Need advice on finding a spacious well defined headset/pair of headphones for gaming
May 28, 2015 at 12:46 PM Post #16 of 29
I'll give that a go when I sit down to play some Witcher later. One thing I have found is that (surprise surprise) my sound card was having a driver problem. I've done a clean install so we will see if that helps any.
 
Question on the AKG K702 which are ofter heralded as a top tear gaming headphone, has there been any change in build or audio quality with the manufacturing move to China?
 
May 28, 2015 at 1:10 PM Post #17 of 29
overhaze said:
  I'll give that a go when I sit down to play some Witcher later. One thing I have found is that (surprise surprise) my sound card was having a driver problem. I've done a clean install so we will see if that helps any.
 
Question on the AKG K702 which are ofter heralded as a top tear gaming headphone, has there been any change in build or audio quality with the manufacturing move to China?
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I think there has been one change and that being the padding at the top. I think it used to have several bumps and now I think it is just a nice peace of leather.
 
I can't be certain as I don't own them. Try looking up AKG K702 and AKG K702 MKII and look for the differences.
 
May 31, 2015 at 7:13 AM Post #20 of 29
I love the MA-900s for music but for gaming their soundstage isn't open enough, there isn't quite enough separation. Also they have issues with presenting things that are directly in front of you (dialogue basically). Not world ending but voice can sound indistinct and hollow compared to the rest of  the soundstage. 
 
When properly driven and with a high quality source the HD650s are by far the best sounding piece of audio equipment I have ever owned but for gaming purposes they expose every single flaw in the games audio (and there tends to be many of them). Kind of kills immersion when I can hear the compression on a NPC's voice and so on.
 
May 31, 2015 at 7:59 AM Post #21 of 29
overhaze said:
  I love the MA-900s for music but for gaming their soundstage isn't open enough, there isn't quite enough separation. Also they have issues with presenting things that are directly in front of you (dialogue basically). Not world ending but voice can sound indistinct and hollow compared to the rest of  the soundstage. 
 
When properly driven and with a high quality source the HD650s are by far the best sounding piece of audio equipment I have ever owned but for gaming purposes they expose every single flaw in the games audio (and there tends to be many of them). Kind of kills immersion when I can hear the compression on a NPC's voice and so on.
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I don't know what the HD 650s sound like but I think the Audio Technica ATH-AD700x has a brighter and more spacious soundstage. Not many headphones will have the same sense of speciousness as the ATH-AD range from AT. They feel like you are surrounding your ears which will be good for gaming. The 53mm driver will be helping with this. The midrange to me, is quite warm considering that these headphones have very little weight to the bass. I am quite sure they will have less bass than the HD650s. It depends weather this will be an issue for you. The treble is what these headphones are best at. Their sound is very sharp. You here every little detail in the treble. When I use they for music, it does sound more like you are actually in the room with the band. You just don't feel it like you would for real.
 
I have the old ATH-AD700 but I think the X version has an identical driver. What has got improved is the fit I think.
 
These headphones also bring out any signs of poor sound in a recording. It tends to be headphones that are not capable of sounding very good that don't show the signs of poor sounds on music or gaming. But then they won't be able to stand out when the music or gaming sound it really good. I'm not sure what headphones won't have this issue. It is just what you seem to get if you have a good amplifier and good headphones. Anything that doesn't sound quite perfect is very noticeable. 
 
May 31, 2015 at 2:04 PM Post #22 of 29
overhaze said:
   
When properly driven and with a high quality source the HD650s are by far the best sounding piece of audio equipment I have ever owned but for gaming purposes they expose every single flaw in the games audio (and there tends to be many of them). Kind of kills immersion when I can hear the compression on a NPC's voice and so on.
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I think that problem would be even worse with the AKGs. HD-650 is generally regarded as being fairly forgiving of audio flaws. 
 
 
Jun 4, 2015 at 12:48 PM Post #27 of 29
overhaze said:
I am floored, nothing about what I am hearing right now seems to be coming from things strapped to my head. And this is day one with zero burn-in!
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You are hooked! Now you'll want to try more of them :D

Are you still using your SoundBlaster Zx to drive them? Might even take the sound quality up a notch once you replace your amp, depending on the volume you listen to. The K7/Q7 series is a bit difficult to drive.
 
Jun 4, 2015 at 1:18 PM Post #29 of 29
I like external DACs/amps, just because you can potentially have some EMI with internal sound cards. Since you already have the Soundblaster, you could hook up a Modi 2 with optical to it and still have access to virtual surround for games (if you use that feature). And for 2 channel sound (headphones or speakers), I have trouble imagining the Xonar STX II is a deal in comparison to the best external amps/dacs.

You might also look into the Audio-GD NFB-15. It's a DAC/amp/pre-amp in one unit, so you can also hook up powered speakers or a speaker amp as well and it has three types of digital inputs. I used to have the Schiit Asgard 2, and IMO, the headphone amp in the NFB-15 is comparable in performance. I have the NFB-11 model with a different DAC, but same headphone amp.
 
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