[gab840]

   
That may be a while. I offered him my T1 for review before, but now he's on sabbatical and taking a break for a bit before he comes back to reviewing. Can't blame him, now he can actually play and enjoy games rather than analyze and critique the sound of a pair of headphones. And since the T1s have been sold he won't be able to borrow mine anymore.

 
But wy did u sell T1 for which pair of Headphones ?? You didnt liked them??

 

[Murder Mike]

 Is the Samson only Omni-directional? Do either mics have gain switches?

The Samson has cardioid pickup as well as omni-directional. It and the Snowball both have a cardioid, cardioid with -10dB, and omni-directional switch. The gain is Windows/Mac OS controlled for both, but there is a firmware tweak for the Snowball to change it to low or high gain. 

 

[AxelCloris]

 
 
But wy did u sell T1 for which pair of Headphones ?? You didnt liked them??

 
I traded them for a camera, lens and some accessories, not another headphone. I found myself putting on the Alpha Dogs more often than the T1, so there was no sense keeping them around.

 

[martin vegas]

   
I traded them for a camera, lens and some accessories, not another headphone. I found myself putting on the Alpha Dogs more often than the T1, so there was no sense keeping them around.

Was is it a canon camera lens?

 

[AxelCloris]

Was is it a canon camera lens?

 
Nope, it's a Nikon.

 

[Stillhart]

   
Nope, it's a Nikon.

 
This guy knows what's up.

 

[imac2much]

Well, I was able to procure a brand new HE-400i from a HiFiman dealer here in Beijing.  After pairing this with my Soundblaster Omni and Burson Soloist SL, I am quite frankly amazed at the improvement in both sound quality and comfort over Soundmagic HP100.  Over the past few weeks I've tried some other headphones, and I feel the build quality of the 400i is much better than that of the Sennheiser 600/650.  I tried the HE-400 and HE-500 but ultimately found them too heavy and cheap feeling for my preference.  The HE-400i is a great improvement even over the 400i and alcantara pads, due to the pleather/velour combination pads.  
 
In terms of sound quality, I find the bass punchier with more impact, and the midrange and lower treble more distinguishable than the HP100.  After several hours of listening, I found that the HP100 w/ alcantara pads seemed to muffle certain instruments and percussion (easy to tell when listening for snare rimshots or cymbals).  The 400i has none of these problems and I find it easy to separate the instruments in my listening... although not quite as well as I could with the Senn 650's.  The soundstage seems a bit bigger than the HP100, but not remarkably so, and definitely not as large as the Sennheisers.  Yet because instrument separation was so much better, I still felt the overall "stage" was improved.
 
I finished Homefront today, played some more Jazzpunk and completed the first chapter of CoD Blops II.  I find the 400i to be more immersive due to the more even sound signature and bass/sub-bass extension.  However, the HP100 was no slouch either and I still switch to them when I need a closed headphone if the wife is sleeping.  Although the HE-400i offers a definite improvement over the HP100, I feel some of this is lost in gaming - the most marked differences occur when I listen to music.
 
Either way I am quite happy with both headphones.  I have a Resonessence Concero coming in to replace my Omni for music, so I am hoping it will offer some aural improvements as well.
 
I'll post further impressions of the 400i in terms of gaming later

 

[Stillhart]

  ...a brand new HE-400i...Soundblaster Omni and Burson Soloist SL...Soundmagic HP100...Sennheiser 600/650...alcantara pads...Resonessence Concero...

 
Yeah, sorry about your wallet!  Glad you're having fun with the hobby tho!  
 
And yeah, I fully expect the $500 HE-400i to outshine the $200 HP100, no surprises there.  Looking forward to more gaming impressions with them.  Are you going to play Destiny?

 

[imac2much]

   
Yeah, sorry about your wallet!  Glad you're having fun with the hobby tho!  
 
And yeah, I fully expect the $500 HE-400i to outshine the $200 HP100, no surprises there.  Looking forward to more gaming impressions with them.  Are you going to play Destiny?

Haha, I definitely have been having fun in the world of headphones!  I'm still amazed at the difference of sound quality that a good headphone and amp makes.  I didn't know what I was missing out on before!
 
Unfortunately, with the spotty internet here in China I don't think I'll be playing any online multiplayer games.  Also, I don't have a PS4 anymore  

 

[ricardovix]

Hello guys!
 
I'm a owner of a Sennheiser HD 598, which I use ONLY for gaming, and my soundcard is a Creative X-FI Titanium HD. Well, I'm pretty satisfied with my Sennheiser HD 598, actually, I love it.
 
However, I want to upgrade my headphone, but I don't know which one I should buy (I'm looking for more sound details/definition and more bass).
 
Looking at the Tier A, which should have the best models (and my hd598 is tier b), I realized that the two best options are the AKG K702 65th Anniversary Edition and AKG K712 Pro.
 
Am I right or there's another model that's a better choice?
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Ricardo

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

With either, you'll lose a bit of tonal clarity, as they're both warmer and fuller sounding, taking a bit of attention away from the more dry, mid forwardness of the 598 in comparison. Due to the thicker sound, the 598 will also sound a little more spacious. However, all 3 are stellar performers, with the AKGs being more fun and immersive, while still being very detailed, just...warmer and more fleshed out.

As for the HD800, there is no way it'd get top marks in every regard. It's tonal balance has a lot in common with the K701 which while superbly detailed, does not make for the most immersive/fun headphones.

I've heard enough headphones to know that if its amazing at one thing, it's gonna be a little lacking elsewhere. No such thing as a perfect headphone for every situation. The closest you can get is a very good all rounder like the Alpha Dog, and even then, I missed the warmth and fullness of it's less expensive sibling.

 

[Change is Good]

Maybe the K612 will be more to his liking?

 

[kman1211]

I got the Schiit Lyr 2 today, the AKG K712s sound amazing on the amp and the tubes are not fully burned-in yet, so smooth and refined without any lack of body or dynamics.

 

[jdubsss]

  Currently beating my head against the wall trying to figure out what direction to go after reading this thread.  I'm looking for a closed headphone and ended up buying the DT770 (250ohm) and I'm not happy with them at all.  I tried using them in a competitive setting (should have listened to the review, lol) and the bass is just too boomy to cue in on the little details in a game like cs:go.  That being said, I'm pretty much set on one of the mad dog or alpha dog variants, but I can't figure out what the hell I want.
 
I have a bifrost/asgard 2 combo that would be driving them.  My main question is is the alpha dog worth twice the cost of the mad dog?  They'll be used for music as well and I basically listen to everything except for country.  Then MrSpeakers went head and threw in the Mad Dog Pro to make the decision even tougher.  Money isn't really a problem, but the alpha dogs would be far the most expensive cans I have coming from HD598s and HD650s. 

 
Still kicking this around... now I saw the Shure 1540s and made the decision even more difficult.
 
Slightly leaning towards the MDP because 150 is 150 and I really do enjoy the DT770s with EDM.  If the MDP is suited towards that and STILL decent for gaming maybe that's the route I should go.
 
Thoughts? 

 

[benbenkr]

  And how was the positioning?

 
Not bad, there's a sense of airiness that reminds you that you're on an open headphone. Positioning is quite on-par with the DT770. 
 
Really, as a headset, the Pulse isn't bad. But it's build quality is seriously questionable. My review unit had its battery died within 27 days, dead as in not even being able to charge.
My next unit had cracks on the headband.