[Stillhart]

  I just got my Philips X1 and Vmoda BoomPro,  and its a terrific setup for gaming, specially the microphone is really good in terms of quality, i done very brief testing, but everybody (over 40 different persons) prefer the VModa Boom pro microphone over my UBS Rode Podecaster and UBS Yeti Blue, that imo are much better mics, but they say it sound much clearer and its like having me next to them.  Also I own Modmic 2.0, 3.0 and recently aquired the 4.0, i did some testing between the three with 5 people on mumble entering on my omega eclaro soundcard, and i from their feedback, they prefered also the boompro, very close by Midmic 2.0, some couldn't tell which was which, but on the modmic 3.0 and 4.0 all said were less detailed than the 2.0 and the Vmoda Boompro.  The only downside of the Vmoda Boompro is its not noise cancelling, keyboard typing its very esiliy heard so are ambient noise, where the modmic is much better.
 
Now on the Phillips X1, im pretty satisfied with its comfort, really a great headphone, specially for gaming, love the velour padding and its very comfortable for me to wear for hours.  Now on the sound.... i feel as i have felt with most of the Open headphones, its much more detailed in mids and high, and has very detailed bass, but lacks the fun part, its not like my Ultrasone 900Pro where its a much more fun headphone for my taste.  Ill be ordering a Astro Mixamp 2011 edition to test it on the PS4, but as right now i see them more like AD700 than the 900pro in terms of fun, in terms of positional... the X1 imo are amazing as they AD700 are, maybe a little less in terms of having more bass than the AD700... but still a very well good.  Overall im pleased with the heaphones, just i was expecting a more fun, maybe with the mixamp it can change some.

 
Interesting.  I wonder what the Ultrasone 900Pro sounds like if you think the X1 isn't "fun".  Everything I've read about the AD700 says it's got almost no bass.  My experience with the X1 is that it has so much bass that it muddies up the mids.  The Ultrasone must shake your eyeballs in your skull to make the X1 not seem "fun".

 

[kashim]

are k612 good as ad700 or q701 for gaming?

 

[Evshrug]

Interesting.  I wonder what the Ultrasone 900Pro sounds like if you think the X1 isn't "fun".  Everything I've read about the AD700 says it's got almost no bass.  My experience with the X1 is that it has so much bass that it muddies up the mids.  The Ultrasone must shake your eyeballs in your skull to make the X1 not seem "fun".

Omg have you ever heard a Sony XB500?
When you first put them on, you'll think "oh pleather but actually pretty soft." Start music and you'll laugh for three seconds but then go "GWUOOOOOOOOOOH!"

'‘O~O’`

 

[Stillhart]

  are k612 good as ad700 or q701 for gaming?

 
If you keep asking, you might get a different answer?  

 

[Evshrug]

are k612 good as ad700 or q701 for gaming?

This is all you'll get from me, our discussion from the same page you first posted on:

Many shops offer loaning programs for headphones. When a local shop here didn't have the LCD-2 I ordered it from the north of Germany for 2 weeks marked as a loaner. Yes, you can have headphones sent to your house if you ask. I am sure in the Netherlands as well. Of course you need to pay the amount as a safety. (my local shop just makes a copy of my ID).

Anyway, there's no need to read all pages. Read the reviews, check out measurements (though MLE's reviews are pretty spot on about the dips, lows, elevations, balances etc.) pick max 3 phones that really interest you and are affordable and try to get loaners. Listen to them, game, watch movies, find out what you like. Once you like them you could see how people  that prefer these headphones think about them or if they even have additional phones that they listen next to them and why (ultimately your ears should decide).

Right now I am listening to the HD 800 via a Soundblaster ZxR (yes, still got my DAC) and it's still a fantastic experience. If I only read about this headphone I would have stayed away because 1000+ DACs, AMPz'n'stuff yo. (though there's a bit of Schiit Modi/Vali HD 800 hype going on right now).

Time isn't more limited than 30 years ago. (not directed at you). 99% of the people that complain about lack of time in today's day and age are easy to spot on social media/whatsapp, wasting away. =D

No.  A new cable will make a difference, but there are plenty of upgrades that will make a much much bigger difference. 

Regarding the relative merits of the reviews, I think you guys are missing something here.  When you're comparing the best of the best, you look for any little flaw just to differentiate things.  

Ferrari vs Lamborghini, do you really think that there's so much of a difference that hours of research is necessary?  No, get the car that gives you the biggest wood and be ******* happy.

How about that new guitar you want to buy?  Very little difference when you're just learning.  Get the one that makes you want to pick up that guitar and fondle it every time you walk by it.

