[Cartmaizm]

Just found out I can actually connect my Soundcard > DAC > AMP and still get the gaming surround sound effects through optical, so that solves the issue of amplification. I think I'll just go for the cheapest option, 250 ohms @ $249 rather than $299-310 for the other versions.

 

[paulb09]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandwich /img/forum/go_quote.gif though i will warn you that MW2 is mixed veeeerryy poorly, its audio is quite bad for a shooter game. Killzone2 and bad company (and the forthcoming sequel) are a feast for the ears.

All shooters have poor sound quality. In fact pretty much all games have poor sound quality; sounds are usually highly compressed. Much of the space used in games is for textures; most people care far more highly for visuals than sound in game (they're mostly listening out of poor quality equipment anyway), and for competitive gaming it's more important to have increased footstep (and item pick up sounds where relevant) volume.

 

[molokovellocet]

Gaming headphone shootout
momomo6789s gaming headphone Shootout - [H]ard|Forum

 

[roker]

explosions sound great on my D2000s, but I get lost when I'm trying to find out where the footsteps are coming from, on the other hand, I get lost with any headphone I use.

 

[dub Beatz]

I hear HD550's and AD700's are great for gaming headphones. As Molokovellecot posted, the review by Momomo shows the AD700's have a great sound stage which is basically the point of all of the 5.1 gimmicks. Paired with a good card, I think they do a pretty damn good job of providing accuracy and precision in sounds and sound locations.

 

[Necrolic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Epik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you need an amp for the DT880? I've got an X-Fi Fatality Pro and a Corsair 520HX. I see the Astro Mixamp being recommended but what does that actually do? Doesn't the sound card already do the job of getting surround sound to work in games?

You can get the 32 ohm version of the DT880 which doesn't NEED an amp, but like any headphone it will benefit from one.

The X-Fi will handle your surround sound, and personally I don't like the Astro, it's positional audio is mediocre compared to CMSS-3D. The only time I'd ever buy one is if I didn't have an X-Fi OR an amplifier and I needed a quick fix... Wait no, I'd just buy an Auzentech Forte in that situation as it gives me an X-Fi and a better amp than the Astro...

Quote:

Originally Posted by roker /img/forum/go_quote.gif explosions sound great on my D2000s, but I get lost when I'm trying to find out where the footsteps are coming from, on the other hand, I get lost with any headphone I use.

JMoney pads, makes the soundstage a LOT larger. If that's not big enough, Lawton Audio wood cups, improves SQ and increases soundstage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by molokovellocet /img/forum/go_quote.gif Gaming headphone shootout momomo6789s gaming headphone Shootout - [H]ard|Forum

How is that even slightly fair, it's $90 headphones against headphones that cost up to $999.

Regardless, I also find it VERY inaccurate, meaning his hearing is screwed or he's using poor equipment. I agree with all of his reviews of the "gaming" headsets, most are pretty god awful except for positional audio, Medusa's are the one exception I've heard, but other than that I disagree with most of his review.

On his highest rated "How far can you hear?" headphones, the HFI-780s, he said he could only hear footsteps from the corner of Long A to the opposite corner, meaning this guy either has terrible hearing or is listening at pitifully low volume for a gamer. I can hear people from the corner of Long A nearest A site all the way to Long Doors with a $50 headset, and I listen at a very reasonable sound level (SPL meter was used, forgot the exact reading but it's not nearly high enough to damage hearing).

His scores show that you can hear things further away with the AD700 than with the K702. Now I, from EXTENSIVE personal experience gaming with both of these headphones, can tell you that that is complete and utter bullsh*t. The K702 is by far the best positional audio headphone on the market, it would be better than the DT880s for gaming if it weren't for the fact that, outside of soundstage, their sound does not suit gaming even a little bit. AD700s were very good, especially for their price, but nowhere near the level of the K702.

HD650 I agree to an extent, but not fully. They aren't THAT bad, and many pro gamers use them, because with the right equipment they can be some of the best out there.

D7000s, now this made me laugh. Stock D series headphones' soundstage is PATHETIC, to say the least. Easily worse than that of the HD650, yet the HD650 received a 1/10 for how far can you hear, while D7000 received a 9.6? Something is SERIOUSLY flawed here, and yes, I do have experience with both headphones. Now that said, modded D series headphones (JMoney pads and Lawton Audio cups, for gaming markl mods/recables really have no effect whatsoever) are some of the best gaming cans I've heard, the pads and cups really enlarge the soundstage and make these top tier gaming cans.

Overall, something is very, very wrong with that review.

 

[dub Beatz]

Question Necrolic, since i'm trying to find a pair of gaming headphones myself, (pairing with x-fi xtreme gamer) would you suggest the HD555 or AD700's? Or neither? Thing is, at this point I don't have an amp or DAC or anything... In fact, I am clueless as to what any of those are. I just know i plugged a guitar into an amp once at my friends house when i was in highschool. Anyway, I'm lookin for great soundstage and bass to increase my performance and shake my head up a bit. btw, I can't spend more than like $130

 

[Landis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp_zer0 /img/forum/go_quote.gif They bleed into your mic pretty bad. My Charcarias pissed me off to no end. but I'd recommend that AKG headset built from a K271. Not sure what it's called.

