[wixy]

I was wondering if anyone could offer some suggestions on good 'surround sound' headphones for gaming purposes?

Are there any?

Happy to hear also from people convinced that regular headphones would be better.

 

[jp_zer0]

There is absolutely no doubt that surround sound headphones are a piece of **** and a disgrace.

 

[bcpk]

You don't need "surround sound" headphones for surround sound, believe me. Just good ones

 

[3602]

Psyko. Logitech 7.1.

 

[NumLock]

For PC or Console(PS3/Xbox)?

Either way I would suggest AD700 or DT880 depending on budget.
For PC get a good X-Fi sound card and console get a Mixamp for Dolby decoding.

 

[eucariote]

I don't play video games, but I remember a post where someone said the wide soundstage and detail of his DT770-80 headphones helped him pinpoint enemies to the point that he was accused of cheating. Their thumpin bass would probably be good also for conveying explosions and heavy machines. They're certainly 'regular' headphones so you might enjoy music with them too.

 

[ickyman]

I got a pair of ath-ad700's that I use primarily for gaming.

They are nice, they aren't perfect though. The bass is a bit weak... which only really bothers me when I am listening to music, but their sound stage makes up for that loss... it is massive.

I can't honestly compare them to the beyer's... I don't own a pair.

They are very comfy. You should be warned though if you have a small head they may be a bit too loose of fitting for you to be comfortable. I am not that big in stature... I'm around 5'10 and 170lbs. I'd guess I have an average size head. They are a bit loose fitting on me, but not to the point where I have to sit in one position to avoid them from falling off. If I do make a very quick motion though, they will get disturbed.

Hope that puts them into perspective.

Overall, I feel they are worth your look given your application. I am very happy with mine.

On another note... from what I read in the headphone buyer's guide the beyer 770's are recommended for use with an amp. That may be something worth considering as well depending on your set-up. As I said I don't own a pair... dunno if anyone out there has experience which contradicts that.

 

[pwnRhasta]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ickyman /img/forum/go_quote.gif I got a pair of ath-ad700's that I use primarily for gaming. They are nice, they aren't perfect though. The bass is a bit weak... which only really bothers me when I am listening to music, but their sound stage makes up for that loss... it is massive. I can't honestly compare them to the beyer's... I don't own a pair. They are very comfy. You should be warned though if you have a small head they may be a bit too loose of fitting for you to be comfortable. I am not that big in stature... I'm around 5'10 and 170lbs. I'd guess I have an average size head. They are a bit loose fitting on me, but not to the point where I have to sit in one position to avoid them from falling off. If I do make a very quick motion though, they will get disturbed. Hope that puts them into perspective. Overall, I feel they are worth your look given your application. I am very happy with mine. On another note... from what I read in the headphone buyer's guide the beyer 770's are recommended for use with an amp. That may be something worth considering as well depending on your set-up. As I said I don't own a pair... dunno if anyone out there has experience which contradicts that.

+1 AD700

 

[Redo]

Grab some AD700's and a sound card like an X-Fi.

X-Fi for WinXP:

CMSS-3d enabled, and there's a setting that says "sync to windows settings" or something along those lines, make sure that is UNCHECKED. Then you want windows/x-fi in 2/2.1 mode, and in game in 5.1 mode. You'll get some wild virtual surround sound

X-Fi for Vista/Win 7:

Disable CMSS-3d, it makes the sound ugly in Vista/Win 7. Instead use Creative Alchemy, look at the Alchemy Game's List to see what to do once you have it installed.


X-Fi is the only sound card I have experience with for virtual surroundsound. Otherwise I don't know how it works for other sources.

 

[joomongj]

ATH-AD700/900(open) if you want wide soundstage, good mids/highs. Very easy to drive, one of the loudest phones I've tried alongside AH-D2000(sealed, good bass, narrower soundstage, recessed mids).

 

[ickyman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Grab some AD700's and a sound card like an X-Fi.

My set-up may be a bit differnt, but it sounds good to me.

I went another route rather than going with an upgraded sound card. I went with the on-board audio of my Gigabyte UD5. I bought an ibasso D10 and hooked that up to the optical out of the UD5, sounds great.

It can drive the phones well + it is portable, so I am not confined to just using it with my comp.

This may be another thing to consider as opposed to a high end sound card.

I do not have a xfi card, so I can't really draw a comparison.

All I can say is it sounds good to me.

 

[NumLock]

The external dac from an optical is better than just plugging it into the headphone jack for sure.
Though if you want to take advantage of the games software enhanced surround sound(EAX/CMSS3D) then X-Fi is the way to go.
Best way would be X-Fi>>amp>>headphones.

 

[Palpatine]

If you really want a surround effect, coupled with good headphones, try the HD555 or AD700 with the A40 mixamp.

 

[Redo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NumLock /img/forum/go_quote.gif The external dac from an optical is better than just plugging it into the headphone jack for sure. Though if you want to take advantage of the games software enhanced surround sound(EAX/CMSS3D) then X-Fi is the way to go. Best way would be X-Fi>>amp>>headphones.

The X-Fi sends its 2-channel processing through its digital output also. So you can feed the digital output from the X-Fi to your DAC and get the best of both worlds. Bit-perfect playback from your favorite media player through ASIO, kernel streaming, or WASAPI. Virtual surround sound from your games, and the DAC is doing the digital to analog decoding in both instances.

 

[oqvist]

Ultrasones with S-logic plus preferrable... Pro 750 and even better Pro 900 works great. ED 8 huge disappointment in this area though.