[MakoFury]

Hey everyone, I bought my Sennheiser HD 600s about 4 months ago. My friend was leaving to study abroad and wanted the Senn 600s but could not get the good price from ordering the online because he didn't have the time to have them shipped because he was leaving so soon. He offered me $240 (the exact price of replacement) for the Senn 600s and I agreed. I miss my HD600s but realized that since 100% of my listening comes from the computer, the HD600s aren't really that good of a choice because of the amp requirement. Right now I'm looking for the best headphones for gaming. My budget will be the same as the Senn 600s, so around $240.
Is sealed better than open for games? The game in question is Counter-Strike. I want to be able to hear all the ambient noises and at the same time I want good bass, something that the Senn 600s did not provide most likely due to the lack of an amp. I've been looking at the Beyer series but each headphone seems to get such mixed reviews. As far as music is concerned, I mostly listen to pop and alternative/rock. Comfort is also a big issue with me, the Senn 600s were always comfortable and I would like to find something similar. So my #1 priority is games, after that is mp3s on the computer. BTW, I have a Terratec DMX 6 FIRE sound card which also as a headphone jack with a mini-amp. All replies are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

MakoFury

 

[akar]

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[MakoFury]

Thx for the recommendation akar, I noticed that you have a Beyer 831 in your inventory in your profile. How do these compare with the 250-80s? The 831s were my first choice just based on the headroom review saying that it was their favorite closed headphone. I don't mind spending extra money for a better product. Thanks!

MakoFury

 

[Gluegun]

Is that terratec card a sensaura-based card?

I ask this because people tend to have the best experiences with using sensaura based cards and open, circumaural headphones...

So that means that a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz to a headphone amp to some HD600's is a VERY nice solution indeed... or, without the headphone amp, simply the TBSC -> Sennheiser HD590's works great...

 

[MacDEF]

Beyer DT250-80, as akar said.

The DT831 would probably be the worst of all the Beyers for your application. They are brighter to begin with, so they'll bring out all the harshness of computer audio. In addition, they don't have much bass, which I think you'll really miss playing games and listening to your music. Finally, they need an amp more than the DT250-80 do.

 

[akar]

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[Snufkin]

Another vote for the 250-80s

Excellent isolation, durable, comfortable, easy to drive, excellent positioning in games and excellent overall sound for games (and everything else for that matter

)

 

[andrzejpw]

The beyer 250-80s are great for gaming. For those who are considering headphones for gaming, remember that bass is not the most important thing. You really want to hear the highs, for those footsteps. . .

 

[MakoFury]

How much different are the 250-80s to the 250-250s? I can get the Senn 600s for $240, this being said is it worth it just to pay a little more to get the Sennheisers. I also really like the feel of full-sized headphones, as I find them more comfortable when they fit over the entire ear. Does this change anything? Are the BD 770 pros good as well? Thanks guys for such prompt replies, I really appreciate it.

Mako

 

[akar]

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[RunsWithScissors]

Quote:

Originally posted by MakoFury ...since 100% of my listening comes from the computer, the HD600s aren't really that good of a choice because of the amp requirement. Right now I'm looking for the best headphones for gaming. I want to be able to hear all the ambient noises and at the same time I want good bass... As far as music is concerned, I mostly listen to pop and alternative/rock. Comfort is also a big issue So my #1 priority is games, after that is mp3s on the computer. MakoFury

Correct me if I'm wrong but it looks like your wish list can be distilled down to the list I've parsed out here...

I think that you'd be pretty happy with the Beyer DT250-80s too.

I listen mainly to alternative and variants of rock and the 250-80 are great. They are also very forgiving of less-than-ideal sound from mp3/soundcard and sound great with high quality mp3 too.

Since you've had issues with higher impedance/lower sensitivity phones and don't have an amp, I can tell you that the 250-80 will again be a good fit. I've had to crank the volume a bit from an aureal sound card but it drives it plenty loud for MP3s and for games (Unreal is *unreal*

). I'm betting that the dt250-250 and some of the other models you've cited won't do well without an amp but I've only listened to the 250-80 personally.

If you're willing to get an amp, then you may want to keep looking beyond the 250-80 (though I'd rather spend my time using these phones than trying to find something better!) but without an amp, that's my recommendation since I'm happy with mine and we seem to have similar uses and sources.

If you have any doubts, order a couple different phones from someplace like headroom (http://headphone.com/) and then return whichever one you don't like after trying for up to 30 days

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Actually the HD580 was great when I was using them for Counterstrike... I could actually start hearing the footsteps properly

I bet I could snipe somebody using echolocation if I played again with my etys

 

[MakoFury]

Well, I went ahead and bought the 250-80s from headroom.

They should be here by Friday so hopefully I'll like them. Thx for all the advice and replies guys.

Mako

 

[RunsWithScissors]

Let us know what you think of the beyers when you get 'em.

BTW - Welcome to Head-Fi, sorry about your wallet

 

[MakoFury]

Well, after auditioning the Beyer's for about 10 minutes, I already packed them up ready to be shipped back to headroom tommorrow. Don't get me wrong, these sounded like great headphones but I just realized that I really really really DO NOT like sealed headphones. I found it very uncomfortable, I felt like I was on an airplane or at a shooting range. Im sure the Beyers are great headphones but I guess im just not a sealed headphone type. As far as sound, they sounded great, however it's sort of unsettling how I would spend $170 for headphones just for gaming. Im now looking at less expensive headphones but I thank everyone for advising me. I understand that my thread was "best gaming headphones with no budget." But the Beyers just didn't do it for me, maybe I was spoiled from having the Senn 600s.

MakoFury