[draven5494]

Quote:

After much agonising, I have just bitten the bullet and ordered a Headzone amp, which I will be pairing with T1s. I had to buy an amp for the new T1s anyway, and given current pricing and favourable exchange rates, I could either have bought a dedicated amp, or for only $200 more, the Headzone. Given my usage habits run TV/movies -> gaming -> -> -> -> -> music it was a relatively easy choice.
 
This is, of course, meant primarily for use as a home theatre system, and is the reason I could justify the cost, as I am currently making do with inbuilt TV speakers, so it was either a proper surround sound amp and 5.1 speaker setup, or headphones - the choice then boiled down to a very basic speaker setup, or a top of the range headphone setup for the same cost...which isn't really a choice.
 
However it will (of course) be pressed into service as my new gaming solution - and I hope it will represent the 'Holy Grail' (it had better

). Once all the gear comes in (which could take a few weeks), I will post my impressions. While most people are unlikely to make this level of investment for their gaming sound, it happens to work for my particular circumstances, and I may as well give what feedback I can in case anyone is thinking about it for themselves.

I am very interested to hear your impressions of the headzone.  Keep us posted!

 

[443330]

Hey there, excellent thread. I am looking for a pair of headphones for gaming (cod4) but am on a budget. So far I am stuck between Superlux HD668B's or Takstar TS-671 (http://headfonics.com/2011/04/takstar-ts-671-what-can-i-get-for-53mm/) or these Takstar HI-2050
At the moment I only have on board sound but may buy an Asus xonar if need be. So what does everyone think about those 3 options? And are their any other that can compete with them? 
Cheers.

 

[hamzatm]

Brilliant Article.
 
Should be spread seriously so many people would benefit from this knowledge!
 
Audioholic, if ur still here, gratz to you!

 

[johnfred]

Wow..can relate to this so so much....I bought so any heaphones and brought so many back....I love music and great sound. Once I got married all that spending on Hi Fi stereo equipment stopped.  Well I got divorced and needless to say I resumed my search for good quality sound...etc.. But then I got into gaming and went through it also...!st pair of quality headphones I bought were DT 880 beyers.....I need to get an asus atx soundcard.....I also bought and love the MMX 300 gaming HP from beyer also-these are killa and you dont need an amp.  I actually have The DSS 2 surround sound processor from turtle beach hooked up to the MMX 300's...the 300's are 32 ohm headphones so they dont' really required an amp....  I do have a special attachment to my DT 880's which sound really bad a__ with the same set up but I do include a Headphone amp by Fiio E9 with the E7 DAC...it gets no better but is a bit more expensive....right now i believe EBay is selling the beyers MMX 300 for only 250.00 which are normally 350.00...they have camouflauge ear cups which I rather design my own ...but I have spent enough already...and need to buy the stx by asus...thanks and hope my info helps someone else

 

[johnfred]

Sorry for the grammatical errors on previous thread...this is the very first forum I have written on...
 
My Gaming Setup for Mobile Laptop Gaming with Asus G 74
 
 MMX 300 Beyerdynamic
 DSS 2 Surround Sound Processor
 
Desktop Setup 
 
DT 880's 
 
 Fiio E 9 and Fiio E 7 headphone amp and DAC
 
 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Hey john, check the link on my sig. The thread's been moved to the gaming section, but it's a lot more relevant and up to date. See you there.

 

[Akin]

What about home teather setups?

 

[Karl1965]

Hi guys new here been reading this thread on & off now for the last week ,I live in the UK and been trying really hard to pickup up some of the ath-ad700 for gaming just because most of what I read is that they have a amazing sound staging,Which is what I am looking for the best possible way of getting the most out of the in-game sounds in terms of positional sounds I don't care if the sound is bad in game so long as i have better understanding of the positional sounds ,I'm using right now HD650 headphone in conjunction with Asus xonar stx ,The only reason I went with this sound card was after watching a youtube video of a gamer playing and saying he as both the AD700 and the same sound card and saying he is getting 100% the best positional sounds he as ever had in fps shooter .For me gaming with HD650 and new sounds card as never been that great it is giving me very little clues as to where the players are ie I have been knifed a lot from players at my back and its time for that to stop .And in-game trying so hard straying my ears to pick up the sounds .It becomes annoying at times .
 