If your headphones are echoing into your mic like that, then you're either have your output volume way too loud or you messed up something in your sound settings creating an echo. It's a common issue, I'd suggest fooling around with your output and input sound options in whatever game or program you're using as well as your OS' sound settings.

EDIT:

Quote:

Originally Posted by molokovellocet /img/forum/go_quote.gif Gaming headphone shootout momomo6789s gaming headphone Shootout - [H]ard|Forum

Unless I'm missing something in his spec post... He's severely under amping a lot of his headphones? Those soundcards will not drive an HD800, HE-5, HD650, D7000 (not too familiar with the amping needs on this one) and DT880s. Also, he risks damaging all those by continuously under-powering them; I really hoped I missed a worthy amplifier within his posts-- for his sake at least.

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necrolic /img/forum/go_quote.gif JMoney pads, makes the soundstage a LOT larger. If that's not big enough, Lawton Audio wood cups, improves SQ and increases soundstage.

I've had the J$ money pads for a week or so now and I'm still lost. I think it's because I'm not good with FPS games in the first place.

 

[Epik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by roker /img/forum/go_quote.gif I've had the J$ money pads for a week or so now and I'm still lost. I think it's because I'm not good with FPS games in the first place.

What game are you playing? Do you have a sound card? There are a couple things you need to setup like the in-game sound settings. Usually I think most people put it on 5.1 or 7.1 in-game. And also put your windows audio settings to 7.1 and then if you have an X-Fi card, that's where you want to put headphone and the CMSS in game-mode. Some people say they prefer to put it on 2.1 speakers even though they use headphones.

And some don't even use CMSS depending on certain games, usually older ones like CS 1.6.

 

[roker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Epik /img/forum/go_quote.gif What game are you playing? Do you have a sound card? There are a couple things you need to setup like the in-game sound settings. Usually I think most people put it on 5.1 or 7.1 in-game. And also put your windows audio settings to 7.1 and then if you have an X-Fi card, that's where you want to put headphone and the CMSS in game-mode. Some people say they prefer to put it on 2.1 speakers even though they use headphones. And some don't even use CMSS depending on certain games, usually older ones like CS 1.6.

Borderlands for the Xbox 360

I have the settings set at digital stereo because I felt like too many of the sounds were going in and out.

 

[Necrolic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dub Beatz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Question Necrolic, since i'm trying to find a pair of gaming headphones myself, (pairing with x-fi xtreme gamer) would you suggest the HD555 or AD700's? Or neither? Thing is, at this point I don't have an amp or DAC or anything... In fact, I am clueless as to what any of those are. I just know i plugged a guitar into an amp once at my friends house when i was in highschool. Anyway, I'm lookin for great soundstage and bass to increase my performance and shake my head up a bit. btw, I can't spend more than like $130

Since you've already got an XtremeGamer there's no need for me to talk about the source, but CMSS-3D is the best positional audio you can get so you're all set there.

Try playing with and without CMSS-3D enabled, some people prefer to play without it, as they find it distorts sound and can muffle footsteps from time to time, and with good headphones stereo sound alone can have very good positional audio. I personally used to play with it but after playing without I prefer not to use it at all (and I have no regrets from purchasing the Forte because it's headphone out destroys all of Asus' cards, so even though the X-Fi chip is useless to me it's still a great card).

As far as HD555 vs. AD700 goes, a lot of people used to recommend the HD555 because at the time it was half the price of the AD700, but now that they're much closer in price, the AD700 is hands down the better choice. I ran them out of my XtremeGamer before I upgraded my rig and loved them. Hope that helps.

Roker, Xbox 360 audio is overall pretty terrible, so that could be why.

 

[dub Beatz]

Alright man, that's what I heard as well, that AD700's were prime for games. But I have one last question, when it comes down to comfort can the AD's compete with the HD's? Never owned either pair, and sometimes I'll get home from work at like 9pm and just game till like 4am, so comfort has to be there.

 

[Epik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dub Beatz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Alright man, that's what I heard as well, that AD700's were prime for games. But I have one last question, when it comes down to comfort can the AD's compete with the HD's? Never owned either pair, and sometimes I'll get home from work at like 9pm and just game till like 4am, so comfort has to be there.

The ADs are probably considered more comfortable than the HDs by most. Both are liked for comfort.

And as for xbox, I don't know anything about sounds with consoles, I just play for fun using an onkyo SS system.

Perhaps you might benefit from an astro mixamp, I see lots of xbox users snatching those up.

 

[Necrolic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by dub Beatz /img/forum/go_quote.gif Alright man, that's what I heard as well, that AD700's were prime for games. But I have one last question, when it comes down to comfort can the AD's compete with the HD's? Never owned either pair, and sometimes I'll get home from work at like 9pm and just game till like 4am, so comfort has to be there.

ADs are hands down more comfortable than the HDs (unless you have a tiny head, in which case I've heard they can be somewhat uncomfortable).

And yeah like Epik said, for the guy using his Xbox, the Astro Mixamp is the only thing I can think of to help you out, not sure how much it will do.