[AppleheadMay]

Or a Lyr with 4490 DAC built-in for a HD650 but I'd only invest in taht if you want to use it for music as well.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Or a Lyr with 4490 DAC built-in for a HD650 but I'd only invest in taht if you want to use it for music as well.

That's what I'd want if it had an optical add in card.

 

[Lurkeyyy]

No worries, your prerogative of course. . . but you do realise the AD900X and the ADG1X are near enough the same headphones, right? The only substantial difference is that one has a mic and more of the bass you want (ADG1X) while the other does not (AD900X).
FWIW, it’s not a powered gaming headset or anything like that. There’s no DSP dac/amp dongle, they’re simply 3.5mm jack stereo headphones with an in-line mic. The drivers are an iteration of the AD900X design according to Audio Technica themselves and the comparative spec sheets are virtually identical. Frequency response range, driver size etc. are the same.

I can’t comment much on the Beyers, but having had experience of both the AD900X and the ADG1X, I can safely say that the ADG1X is closer to meeting your stated sonic requirements than the AD900X.
Unless it’s specifically the mic inclusion or a local pricing differential that deters you, it would be worth at least looking into them rather than writing them off due to the gaming branding.

One of the reasons are actually the mic, i'm looking to get a desktop mic and i don't really like to have a mic attached

I was also thinking about the HD6XX since a lot of people are talking about it right now.
How would you say the HD6XX compares to the AD900X and DT 990?

From what i've read is the Sennheiser is more well rounded but how about the soundstage? I'm also upgrading from the Game Zero, do they have a similiar sound characteristic?

Thanks!

 

[AppleheadMay]

That's what I'd want if it had an optical add in card.

Why not without the DAC card and with a Modi?

Indeed silly rhey don’t add optical and coaxial to their add-in cards but they have been asked the question and the answer was clearly “no” to optical. Useful to connect a G6 though.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Why not without the DAC card and with a Modi?

Indeed silly rhey don’t add optical and coaxial to their add-in cards but they have been asked the question and the answer was clearly “no” to optical. Useful to connect a G6 though.

Oh, because I'd like to not need an external dac that doesn't have VSS. So for this, I'd use probably the G6 for VSS and send that to the Lyr's optical in (in theory).

 

[AppleheadMay]

Oh, because I'd like to not need an external dac that doesn't have VSS. So for this, I'd use probably the G6 for VSS and send that to the Lyr's optical in (in theory).

I get that.
I still have to try analog out from the G6 into the Lyr, as I understand it's fixed out so no two volume pots in a row.
Will try to do so next week.

As far as software VSS goes, I really liked Boom 3D and it works with a 2 channel DAC as well.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Boom 3D didn't do it for me. Couldn't get a real sense of rear sounds cues.

 

[Velsu]

Alright i am 10 days in testing Audeze Mobius. I was traveling so my main usage for first 6 days was Bluetooth connected to my S10 and using LDAC to stream music from Tidal Hi-Fi and Spotify Premium. I must say they sound really great in wireless mode and battery really lasted long which was a surprise. I also heard some in game sounds (i also gamed a little bit) that i never heard on S10 speakers so that was a massive plus.

After that i connected them via USB and started listening to music. At first i was a little disappointed. From rumours i was expecting great sound but it was a little muddy. After some tweaking i changed mode to Hi-Res and set EQ to Flat and that was the best possible thing i could do. Suddently they started playing like a charm and i was able to catch some hidden sounds i was not able to pick up with my DT 990. The voices are clear, the drums are AMAZING and so natural. Soundstage seems really good and overall for closed back headphones they sound like open cans. Thanks to planar magnetics Metal and Power metal sounds mindblowing, guitars scream at me with all their power and i can spot small details that were a little clamped together when listening to it via Bass heavy DT 990.

What caughed me off-guard was listening to music in 3D mode. I set EQ to Flat, Mode to 3D manual and channels to 7.1 because i was just done with my gaming session and too lazy to switch to Hi-Res. Some songs sounded weird/worse of course than in Stereo mode (obviously) but some of them... oh my god. I never experienced anything like this with headphones. I can't even describe it, with certain songs sounds started to jump at me from all directions, usually silent 3rd plan instrument that is too silent to be heard in normal mode was clearly there back in my head, i could hear all the instruments so clearly. I can't really describe it, but if someone has time he could experiment with it because that was amazing journey. Radiohead Kid A sounds like out of this world.

As for Gaming i did not really game much because still looking for good games to test, but i did play some Apex and thanks to these headphones i die less. Seriously, i can hear footsteps from far away and pinpoint the source so i can avoid any danger or prepare for battle. I did head to head comparison with DT 990 and yes, i can clearly hear foosteps better and earlier. The 3D is amazing and You can feel bullets flying around Your head.

