[Jodiuh]

Quote:

Originally posted by pbirkett I'd have to agree with Bangraman, the DT770 are EXCELLENT for games, they have the soundstage, positional cues, and massive bass, as well as being closed and having pretty good isolation, I'd have to say that I think you would struggle to do any better for games, and it may not even be possible to better them for this purpose IMO.

What they said. I'm actually using my klipsh promedia headphone jack and it's plenty acceptable, not to mention convenient. I'm planning on ordering the Behringer UB802 soon.

 

[Distroyed]

Quote:

Originally posted by Jodiuh What they said. I'm actually using my klipsh promedia headphone jack and it's plenty acceptable, not to mention convenient. I'm planning on ordering the Behringer UB802 soon.

I know I couldnt handle the distortion and low quality from my Klipsch Promedia 4.1 headphone jack with my senn280 pro's back when that's all I had...it was torture even to my non-audiophile ears. And I dont think many people here would recommend any Behringer product, but you can ask around for that.

 

[bangraman]

I think many of us know about Behringer and whether to recommend them or not... And I realise it's a relatively novel concept on Head-Fi but it helps to have owned and used whatever you are or are not recommending. I've played with the Eurodesks, UB1202 and MX802A and I have the MX2004A as well as Souncraft mixers. And I have tried gaming with consoles, including the 802A and it works well. The audio quality on the Behringers is sometimes not up to optimum level but the bang for the buck is unbelievable.


For $60 what you effectively get is a super-powerful CMOY optimised for studio cans with a half decent power supply, multiple inputs and EQ. I'd like to see any DIY guy match that and I'm certainly not looking down my nose at it.

 

[Distroyed]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman And I realise it's a relatively novel concept on Head-Fi but it helps to have owned and used whatever you are or are not recommending.

I wasn't making a product recommendation, I was recommending he ask around to confirm what others have claimed.

 

[luukas]

bangraman, do you know any European stores (online preferably) that sell the Behringer UB802? They would go reasonably well with the DT880 I hope? Just testing these cans and am liking them already. Unfortunately though, the receiver I'm using as an amp right now introduces a nasty backround hiss...

edit: Nevermind, I'm an idiot. Didn't check the recording store around here first - they sell those for 69€. Oh and initial impressions for gaming with DT880 vs. RS 125:

With the Beyers I can hear absolutely every single flaw in the game's sounds (tried Natural Selection, HL mod). Also the positioning is superior, which was expected. Have to admit that the high frequencies from weapon sounds/walking on metal etc. are almost painful. Maybe the DT770 would be more forgiving, though I wouldn't want to lose the awesome detail and separation.

edited again!: Well, the DT880 definately need a good amp to tame the very harsh highs. Not a problem with music or movies, but games - just ugh. Extremely fatiguing. Bass is also anything but tight (at least on my so-called setup

).

 

[Jodiuh]

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman And I realise it's a relatively novel concept on Head-Fi but it helps to have owned and used whatever you are or are not recommending.

That and eventually you learn who on the forum has your "ears." They're are some members that carry a lot more weight with me than others. I've gone on bangraman's recommendation before with the 770's and found it to be right on the money...for me. Obviously, your mileage will vary.

Edit: I found the quote, heeh.

Quote:

Originally posted by bangraman Put it this way. If you have an amped DT770 Pro, the only sound that an ATH-A900 user will hear is a 'clack' behind them...

 

[bangraman]

Hi Luukas

I thought I posted a response before, but I didn't press submit, obviously

The DT880 would be slumming it a little with a basic Behringer mixer. Things get better with their 4-bus mixers which have noticeably better phone outs but then you're in Maxed-Out PIMETA territory and you might as well get one of those.


******************

The small Behringer mixers are ideal for budget computer/gaming use with high-impedance (and low-impedance for that matter) studio cans for what I said: There's plenty of power to the headphone jack, you have signal routing options, EQ options and it's not just the PC you can connect... a deck you may have lying around, a portable, etc these can be hooked up to the unit. You can also connect a speaker to the main outs of the mixer and switch between phone and speaker use. and all this in one box.


So now I've said you can use a mixer, I suppose I should go about explaining it.

Here's the UB802:

From the top:
You'll notice that all of the connections are 6.5mm / 1/4" jacks. This means that you will need to go to your Radio Shack and buy some 6.5mm to Phono converters.

Like one of these: http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=274%2D884


OK, disregarding the Aux send and FX return, you plug your phones into the Phone jack. If you have speakers, you plug them into the Main Out L/R jacks. If your speakers are terminated with a 3.5mm jack, then you'll need a converter.


