[Palpatine]

Wow...great effort. Interesting read. Looking forward to the next set.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Nice little piece.. The 650 balanced is great for gaming.. The Dragnov in R63 never sounded so convincing.. With a good balanced amp, the 650's are right up there.. But if you use a sound card or a poor source you would be better off with the HD595 or 700..

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif UPDATE: So I got a response to an email i sent a while back, I'm going to be getting my hands on AD700's to add to the roundup. But there are also a few mystery headsets i will be handling in the near future, so you guys can expect a new roundup review

You will be impressed by their vertical depth, & pin point audio positioning for such a large sound stage is un canny.

 

[nonsupremous]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif UPDATE: So I got a response to an email i sent a while back, I'm going to be getting my hands on AD700's to add to the roundup. But there are also a few mystery headsets i will be handling in the near future, so you guys can expect a new roundup review

Where were you able to find them? I have checked everywhere and they have been sold out. I saw some on Ebay but couldn't verify that the sellers were authorized dealers. Too many fake headphones being sold on Ebay so I typically won't buy unless they are a confirmed dealer.

 

[jdawg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nonsupremous /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where were you able to find them? I have checked everywhere and they have been sold out. I saw some on Ebay but couldn't verify that the sellers were authorized dealers. Too many fake headphones being sold on Ebay so I typically won't buy unless they are a confirmed dealer.

I bought some ath-ad700s off ebay from yogi-comp. the headphones definitely seem legit to me. how would you know if you got fake headphones anyway? how good are these people at making fake headphones?

 

[Steggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by eneloquent /img/forum/go_quote.gif Steggy, thanks for a great review - I thought it was really well put together. A shame that the PC350s were demo and you couldn't mod them; http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f4/mod...eadset-406187/ As it does make a world of difference on the admittedly anemic bass of the stock cans. I'm looking forward to a comparison with maybe more mixer options - like the JVC SU-DH1 and Razer's new offering in the gaming/DH space.

Yea, it would have been nice to try that out and report on it across a few sites, but I'm glad we were able to borrow the PC 350's from Sennheiser at all, you know?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trapper31 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Excellent round-up Steggy, and just when I'm beginning to shop for a gaming headset/headphone. I'm definitely looking forward to your impressions of the AD700's. When you get your hands on those, do you think you could give your opinion without the Astro Mixamp? I've done enough reading here to understand that a proper headphone amp makes a world of difference, but I'm trying to keep my budget around $100 and am very interested in the AD700's. (That $100 is flexible; as soon as I discovered Head-fi I knew I'd never be able to stick to it.) For now the headphones would be connected through my home theater receiver with a PS3 as the source. FWIW, my receiver is a Pioneer VSX-919AH-K and I have not been able to find any information on its performance with headphones or any sort of simulated surround similar to DH or the Yamaha Silent Cinema. Also, if anyone could help me with this issue: the PS3 does not have a 3.5mm microphone jack, so I would have to go the USB route. However, my setup is in the living room and I don't have a desk or table to set a boom or stand mic on. Is there some sort of 3.5mm-to-USB adapter that would work for the Zalman clip-on mic? Or is there another option I should consider? Thanks so much for your help!

The astro mixamp will not be a part of the new roundup review. Pat and I borrowed his roommates a40's+mixamp for the review, and his roommate has since then sold them.

I believe astro has a PC to USB adapter on their website. or they did at one point. they have a new 2010 mixamp that works with the PS3 right away, but i think they still have the adapter on the site.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice /img/forum/go_quote.gif Nice little piece.. The 650 balanced is great for gaming.. The Dragnov in R63 never sounded so convincing.. With a good balanced amp, the 650's are right up there.. But if you use a sound card or a poor source you would be better off with the HD595 or 700..

Pat got more into the amping of the 650 to get the most out of it in his writeup. We had to split our reviews separately though, and he has to make a few edits to his before it's back on MLG, once it is I'll shoot you over a PM or something so you can read his

Quote:

Originally Posted by nonsupremous /img/forum/go_quote.gif Where were you able to find them? I have checked everywhere and they have been sold out. I saw some on Ebay but couldn't verify that the sellers were authorized dealers. Too many fake headphones being sold on Ebay so I typically won't buy unless they are a confirmed dealer.