Headphones for competitive gaming?  This is a 9 and that's a 9.5!  I'm going to hear one less footstep per month!  Is it worth?!?!? 

Just pick one and enjoy it.  I swear to god, I've never seen a nooby in this thread (including myself) finally decide on a headphone and then come back and go, "I know it was rated 9.5 but I think it's just meh and I regret my choice."  Flip a coin, buy one, and then enjoy it!

Later, once you have your own idea of what you like and don't, we can give better advice on what will work for you.  But when you're first getting started, there's effectively no difference between the heavy hitters in this thread.

I don't even care if the continuity doesn't make much sense, just click to see the original post for context. And personally, I'll just quote the last time we said "Can't pick for you, read the review content and make your own choice" every time from now on when people ask "the question" in this thread. Especially if they ask it more than once.

 

[Change is Good]

Hi guys,

It's been a while. So, I'm having trouble choosing between the MA900, Q701, K612, and X1...

Which is the absolute best for gaming? I'm greedy, so I want everything a headphone can offer at under $200. If you say which one is better, I will ask you why... again, again, and again... in hopes you say the other, because I don't really want that one you chose.

Thanks and credit to Mud Last Envy for putting this wonderful guide together (which I didn't even bother to f*ing read)!

Ooooh.. pretty numbers

 

[kashim]

This is all you'll get from me, our discussion from the same page you first posted on:

I don't even care if the continuity doesn't make much sense, just click to see the original post for context. And personally, I'll just quote the last time we said "Can't pick for you, read the review content and make your own choice" every time from now on when people ask "the question" in this thread. Especially if they ask it more than once.

ok ty man i m only so scared because can t wrong buy in this moment ^^

 

[AxelCloris]

Hi guys,

It's been a while. So, I'm having trouble choosing between the MA900, Q701, K612, and X1...

Which is the absolute best for gaming? I'm greedy, so I want everything a headphone can offer at under $200. If you say which one is better, I will ask you why... again, again, and again... in hopes you say the other, because I don't really want that one you chose.

Thanks and credit to Mud Last Envy for putting this wonderful guide together (which I didn't even bother to f*ing read)!

Ooooh.. pretty numbers

 
Don't buy any of those. Those are terrible. Buy these.

 

[conquerator2]

  
Don't buy any of those. Those are terrible. Buy these.

^ That and the 4.5 customer rating based on 300 reviews.

 

[Evshrug]

At one point in Mad's guide, he explains what makes a headphone work better than average with surround processing: soundstage (sense of space and depth), a sense of "air" to the treble, and clean details. Unless specifically stated as a poor example, almost all the headphones listed in this guide work well with surround processing and can surprise people used to listening to games in stereo.
•Competitive headphones maximize these traits and cut down on fuzziness/muddiness/distortion, and don't have colored bass that is boosted above neutral and overshadows detail, but sometimes they're by their nature a little dry and clinical for being engaged in music or believably realistic.
•"Immersive" style headphones do draw you into the audio, this can come from a colored sound (extra bass, recessed mids, extra treble) or a "holographic/transparent" sound that seems so realistic that sometimes you can't tell if a sound came from the game or your real-life environment.
•"All-'Rounder" headphones lean towards realism and that "holographic/transparent" sound, where they are both engaging to listen to but tend more to stay close to the believably uncolored and balanced sound signature, maybe slightly less crisp or highlights details less than the "competitive" headphones and not quite as indulgent for Jam Sessions like an "Immersive" headphone but remain very capable and satisfying headphones.

Again, unless Mad specifically states a headphone is bad in an area or just bad overall, all of these headphones in the guide are recommended! We understand that you want your money to be spent on the "best" choice: none of these choices are "bad" or "wrong." Just season to taste: read a headphone review and consider if the description appeals to what you want. If a headphone isn't in the guide, then Mad hasn't heard it or nobody else wrote a detailed enough guest review to add to the guide.

MAD, feel free to use this summary in your intro if you like how I worded it, though I think you have stated these thoughts somewhere.


To all people asking for recommendations,
The guide IS a list of recommendations. The thread regulars cannot cannot adequately make individual recommendations more specific to you because, ultimately, we don't know you. You DO though! So read the reviews on headphones that interest you. When people ask for us regulars to narrow it down for them, it buries the posts where other people contribute their own reviews, juicy news, or opinions.

