[caracara08]

  One may have said that about the K701/702s but I would need to disagree with regards to the 712s not holding a candle, yes it’s much airier with a deeper sound stage….although not as layered or detailed as the HD700s, but the much added lower base has made the K712s IMHO overall a much richer and a very balanced phone which ousted my HD580/600 to sit along side my HD700s.
 
IYAshike's above post carries a lot of credence and maybe should be a sticky at the head of each appreciation thread.

 
I understand and that is why I tried to say To me or my opinion as much as possible.  Ive had the K701, 702, Q701, and the K712 and that is just how I felt about the K712 that I most recently owned. To each their own though. 

 

[415906]

years went by with cheap headphones and cheap speakers and cheap equipment. NOT ANYMORE!!!!! And by God i hear and enjoy the difference everyday now. And all i am using is Asus xonar u7 and HD700s and Streaming Sirius XM. Ohh i also played HIRES the FLASH GORDON album by queen in 24bit 96k And i Jumped around the room like a wild Gorilla!!!!! My wife enjoys watching my display!! lol Volume level about 50% Zero equalization!!

 

[inseconds99]

I am going to be purchasing the Sennheiser HD 700 this week, does anyone have any experience with these for gaming? What dac/amp would you recommend for my pc for the HD 700? Also how do the 700's compare to the ma900's in soundstage and bass, reason I ask is because these are the only 2 headphones I wanted because of their supposed comfort levels. There are not much of a difference in price as I can get the 700's $100 more then the ma900.

My goals:
Comfort
Competitive gaming
Bass

Thanks

 

[415906]

I am a Noob but a smart one!! I would think the 700s are made for Real music and the ones for Gaming should have all those extra connectors for 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound, which would lead me to think that the external amp/dac should be designed for gaming which would have at least the 5.1 connections on it. I have the asus xonar u7 which i use with the HD700 for now and they sound awesome for music but have not played games with them. yes, worried i might blow them up with the base from the PS3. I would seperate the two . Games and Music. Just buy both. Start a collection.

 

[inseconds99]

I am a Noob but a smart one!! I would think the 700s are made for Real music and the ones for Gaming should have all those extra connectors for 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound, which would lead me to think that the external amp/dac should be designed for gaming which would have at least the 5.1 connections on it. I have the asus xonar u7 which i use with the HD700 for now and they sound awesome for music but have not played games with them. yes, worried i might blow them up with the base from the PS3. I would seperate the two . Games and Music. Just buy both. Start a collection.

Thanks for the reply, I would not buy a gaming headset as they sound terrible. Audiophile headphones are great for competitive gaming but I have not read much about the 700's and gaming. All I know is I want a comfortable headphone, that excels at competitive gaming (soundstage/positional audio) and has good bass to make the experience enjoyable.

 

[inseconds99]

This is the dac/amp I'm looking at. It is an optical dac so I can use my onboard sbx software for virtual surround. Any thoughts and/or has anyone used this before. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00A2QLPJM/ref=ox_sc_act_image_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2Q0JVLI22BSVA

 

[415906]

Check into the ASUS xonar u7 for like 20 bucks more. I am using it with HD700 and i did click on the virtual surround and it does work. Comes with great software too. it has coax and optical and rca and if you want to try the cheaper 5.1 headphones does that too. I own Alot of ASUS stuff. so far so good. Also the DAC on it is pretty sweet. But check the power it put out if that is enough for the base your trying to Get. The asus is good for 150 ohms max.

 

[IYAshike]

I am going to be purchasing the Sennheiser HD 700 this week, does anyone have any experience with these for gaming? What dac/amp would you recommend for my pc for the HD 700? Also how do the 700's compare to the ma900's in soundstage and bass, reason I ask is because these are the only 2 headphones I wanted because of their supposed comfort levels. There are not much of a difference in price as I can get the 700's $100 more then the ma900.

My goals:
Comfort
Competitive gaming
Bass

Thanks

 
Hello,
 
l gamed with the 700s since Xmas (Battlefield 4), and l don't think it'll disappoint you in any of the 'goals' you mentioned.
 
When it comes to comfort, l believe they're just as good as most people state (it's a HP you can forget you're wearing). l don't think you'll get anything better than these: super light, enough/more than enough room for your ears, and a headband you will forget is there (l'm not exaggerating). l think, l should also mention the non-microphonic cable (that is also related to comfort, from my point of view).
 
When it comes to 'competitive gaming', well, you know how famous these cans are for their highs (good to hear gun shots), as well as their great imaging (positional cues) and good soundstage (making the sound of your game more spacious, less congested).
 
Bass is good (you don't want lots of bass for competitive gaming, do you?), l don't really miss any more bass than what these provide. l'd say you won't complain about it. Besides, they have great dynamics so, when something blast, it really does (the explosion's sound goes up over the general sound, even when other gun shoots, etc. are happening).
 
l would say it's a 'safe buy'. l mean, you will like them more or less, but l think it's unlikely you'll ever come back here to tell me they don't tick all the 'goals' you wrote (although who knows...

). 
 
The only cons l would say is when it comes to rear sounds. Think of a clock: from 5 to 7 (behind your character in a fps game) you get a lower volume sound than in front of you, but the audio cue seems to come from the same direction. But don't get me wrong: you'll know it comes from behind while gaming. 
 
l always game with my DAC/amp, but today l used the Asus Xonar Phoebus to do the testing for you. Plain 'stereo' gives better positional cues than Dolby V4 (surround virtualizer).
 
