Ad 700 vs AKG 601's for gaming

[Astridax]

Sorry, I know there are multiple threads about headphones for gaming.

There doesn't seem to be much agreement on what the best headphones for gaming seem to be. The best one atm seems to be the DT 880's, however much I would love to buy these, when coupled with the £120 Xonar Essence ST, I cannot afford £180 for these headphones, unless I find a person in the UK willing to part with a second hand pair for cheaper.

Looking at Kool Bubba Ice's blog, he rates the AKG 601's and the AD 700's as 4 stars.

Atm I have a breaking pair of Fatal1ty headphones and would like to make the move to pro audio with the money given to me from successful exam results.

When playing WoW a long time ago, I always used to like the bass on the track on the logon screen.

People say these headphones aren't heavy on bass, but are they heavier than my current pair of cans?

I play tf2, bat2 and 2142 and I'm waiting for Black Prophecy and other space mmo's like that. BTW I love atmospheric music on games, freelancer was amazing for that sometimes.

I have heard a £100 pair of closed cans, can't remember which ones sorry, on a very bad cd of trance music etc and found myself thoroughly unimpressed.

I listen to Jazz, Blues, Funk, Rock and Heavy Metal... I know, quite a mix

I really would like to be impressed by whichever pair of cans I buy, I am willing to reserve judgment till broken in.

Which pair out of these two, or any others would you reccommend for gaming and all my music.

Sorry once again to bother people.

 

[Astridax]

bump?

 

[paulb09]

I have no first or second hand experience on how good the Essence STX will be with the K601. It'll probably provide good volume, but I don't know if it'll flesh out the bass well enough. I have heard that the AD700 is also quite light on the bass, but how it compares to the K601 I don't know. If you really want a bit more bass you may want to look at other headphones. Hopefully someone who has tried one or both on that soundcard will shed some light.

 

[estreeter]

If you will spend more time gaming than listening to music, get the AD700. If you want more bass impact for music, get a pair of lower-end Ultrasones. If you are willing to invest in a dedicated headphone amp and want your games and music to be less fatiguing than either of these options, get the K601.

 

[Astridax]

will the headphone amp on the essence card power the K601

 

[Astridax]

Oh btw I'm tying to avoid closed backs.

 

[Astridax]

bump, surely someone else can help!

 

[estreeter]

Astridax, *please* get a grip - you are choosing a pair of headphones, not waiting for an ambulance ...

paulb09 hit the nail on the head when he said that the Essence will give you the volume on the 601s, but its unlikely to flesh out the sound. You really will need a good SS amp to drive these cans, and I simply cant recommend them for what you tell us you are looking for. The AD700s are a better allround solution for your needs.

 

[Astridax]

right, thank you, sorry for being so eager. I can't afford a decent amp on top of a sound card. I have heard lots of recommendations for the AD 700's for gaming, some people say the beyers are better, but they are £100 out of my budget. At £79-99 I can't beat the ATH's.

Unless anyone can suggest any other options or advise/persuade me otherwise, I think the AD 700's might just be the cans for me.

 

[Astridax]

still open for opinions...

 

[iamthecheese]

I've put 300ish hours of music and 30 hours of gaming on my k601s. First thing I will say is they need some kind of amplification, haven't heard much about the k601s + STX. I really like their sound and soundstage, but for the price I gotta say +1 for the ad700s for you.

 

[Landis]

Gaming wise, the K601s do a more than decent job, however, you'd not only want a quiet environment but a more powerful amp as well.

In terms of efficiency, the AD700s should do a much better job off your rig.

 

[blackzarg]

Using the AD700s unamped with my Macbook Pro, and the music is absolutely glamorous. Okay maybe that's not the right word for it, but the soundstage is lush and all my classical music absolutely sings on them. I have a medium sized head, and it fits fine.

I've used the AD700s for COD4 as well, and it definitely does put you right on the playing field. I don't have experience with the others you've mentioned, sorry. I paid $65 for a pair of refurb AD700s, and it was definitely money well spent.

 

[Astridax]

Yeah, I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get the AD700's. The sound card I want is the Essence ST not the STX because of the ability to use multi channel speakers without a separate decoder. Some shops have it just in, yet I have been unable to find any reviews, at the moment I'm assuming it is very similar to the STX in terms of audio quality.

One thing I have heard about and can not confirm, is that the Essence uses the AV100 audio processor which can adequately provide two channel audio brilliantly, yet the ST is multi channel, there is no word on it using the AV200 used in the HDAV/D2x/D2.

One person said the only difference between the AV100 and 200 is that the 100 doesn't support the DTS encoder which is implemented via drivers/software anyway. He says that the hardware is the same with a different label printed on the top. For more information on these sources see:
ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- When can i buy Xonar Essence ST