If you need control over the gain of your PC source, plug the PC into inputs 1 and 2. You'll notice the gain controls on those inputs. Otherwise just hook it up to the other Line-level inputs 3/4 or 5/6.


Set the Left PC input channel's pan to extreme left, and the Right PC input channel's pan to extreme right.

If you have speakers connected, switch them off. Switch everything on, and and turn the input level knobs on the appropriate inputs to the "0" setting. Set the Main Mix volume to "0". Play something back through your PC and adjust the Headphone/Control Room volume to a comfortable level.


If necessary, adjust EQ to suit. That's more or less it.


I ought to stress that if you intend to listen to music more than gaming, that an amp like a PIMETA is advised. However for hard-to-drive cans, low-end mixers with decent quality (such as the Behringer and slightly better the Soundcraft) are in my opinion the most economical and most suitable 'amps' for use with a PC when gaming. But even if you do just listen, the routing versatility of mixers may be attractive if you have multiple sources around your PC.

 

[luukas]

Thanks bangraman, very helpful information indeed. Makes me want to buy the UB802 tomorrow

Say, I understand you had the 271S (or still have?). I've gotten the impression that they can be really good when properly amped, so that would leave room for upgrading. But, would they sound even acceptable when used with the Behringer? And more importantly, how is the soundstage/positioning on them? Just curious since I doubt I'd appreciate the, hmm, tonality of the DT770.

As an interesting side note... I found that the DT880's leaked more mid-lower frequency sounds than the SR125 did. So I'm now more inclined to try some closed cans out, too bad there are no 250-80's available in the local stores for auditioning though.

 

[bangraman]

Just so that it's not misunderstood, I'm not recommending you hook up the DT880 to a low-end mixer for gaming or otherwise (I don't recommend any of the lower-cost amps such as Fixup/PI/META etc actually for the DT880, but that's for another thread). The DT880 deserves a lot better than that.


I am recommending you hook up a DT770 to a low-end mixer for gaming.

 

[S_Dedalus]

Another possibility is to get those zalman "5.1" headphones. They have six drivers positioned to emulate a 5.1 system. They suck for music, but would have a more accurate soundstage for games and movies. They're only like $50, so you could get a good pair of headphones for music with the extra money. I haven't tried the zalman's yet, so I really don't know how they sound, but most of the reviews I've seen indicate that they are good for their purpose.


Josh

 

[CodeGuy]

Actually, I just purchased the DT770 Pro 80 ohm version today from Guitar Center, and I am -very- pleased with them. They have incredible range on them, and are now easily the best cans I own. They are driven very nicely by my Audigy 2 NX USB 2.0 sound card / unit. Very nice sound stage, and bass that I just can't beleive. Very nice through the entire sonic range actually, but the bass just reaches WAY down. Very nice. Listening to some Steely Dan and smoking a Monte Cristo as I type this

edit: Oh, almost forgot to mention that my IHP 120 can actually drive these cans to very nice volume levels. Where I would normally listen to my PX200's at around a volume of 20, these I have to push the volume to 30 (out of 40), but it is nicely loud at that level.

 

[kikkomaso]

Quote:

Actually, I just purchased the DT770 Pro 80 ohm version today from Guitar Center

How much were they? I'm interested in buying some gaming headphones as well and the main reason why I didn't spring for the DT770 Pro 250 ohm were because I didn't want to buy an amp. I'm pretty sure Guitar Center will match the prices of other GCs if it's actually different.

 

[CodeGuy]

I paid $199 for them, though I know they can be had for less online. But what can I say? I was there, the cans were there, the money was in the bank, and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

[CamelBackCinema]

Quote:

Originally posted by Distroyed Im actually going to say, contrary to logical speculation, that a big soundstage is actually going to hurt your gameplay. Why? I was testing out my hd650's with my audigy2 in the UT2k4 demo - I usually use my 280pro's. With the much larger soundstage, I barely heard the scorpion with its extended blades coming at me from behind until the last second; I barely dodged it. You really want a pair of in-your-face cans for gaming because you need to hear that distant sound asap, and it's too stressful on your ears for a more realistic headphone that's got a big soundstage like the 580/600/650. I still recommend the hd280pro or dt250-80 That's my 2 cents worth.

Very Good point!

 

[Jodiuh]

I thought about this for a minute and tried changing my creative surround mixer from 2 spk to headphones and am not quite sure what it did. The sound was definitely closer and I believe more accurate because of this. I'm just wondering what the headphone algorithm does? Off to the creative site...oh it's so ugly...