[PurpleAngel]

Ive read alot from this topic but cant decide yet Ive bought an hyper x cloud 2 but i dont like the performance of it for fps gaming , I would love to replace it, but I don’t know for which headphone/mic or new headset. My main is competetive gaming so directionl sound and footsteps are the main purpose. Can spend around 200 euro.s. Anyone can recommend me something? Ive had the pc350 before and I loved it but want better directional sound for csgo and pubg

Replace the HyperX Cloud II USB adapter with a Creative Labs Sound Blaster Z sound card (buy used), should improve the HyperX Cloud, at least a little.
Buy the Sennheiser HD558 headphones, remove the black rubber tape from insides the cups of the HD558, should roughly be the same as the PC350.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

No. Only look at the X7 if you need a true amp from Creative.

 

[Yondaime]

No. Only look at the X7 if you need a true amp from Creative.

But it's some pricey

I have no intention to use 300 euro costed amp, I am in a need for better positioning sound which I am not complaining about it too. Yet I would be glad to use something cheaper with or without omni sound blaster and cloud 2 combo my budget is about 100 euro for amp 200 for headset max. But I intend to change only one of them.

 

[Forty0z]

you already have a good closed headphone.
spend your $300 budget on a amp or dac amp combo then save for a better headphone.

 

[illram]

How about creative's omni sound blaster? Does it have enough power for these headsets and headphones like dt 990 pro, mmx 300 and k712?

And which version of scout software it's using?

I don't know anything about the Omni.

 

[AlivePT]

First post of this thread covers quite a lots of cans including HD650.
For gaming I wouldn't want to compromise in soundstage.
Sure music can truly benefit from having smaller/more "intimate" soundstage...
But in gaming nothing beats having feel for if gun shots come from nearby, mid range or really far away.
(check BF4 video of previous post)

Or how about some "healthy paranoia":

Well, on the first post of this thread the headphones that caught my attention in terms of comfort, fun and competitiveness I like the akg 712pro and HD650.

The AKG712pro being an all arounder i dont know if they are better than the game zero just in terms of gaming.

Because if they don't have any advantage I maybe consider to buy de asgard2+bifrost with sennheiser HD 660S

 

[EsaT]

How about creative's omni sound blaster? Does it have enough power for these headsets and headphones like dt 990 pro, mmx 300 and k712?

And which version of scout software it's using?

If you mean Omni Surround 5.1 it's really all around budget device. (though likely beating Sennheiser GSX)

While not good for many mobile devices DT990 isn't either very demanding so Omni 5.1 would be enough, unless you want "your hearing to retire prematurely".

MMX300 has low 32 ohm impedance so for that Omni 5.1 would more than enough.
But it's closed can based onto DT770 with its strong bass closed design drawbacks... (read starting post of thread)
And as big soundstage open cans both DT990 and K712 would "curbstomp" it in competitiveness, while having enough bass for good fun.
(definitely seeing no need for more bass for fun, because it would compromise all other game sounds)
Of course if you have noisy environment then closed headphones have major advantage over open cans in noise isolation.

Despite of its lowish impedance AKG K712 again is toward more demanding end of headphones.
It needs same voltage per dB as 250 ohm DT990 while drawing quadruple current and power.
For that would definitely look for more higher level sound card than Omni 5.1
Creative has long lacked external sound cards above budget level, but there's now also some cheaper than X7.


"Scout mode" is just some equalizer which can't be used with SBX Pro Surround.
Which is the thing needed for binaural simulation when setting headphones as output.
(and Windows playback settings need to be in 5.1)

 

[EsaT]

Because if they don't have any advantage I maybe consider to buy de asgard2+bifrost with sennheiser HD 660S

Remember that DACs don't give binaural-simulation and without sound card you need some other way for doing it.
2.0/stereo with headphones just creates very bad artificial "inside left ear-in center of head-inside right rear" immersion in games.
Good headphones simply make that artificial sound very evident.

