the AD700s. With DBFB on (sony bass boost) and bass at +4 I get an acceptable amount of bass out of my AD900s which have a higher bass curve than the AD700s, but no where near the levels I get out of a pair of DT990pros.

Just looking at the numbers on the first page, I really think any level of Eq will enable the DT770s to compare against the AD700s for competitive gaming (maybe MLE can shed more light on this). They are inherently different headphones.Re-read first post...lol. I defer this to someone who owns dt770pros.

I think the better question is what exactly are you looking for at what price range? If your only basing your criteria on only competitive gaming at the $90-$120 mark then the AD700s are pretty unbeatable. If you're looking for an all around headphone at 150-170 then the DT770pros would fit the bill. If you see yourself going further in this wallet-consuming hobby then a proper amp plus Q701's would be the best middle ground (my opinion).

As for the mixamp, are you occasionally playing on Xbox/PS3 (in addition to your PC gaming)? This is mainly a requirement for those that need chat + DH. If you don't need/want chat on consoles then there are other capable options out there like the TB DSS and Creative Recon units. I don't believe that the addition of a Mixamp for PC will make much of a difference than if you were to use the DH out of the Xonar. If your only gaming on PC then money could be better spent on a dedicated headphone amp.
Edited by ruuku - 10/5/12 at 10:28pm

Well if I went and bought the AD700 there is a good chance I would want a second pair for music as they are lacking in the lows as I've heard from many places.  But with his comment that they have the best distance and sound staging he's ever seen, only it is ruined by bass. I was hoping that maybe I could have an EQ setting for gaming that would tone down the bass enough to compete somewhat with the AD-700s (as long as it comes close I would be happy, otherwise I'll just buy the dedicated pair and probably just skip on a music pair for now) and an EQ for music which would give me basically the dual headphones setup I'm looking for in 1 headset. It would be much preferred if possible because the AD-700 would solely be for tryhard gaming and I wouldn't enjoy the sound at all, just the staging. 

 

It really sparked my interest as just a few days ago I was wondering about upgrading for music (was actually thinking about something for the gym and connecting to my phone with a portable amp of some sort but decided against that. Didn't seem practical and I would feel like a tool wearing such large headphones at the gym. I hate how everyone there is wearing beats when I know how crappy they are.)

 

Anyway I'm ranting off topic, but the point is I was thinking about getting a pair of m50's since I've heard so much about them and I had seen mention of how great DT770s are (although pricier).  So when I started looking for a gaming headset and saw that the DT770s also had great positional accuracy I was very "HELL YEAH I'M BUYIN 'EM" but I am not so sure they will measure up since MLE did give a heavy warning that the bass is far too powerful for such a use.

 

Question really comes down to: can the bass of the DT770 be tamed through EQ for competitive levels of positional accuracy and detail (he mentions bass is far too strong, but I saw somewhere else that it can be somewhat fixed with EQ and I was just wondering if he put that into consideration during this review)

 

P.S. No I'm pretty much strictly a PC gamer. None of my consoles go online. Although being able to use the headset on them might be nice for the occasional time I do.

 

Edit: Just read his article on the 770 Premium rather than 80 ohm pros and noticed "Competitive: 3/10 (can possibly be a 9/10 if the bass is tamed)". Does this apply to the 770 Pro 80 ohms as well?

Edited by ArdentWings - 10/5/12 at 11:03pm

ArdentWings -> If you want more info on the DT770 Pro, I suggest you read the last pages where I heavily discussed it. For your question, 2 pieces of important info: The DT770 250ohm is said to have slightly less bass and overall more equal sound.

 

 

Paradux -> The Mixamp is currently out of stock everywhere because they're re-stocking with the 2013 version. And it will have a built-in equalizer :)

There are pictures a few pages back.