[Bloodflowerz]

Just wanted to get a idea of whether it's worth spending the money on a high end headphone just for gaming and watching movies? I'm not too concerned with music playback as I have other headphones for that. 
 
So, main concern is sound stage and reasonable bass if possible. How many of you have a similar setup and would you advise going down the same route?
 
Also, feel free to add any other mid - high level tier headphone to this discussion.
 
Thanks.

 

[CybDev]

I'm going to go with a "no" on this one.

For gaming I can't think of any other scenario than wanting something with a good mic and freq response that will highlight footsteps and such, features not often present in highend cans(for good reason).
Maybe you could have better luck with a good isloating IEM, such as the Shure SE-XXX range. They provide enough isolation to play competitively even with lots of ambient noise, but of course they suffer from the inherent IEM issues...

And for movies, I suppose the reason you'd be using/considering headphones at all is not to disturb your environment, in which case you would want a closed can anyway, and again, not too many of those in the higher end segment, especially ones that don't leak a lot of sound.

Granted the extremely little gaming I do these days I do with my SR-009 or HD800, but I don't see any point in "downgrading" to something else when I already have them hooked up to my PC, and I have a pretty silent environment to begin with...

 

[biggbenn74]

Ah, I've been down this road before. There are two separate paths that I have gone down, and both of them have an ultimatum related to personal preference. The first, closed headphones. For quite some time, I used these, like V-Moda's LP and Numark's Red Wave, but, there are some issues with this. While you might get that nice, isolated feeling, the bass would sometimes over bear or even muddy in game experience with explosions and bass in general. While it works great for the most part, it can get hot after many hours of play and the closed feel can end up uncomfortable on your head and especially your ears. Enter the second path, open headphones. I have used my Audio-Technica AD700's and mic for over a year, and they've been amazing. I've never had to remove my headphones to relieve stress or heat, and I've never had any clarity issues. As a matter of fact, these headphones are amazing when it comes to soundstage, especially for the money. I wouldn't think of purchasing anything more for gaming anytime soon. Just so we are clear, I have attempted to use my beloved Q701's and AD900's before, with little/ no improvement. That's why I constantly recommend the AD700's, because you don't have to spend a lot of money. Then again, it all comes down to personal preference of what you want.

 

[Bloodflowerz]

Thanks for the impressions friends. Well appreciated.
 
One question to BiggBenn: could you rate the size of the sound stage between the Q701, AD700 and AD900 please?