 

[AxelCloris]

If you mean Omni Surround 5.1 it's really all around budget device. (though likely beating Sennheiser GSX)

I'll have to get ahold of an Omni Surround to do a quick head-to-head test. I've been playing with the GSX lately and its Binaural Rendering Engine is pretty awesome. It's surpassed Dolby Headphone for my uses.

 

[AlivePT]

Remember that DACs don't give binaural-simulation and without sound card you need some other way for doing it.
2.0/stereo with headphones just creates very bad artificial "inside left ear-in center of head-inside right rear" immersion in games.
Good headphones simply make that artificial sound very evident.

The akg 712 pro i was gonna pair with the x7 if there is some improvement in the change.

The dac+headphone amp + HD660S or BWp7 for music.

 

[EsaT]

wow that graphs look...strange for headphones))

I looked at gaming headsets because it's the first idea that came to my brains. I want gamin => i need gaming headset

A thought that if there are so many reviews over the Internet of gaming headset, if many gamers use them, then there is some rational motive for this...



I've just looked for advertisements of the sale of k712 in my country, but it costs $330-360 USED!!!! Damn
k701 costs ~$120 , k702 costs ~$170 and dt 990 costs from $130 to $170.

Actually I don't know about bass, balance and other moments. I had ath-a700x (close backed) for gaming.but I'm not satisfied with sound. I took from a friend ath-ad700 (open backed) and they sound more clear, but , as you say "fun factor" isn't too great. I hear explosive, I hear shooting, but my heart doesn't start beating faster of this sound))

How are 990's or k701 comparing to ad700's sound?

And I'm going to buy soundcard for all this stuff and choosing between Creative AE-5 and Creative ZXR. AE-5 uses dac Sabre, which is more detailed, but less "fun" sound and ZXR has DAC Burr Brown, which is one of the lovest dacs, it has warmer sound, but less detailed. And also I've read about driver problems for ZXR running under Windows 10 (it doesn't save EQ settings) and AE-5 has Scout 2.0 instead of 1.0 in ZXR. And this is another difficult question, without answer for me

Every single new headphone from traditional audio makers has to stand up to existing established headphones to get any good ratings.
While most gaming stuff sites never do actual comparisons, or at most to other overpriced bling blinged Chinese junk.
I think this pretty much sums what most gaming headphones would be compared to actual headphones:
Oh man my Beyerdynamic 990 pro just arrived
My previous Asus Vulcan can go to hell.
I was curious if the difference would be minimal but man it is huge.
The bass and everything on the Asus Vulcan felt like medieval headphone after using the Beyerdynamic
http://www.overclock.net/t/1337761/...aster-z-zx-zxr-series-club/1330#post_21168377
First post of this thread actually includes couple expensive Astro's gaming headsets for not so stellar "bang per buck".


K712 has been available for 230€ for half year here in Finland and over year in Europe so don't know why it would be that much more expensive in elsewhere or at least in US.
I mean can't be some slow supply chain problem...
Unless some shipping company has started using slave galleys which have problems in Northern Atlantic weather.
And shipping from Europe to US would be lot less than price difference.


Both those Audio-Technicas are extremely neutral bass cans, or really non-existent bass in case of AD700.
K701/702 (detachable cable in later) don't have much more feel of bass, while DT990 has rare amount of it for open can.
http://graphs.headphone.com/index.p...D[2]=703&graphID[3]=2141&scale=30&graphType=0
K712 has pretty much same amount of bass as DT990.
It's likely open design and big soundstage which keeps bass from compromising other sounds much. (unlike in closed cans)


"Scout mode" is just some fancy equalizer and disables SBX Pro Surround at least in Z-serie, so you don't want to use it with headphones.
Unless you enjoy having those sounds in your ears and inside your head. (just quick tested with movie)
New AE-5 has better headphone output than serial resistor needing TPA6120 of ZxR, but again software looks more bloated.
Though haven't checked if there's been new thorough reviews in last months.