From audio technica lol. I just did a search on amazon though, they have them in stock. Amazon.com: Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Audiophile Headphones with 53mm Drivers with Neodymium Magnet Systems: Electronics

 

[Steggy]

Ad700's arrived yesterday. mmmm

Gotta throw together a little unboxing video, even though with headphones, there isn't much to unbox lol.

 

[Steggy]

unboxing video of the ad700
YouTube - Audio Technica Ad700 Unboxing Video

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steggy /img/forum/go_quote.gif Yea, it would have been nice to try that out and report on it across a few sites, but I'm glad we were able to borrow the PC 350's from Sennheiser at all, you know? The astro mixamp will not be a part of the new roundup review. Pat and I borrowed his roommates a40's+mixamp for the review, and his roommate has since then sold them. I believe astro has a PC to USB adapter on their website. or they did at one point. they have a new 2010 mixamp that works with the PS3 right away, but i think they still have the adapter on the site. Pat got more into the amping of the 650 to get the most out of it in his writeup. We had to split our reviews separately though, and he has to make a few edits to his before it's back on MLG, once it is I'll shoot you over a PM or something so you can read his From audio technica lol. I just did a search on amazon though, they have them in stock. Amazon.com: Audio Technica ATH-AD700 Open-air Dynamic Audiophile Headphones with 53mm Drivers with Neodymium Magnet Systems: Electronics

TY.. I too love the 650 balanced..

 

[FraGTaLiTy]

Sweet review. I'm glad the Astro's overpriced nature is finally coming afloat. A total rip off.

 

[project86]

Thanks for taking the time to do the nice write up, very well done.

 

[Steggy]

thank you!

 

[d1ce]

You know, I always see these reviews on gaming headphones but for some reason I just don't agree that there are superior headphones for directional audio. I've been gaming for years now (competitively on/off) and I've used everything from $10 Sony earbuds to the HD555s and I honestly could not tell the difference in there ability to reproduce sounds directionally. Was there a difference in sound? Absolutely, but our primary concern is the ability to decipher the direction of sound in this case. Now, I've never done a standardized test nor have I ever seen one comparing these touted gaming headphones/headsets but I have a feeling the results would be similar to my conclusion. This would be the only way to draw a plausible, genuine conclusion. Setup a point in game and test the varying headphones.

 

[Steggy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by d1ce /img/forum/go_quote.gif You know, I always see these reviews on gaming headphones but for some reason I just don't agree that there are superior headphones for directional audio. I've been gaming for years now (competitively on/off) and I've used everything from $10 Sony earbuds to the HD555s and I honestly could not tell the difference in there ability to reproduce sounds directionally. Was there a difference in sound? Absolutely, but our primary concern is the ability to decipher the direction of sound in this case. Now, I've never done a standardized test nor have I ever seen one comparing these touted gaming headphones/headsets but I have a feeling the results would be similar to my conclusion. This would be the only way to draw a plausible, genuine conclusion. Setup a point in game and test the varying headphones.

While some of what you say makes sense, there are differences in performance n that respect between different headphones. Playing with the headsets tested, I felt positioning sound was adequate enough with all of them. But the thing is, with the better headset or headphone, you can pick up MORE sound to allow you to decipher it. Different objects in a given game have different...sound registries I guess you'd say. And some of these are very important, so you need clarity and full tonal range in your headset or headphone to be able to get all of the sound. If you have a headphone that's pure thumping bass, well, i'm sure that'll be great to put you in the game with the grenade blasts, but what will you do when there are 4 people coming to flank you from the right side gravity lift, but your headphones don't have any strength in higher registries, so they totally catch you off guard? You want the good range and the clarity so sound doesn't sink in with the rest of it so you can pin point it. So yea, if someone fires a gun, you can hear it and turn in the direction it came from. But when a weapon spawns half way across the map? when someones going grav lift? You want to hear that. the key is having as balanced and full a sound as possible. It's why I would prefer normal stereo or virtual 5.1 over true 5.1, because with the true 5.1 you will have those smaller drivers that in most cases won't have that clear full sound.

in other news, video review of the ax720 is up. I changed my youtube channel and reuploaded the other videos, so please comment/rate/subscribe

YouTube - MLGSteggy's Channel

 

[Steggy]

More news: 3 headsets from steelseries will now be in the next review