Sennheiser HD 800 gaming review
Aug 31, 2017 at 12:09 PM Post #19 of 30
I'm a very satisfied HD800S owner who uses it 95% for gaming. (Crazy to most, I know.) It's a blast. The imaging is really superb. Out of a Creative X7 it's totally fine, I was a little worried about that initially. I also have tried it out of an iFi iDSD Black Label, and it was great.

I will say this though: imaging wise, much credit to the HiFiMan HE-560, current selling for a way more reasonable $499, which is close (not 100%) to the imaging and detail of the HD800S. Close. I wouldn't begrudge anyone sticking with the 560 and saving a thousand bucks.
 
Oct 13, 2017 at 9:28 AM Post #27 of 30
Won't the high pitch sounds from the bullets be too much on the HD800?

I have the sdr mod in my HD800 to tame the treble and am using a tube amp as well...it's honestly not bad. The biggest plus when using these is the massive soundstage and comfort. When playing CS:GO it's easy to pinpoint the location of other players, also you can wear these headphones for hours and not get fatigued.
 
Oct 13, 2017 at 11:04 AM Post #28 of 30
I have the sdr mod in my HD800 to tame the treble and am using a tube amp as well...it's honestly not bad. The biggest plus when using these is the massive soundstage and comfort. When playing CS:GO it's easy to pinpoint the location of other players, also you can wear these headphones for hours and not get fatigued.
+1. You would never want a bright amp to use with the HD800 unless your hearing is bad, and you are not bothered by sharp treble. A tube amp is the simpilest way to take the edge off, or a tube hybrid would do the trick too.

It depends on the solid state amp in regards to brightness. The Cavalli Liquid Carbon is a great example of solid state that sounds more tube like. Fantastic pairing with the HD800
 
Oct 13, 2017 at 1:41 PM Post #29 of 30
+1. You would never want a bright amp to use with the HD800 unless your hearing is bad, and you are not bothered by sharp treble. A tube amp is the simpilest way to take the edge off, or a tube hybrid would do the trick too.

It depends on the solid state amp in regards to brightness. The Cavalli Liquid Carbon is a great example of solid state that sounds more tube like. Fantastic pairing with the HD800

This is true. A tube amp is ideal with HD800. However I've also found that Ragnarok and Violectric v281 are great ss amps for HD800 too.
 
Oct 20, 2017 at 1:47 AM Post #30 of 30
I use my HD800 solely for gaming nowadays. It is probably the best TOTL competitive gaming headphone you can probably get... the wide soundstage is so good for gaming. It easily trumps my Utopia for gaming purposes. Utopia beats HD800 in clarity and realness of the sound but it's so much easier to hear things far away from you on the HD800 (for example enemy footsteps in PUBG when they are close to you). I had so many moments with the Utopia where the enemy was able to sneak behind me and by the time I hear them, it's too late. With the HD800 that simply doesn't happen, I can hear them long before they become a threat to me.

I suggest everyone get the Windows 10 creators update as it gives you the ability to enable Dolby Atmos for Headphones. Works very well for surround sound and I no longer need a poor quality "gaming" Mixamp anymore. Now I can just get a perfect signal directly from my DAC/AMP and have surround sound at the same time.
 
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