I was lucky enough to have a pair with not much "hiss" or any static when nothing is playing. When i play a sound i cannot hear any hiss even if Volume is at 2/100 so i am very pleased. They are also very comfortable. I was a little worried such heavy closed backs with all of these devices packed in will weight their fair bit but i can sit whole day with them on and i do not feel any fatigue.

I still need to test some movies tho.

Seriously, if You are a gamer and love music these headphones are a blast. You do not need DAC or Amp because its already build it. They are great for listening to music and are great for gaming, certaily great deal and i definitely need to recommend these.

On a side note, would anyone recommend games or movies on netflix that would be best for testing surround sound a little more?

 

[Chastity]

I still have to try analog out from the G6 into the Lyr, as I understand it's fixed out so no two volume pots in a row.

The G6 has a very clean analog Line-Out, as long as it's fed clean power. I had to use a USB power isolator, but the results are worth it. Output to an Asgard 3, and the amp doesn't pick up any noise to amplify.

 

[SierraMadre]

I get that.
I still have to try analog out from the G6 into the Lyr, as I understand it's fixed out so no two volume pots in a row.

Mine is not fixed volume via analogue line out at rear. Ergo 2 volume pots in a row.

 

[RugbyPlayer]

So im looking at getting a setup that works interchangeably with consoles/PC. I have the mobius at home, but im really disappointed with its lack of real console support. I did some additional research after the fact and found some stuff i wish i had found in my initial search regarding the lack of VSS and low volume on consoles. Also the clamp strength hurts my ears. I have fairly large ears that dont fit 100% inside the cups (either that or i just have no clue how to properly adjust them) and it hurts after a while of gaming. I have a gaming desktop, and a PS4 Pro/Xbox One X and want something that would provide decent VSS/volume levels with all 3. I also have some klipsch speakers i use on the computer but those are hooked up to my creative labs x-fi sound card via optical so i think im set there. The thing is though while all 3 are fairly close, they arent that close, so i would need to relocate whatever i bought to plug it into each individual game system im using at the time. My main guess is im looking for something that supports VSS VIA optical? and then most likely USB to my desktop?

I will note also i do have a pioneer receiver between my consoles and the TV just hooked up through HDMI, does that make the situation any easier?

 

[SierraMadre]

One of the reasons are actually the mic, i'm looking to get a desktop mic and i don't really like to have a mic attached

I was also thinking about the HD6XX since a lot of people are talking about it right now.
How would you say the HD6XX compares to the AD900X and DT 990?

From what i've read is the Sennheiser is more well rounded but how about the soundstage? I'm also upgrading from the Game Zero, do they have a similiar sound characteristic?

Thanks!

I have heard but not owned the HD6XX and HD650 so not a lot of experience just impressions from friends’ sets. No experience of the Game Zero.
The 650 and 6XX are very well balanced, they’re good allrounders but they don’t have that airy open soundstage you appear to be seeking, I’d say the soundstage is medium-sized at best. I have seen a fair number of users call their soundstage small or “intimate” To the point that they “sound like closed-backs”.

Further to your OP, I have borrowed and been testing a pair of DT990s from a friend. Basic impressions are that it beats both Senns for sound stage and bass by a significant margin but can be oddly hot on the treble, even more than the AD900X.

IMO, the AD900X beats all three of the aforementioned for sound stage but comes last for bass.

Of the three, for your stated preferences, I would recommend the DT990 unless you are willing to add bass to the AD900x via DSP/EQ or pad rolling.

If you are willing to look outside that trio then a very worthy alternative would be the AKG K7XX. That has a massive soundstage, bigger than the DT990 IMO, although not as big as the AD900X. It has considerably less bass than the DT990 but still more than the AD900X. Adding Dekoni pads can offset this to some extent, adding more bass in exchange for losing a little bit of the soundstage. I have the Elite Hybrid pads on mine and find the trade-off acceptable. The soundstage is still big but the bass has a bit more presence. If you went with the Elite leather then there’d probably be even more bass, but again, you’d give up a bit more soundstage.

 

[AppleheadMay]

Boom 3D didn't do it for me. Couldn't get a real sense of rear sounds cues.

True but I found the rear speaker effect to be the hardest to achieve with any of the soft- or hardware I tried.
Even when running the test tones in Windows where you set the speakers to 7.1 I thought they were located more to the side-rear and side speakers to the side-front.
Maybe Atmos for Headphones was the best at it but it wasn't perfect either, I found height to be more convincing than rear.
But I found Boom pleasing with some music as well, I tried to enhance some YouTube music videos with it.
I think Boom came a long way since I first tried it years ago when it was nothing more than enhancing loudness and bass.

Mine is not fixed volume via analogue line out at rear. Ergo 2 volume pots in a row.

