[DrDoak]

Hi. I'm new to the forums so I have a few questions for you all. I plan on buying a pair of headphones for my laptop. I've been reading the stickies and reviews on this site and I seem to like the Grado SR60's. However, I have read some reviews that say these are great overall headphones for music and stuff, but aren't good for gaming. Can anyone tell me any truth to this? For example, I've read some reviews on other sites saying that the SteelSeries 5H v2 would be a much better choice for gaming. So I'm kind of torn between the two... Also, I'm currently using onboard sound on my laptop but have been looking into the Creative X Fi Notebook Xtreme Audio sound card. Apparently it also got good reviews but I figured I'd ask your all's opinions as well. It seems as if everyone has their own personal preferences so I really just need to know Grado SR60 vs SteelSeries 5H v2 and X Fi for notebook yes, no, or other solution. Thank you so much for reading my first post.

- Matt

Edit - The reasons I heard that the Grado SR60's weren't good for gaming was because of the soundstage. Also I play games such as Counter-Strike: Source and Team Fortress 2 and I've heard that SteelSeries is more optimized towards them. Someone please set me straight, haha.

 

[Alai]

What's your budget and what kind of music do you listen to?

What you're looking for is soundstage, detail and clarity, and positional audio (although I think that comes with the combination of the first two). There are a number of headphones that are exceptional at these, but they have some of their own flavor. So let us know the answers to the questions and we will provide solutions.

Also, if your budget allows, we may want to up your source.

 

[DrDoak]

Honestly, I really don't have a budget. I buy more on the basis of price/performance. As in, I'm not going to go out and buy the most expensive thing because its the best but more of, I'll buy something because it stands out at a particular price point. If you have any recommendations at particular prices points I would love to hear them. I'm also not very familiar with the upgrading of a a source, such as an amp or other device. Thanks again.

 

[Nocturnal310]

If u want headphones more for Gaming/Movies then checkout HD555..around $100-120 and work easily off a soundcard..u can buy fiio E5 ..cheap amp to get that additional bass boost for Gaming.

 

[vumanhha]

I think 5HV2 with USB soundcard is the best for gaming.

 

[LostOne.TR]

Don't know how the positional audio is on the steelseries, I just remember reading that they were tuned to emphasize certain sounds (cues such as weapons/footsteps).

There's a strong following for audio techs for gaming, but even then, the discovery of gaming friendly headsets seems to be slow. Just look at how long it took for people to figure out the razer 5.1s were bad, and to go back to hyping the icemats/steelsound for awhile. I'd hit up a gaming community, and try to get the general consensus. Might be a bit harder to weed out the useless opinions (ones based on only trying headset X, and none of the other competitors out there), but you should be able to figure it out.

 

[DrDoak]

That was probably the best answer I've ever been given on a forum. I'll see what I can do in terms of finding reviews more geared towards gaming specific headphones. Thank you so much for your help.

 

[slowfreight]

I've been down down that path as you can tell from this pic.

The grados you see here are the sr225. I purchased the sr60's, but soon discovered that they truly were not the best for gaming. Not to mention that the sound leaks out. I upgraded to the 225, but still wasn't very impressed game wise. With music grados are awesome, but they lack bass. Then I purchased the D2000's which I still have. IMHO these are great for gaming and for music and they don't really need an amp. Although, they sound even better amped. I changed my source several times too from an Audigy II, to an Auzen Prelude to a an HT Omega Halo before I was happy with the sound. I've even had a pair of beyerdynamic dt880's which I didn't like as much as my D2000's.

D2000's
The Good:
Awesome sound stage
Great bass
Superb 3D positioning.

The Bad:
Not very portable
Big
Some sound leaks out (Hardly Noticeable)
Mids are a bit recessed, but I've had headphones with descent mids and did not like them.

Never heard any of the steelseries cans so I can't comment. X-Fi + D2000's is an excellent combo. Until they make an HT Omega Halo for laptops. Hopes this helps.