This thread would be MORE useful and easier to browse for info if it wasn't cluttered with special requests... and that's not even counting the many people PM'ing us like it was our job to provide service. Not to embarrass anyone, but here's the QUANTITY of posts where people don't analyze their tastes and make a special request in JUST THE PAST WEEK (prepare for quote-puke):

are k612 good as ad700 or q701 for gaming?

lacuna coil is great group ...can u raccomand me akg k612 for competitive 80% and 20% single player games over the other?are they accurated with great soundstage immersivity and positional audio?u say : with k701 i can hear when enemy cross one point and can prefire him (nice :tongue_smile: ) can akg k612 do this and can compete with ad700x k701 without sacrifice so much sound quality and immersivity? 

u ve tryed ad700x k701 q701 dt990 and akg k612...if u need 1 of that for competitive player fps 80% and other games 20% what u buy?

une they really good for positional audio,accuracy like ad700 or k701?

better then ad700,dt990,q701,k701 for gaming?in competitive?

hi guy s i m looking for a best gaming headphone under 200 euro,i m competitive player i need a headphone with huge soundestage optimal direction and accuracy for positional audio(like a wallhack )i have read the guide and i m looking between
ad700x                                          fun 6 com 10 
dt990                                            fun 8.5 com 8 
akg k612(my vote)                        fun 7.25 com 9 
hd558(pc360 headphone)            fun 6 com 9 
akg k701                                       fun 6 com 10 
i know that score,akg k701 and ad700 are the best but aren t fun,they aren t immersive,gaming isn t only foots step or positional audio.don t wanna listel a bomb explosione like a bam....sxxt is a boom!!...akg k612 have good comp rating 9 and good fun 7.25....but have good soundstage directional audio and accuracy?someone suggest it for me or some other choise is better for me?i use soundblaster z with 600 ohm for amp

I was searching online for comfortable but good sounding headsets suitable for the longer gaming sessions and came up with these two :

Sennheiser PC 320
Beyerdynamic MMX 2 

What do you guys think about these two ?

I heard they are better than these "mainstream" gimmicky headsets  from SC CA and SS ...

Hnnng I'm so confused!

On recommendation of this thread, I bought the Creative Auvana Live headphones and used them for months, and they. were. EPIC!
I hadn't owned anything really good before then, only the Porta pros and the PX-100 II headphones, so my oppinion of the CALs are probably skewed.

However 2 weeks ago, I lost my Creative Aurvanas at university, because I'm a moron who puts £50 headphones down next to a public computer and doesn't them pick them up...

I've spent the past 2 weeks using only my PX-100 IIs (with falling appart earpads), which are pure garbage in comparison the glory of my CALs. I can't hold on any longer. I have to buy new headphones or I will go mad. However I don't just want to get another pair of CALs. I want to go better.

So here's the dilemma. I've got my Xonar DG soundcard with built in amp, and I don't want to have to buy another amp. I preferably want to buy headphones that are better at positional audio than the CALs, but I don't want to buy a pair of headphones that I find musically inferior to the CALs.
I'm willing to try something that MAY be worse than the CALs, as long as it's got a nice easy return policy like amazon's.

I don't want to spend more than £200, but really over £150 is really pushing it.

The headphones that are appealing to me are:
DT990s
AKG Q701s
AKG K701s
AKG K612 Pros


According to the numbers, the DT990 has better "fun" and "competative" than the CAL, but upon reading the review's description of the sound signature and other reviews, I feel sort of put off. I'm not sure I'm after bassy trebbly headphones with recessed mids, which is what people seem to say they are.
Despite the fact that they only get an 8 on competitive, compared to the AKG K701's 10, Mad Lust Envy says they still sold  the K701s after he got them, which has me confused about the level of difference between an 8 and a 10.

The AKG K701s 10 for competitive really excites me, especially when reading Mad Lust's words about how it felt to try them for the first time, but I'm not prepared to sacrifice so much when it comes to musical listening as the guide makes out that I will.

AKG K612 Pros sound like a solid pair of headphones, but they take a big hit compared the CALs on the "Fun" side (which I using to guess how they'll do with musical listening), and the competitive side isn't talked about with the same enthusiasm as it is with the K701s or Q701s, so I feel like these would be a downgrade on the CALs.

I'd totally buy the AKG Q701s from amazon to try if only they were a bit cheaper. They take a big hit on the fun side compared to the CALs, but they have a really high competative score and the description makes it sound like they are a lot closer to the K701s than the AKG K612 Pros are, but I wouldn't get them at the £200 price point.
I can get a second hand pair for £150, but the issue is I can't get them with amazon's nice trusty 30 day returns policy, only a 14 day returns policy, so I'd prefer to have a bit more reassurance that'd enjoy them enough musically compared to the CAL, and that any compromise is made up for in the soundwhore side.