So as I was saying I live in the UK and can not get the headphones for less then 100 pounds or 100 pounds is what I wanted to pay out to be honest .So what's the next best thing other then the AD700 ? in terms of sound staging .
 
 
All so is it my understanding that higher ohms is better for music with amp and not gaming or is that wrong .Or lower ohms for gaming and and no amp . 
 
If any one as any links to the headphones or no where I can pick them up in the UK ONLY for round £100 please post .
 
 
Thanks and this as been a great thread for reading very eye opening ..
 
PS : Here is the link i was talking about in regards to the AD700 Headphones .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVme7rxdTLk&playnext=1&list=PL69146C945AA7B8AD&feature=results_main

 

[squallkiercosa]

There are excellent gaming headset out there, designed specifically for gaming. (Using a HD800 for gaming is definitely crazy)
You could easily have two pairs: a normal headset and a good pair of headphones.
 
I don't mean to offend anyone and your contributions but If you really care about sound quality, it shouldn't matter which headphone you're using for casual gaming as long as its comfortable.
 
In a headset, drivers are focused primarily on voice reproduction. Gaming headsets are focused on surround effects and voice (sound quality is often ignored). "Gaming" Surround headsets are vital in FPS games, and there are no headphones capable of emulating correctly a 5.1 or 7.1 headset. 
 
http://www.gamesradar.com/best-gaming-headset/
http://kotaku.com/5951093/the-great-kotaku-gaming-headset-roundup
http://www.t3.com/features/best-gaming-headsets
 
Unfortunately headsets are expensive. Market share is limited compared to headphones and no company is willing to develop a product to satisfy such a small niche for a low price. Gamers have less choices, and the good ones are expensive.
 
 
If you already have a decent pair of headphones and the only thing you need is a mic:
http://www.modmic.com/
 
 
Hope it helps

 

[NamelessPFG]

Holy thread bump...
 
I remember this thread from years ago, come to think of it. It's probably the one that led me to Stax for gaming headphones of choice.
 
Too bad I hadn't written up my PC gaming audio guide back in 2010 to clear some things up here, like what EAX really is. (Good thing Phos summed it up so nicely.)
 
CMSS-3D Headphone vs. Dolby Headphone is always going to come down to personal preference, but at least for me, they're either equal (with software-mixed games that just present a 5.1/7.1 speaker mix to the sound card) or CMSS-3D Headphone is far superior (with DirectSound3D/OpenAL games that present 3D audio coordinates to the sound card). I tested both with an X-Fi card and a SU-DH1 for the Dolby Headphone processing (decoding a Dolby Digital Live mix from the X-Fi).
 
The only things I've found that compete in terms of positional accuracy are Rapture3D with its various HRTF mixing modes, which only works on OpenAL games (no DirectSound3D wrapper like ALchemy, no use on software-mixed games), and Aureal A3D on Vortex chipset cards, which are only useful on Windows 95/98 because of the lack of good drivers for 2000 and XP (and just forget Vista onward).
 
Oh, and I wouldn't want my headphones to emulate a 5.1/7.1 surround headset at all. Those generally suck. Quality stereo headphones/headsets with a CMSS-3D Headphone or Dolby Headphone mix are the way to go.

 

[squallkiercosa]

 

[Zoom25]

 

 
Revived
 
I finally got some spare time to play Bioshock Infinite on my Macbook Pro Retina. Surprisingly, it runs without any hassle. The graphics are insanely good. Loving the sound positioning and the soundtrack. The developers did a great job. It was banging on my D2000 last night. Tonight, gonna try it with LCD-3. 

