Looking for good gaming headphones

A

asapin

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Feb 21, 2004
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I live in an apartment so I game with headphones most of the time. Right now I have a pair of sennheiser HD 202 headphones I picked up a couple years ago. The only problem I have with them is I have big ears and they hurt during extended use. I'm looking for a set with bigger cups with good bass and sound quality for games like COD, SOF, etc. I'm looking to spend about $150 or less. I don't care about music, just gaming.
 
If you want bass, check out the Beyerdynamic dt-770. They need a good amp though.

Bassy ones that don't need an amp are the Sony V-6's or 7506's. The soundstage is small and the highs can be too much for some.
 
I've got the HD570's, which are nice, just a little hard to drive. An amp helps them out a lot, but they are no means bad without one.

My friend has owned Grado SR60's and SR80's, and the 80's are pretty good, close to my hd570's. The Grado line of headphones seems to emphasize the midrange a bit more than the Sennheiser phones I have. If you like that, it's personal preference, but I thought that the HD570's were a little better, but only subjectively.

However, my HD650's beat on both of those pairs, but they cost about 3 times as much.

BO(V)BZ
 
I use Grado SR-80's, great pair of cans that can be had for ~$70-80. Definitely not geared towards powerful bass as much as other 'phones might be (but if you're looking at headphones you probably shouldn't be looking for thumping bass in the first place). Not that it can't produce low tones, I've tested their response to go as low as 21-22Hz (remember not to look at the packaging stats) making my ears a possible limiting factor. The mid and high ranges are crystal clear as well.

About the comfort, Grado phones are *really* lightweight, but they save on weight by not having any real ergonomics. I've never had any issues with them, but I don't really have "large" ears either. The foam rubber cups on there should do fine for most people. I find the huge enveloping pleather coated foam cups of other 'phones bake my ears after extended use; these let my ears breathe a bit better. The quality of sound can compete with much higher priced headphones, but you can tell Grado is saving some extra money by not providing the latest in ergonomic technology.

Also be aware that the SR-80s are open-air. I find it provides a nice soundstage like the action is happening right in front of you. Senns seem to provide a more distant soundstage, like being in the first row of a concert, Grados are like being on the stage. The real guage of sound quality is listening to music and not gaming, however. When I went from some cheapo $20 stereo headphones to these SR-80s it was an enormous difference. Some of the characteristics carry over to gaming, like clearly distinguishing from multiple sound sources, ie- different instruments in a song vs. different opponents in a game, so it helps there in some regards as well.

The biggest point I would stress would be to *test the headphones out before you buy them if at all possible*. Listening experience for headphones is EXTREMELY subjective, there's no real benchmark to look at to see what YOU will hear out of them. This is especially true when you start thinking about plunking down $100+ on a pair. Try to find a local audiophile shop, they should have a selection of most of the popular cans for you to try out.

I've always found gaming to be better with headphones in the first place, much easier to track sound sources, so a nice quality pair can definitely improve the experience. Take a look at goodcans.com for some written insight. Happy hunting.
 
Originally posted by Silent.Sin
I use Grado SR-80's, great pair of cans that can be had for ~$70-80. Definitely not geared towards powerful bass as much as other 'phones might be (but if you're looking at headphones you probably shouldn't be looking for thumping bass in the first place). Not that it can't produce low tones, I've tested their response to go as low as 21-22Hz (remember not to look at the packaging stats) making my ears a possible limiting factor. The mid and high ranges are crystal clear as well.

About the comfort, Grado phones are *really* lightweight, but they save on weight by not having any real ergonomics. I've never had any issues with them, but I don't really have "large" ears either. The foam rubber cups on there should do fine for most people. I find the huge enveloping pleather coated foam cups of other 'phones bake my ears after extended use; these let my ears breathe a bit better. The quality of sound can compete with much higher priced headphones, but you can tell Grado is saving some extra money by not providing the latest in ergonomic technology.

Also be aware that the SR-80s are open-air. I find it provides a nice soundstage like the action is happening right in front of you. Senns seem to provide a more distant soundstage, like being in the first row of a concert, Grados are like being on the stage. The real guage of sound quality is listening to music and not gaming, however. When I went from some cheapo $20 stereo headphones to these SR-80s it was an enormous difference. Some of the characteristics carry over to gaming, like clearly distinguishing from multiple sound sources, ie- different instruments in a song vs. different opponents in a game, so it helps there in some regards as well.

The biggest point I would stress would be to *test the headphones out before you buy them if at all possible*. Listening experience for headphones is EXTREMELY subjective, there's no real benchmark to look at to see what YOU will hear out of them. This is especially true when you start thinking about plunking down $100+ on a pair. Try to find a local audiophile shop, they should have a selection of most of the popular cans for you to try out.

I've always found gaming to be better with headphones in the first place, much easier to track sound sources, so a nice quality pair can definitely improve the experience. Take a look at goodcans.com for some written insight. Happy hunting.
Click to expand...

Excellent post, and I highly agree. I love Grados myself, and have a pair of 120's. They have a little more bass but is overall same can as the SR80's. Just one quick pimp for Needle Doctor if you live in MN, they are the only place you can listen to Grados in the area.
 
I second the Sennheiser HD-497s. For the price these are awesome cans for gaming AND music. I have a pair of Grado SR-225 cans and I still listen to the HD-497s on my home headphone setup from time to time.
 
Senn HD-590's for a few reasons.

1) Sound good, more than good enough for PC multimedia imo

2) Don't need an amp

3) Just about the most comfortable headphones out there imo
 
You might want to hold off a bit to see how the new Senn HD 515s do. While IMHO they look kinda funky, they will cost $100 and won't be terribly hard to drive.
 
What are a good pair of headphones that include a built in mic for voice chats in games? I'm not spending more than $50. I'll probably listen to some music on it, but it's primarily for gaming.

Also, if do you guys know about any headphones I could use for playing music? My roomates and I have an apartment and one plays drums, one plays electric, and I play bass, and we are going to try and setup a headphone amp so that we can play as loud as we want without people hearing us. Any suggestions?
 
Sennheiser PC 150s are the ones to get for gaming...... 50 dollars here

Ok stop asking the same question
 
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Originally posted by BP
If you want bass, check out the Beyerdynamic dt-770. They need a good amp though.

Bassy ones that don't need an amp are the Sony V-6's or 7506's. The soundstage is small and the highs can be too much for some.
Click to expand...

I've come to the conclusion that most people don't really understand bass.
I held off on getting dt770s for the longest time because people kept saying they were very bass heavy.
To me bass was that low rumbley bit that made everything else sound muddy when it was too high.
Then I got the 770s, and it was like "oh right, that's what bass is".

People sometimes describe the bass as "boomy", with the 770s I'd be more inclined to call it "explosive".

In my humble opinion, while the 770s are not a brilliant all-rounder, they are simply the best (better than all the rest) for gaming (and I've had the opportunity to spend some quality gaming time with several senns, sonys and assorted Bose, Koss and grado phones).

A decent amp make a startling difference (I use a porta corda).
 
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