Gaming headphones on a low budget.

Quote:

Originally Posted by derkin 

      Hi I am new to the forums and also not much of a seasoned audiophile (more like barely budding audiophile if you ask me). Right now I am on a quest to find the best gaming headphones on a low budget of about $50.00 USD. Although I might want to go cheaper because I also want to get the Koss KSC75's because of the kramer mod.

 

The gaming that I plan on doing will mainly be Counter Strike 1.6 and I will also use it for my ps3 as well. Here are the ones I have been looking at:

 

Razer Orcas

 

 

JVC HARX700

 

Sennheiser HD428

 

Sennheiser HD415

 

I don't know much about what gives a pair headphones good positional audio in gaming, but if I could gather some wisdom, as well as recommendations, from the good people of head-fi.org that would be awesome. Thank You

 

 

 

 

 

While I don't play games anymore, I used to be an avid competitive cs 1.6 player. Props to you for keeping that game alive! I have never enjoyed any fps games as much as cs 1.6. On to your question, I tested out my pair of panasonic htf600 with a random quick session of cs, and I found it to be pretty good. The sound stage is decent, bass is huge, and it was fairly easy to locate where the footsteps were coming from. Granted they don't touch the likes of my hfi-780, or former ah-d2000, or hd555, they cost a fraction of the price of those other headphones.

I think you should search the forums for some of Dsnuts posts. I believe he has owned and gamed with many different sets of headphones that fall within your budget. iirc, he did a few music and gaming performance comparisons between a few different budget headphones in that large panasonic htf600 thread.

Hope you find the the right cans and keep fraggin away in cs!

edit: I saw you mentioned the ksc75 in your OP. Those are great budget cans to have fun listening to music with and mod. However, you are on the right track with searching for an additional set of headphones for gaming. The ksc75 were just too bright for me when I played cs...I sometimes got headaches from playing with them.

Semi-open headphones

Panasonic RP-HTF600-S, with Beyerdynamic EDT 200 Velour ear pads, $55-$60

Samson SR850 (made by Superlux) $40

The Panasonic's have more bass.

Purple Angel's post reminds me that i forgot to mention the htf600 can usually be found between $35-45 on amazon.com. I actually picked mine up for $25 on amazon last month (price fluctuates a lot according to demand). If you want to go with velour pads over the stock pleather pads, the beyer edt/dt 250 velour pads will run you ~$20 on amazon.

Sony XB500 is good for gaming and you can get them for $40. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by derkin 
Great recommendations I just have one question though. In terms of positional sound which ones do it better the htf600's or the SR850's?

I've not gamed in years, All I can say is the RP-HTF600-S has more bass then the SR850.

Quote:

Originally Posted by derkin 

Great recommendations I just have one question though. In terms of positional sound which ones do it better the htf600's or the SR850's?

Equivalent imaging ability. Positioning will be more determined by what you're using (ie, dolby headphone, creative's css whatever stuff, etc). The SR850 can be pretty bright and sibilant when turned up, the HTF600 is smooth.

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by derkin 

Now I read your review on the htf600's (excellent review by the way) and you said that these were great for gaming "(varieties other than competitive online-foot-step-listening)". Does this mean that the SR850's will perform better in that field because of their bright sound based on your opinion?

Heya,

The reason is that most FPS competitive players don't want a lot of bass. If you want a game with immersion and big explosions, the HTF600 is great for that. The SR850 will also do this, but has less bass, so may be nicer for someone looking to just play competitive FPS online (which is competitive foot step listening, as reference). I think the SR850 will fatigue you in the long run if you keep the volume up. The HTF600 on the other hand is smooth so there's no fatigue happening from treble spike. Both are good headphones. I think overall the HTF600 is a better value all around though.

Very best,

Quote:

Originally Posted by derkin 

Hopefully I don't sound stupid for asking this, but can't you just use eq to lower the bass thus making the htf600 better for foot-step listening? I love the fact that the hft600's are bass heavy as I am an avid dubstep, techno, hardcore music fan, but if the sr850's are better for competitive I might get them instead.

Eureka!

This is correct, which is why I've never understood the AD700 as a "gaming headphone." Lots of headphones are better, and the bass can be reduced for foot-step-listening via EQ. But the internet is, what the internet is.

I would get the HTF600 in your case. It does EDM like a boss. The SR850 isn't better for competitive. It's just another flavor and style.

Very best,

Honestly, the KSC75s themselves are pretty good.  Better than several fullsized cans I've tried....

Do you have dolby headphone in your setup?  That would make a bigger difference different headphones.

Miracles happen on Ebay. You get nice stuff easily for insanely low if you are lucky. Desktop computers for $20-30 are just normal, and I believe gaming headphones can also be the same.