[ICantHeadphones]

I am very new to this audio thing and I am in the market for a set of headphones in the $150ish area, with so many options for someone that doesnt know much about audio it can be a task looking for the first right pair of headphones. Ive done some browsing myself and these are the four that I came up with... (Sennheiser HD 598), (Beyerdynamic DT-770-PRO-32), (Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro Plus), & the (Audio Technica ATH-AD900X). My main uses for these headphones would be gaming (Mainly FPS's) and a clear and clean pleasurable music listening experience .. also something that wont break easily and some portability. Anyone that can help me and point me in the right direction would be much appreciated. 

 

[milligan]

Those all sound like good options, but first you're gonna have to give a few more details.  Each of these headphones are good for different types of music and work better with different setups.  So:
 
-What kind of music do you usually listen to?
 
-What will you be playing it out of?  Do you have an amp?
 
-Will there be a problem with sound leakage? 
 
-Will you use them in loud environments/like some isolation?

 

[ICantHeadphones]

- My usually listen to Gorillaz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Outkast, Queen, Pear Jam, some Weezer, a bit of hip-hop and rap & a lot of 80's music.
 
- I currently don't have an amp, but I will be definitely buying one down the line. For now I will be using on my cell phone and on board sound card.
 
- Sound leakage could be an issue (I rarely go above 50% volume) if it gets to the point where people are looking at me because it sound like I have mini speakers on my head then yes. If its faint and at whisper level then no. I'm not sure how "open", open headphones can get.
 
- About 70% of the time when i'm using headphones i'm in an empty room and the other 30% of the time I use when I want to isolate myself from all the noise. For the most part i'm isolated, but I have my times when I pull out the headphones to close off everything around me.

 

[Larsson]

  - My usually listen to Gorillaz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Led Zeppelin, Outkast, Queen, Pear Jam, some Weezer, a bit of hip-hop and rap & a lot of 80's music.
 
- I currently don't have an amp, but I will be definitely buying one down the line. For now I will be using on my cell phone and on board sound card.
 
- Sound leakage could be an issue (I rarely go above 50% volume) if it gets to the point where people are looking at me because it sound like I have mini speakers on my head then yes. If its faint and at whisper level then no. I'm not sure how "open", open headphones can get.
 
- About 70% of the time when i'm using headphones i'm in an empty room and the other 30% of the time I use when I want to isolate myself from all the noise. For the most part i'm isolated, but I have my times when I pull out the headphones to close off everything around me.

I would recommend you get a pair of proper gaming headphones! Steelseries, Razer, Logitech, Asus, Corsair, and Sennheiser all make great ones!
 
With most gaming headphones, I've noticed that they are either very clear and a little airy (like my Steelseries) and some are very bassy in contrast.
 
Note however that most gaming headphones are complete crap for most other purposes than gaming.
 
Open headphones can get very open, with some of the open headphones I own, I can hear my surroundings as if I was listening to loudspeakers rather than headphones.
 
If you want to isolate yourself from outside noise, do not get open headphones. If you go on an airplane with a pair of relatively open headphones you will most likely leave the plane with some kind of hearing damage
 
Personally I use open headphones when I am home gaming, I usually use teamspeak on my MacBook with speakers on, which I can easily hear through my HiFiMan 400i headphones. I use my Steelseries headphones when I do not want any ambient noise. When I am out listening to music I use a pair of Westone W40 earphones which cancel out all ambient noise and sound truly amazing!
 
For $150 I know there are some great gaming headphones out there. The ones you mentioned in your post are all great! Remember one thing though, make sure you pick over-ear headphones for gaming since you will be sitting for longer periods in most cases. A common mistake people make is that they buy a pair of on-ears for prolonged listening!
 
Good luck!

 

[Youth]

 
I would recommend you get a pair of proper gaming headphones! Steelseries, Razer, Logitech, Asus, Corsair, and Sennheiser all make great ones!
 
 

 
Are you serious? Steelseries, Logitech and Razor headsets are complete garbage. I haven't listened to anything from Asus or Corsair so can't comment on that but my guess it's the same.
 
I never thought I'd see anyone on head-fi recommend this stuff to newcommers 

 

[Larsson]

   
Are you serious? Steelseries, Logitech and Razor headsets are complete garbage. I haven't listened to anything from Asus or Corsair so can't comment on that but my guess it's the same.
 
I never thought I'd see anyone on head-fi recommend this stuff to newcommers 

I completely agree. Perhaps the wrong forum to mention them in a recommendation, although I believe they cut it for most gaming purposes. I have now edited my post to be more accurate.

 

[Transmaniacon]

For FPS gaming, you want an open headphone.  The biggest benefit of this design is the larger sound stage, which in gaming equates to better positional sound.  I think the Sennheiser HD598 would be a good choice here, but there are a lot of great open headphones out there.  They were just on sale for $100, if you can still find this deal, that leaves you some money to pick up a closed set or some IEMs for when you want isolation.

 

[milligan]

I wouldn't suggest the sennheiser's or the audio technica's as they are both open and wouldnt be suited well to using in public places. Your phone probably won't be powerful enough to drive the sennheisers anyway.

 

[DangerClose]

 
- Sound leakage could be an issue (I rarely go above 50% volume) if it gets to the point where people are looking at me because it sound like I have mini speakers on my head then yes. If its faint and at whisper level then no. I'm not sure how "open", open headphones can get.
 
- About 70% of the time when i'm using headphones i'm in an empty room and the other 30% of the time I use when I want to isolate myself from all the noise. For the most part i'm isolated, but I have my times when I pull out the headphones to close off everything around me.

 
Open can be so open it's like no sound is blocked at all in either direction.  They're not all that open, but even "semi-open" usually aren't something to use when other people are the room.
 
Maybe look for an open headphone for the 70% of the time, and plan on using a closed or IEM for the other 30% of the time.  

 

[ICantHeadphones]

  For FPS gaming, you want an open headphone.  The biggest benefit of this design is the larger sound stage, which in gaming equates to better positional sound.  I think the Sennheiser HD598 would be a good choice here, but there are a lot of great open headphones out there.  They were just on sale for $100, if you can still find this deal, that leaves you some money to pick up a closed set or some IEMs for when you want isolation.

Cheers!

 Thanks for helping me decide I took some of your guys advice.
 
In the end I found a nice deal for some slightly used Sennheiser 598's for $85 on ebay and with the rest of my budget ($50) I'll pick up some IEM's. The question is ... which ones? hehe ... oh man 

 

[Transmaniacon]

  Cheers!

 Thanks for helping me decide I took some of your guys advice.
 
In the end I found a nice deal for some slightly used Sennheiser 598's for $85 on ebay and with the rest of my budget ($50) I'll pick up some IEM's. The question is ... which ones? hehe ... oh man 

 
That's a great deal for them, I think you will enjoy them.  As far as IEMs, that's out of my knowledge base, I own some NHT SuperBuds, but I got them for free