Thompson
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 6, 2010
- Posts
- 49
- Likes
- 11
Hi all, I can almost hear you guys thinking "No not another new guy who wants gaming headphones and just asks us what to buy".
First of all, let me introduce myself, so I won't be "another new guy". My name is Tom and I'm 21 years of age, I live in the south of Holland (of The Netherlands as some like to call it). I have a simple home cinema with an Optoma HDready beamer and 86" inch screen, surround provided by my Logitech Z5500 (Will be updated in a couple of months). In my free time I like to watch movies in my cinema and play videogames, mainly CoD:MW2 (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for those of you who don't know the abbrevation.) on my gaming PC. At the moment I use Speedlink Medusa 5.1 NX headphones, and I think they are pretty crap xD
Ok enough about me, on to my "problem";
Since I game for over 2 hours a day most weeks, and think I am a pretty decent player I promised myself after celebrating my 21st birthday I would buy myself some decent cans for listening to music, movies and especially gaming. During my search on the internet, mainly this forum to be honest, I've found a couple of questions which I need solved before I can make my decision:
Real 5.1 vs. CMSS3D vs. Dolby Headphone vs. Other:
In gaming as many of you will probably know, sound is an important way of knowing where your enemy is. So clear sound with a good soundstage is important. But maybe even more is the way you can position an enemy (Is he coming from you backleft, left or frontleft?). There are a few ways headphones can provide you this kind of sound;
Real 5.1: I just called it this way since I don't know the right way to call it :lol:... What I mean by this is those "gaming headsets" which provide cans with multiple speakers in 1 can.
CMSS3D: The virtual surround sound provided by Sound Cards like the Creative X-Fi cards.
Dolby Headphone; The virtual surround sound developed by "Dolby"
Other: Companies like Yamaha have developed their own kind of DH like Silent Cinema.
As for as I've read on these forums; Real 5.1 just sucks because of the lack of sound quality. And DH (for know) appeals most the me. You think something else is better for my situation? Please explain to me why! The Astro A40 mixamp would be a good choice?
Open or Closed cans
Can be a bit shorter about this one. Open cans seem to be better when you can game/listnen in a quiet environment, closed ones are better for when it's loud. Is it also true closed cans give a better bass response? Since I game at my home for 95% of the time and it's always pretty quiet in here I tend to go for open cans.
Amplifier
Well, I just don't know if I would need one? Guess it also depends on wether I want CMSS3D (for which I will need a new soundcound) or Dolby Headphone etc.
Headset vs Headphones
Ok I think you guys will all agree with me on this on. Headphones beat Headsets when it comes to clarity, soundstage and positioning? So actually the only good think left for a headset is that it has an attached microphone? I've been looking into and reading reviews of the following headsets and headphones of which I would like more information and personal comments from you guys:
Headsets
- Sennheiser PC350/360: Nice headsets, Sennheiser has always been good to me. But I'm afraid then just won't match against headphones.
- Astro A40: Especially interesting in combination with their A40 MixAmp
- Beyerdynamix MMX300: Looks to be the best performing headset soundwise, but it has a pricetag to go along with it.
Headphones
- Audio Technica ATH-A700: Lot of people on the internet say it's about on of the best price/quality headphones with great soundstage, clear sound and superb audio positioning. Only thing is they might lack some bass for movies.
- Beyerdynamic DT series: They all look like extremely tough yet comfortable headsets. Also recommended all over the internet. But I just can't figure out which one would suit me best.
- Ultrasone HIFI780: Looks less comfortable, though really nice. Claimed to be one of the best for audio positioning due to the added S-logic.
I will probably come up with even more of easy, strange, difficult or plainly dumb question. I hope you guys will take the time to help me, and probably loads of other gamers who want to take it a step higher, to the ultimate (yet affordable) gaming sound solution.
Oh and might be important xD My budget for the total (Soundcard of needed, Amp, Headphones, Shipment etc. etc.) is about 500 USD (Or about 400 euro's).
