Pure gaming headphones

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Shadowex3

Weaksauce
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Nov 1, 2007
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My ~3-4 year old plantronics audio .90's have finally started to die and that leaves me looking for a new pair of headphones. Problem is like I told the head-fi guys I know absolutely nothing about audio equipment. Predictably asking on head-fi was a mistake that so far has produced little more than a list of $200+ models before and after I mentioned that was out of my budget. The HD555's look nice and are right in my price range but I've heard they're really high on bass at the expense of other sounds so I'm a little wary of them.

To be perfectly honest while quality is nice as long as it's better than the $15 office depot specials I've been getting I'll probably be amazed. What I'm really looking for is not bit-perfect playback but pinpoint precision for positional audio and the ability to keep up with a decent sized game without dropping sounds like the ever important footsteps or grenade bounces. I'm fine with anything that doesn't have super powerful bass, I'm actually already lowering everything from 250-31hz to -2.5 in the x-fi EQ to make playing less straining on my ears.

So [H], can you help a brother out after the audiophiles left him out to dry?
 
The HD555s are fine, I replaced a pair of HD595s that got broken with them and I could not hear a difference.

The problem of course is that it isn't a headset, so you'll need to get a microphone. Or rig something up.
 
mic isn't a problem, it's the headphones themselves I'm worried about. Things like how they hold up to big games with lots of sounds playing or if the bass has that very uncomfortable and ear-straining nature to it that my current headset does.
 
I listen to mine at rather high volume for everything from music to gaming and they never bug my ears.
 
I recently purchased the Audio Technica AD700's for 95% gaming. I am very happy with them...they are very comfortable.

They also have a great soundstage. However...to get the best positional audio for gaming you really need to combine the headphones with an x-fi sound card or a dolby headphone capable sound card (preferably x-fi for eax support).

So it depends on your budget...the ad700's go for ~100 bucks. I got mine shipped from newegg for 103.

They are also a little lighter on the bass end...so that may be a good thing for you from your description.

I know the Koss SB45/40 are also highly reccomended by spaceman and others for a cheaper gaming set...

Using my prelude (x-fi and CMSS3D turned on) and ad700's, the positional audio is amazing. It's hard to believe how well it works. I was playing CoD4 last Sunday and I found that I could track people down by audio alone. I had to be careful because I started hearing people behind me and would turn and shoot before realizing it was someone on my team!
 
Yeah, part of the reason I'm not just getting whatever's on sale at office depot as usual is because they just can't take what my xtrememusic is throwing at them. That's why I'm concerned about dropping sounds when a lot is going on, it's kinda annoying when your headphones just give up trying to play some things at a reasonable volume.

What would you say is the major difference between the AD700 and the HD555?
 
In terms of comfort, you can't go wrong with the Audio Technica ATH line. Hands down the most comfortable phones I've ever owned, and I've owned more than a few kinds. They have a whole lineup that are the same general design and thus same comfort. The ATH-A500, ATH-A700, and ATH-A900 are their closed phones. That means they seal out sound from the room, and keep their sound to themselves. Also means the bass is a bit stronger, though the over all sound quality is a bit lower.

The ATH-AD700, ATH-AD900, ATH-AD1000, and ATH-AD2000, are the open back versions. Same design, just open in the rear. That means no isolation of background sounds, and their sound leaks out so those around you can hear them. It also means less bass (but better quality bass) and over all higher quality sound at a given price point.

The 500s would do just fine if you don't want to spend a lot of money. They are about $120. IF you are willing to spend $150, you can get either version of the 700. The 900s go over $200.

At any rate I just love them. I got a pair of A700s (the closed kind) for work and they are great. So good, in fact, that I just bought a pair of AD900s (the open kind) for home.

Don't get me wrong, nothing wrong with the Sennheisers, I've owned a number of different ones. However their comfort isn't near as good at the Audio Technicas.
 
From what I've read, the AD700's outclass the 555's. The AD700's have a larger soundstage and better quality sound.

So I think they 555's are a great pair and very popular. I was trying to decide between the 555's and the AD700's and pretty much ever review (profesional or user) said the AD700's were at better headphone for approximately the same price.
 
bobn4burton said:
From what I've read, the AD700's outclass the 555's. The AD700's have a larger soundstage and better quality sound.

So I think they 555's are a great pair and very popular. I was trying to decide between the 555's and the AD700's and pretty much ever review (profesional or user) said the AD700's were at better headphone for approximately the same price.
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b/c it is lol

for positioning and soundstage the Koss SB40 is almost as accurate as the ad700. it is less in everything else however.

the akg 601s are the most 3D regular headphone you can get for under $200 used.

I have some SR Lambda Stax modified for better bass response(even though this normal model has bass better than anything else I have heard in terms of quality and quantity) and a SRD-7 energizer that cost me under $350 and it is to be powered by my 100 watt NAD 2100 power amp lol.

Slightly insane game sound to be sure.

Oh, I have a 12" sub for the 40hz and below too.
 
What exactly does soundstage mean. I heard elsewhere that a smaller one means that you'll be able to hear distant sounds easier, but I've also heard the conflicting definition that a larger soundstage means you can hear things from farther away.
 
