[Pugzilla]

Hi all,
I currently have a HyperX Cloud II which I use for gaming, music and videos. From what I've read, they've got decent sound quality for a gaming headset. I recently got interested in improving my listening experience. I've been trawling through various reviews over the past few days, but find the number of options overwhelming. I was hoping some knowledgeable people here could point me in the right direction.

• My budget is approximately $400, could increase if warranted.
  
• I will be using the headphones only for home listening, so isolation is not important to me. I'd prefer open back phones.
• Needs to be over/around ear.
  
• These headphones will be primarily for music, but would be a nice bonus if they're ok for gaming too. I don't need a mic.
  
• Source will be mainly PC, sometimes phone. My PC motherboard is an ASUS Maximus VIII Hero, has SupremeFX 2015 if that's worth anything.

How much of an improvement could I expect over my current headphones?

Anyone able to recommend some models I should consider?

Thanks in advance.

 

[buke9]

It would help if you gave the sound signature that your looking for as I have not heard HyperX’s and don’t know what they sound like or are you looking for something different?

 

[PurpleAngel]

Beyerdynamic T90 headphones (great clarity), which i use for all my audio (music, movies gaming).

 

[Pugzilla]

It would help if you gave the sound signature that your looking for as I have not heard HyperX’s and don’t know what they sound like or are you looking for something different?

The music with the closed back HyperX feels like it's in my head, so I'd like an open back with a better soundstage. I don't exactly know what sound signature I'm looking for.

 

[buke9]

Well the sound signature would be do you like it warm which is the treble is rolled off so say cymbals are not so intense say. Neutral means everything is fairly level of intensity and bright means you don’t mind the cymbal splash and can give a bit more detail but not always. Not exact but somewhat close. $400 is in the middle ground which is tuff to say. I like my HE-400S for gaming and music but I’m not a hardcore gamer but they do pretty good for me. My MacBook Pro started to die on me so I thought why not get a gaming laptop just for fun so I did a Asus ROG Strix with a GTX 1070 with 8 gig’s of video and quite liking it. Haven’t tied a lot of games with it yet but Wolfenstien 2 on Ultra is pretty nice and use the HE-400S with good results.

 

[Pugzilla]

I'm currently looking at the Fidelio X2 and HD598SR. Anyone with personal experience able to comment on these models?

 

[TuneInSoul]

I'm currently looking at the Fidelio X2 and HD598SR. Anyone with personal experience able to comment on these models?

I am new to English writing,if you find it hard to read this post,just ignore it.
I recently bought the Fidelio x2hr.It's quite good ,you can use it without an amp,but a good dac/amp (a digital to digital converter may also needed if you use pc)combo is needed if you want to hear the best sound.
This headphone is good at expressing voice especially. I have tested various types of singers' music, the headphone really does a good job.
Even compare to the classic models like AKG K701 Beyerdynamic dt880,the x2hr is outstanding for its mids,and it is much better than k701 and dt880 if you don't have an amp.
The lows and highs are common when comparing to those classic headphones,but it is worthy because of the mids.

 

[Dorokun]

I'm currently looking at the Fidelio X2 and HD598SR. Anyone with personal experience able to comment on these models?

Out of those 2 the X2 has better soundstage, so I'd go for that. Don't know about the HD598SR but I'd reckon the X2 has more soundstage, so it'd be better more gaming. And the sound quality is actually really good for the price so I;d go for it if I were you.