[argonil]

First of all, I'd like to say hello there! I'm new to this website. I don't know much about headsets or sound in general, so do noobify your replies.

Second, I'm looking for a headset that's good, both for gaming and listening to music.

 - I prefer closed-ear headsets, but it's not required. It's not crucial.

 - I listen to rock, metal, dubstep and trance.

 - I play all kinds of games, mostly FPS games. I have to be able to hear footsteps and such with high precision. I play for sessions lasting anywhere between 2 and 8 hours.

 - I don't mind spending up to $400 on the headset.

 - It must be comfortable. I currently have the Steelseries Siberia Headset v2, and I simply love its comfort.

 - It must be long lasting. At the price, I obviously don't want to buy another headset for a very long time.

 - Obviously, it must have extremely good sound quality.

 - I don't have an amp or sound card, so I'd love if you could recommend a good one matching the headset.


Thank you very much, and cheers.

 

[MalVeauX]

Heya,
 
I would go for discreet options so you can change parts when needed/wanted:
 
Beyer DT770 PRO or AudioTechnica A900X or Ultrasone PRO 750
ModMic AntLion
Asus Xonar DG (PCI) or DGX (PCI-E)
 
 
Also look at all-in-one options:
 
Beyer MMX300
Sennheiser PC 360
 
Very best,

 

[KCxSmacker]

I would say the DT770 or a900x  are great options for the headphone with the modmic.
 
As for soundcard or amp, I would go soundcard for the 3d abilities for gaming. Both asus and Creative have good options. The DG and STX from asus are great, STX being beter IMO. I find the Asus to be better for music while something like the Titanium HD from Creative or the non HD titanium have better software for gaming ( 3d audio.) So I would choose which you would rather have. 

 

[davidsh]

What are the diffs between the ad900 and a900x?
I have heard, that the ad900 is exceptional for gaming.

 

[KCxSmacker]

Quote:

What are the diffs between the ad900 and a900x?
I have heard, that the ad900 is exceptional for gaming.

X is closed back while the non x is open. Open usually gives you better soundstage but the a900x are very nice. I like closed back as they get more use, but if you are only using at home and its not very load where you play then open is an option. 

 

[davidsh]

Better sound stage = better positioning when it comes to gaming?

 

[MalVeauX]

Quote:

Better sound stage = better positioning when it comes to gaming?

 
Potentially this is true.
 
However I always found that with open headphones, I could hear the tip-tapping of the keyboard and the mouse and it was ultimately distracting. Plus the whirl of fans and other stuff. Totally depends on the person. I find isolation better for gaming, when you're listening rather critically for positional cues. Hearing all kinds of environmental noise while doing that is just annoying. You'll notice almost all gaming headsets are "closed." There often is also the confusion of what the term sound stage is being used for. I refer to sound stage as separation. What you're looking for in gaming is referred to as imaging and it comes from the sound stage; they're not the same exact thing. And not all open air headphones have great imaging (planar magnetics for example are open air, but they have worse sound stages than most good dynamics do in general). Closed headphones can have very good imaging, a massive sound stage like a cloud around you is not needed for that. It just needs to be enough to know essentially where you need to think you heard it from. It's not like it's being given to you in longitude and latitude format. So again, consider what you need. I tend to recommend closed headphones to really critical listening competitive gamers. Open air is for fun and if you don't mind hearing the fans, noise from computer, noise from keyboard/mouse, etc.
 
Very best,