Neither really.. soundstage is more... 3D perception/imaging of the sound.

If you're playing games, with good soundstage, you would be able to tell which direction the gunfire is coming from.

In general - larger soundstage is better.
 
Shadowex3 said:
What exactly does soundstage mean. I heard elsewhere that a smaller one means that you'll be able to hear distant sounds easier, but I've also heard the conflicting definition that a larger soundstage means you can hear things from farther away.
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A large sound stage makes sounds sound like they are coming from farther away. So basically, larger sound stages make your audio sound less point-source identifiable.

Trying to think of the best way to describe. Your audio will sound more enveloping with a larger sound stage. So the larger the soundstage, the less able you will be to pin-point sound coming from the speaker...which is a good thing. You want your audio to make you feel like you were there...instead of just listening to sound coming from a single point in space (i.e. you speaker).

So as you can see...having a large soundstage is important for gaming so you hear sounds coming from your 'virtual soundstage environment' instead just coming from the two speakers on each ear. You can really hear sounds that come from their correct position, whether the sounds are supoosed to be close to you or far away. When CMSS3D or Dolby Headphone is paired with a good set of cans that have a large soundstage, the sounds become quite realistic.

Whereas headphones that have a small/poor soundstage...all the sound just sound like they are coming from the two speakers right next to your head.

Hopefully some of that makes any sense at all...
 
So basically a larger soundstage means that I'll hear sounds as they relate to the game's environment instead of just feeling like I'm being fucked in the ear by some desktop speakers I taped to my head.
 
Shadowex3 said:
So basically a larger soundstage means that I'll hear sounds as they relate to the game's environment instead of just feeling like I'm being fucked in the ear by some desktop speakers I taped to my head.
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Basically -
Although a small soundstage doesn't mean the headphones are bad.. Grado's for instance are known to have a really small soundstage, but to compensate, they have amazing details and do well at all points of the sound spectrum.
 
Right. So maybe instead of "what would be a good set of headphones" I would be better off asking what general kind of headphones would be best for someone that doesn't mind weak bass and is mostly interested in the clarity of various sounds in (large) hectic games like FEAR, enemy territory, and so on where there's a lot of loud and quiet sounds going at once. Something that wouldn't distort or drop footsteps while still playing machinegun fire.
 
Shadowex3 said:
Right. So maybe instead of "what would be a good set of headphones" I would be better off asking what general kind of headphones would be best for someone that doesn't mind weak bass and is mostly interested in the clarity of various sounds in (large) hectic games like FEAR, enemy territory, and so on where there's a lot of loud and quiet sounds going at once. Something that wouldn't distort or drop footsteps while still playing machinegun fire.
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akg 601/701 w/ an amp or until u have $$ 4 an amp lol..
 
Probably nice headphones but my price range is definitely way closer to the AD700 and HD555's. I'm also probably going to be stuck pestering you guys for information exclusively now since the less sane members of Head-Fi finally found my thread. It's probably going to turn into a pretty nasty pseudoscience argument soon. If half the things some people say about the really expensive headphones were true Randi would definitely owe someone a million dollars.
 
Well, like I said, I'd get the ATH-700s just based on comfort alone. I've never heard the 555s personally, I've owned HD-580s and HD-590s. Both were fine phones, but bot near as comfortable as the 700s.

If you do go the Audio Technica route, just make sure to get the kind you want. The 700s come in both open and closed varaties and cost about the same for either. Personally, I'm a fan of open phones, but then my house is quiet and my computer isn't in an area where the noise from the phones would annoy someone (open phones aren't loud to other people, but they are most certianly audible). If you need the isolation, get the closed ones.

Another good thing about the 700s is they sound quite good without an amp. Not that they proibably wouldn't benefit from an amp, but they aren't like some of these phones you hear about that really have to be amped to sound good. That's one reason I got them for work is I don't want to buy a headphone amp there and I wanted something that'd work well.

They are reasonably effecient and of a medium impedance. That means most opamps (as you typically find on soundcard outputs) can drive them plenty loud, but aren't under too much strain and so still give good bass and such.
 
if the ad700 costs too much u can try the ad500. takes a good long burn in but they sound great afterwards
 
AD700 from newegg is good. I'm going to try and find somewhere local I can listen to them and the 555's before buying.
 
Well finding somewhere local with the Audio Technicas will be hard. They weren't even available in the US until recently. Not sure why, Audio Technica has had lots of products in the US for a long time, just their audiophile phones weren't sold.

At any rate, you may discover it is hard to find. Guitar Centre carries them, but I don't know if that is just online, or in the store as well. However, in my experience they are good with returns. So what you can do is go to a store, have them order the phones for you, buy them, then if you don't like them, return them in 30 days for a full refund.

One thing to note is that Newegg's price is cheaper than anywhere else I've seen, but they are out of stock. I have a feeling they may have to raise their price when they get ore in stock. The US dollar has fallen versus the yen recently and as such prices on Japanese products have gone up (Audio Technica is a Japanese company). So you should probably expect to pay $150 for them.
 
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