Didn't know that, I guess I assumed it was going to be fixed since it's a shared optical analog out.
It doesn't really matter that much to me as I will only use analog out as a temporary solution until I can put a DAC between the G6 and the amp and use optical.
I tried optical and it indeed can carry the SBX effect as well which is a damn nice feature and the main reason I chose to keep the G6 over the SXFI and GSX.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Running the 6XX with the Xonar U3 sending Dolby headphone 2 - optical - to Modi 3/Magni 3, definitely gives me some solid rear cues.

People can say whatever they want about Dolby Headphone, but it's still one of the very best to me in terms of being able to accurately place sounds at my 5 or 7 o clock behind me. Boom and some others made it harder for me to tell if the sound is supposed to be for example 5 o clock behind me to my right as opposed to 2 o clock in front of me to my right. If it can't do that well, it's something I consider a huge failure, because that discernability is EVERYTHING to me.

I place more importance on that over whatever VSS has the most detail or sound quality precision. I want surround for the ability to actually emulate surround. I don't mind if the sound quality isn't the VERY best.
Being able to immerse myself with a real sense of having speakers around me quickly distracts from the pure fidelity loss that may occur.

Like, I think SBX has the best sound quality, but I'd put it at 3rd/4th or so in terms of VSS ability.

Surround ability (my order, not fully concrete):

1. Creative SXFI
2. Sennheiser GSX (with one + on the GSX1000)
3. Dolby Headphone 2 (2 out of 3. 1 is too little reverb, 3 has too much reverb)
4. Creative SBX at around 100% surround (even at 100%, the reverb and sound quality are still better than all the others, but surround isn't AS good)
5. Waves NX (I use it at 40% surround on the Mobius. Reverb gets out of hand with higher settings)
6. THX Tru Studio (what Creative used to use before SBX. Sounds like SBX but less accuracy in positional placement, and sound quality is a bit worse)

These are the main 6 I trust to work for me well enough. As always, games engines are also a factor and can sound great or awful. I won't say anything about Atmos/Sonic/DTX Headphone X, since I've been limited to the Windows versions which I think have been awfully disappointing. I'm sure a hardware or in game solution is great.

If we're going off strict sound quality itself, the order would change to probably have SBX at #1 for me.

Other than when using the Mobius with Waves, I've mainly been using DH for the past few months almost exclusively. From that Xonar U3/Modi/Magni setup for PC, to my Mixamp 5.8 for console use.

 

[SierraMadre]

Running the 6XX with the Xonar U3 sending Dolby headphone 2 - optical - to Modi 3/Magni 3, definitely gives me some solid rear cues.

People can say whatever they want about Dolby Headphone, but it's still one of the very best to me in terms of being able to accurately place sounds at my 5 or 7 o clock behind me. Boom and some others made it harder for me to tell if the sound is supposed to be for example 5 o clock behind me to my right as opposed to 2 o clock in front of me to my right. If it can't do that well, it's something I consider a huge failure, because that discernability is EVERYTHING to me.

I place more importance on that over whatever VSS has the most detail or sound quality precision. I want surround for the ability to actually emulate surround. I don't mind if the sound quality isn't the VERY best.
Being able to immerse myself with a real sense of having speakers around me quickly distracts from the pure fidelity loss that may occur.

Like, I think SBX has the best sound quality, but I'd put it at 3rd/4th or so in terms of VSS ability.

Surround ability (my order, not fully concrete):

1. Creative SXFI
2. Sennheiser GSX (with one + on the GSX1000)
3. Dolby Headphone 2 (2 out of 3. 1 is too little reverb, 3 has too much reverb)
4. Creative SBX at around 100% surround (even at 100%, the reverb and sound quality are still better than all the others, but surround isn't AS good)
5. Waves NX (I use it at 40% surround on the Mobius. Reverb gets out of hand with higher settings)
6. THX Tru Studio (what Creative used to use before SBX. Sounds like SBX but less accuracy in positional placement, and sound quality is a bit worse)

These are the main 6 I trust to work for me well enough. As always, games engines are also a factor and can sound great or awful. I won't say anything about Atmos/Sonic/DTX Headphone X, since I've been limited to the Windows versions which I think have been awfully disappointing. I'm sure a hardware or in game solution is great.

If we're going off strict sound quality itself, the order would change to probably have SBX at #1 for me.

Other than when using the Mobius with Waves, I've mainly been using DH for the past few months almost exclusively. From that Xonar U3/Modi/Magni setup for PC, to my Mixamp 5.8 for console use.

Sounds like I really need to get a GSX 1000!

Re SBX VSS THX:

TBH, I’m not entirely convinced that SBX is any different to THX other than in branding. I have both the original THX Soundblaster Recom 3D usb dac/amp and the later SBX-rebadge version of the very same unit and they sound the same for everything, VSS included.

I suppose it’s possible they may have refined SBX with newer devices but back when those two Recon 3D units were my go-to audio devices (had one for bedroom, one for living room), in surround testing with a variety of content, I couldn’t tell the difference from A/B comparison and neither could my friends.