 

[Sharrakor]

Very interesting thread you've got here!
I've recently bought a very expensive gaming laptop, and while it ships all I've been doing is looking for what headphones and soundcard I will use when playing games on it. I have spent a great deal of time reading related posts by Nameless and Madlust to make the best purchase I can. My first thought was to buy a bundle of CAL2 and soundblaster omni, but after reading a lot and comparing I think the omni might not be so good. Thanks to this post, I'm almost sold on buying a xonar U7 instead (dolby headphone kind of appealed more to me), and I'm still looking at headphones.
Has anyone had a chance to compare the xonar u7 and x-fi usb cards? I would like to know how they do against each other in terms of 3d emulation and general sound quality.
Thanks a bunch!

 

[Audioholic]

13 years have passed since i wrote this..wow. Well, in 13 years I have tried.. countless headphones. I have tried in ear, on ear, over ear, wired, wireless, dynamic, planar, BA, electrostatic, gaming, hi fi, cheap and expensive. Everything I could get my hands on ranging from Apple Airpods Pro to..I don't know.. Sennheiser HD 800 S. And I have tested them all for games focusing on the quality of the reproduction of 3d sound and atmosphere. I also tested various DACs and software for sound manipulation like Dolby and THX. So this is everything I've learned in few short points:

1. If you want the best bang for buck positional audio go with any in ear monitors and BA drivers. At that price point the quality of..the 3D atmosphere and accuracy of sound can't be beaten. For playing First Person Shooters like COD or Battlefield or any game where directional properties of the sound are important I would choose KZ ZS10 Pro + any decent DAC like Fiio DC06 which is like 150$ total over Sennheiser HD 600 + good DAC. The..purity, the clarity and the ease with which BA drivers produce sound is just so right for games. And there is something in the fact that the sound is so close to (in) your ears, you can hear every little detail. Some will say "Yah but over-ear headphones have better soundstage". To them I say - not true. You see, modern games have highly developed audio engines and they simulate their own soundstage and 3D atmosphere, and quite good actually. Also, soundstage can be tweaked via various audio software, and quite good actually. Plus IEMs have natural passive noise canceling. You can tweak how much by changing the tips.
2. If you want the whole package, sound quality, positional audio, dynamic range and the whole atmosphere of producing 3D audio field, not just for games but for movies and music --> the "HOLY GRAIL",go with middle to high-end BA IEMs and good DAC to match, depends how much cash you have to spend. I personally have Fiio FH9 combined with iFi Go Bar and here I stopped after more that 200 pairs of worthy headphones I tested and tried because..this combination is the best I have ever heard. So natural, so effortless 3D sound.. It's like I'm there, in the game. Literally. I wouldn't change this setup for anything. I just smile while I decimate people on the maps in MW2 with the subtle yet very present bass of my silencer. More than 300% better than DT800 setup, my Holy Grail from 13 years ago.

3. Audio software. Dolby Access is very good tool. Razer's THX not so much. The best results I've gotten is with free Windows store app FXsound. You can really tune your sound with some very good DSPs and options. I like it very much and I'm amazed that it's free.

4. Sonar tactics. That's what call my play style. I move slow and listen. Really listen. With my setup I can hear everything that's going on on the map, especially in 30m circle around me. I know exactly where they are, how many there are, in what direction they are moving, and sometimes, even what they're doing. Like reloading and such. Depends on how far they are relative to my position. So I listen, build the mental image of the situation in my mind based on the sound, move from cover to cover and point my gun in the direction of the hostile sound and press the trigger. That's it, it's that simple. It requires patience and little bit of getting used to but it's very effective. Maybe I can record and upload it because I would really like for you to see (hear?).

5. 200$ spent wisely is more then enough for a killer gaming sound, but if in the game there is a firefight with more then 3 people shooting at once at relatively close range and bombs are exploding and whatnot, no audio setup will help you hear someone behind your back. Nor can you hear someone waiting and camping.

May The Force be with you all!