First of all, let me introduce myself, so I won't be "another new guy". My name is Tom and I'm 21 years of age, I live in the south of Holland (of The Netherlands as some like to call it). I have a simple home cinema with an Optoma HDready beamer and 86" inch screen, surround provided by my Logitech Z5500 (Will be updated in a couple of months). In my free time I like to watch movies in my cinema and play videogames, mainly CoD:MW2 (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for those of you who don't know the abbrevation.) on my gaming PC. At the moment I use Speedlink Medusa 5.1 NX headphones, and I think they are pretty crap xD
Ok enough about me, on to my "problem";
Since I game for over 2 hours a day most weeks, and think I am a pretty decent player I promised myself after celebrating my 21st birthday I would buy myself some decent cans for listening to music, movies and especially gaming. During my search on the internet, mainly this forum to be honest, I've found a couple of questions which I need solved before I can make my decision:
Real 5.1 vs. CMSS3D vs. Dolby Headphone vs. Other:
In gaming as many of you will probably know, sound is an important way of knowing where your enemy is. So clear sound with a good soundstage is important. But maybe even more is the way you can position an enemy (Is he coming from you backleft, left or frontleft?). There are a few ways headphones can provide you this kind of sound;
Real 5.1: I just called it this way since I don't know the right way to call it :lol:... What I mean by this is those "gaming headsets" which provide cans with multiple speakers in 1 can.
CMSS3D: The virtual surround sound provided by Sound Cards like the Creative X-Fi cards.
Dolby Headphone; The virtual surround sound developed by "Dolby"
Other: Companies like Yamaha have developed their own kind of DH like Silent Cinema.
As for as I've read on these forums; Real 5.1 just sucks because of the lack of sound quality. And DH (for know) appeals most the me. You think something else is better for my situation? Please explain to me why! The Astro A40 mixamp would be a good choice?
Open or Closed cans
Can be a bit shorter about this one. Open cans seem to be better when you can game/listnen in a quiet environment, closed ones are better for when it's loud. Is it also true closed cans give a better bass response? Since I game at my home for 95% of the time and it's always pretty quiet in here I tend to go for open cans.
Amplifier
Well, I just don't know if I would need one? Guess it also depends on wether I want CMSS3D (for which I will need a new soundcound) or Dolby Headphone etc.
Headset vs Headphones
Ok I think you guys will all agree with me on this on. Headphones beat Headsets when it comes to clarity, soundstage and positioning? So actually the only good think left for a headset is that it has an attached microphone? I've been looking into and reading reviews of the following headsets and headphones of which I would like more information and personal comments from you guys:
Headsets
- Sennheiser PC350/360: Nice headsets, Sennheiser has always been good to me. But I'm afraid then just won't match against headphones.
- Astro A40: Especially interesting in combination with their A40 MixAmp
- Beyerdynamix MMX300: Looks to be the best performing headset soundwise, but it has a pricetag to go along with it.
Headphones
- Audio Technica ATH-A700: Lot of people on the internet say it's about on of the best price/quality headphones with great soundstage, clear sound and superb audio positioning. Only thing is they might lack some bass for movies.
- Beyerdynamic DT series: They all look like extremely tough yet comfortable headsets. Also recommended all over the internet. But I just can't figure out which one would suit me best.
- Ultrasone HIFI780: Looks less comfortable, though really nice. Claimed to be one of the best for audio positioning due to the added S-logic.
I will probably come up with even more of easy, strange, difficult or plainly dumb question. I hope you guys will take the time to help me, and probably loads of other gamers who want to take it a step higher, to the ultimate (yet affordable) gaming sound solution.
Oh and might be important xD My budget for the total (Soundcard of needed, Amp, Headphones, Shipment etc. etc.) is about 500 USD (Or about 400 euro's).
(most of the time first person shooter) and so I cannot say anything about this feature but I never missed anything while I'm using stereo without any effects (except EAX).
