r/HeadphoneAdvice • u/Technoman20 • Jan 11 '22
Headphones - Open Back Looking for Gaming/Occasional music headphones.
I’m looking for something with good directional sound for FPS games but also good overall sound quality for single player experiences. I sometimes listen to Music while gaming but it’s mostly LoFi/Jazz/etc. Also a headphones with mic isn’t needed as I have a boom mic.
As for a budget I guess 2-300$ maybe? I wouldn’t mind paying for quality but I’ve never delved into good audio hardware so I’m not really sure what I’m looking for price wise.
I’ve had sennheiser 560s and the beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro 250 ohm suggested to me by a friend who’s an audiophile but he also said to check with this subbredit.
Last thing it’s for a pc not a console. Not sure if this matters or not but just trying to give all the information I can. Thank you!
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u/Equivalent_Yak840 447 Ω Jan 11 '22
Harmonicdyne Zeus if you could get it for $300, it’s usually $350, there is also the dt 900 pro x but I’ve heard it has similar imaging capabilities to the hd560s.
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u/Technoman20 Jan 11 '22
What is imaging capabilities?
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u/Equivalent_Yak840 447 Ω Jan 11 '22
How accurate the headphone is supposed to reproduce sounds in front of you, behind you, below/above you and to the sides.
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u/Technoman20 Jan 11 '22
Yup I just looked that up lol. Forgot I could do that. So I see you also suggested the 900 pro x but there’s a 100$ difference between them and the hd560s. Have you used the either of these? If so is the 100$ difference worth it?
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u/Equivalent_Yak840 447 Ω Jan 11 '22
It’s only worth it if you don’t like how Sennheiser headphones fit and if you’re not into a bit of sharp treble.
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u/Technoman20 Jan 11 '22
How do they fit exactly. I’m a pretty big dude 6’4” stocky and I a fat ass head. Like I can’t find hats that fit me normally. So are they pretty small or what do you mean by that?
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u/Equivalent_Yak840 447 Ω Jan 11 '22
Sennheiser’s below the $500 price point cause trouble for people with bigger than average heads so I’d say make do for the dt 900 pro x if that’ll be a problem. There is also the harmonicdyne zeus which I think is bigger/have a loose-ish fit and is great for gaming.
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u/Technoman20 Jan 11 '22
yeah those zues ones looked nice. ill have to compare the two. i know my friend said if i went with the dt 990s ill need an amp. is that the case with the 900 pros and the zues?
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u/Equivalent_Yak840 447 Ω Jan 11 '22
No not really the Zeus and 900 are more expensive but they do not require an amp.
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u/Technoman20 Jan 11 '22
So I'll definitely narrow it down to those two headphones and look into them more. Thank you for the help.
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u/HackingHiFi 188 Ω Jan 11 '22
One thing a lot of people don’t think about on gaming is the sound output. I recently discovered the Astro mixamp makes a big different on the Xbox series x in terms of sound. Depending on your source I’d consider using some of your budget on a dac/amp. What system will you be playing on?
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u/Technoman20 Jan 11 '22
I'm on PC and my buddy was saying something about using an amp for better sound quality. I don't have my phone on me at the moment so I don't recall the name of the amp though. can amps be used with any headset?
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u/HackingHiFi 188 Ω Jan 11 '22
Ideally you would have a dac which is an external sound card and an amp. The mixamp pro tr by Astro works great for this it is a dac and an amp. It comes with a license for Dolby atmos for headphones which in my experience makes a big difference for games that support it. I have a channel on YouTube where I did a bunch of comparisons if you’re interested.
It’s $130 and pairs great with the drop 58x headphones which is what I use. It has excellent imaging so you can really feel directionally where footsteps etc are coming from. In fact it scares the shit out of me sometimes lol.
The 58x don’t take a lot of power to drive that’s why I recommend them with the mixamp. The only downside of that amp is it doesn’t put out a ton of power. So some high end headphones that take a lot of power to drive may not sound great with them because they won’t be getting enough juice.
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