[fritzritz]

Hello! I am just getting into the headphones game and will pretty much only use the headphones for gaming.  My budget is $250 with wiggle room.  I appreciate a balanced sound and will be using the headphones for a mix of casual and competitive gaming.
 
So far, I have my eyes on the Philips Fidelio X2.
 
Also, i posted a similar thread on the headphones subreddit and got the following response:
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/3gu4o4/daily_headphone_purchase_advice_thread/cu3319z?context=3
 
I was pretty surprised by what this guy had to say and would love a second opinion on his reply.
 
Thanks!

 

[GREQ]

I hate to say it but he's only telling the story from one side of the coin. (the gamer side)
 
To me it sounds like he's basing most of his argument on FPS gaming where all your attention is focused on visuals and only the direction of sound. 
The critical flaw in this way of thinking is that not all games are competitive FPS games.
Also, the other side of the coin is the perspective of the audio-enthusiast.
 
Other games are slow-paced and ambient. 
When playing these types of games, your attention is often diverted to ambient sounds, or the game is designed to push your attention to those sounds.
I found this particularly the case when enjoying 'Dear Esther' where the carefully crafted environment including the ambient sounds are one of the main characteristics of the game.
Then there are other games like Crypt of the Necrodancer - music enjoyment is critical for this game!
Other games just have awesome soundtracks, like Battleblock Theater, Super Meatboy, Saints Row 3/4, and of course games like GTA5 have entire radio stations!!
 
When gaming the other most important thing is to get a very comfortable, fullsize but lightweight headphone that you can forget you're wearing.
This massively improves immersion.
(for example Beyerdynamic DT770/DT990, Sennheiser HD558, Philips SHP8900 (discontinued))
 
If you're seriously into audio, don't under-spend either.
There are some moments in gaming where I've been SO glad I was wearing a high quality headphone.
An example: I recently finished Bioshock Infinite. Had I worn a lower quality headphone, I feel that I wouldn't have been as immersed and not enjoyed the in-game music as much.
But since I was wearing a headphone that can play music just as beautifully as it can do sub-bass rumbles (not overblown) for cinematic style explosive moments meant that I was always fully immersed and could enjoy every moment and every subtle nuance in sound.
 
As a side note, I've been gaming for 27 years, and PC gaming for 20. 

 

[superjawes]

I see you've already found MLE's guide, which is a good place to start.

I can basically just repeat what is there and what GregQ said. You can easily get "ideal" performance for competitive gaming, but spending more on better headphones is going to improve immersion in those non/less-competitive games. Audio is a big component of almost all games.

$250 should get you headphones that sound great for music and are still competent for competitive gaming.

 

[fritzritz]

  I hate to say it but he's only telling the story from one side of the coin. (the gamer side)
 
To me it sounds like he's basing most of his argument on FPS gaming where all your attention is focused on visuals and only the direction of sound. 
The critical flaw in this way of thinking is that not all games are competitive FPS games.
Also, the other side of the coin is the perspective of the audio-enthusiast.
 
Other games are slow-paced and ambient. 
When playing these types of games, your attention is often diverted to ambient sounds, or the game is designed to push your attention to those sounds.
I found this particularly the case when enjoying 'Dear Esther' where the carefully crafted environment including the ambient sounds are one of the main characteristics of the game.
Then there are other games like Crypt of the Necrodancer - music enjoyment is critical for this game!
Other games just have awesome soundtracks, like Battleblock Theater, Super Meatboy, Saints Row 3/4, and of course games like GTA5 have entire radio stations!!
 
When gaming the other most important thing is to get a very comfortable, fullsize but lightweight headphone that you can forget you're wearing.
This massively improves immersion.
(for example Beyerdynamic DT770/DT990, Sennheiser HD558, Philips SHP8900 (discontinued))
 
If you're seriously into audio, don't under-spend either.
There are some moments in gaming where I've been SO glad I was wearing a high quality headphone.
An example: I recently finished Bioshock Infinite. Had I worn a lower quality headphone, I feel that I wouldn't have been as immersed and not enjoyed the in-game music as much.
But since I was wearing a headphone that can play music just as beautifully as it can do sub-bass rumbles (not overblown) for cinematic style explosive moments meant that I was always fully immersed and could enjoy every moment and every subtle nuance in sound.
 
As a side note, I've been gaming for 27 years, and PC gaming for 20. 

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply, very appreciated.  I completely agree with your thoughts on audio importance and diversity in gaming.  I just got done playing Alien Isolation....holy moley that games' sound ambiance was amazingly beautiful, terrifying, and thrilling on a full surround sound system I just set up, I couldn't imagine playing it through regular tv speakers.  I look forward to revisiting the game with headphones.
 
I am definitely fine with spending $300 to get a full gaming audio experience, audio is my favorite part of games and I'm willing to budget more for it.  I am also fine with spending less if that also suffices, I don't always believe that spending more money means guaranteed improvements.
 
Unfortunately, I don't have an audio store near me to try out headphones directly so when I get responses like I did in the subreddit I get worried haha but every response to my post here and in another thread all say otherwise which is reassuring.
 
I would like a high quality and balanced audio experience for casual and competitive gaming.  I think I am looking between the AKG612 or Fedelio X2.  Any thoughts or recommendations?

 

[fritzritz]

.

 

[fritzritz]

I see you've already found MLE's guide, which is a good place to start.

I can basically just repeat what is there and what GregQ said. You can easily get "ideal" performance for competitive gaming, but spending more on better headphones is going to improve immersion in those non/less-competitive games. Audio is a big component of almost all games.

$250 should get you headphones that sound great for music and are still competent for competitive gaming.

 
Thanks for the response. MLE's guide is an amazing resource for sure and are making things much easier.  I was pretty overwhelmed before I stumbled upon it.  Head-fi is a great community as well, I really appreciate the great discussions I lurk upon, lots of rational people here!  It was difficult looking on other sites, seemed to be a lot of contradicting discussions that were confusing. 
 
I would like a high quality and balanced audio experience for casual and competitive gaming.  I think I am looking between the AKG612 or Fedelio X2.  Any thoughts or recommendations?  I am not rushing this purchase so I have time to research and get comfortable before making a decision.

 

[cel4145]

The K612 Pro are difficult to drive. You either need a good sound card or an external headphone amp to go with them.

 

[GREQ]

   It was difficult looking on other sites, seemed to be a lot of contradicting discussions that were confusing. 

That's because everyone on headfi is united in willing you to buy new headphones! 

 

 

[Youth]

Whatever you end up buying, make sure to buy it from a place with return policy in case you don't like it.

 

[fritzritz]

The K612 Pro are difficult to drive. You either need a good sound card or an external headphone amp to go with them.

I have an Onkyo tx-nr636 AV receiver that I hope to have the headphones connected to.  I am trying to investigate the implications if I do and how the AV receiver will help or hurt the headphones, or maybe not affect them at all.  I am not sure if an AV receiver counts as an amp or not for headphones...

 

[cel4145]

The receiver should easily be able to drive the K612 Pro.