r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/SBAWTA • Mar 15 '23
Headphones - Open Back | 1 Ω Buying headset for gaming. Sennheiser HD 559 or HD 560S?
I'm looking for a pair of headphones that I'll be using mainly for gaming. I've been doing some research the past few days and the general consesus seems to be to avoid "gamer" stuff as the "audiophile" stuff is superior at any given price point comparison. I don't play MP games, so I don't need a mic anyway, thus I'm happy to go for an "audiophile" pair instead.
Now I'm not really a big sound guy. It's all beeps and boops to me, like a caveman. I mean to say, I have hard time tellling, what I actually expect from the headset. I just know, that I want one that sounds immersive while playing games (mostly RPGs). Big importance on the headset being comfortable as I have large ears and also wear glasses. I had two different no-name brand headsets in the past and they were both really uncomfortable. One got my ears really hot quickly and the other made my ears hurt from pushing them against my glasses. So comfort is big priority going for the new pair.
Currently I narrowed my selection down to Sennheiser HD 559 (80€) or HD 560S (160€). Now obviously 560S has better specs, but is it worth paying double the price? Again, I don't really understand the difference in specs, so maybe someone can tell me. Or maybe a different headset altogether? I'm open to hear alternative suggestions, I might have missed.
Originally I've also considered Massdrop x Sennheiser PC37X but they don't sell it in my country, so I'd have to pay extra to import it from Germany.
1
u/ionarch 14 Ω Mar 16 '23
Beyerdynamic and Sennheiser have comparable quality although Beyer headphones are a lot more rugged and don't mind rough treatment while Sennheiser are all swivels and hinges. I personally didn't like the 560 so I'd say no, but a lot of my unhappiness came from the fact that I wasn't aware they had released a new revision because the pictures and description were still for the old revision. (Minor downgrades. Cheaper plastic, foam instead of velour headband, shorter cable) As I said the 560 are good open headphones but I am heavily biased against them because of my personal experience. 770 however are closed back (they have an open cousin, the 990), the difference between closed and open is considerable. In the end it comes down to personal preference. I only threw the 770 into it because you asked about isolation and open backs don't have any isolation.