And TBH I still sort of feel that even though I'm prepared to pay over 3 times the price of the CAL's for something better, it seems like there isn't anything clear cut better in that price range, so I might as well get the CAL's again, since they don't need an amp, and seem more portable and a heck of a lot less expensive

So what I'm asking is, due to the subjective nature of headphones and music, has anyone had the CALs, then bought any of those headphones, and still felt that they beat the CAL's musically, dispite Mad lust's rankings? Is there a good chance I won't feel that buying any of those headphones is a downgrade when I listen to them?

Edit: whoops! that's a long post.

TLR
Has anyone who owned a pair of CALs felt that the DT990s, AKG Q701s, AKG K701s or AKG K612 Pros were just about on par or an improvement over the CALs when it comes to music?

Does anyone know how the PC350 SE and G4ME Zero compare to any of the headphones in MLEs list?

Better yet, how does it compare to the close headsets that he has tried, like the Astro A40's?

I know Sound stage is reduced but I like how it still retains alot of clarity when used for games. I want to say that if you use the 350SE or G4ME Zero with a PC and using an Asus DG sound card, Dolby headphone would help in widen the soundstage, especially since you can adjust how far apart the speakers can be. But I wonder how the 350SE would work for consoles, well with the Astro Mix Amp.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Hi guys,
if you dont care about Money(ok, max 600$), what are the best competitive shooter (Call of Duty headphones)?

I know, many guys have the same question and believe me, I have read thousands of reviews, Posts, threads and so on and I am still not sure about it.

ATH AD700x, ATH AD900x, AKG K702, Q701 or Beyer T90? Yes, most of them need Amps. Thats not the Problem, but which one is the best and which one is second and so on.
If an AKG is slight better for gaming, than please tell it.

I am fascinated by this Topic, but I can`t decide which one.

Someone told me, that I have to look at the first page and there ist a list 1-10... and I never found it, just an Index, but that is no Rating.

I know, here are a lot of Pros with a lot experience.... please help me.


And a second question:
I own a Asus Phoebus, a Creative Z and the Turtle Beach XP Seven ACU.
Would you recommand an Asus Essence STX 2 or a Creative ZXR, because it would increase my competitive Sound, or would be the difference that small, that I wouldn`t mention it?!

Thanky for your help!!!

 

[BigBadWulf]

Take the AD 700 if you have not enough money to buy the Q701. Just my opinion.
 
The way this discussion takes is not that nice. Take a beer and cheers, skoal  Prost all together!

 

[Change is Good]

The problem, here, is that people refuse to read. We can't fix that, no matter how much information is added to the guide.

 

[conquerator2]

Am I the only one who finds reading about different headphones thrilling and exciting? Especially when I am trying to choose from a bunch... Guess it's cause I am into it 

 Same apply to electronics, games, ... anything I like basically 

 

[BigBadWulf]

I am looking for a youtube clip, where a guy from creative demonstrates virtual 3D with working tools (drill). Somewhen I deleted this link, and I can`t find it anymore. It was a superb surround simulation to test Headphones.
Is anyone here, who has that link?
I only find the barbershop again and again But Luigi is cool too
http://youtu.be/IUDTlvagjJA
EDIT:
I finally found it... but I thought it was better :/
http://youtu.be/XlsIPwSj6Q0

 

[Evshrug]

Take the AD 700 if you have not enough money to buy the Q701. Just my opinion.

The way this discussion takes is not that nice. Take a beer and cheers, skoal  Prost all together!

Thanks for trying to make an additive post.
I don't think we're flaming anyone here and trying to start an argument, so I wouldn't say this discussion is taking a mean turn either... There's just frustration. I started from Sennheiser PX100, went to AD700, then Q701, and at that point I'd have suggested the same, but now... Now the AD700 isn't the bargain it used to be (discontinued and the successor AD700x is also very good, but priced higher), now I've explored many more headphones, but most importantly now I've been visiting this thread for over 3 years and I've learned that "my" best headphone is different from some one else's, and it's better to present a few good options and let the other person decide what fits their priority.

The problem is that the first post already presents a nice list of great options... Anything else I could add is redundant other than my opinion (such as my ears found the MA900 about as withdrawn from engaging as the AD700, but your ears/opinion may differ). And like I said, personal requests and redundant posts bury posts that add to the discussion, like personal reviews or science-y bits or humor. Enough people make the excuse that the they can't find anything because the thread is XXXX pages long, so making things clear up-front would make things easier for people to do research.