Anyway with it's constantly improving new user tortures Windows 10 has caused problems also for Asus cards so can't expect any sound card to be safe from automatic "updates" suddenly breaking something.
(should be called as Wintoys because it's as much game as OS)

 

[EsaT]

I'll have to get ahold of an Omni Surround to do a quick head-to-head test. I've been playing with the GSX lately and its Binaural Rendering Engine is pretty awesome. It's surpassed Dolby Headphone for my uses.

Sennheiser GSX indeed avoids Dolby Headphone's biggest weakness:
Tendency for echo which is already done by sound renderers of games and bass bloat.
Just why should binaural-simulation emulate also acoustics of some gothic cathedral/public bath...
When I first time heard Dolby Headphone it was major disappointment compared to all Dolby name hype.

Here's one comparison of SBX Pro Surround and Sennheiser GSX.
(remember to put everything to stereo/2.0 and no any effects/processings)

 

[ruiliao]

Hey guys, I currently have the k702, the Sennheiser's HD569 for when I need to be a bit quieter (girlfriend sleeps early) paired with Fiio E10K. I've ordered a Creative x7 and I'm thinking of getting HD800. I'm looking for advice here, is it worth it and will it be enough with the x7? kind regards

 

[r1sh]

Every single new headphone from traditional audio makers has to stand up to existing established headphones to get any good ratings.
While most gaming stuff sites never do actual comparisons, or at most to other overpriced bling blinged Chinese junk.
I think this pretty much sums what most gaming headphones would be compared to actual headphones:

Yes you're right, I haven't find any comparison, any frequency response graphs and that's why I get stucked and looked at stereophones....But honestly, all this gaming stuff is made so beautifull and when I'm looking at it I really want to by it just because it looks unusuall and cool)

K712 has been available for 230€ for half year here in Finland and over year in Europe so don't know why it would be that much more expensive in elsewhere or at least in US.
I mean can't be some slow supply chain problem...
Unless some shipping company has started using slave galleys which have problems in Northern Atlantic weather.
And shipping from Europe to US would be lot less than price difference.

Great site, thanks, I looked for k712 on ebay and really there is one new for $270 left.

I live in Russia, our prices often are unreal for example, newbalance sneakers costs here $250+ while I bought in Germany with DHL delivery for $150

Both those Audio-Technicas are extremely neutral bass cans, or really non-existent bass in case of AD700.
K701/702 (detachable cable in later) don't have much more feel of bass, while DT990 has rare amount of it for open can.
http://graphs.headphone.com/index.p...D[2]=703&graphID[3]=2141&scale=30&graphType=0
K712 has pretty much same amount of bass as DT990.
It's likely open design and big soundstage which keeps bass from compromising other sounds much. (unlike in closed cans)

It's strange but I'm satisfied with bass on ad700, I don't like when bass booms in my ears and my head goes round of it I liked bass in Sony mdr-1a it was lite and nice) As I see in Creative's drivers for AE-5 there is separate regulator for bass so I can a little bit boost it

The reason why I asked about DT 990 is that it costs $130 used, k612 pro costs $120 used and both k702 and ad900x cost $160 used.....With this prices do k712 really worth spending extra $70-100 ?

"Scout mode" is just some fancy equalizer and disables SBX Pro Surround at least in Z-serie, so you don't want to use it with headphones.
Unless you enjoy having those sounds in your ears and inside your head. (just quick tested with movie)
New AE-5 has better headphone output than serial resistor needing TPA6120 of ZxR, but again software looks more bloated.
Though haven't checked if there's been new thorough reviews in last months.

Oh...Okay I understood that Scout mode is useless stuff

Thank you for your advices, I've bought today AE-5 and ready for burning new headphones that I'll buy

 

[themrmikemcd]

I just wanted to take this time to thank Mad Lust Envy( Though my wife hates you because of all the money I've spent from your recommendations J/K) and so many others for always being so nice and helpful. I've learned so much just from browsing most of the threads in this discussion and I just wanted to thank all those who have ever given advice or was patient and understanding to those who like me were and are still new to the audiophile world. I wanted to say how much I appreciate everyone being so awesome here! Thank you all for everything you do!