In-game settings (remember, Battlefield 4, PC): HI-FI, stereo. l also tried 'surround' mode (having set 'stereo' in soundcard) and it also gives me worse positional cues (perhaps, it's more involving).
 
If you considered a close-back can, l would take a look at the Beyers DT-990 (haven't tried those myself, but l heard maaaaany people recommending them) or DT-770 (which l like pretty much. l have the pros, 250 Ohms version).
 
Good luck and let us know once you decide! 

 

[inseconds99]

Hello,

l gamed with the 700s since Xmas (Battlefield 4), and l don't think it'll disappoint you in any of the 'goals' you mentioned.

When it comes to comfort, l believe they're just as good as most people state (it's a HP you can forget you're wearing). l don't think you'll get anything better than these: super light, enough/more than enough room for your ears, and a headband you will forget is there (l'm not exaggerating). l think, l should also mention the non-microphonic cable (that is also related to comfort, from my point of view).

When it comes to 'competitive gaming', well, you know how famous these cans are for their highs (good to hear gun shots), as well as their great imaging (positional cues) and good soundstage (making the sound of your game more spacious, less congested).

Bass is good (you don't want lots of bass for competitive gaming, do you?), l don't really miss any more bass than what these provide. l'd say you won't complain about it. Besides, they have great dynamics so, when something blast, it really does (the explosion's sound goes up over the general sound, even when other gun shoots, etc. are happening).

l would say it's a 'safe buy'. l mean, you will like them more or less, but l think it's unlikely you'll ever come back here to tell me they don't tick all the 'goals' you wrote (although who knows... :confused_face_2: ). 

The only cons l would say is when it comes to rear sounds. Think of a clock: from 5 to 7 (behind your character in a fps game) you get a lower volume sound than in front of you, but the audio cue seems to come from the same direction. But don't get me wrong: you'll know it comes from behind while gaming. 

l always game with my DAC/amp, but today l used the Asus Xonar Phoebus to do the testing for you. Plain 'stereo' gives better positional cues than Dolby V4 (surround virtualizer).

In-game settings (remember, Battlefield 4, PC): HI-FI, stereo. l also tried 'surround' mode (having set 'stereo' in soundcard) and it also gives me worse positional cues (perhaps, it's more involving).

If you considered a close-back can, l would take a look at the Beyers DT-990 (haven't tried those myself, but l heard maaaaany people recommending them) or DT-770 (which l like pretty much. l have the pros, 250 Ohms version).

Good luck and let us know once you decide! 

I am 100% buying the HD 700's, I just need a dac/amp for it is like to keep it under $200 bt I could go more if I needed to. Remember this is 80% gaming 20% music.

 

[XVampireX]

I've used the HD700 with Xonar Essence STX which is more of a stereo sound card, you should be fine with the STX card in the beginning or what else they have told you about, then you should get a dedicated amp, for the HD700 I would recommend a tube amp, one of the tube amps from schiit shouldn't break budget.
 
Gaming in the HD700 is very revealing also you will like it.

 

[inseconds99]

I've used the HD700 with Xonar Essence STX which is more of a stereo sound card, you should be fine with the STX card in the beginning or what else they have told you about, then you should get a dedicated amp, for the HD700 I would recommend a tube amp, one of the tube amps from schiit shouldn't break budget.

Gaming in the HD700 is very revealing also you will like it.

Why a tube amp might I ask, I'm not sure as I don't have full understanding but from what I read tube amps color sound which is the exact opposite of what you'd want. Is that correct?

 

[XVampireX]

Why a tube amp might I ask, I'm not sure as I don't have full understanding but from what I read tube amps color sound which is the exact opposite of what you'd want. Is that correct?

 
Right....
 
Well it is true that Tube Amps produce some sort of distortion, however, we're not talking about the same kind of distortion that you hear when someone plays back a distortion guitar sound.
 
You should do some research on why I said it, read back the thread and see which amps fit with the HD700, you will eventually find out your answer.

 

[inseconds99]

Right....

Well it is true that Tube Amps produce some sort of distortion, however, we're not talking about the same kind of distortion that you hear when someone plays back a distortion guitar sound.

You should do some research on why I said it, read back the thread and see which amps fit with the HD700, you will eventually find out your answer.

I have done tons of research and needless to say I'm confused lol, I unfortuantly don't have stores in my area where I can test any of this. I appreciate your response but if you elaborate a little I would appreciate the help.

 

[IYAshike]

Why a tube amp might I ask, I'm not sure as I don't have full understanding but from what I read tube amps color sound which is the exact opposite of what you'd want. Is that correct?

 
l think the STX is a good suggestion (also, the fact that you can upgrade to an external device in the future, should you want to). If memory serves, STX has 'dolby HP', which would be a great pairing with the 700s.
 
And yes, tubes color the sound. You would use them with the HD-700 in order to smooth the highs (if they bother you or if you simply prefer that 'colored' sound). l'm fine with my amp and the way highs sound out of it (and 700s).  

 

[pietcux]

+1 for the Xonar STX, it has a very decent headphone amp and I did hundreds of hours using Dolby Headphone for gaming sessions. Headphone used was the HD 600 and the AKG K 702.