Best Gaming Headphones money can buy.

T

the gamer

[H]ard|Gawd
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Hey I just want to know what are the best Headphones for gaming/music and sometime movies money can buy?
 
Sennheiser Orpheus....:p

Nah man just buy some HD-280 Sennheisers or Allesandro MS-1s and call it a day.

Any headphones built for 'gaming' (such as the siberia) are always pretty crap and 5.1 headphones all suck big time. Also, stay far far away from Bose, they suck so hard its a joke.

Just buy some HD-280s and youll be very happy.
 
I have heard that the "surround sound" headphoens suck, but my buddy has a set of the medusa surround headsets and loves them. Says he like gaming with them better than his logitech 680 speakers.

http://www.medusa-usa.com/

I am trying to get over to his place to try them out.
 
i think most pro gamers use sennheiser hd555/595/600/650. food for thought.
 
5.1 in itself is a gimmick. On the other hand, 5.1 headphones can sound just as good as other headphones in the same price range, some are better/worse than others. I play competitive CS 1.6, as in there's money involved. I personally thought 5.1 headphones would sound a lot worse, but I really do like my 5.1 headset. That being said, if I had the money to spend, I would get higher end cans like the HD280s and a good desktop mic. If money is no object, then there are several sets around the $500 range, get an amp and you're set. I don't have any experience with headphones in the $500 range so I won't recommend any.
 
tim-x said:
i think most pro gamers use sennheiser hd555/595/600/650. food for thought.
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I used to play competitive CS 1.6 also, and I always used hd590s and I still have them. Get the hd555 they sound just as good for gaming purposes.
 
IDversusEGO said:
speaking in terms of gaming or in general?
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Theoretically, 5.1 is rubbish. We only have two ears, so we can't distinguish whether or not things come from behind or from in front anyways. So, theoretically, stereo should be able to produce the same placement feeling as a 5.1 setup can. However, sounds coming from behind us sound a bit different than sounds from infront, because of ear shapement. DSP's can't really create the same differences, as these are different for everybody. They can come very very close though, so a good stereo headphone will create the same placement feeling as a 5.1 setup, and often much better than a 5.1 headphone. With 5.1 headphones, you are stuffing much more technology in the same size casing for the same amount of money. That simply has to degrade it's quality.

If I would go for a gaming headphone, I'd pick one that is closed, bass heavy, and has a decent soundstage. Enter DT770 / Ath-A900. :)

(I own a DT770 and a A700, both would be great gaming headphones)
 
ZOMGWTFBBQ said:
Allesandro MS-1s and call it a day.
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Allesandro makes very good headphones. Rebranded Grado if I'm not mistaken.
You actually get higher quality parts for the money w/ Allesandro than Grado.
Their SR-80 pricepoint gives you SR-125 components etc.
The good thing about them is they're low impedance and sound fine with a sound card.
Some good but high impedance headphones really need an amp to sound decent.
 
IDversusEGO said:
speaking in terms of gaming or in general?
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I was speaking in terms of headphones, gaming or general. Digitalmind made a good point though, one that specifically applies to headphones. I can't tell a difference between sound placement using my 5.1 headphones or simililary priced headphones, I just like my 5.1s because of the extra things (solid construction, attatched quality mic, comfortable).
 
Stereophile said:
Allesandro makes very good headphones. Rebranded Grado if I'm not mistaken.
You actually get higher quality parts for the money w/ Allesandro than Grado.
Their SR-80 pricepoint gives you SR-125 components etc.
The good thing about them is they're low impedance and sound fine with a sound card.
Some good but high impedance headphones really need an amp to sound decent.
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but I recall that Allesandro's were formed when a guitarist friend of John Grado asked him to design a headphone to give the best guitar sound, and he created the Allesandro. So yes, Allesandro's are just different Grado's, made by Grado, but under a different name.
 
well... the best gaming headphones money can buy are the dt770s.... make sure u get the 80 ohm version, an amp, a pa2v2 will do fine, and an x-fi sound card..... unbelievable.. insane sound positioning let me tell ya
 
IMO grado/allesandro is a specialty rock can. I've listend to the budget sr-60 to the ultra rare $1400 PS-1. Not a good can for games like fps where you need to know where people are coming from. There is very little soundstage so everything sounds on the same plane/position relative to the center of your head.

for gaming not alot sounds are immited through as opposed to music so anything over 200 bucks is pretty much overkill. 595/dt770/a900 are your best bets, although you might wanna go higher for music.
 
digitalmind said:
Theoretically, 5.1 is rubbish. We only have two ears, so we can't distinguish whether or not things come from behind or from in front anyways. So, theoretically, stereo should be able to produce the same placement feeling as a 5.1 setup can. However, sounds coming from behind us sound a bit different than sounds from infront, because of ear shapement. DSP's can't really create the same differences, as these are different for everybody. They can come very very close though, so a good stereo headphone will create the same placement feeling as a 5.1 setup, and often much better than a 5.1 headphone. With 5.1 headphones, you are stuffing much more technology in the same size casing for the same amount of money. That simply has to degrade it's quality.

If I would go for a gaming headphone, I'd pick one that is closed, bass heavy, and has a decent soundstage. Enter DT770 / Ath-A900. :)

(I own a DT770 and a A700, both would be great gaming headphones)
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On 5.1 - Interesting because in reality, most people can process directionl sound. Now there aer circumstances that will trick a listener, but if I am standing in my yard with my eyes closed and have my kid run around me, I can tell where she is. Ever played MArco Polo as a kid (or really drunk adult)?

On the headphones - closed is the way to go for gamin IMO. I have heard Audio Technica cans before and really liked them. Comfy and nice sound. I will probably get some 900 or 500 when I scrape the coin.
 
IDversusEGO said:
On 5.1 - Interesting because in reality, most people can process directionl sound. Now there aer circumstances that will trick a listener, but if I am standing in my yard with my eyes closed and have my kid run around me, I can tell where she is. Ever played MArco Polo as a kid (or really drunk adult)?

On the headphones - closed is the way to go for gamin IMO. I have heard Audio Technica cans before and really liked them. Comfy and nice sound. I will probably get some 900 or 500 when I scrape the coin.
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Yes, like I said, we can know where a sound comes from, because I think (not sure why it is actually) sounds coming from behind sound different than we expect them to, so we know they are from behind. Or maybe we can feel where it's coming from, because we can slightly feel the sound waves. We have two ears that can tell the distance to a sound, this gives us two options where the sound could be, in front of us, or behind us. We would need a third to be sure.

ears.gif

ears2.gif
 
I agree that surround sound headphones can't create a real surround sound, mainly due to the closenes of the drivers to your ears, I just thought you were saying 5.1 itself was bunk, not 5.1 headphones.
 
beyerdynamic DT770s (80 or the new 32 ohm versions)

or audiotechnica a900s

thats a pretty big concensus among the headphone community, i personally have the DT770s and love em. I had 5.1 headphones before em, and the positioning was great on them, but the sound quality was lacking. These beyers have just as good positioning with CMSS enabled.
 
IDversusEGO said:
I agree that surround sound headphones can't create a real surround sound, mainly due to the closenes of the drivers to your ears, I just thought you were saying 5.1 itself was bunk, not 5.1 headphones.
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Actually, I am saying it's sort of bunk, I'm saying that I don't understand why I can hear whether something comes from infront or from behind. :)
 
so if one wanted great positonal effects with nice bass for movies and is pretty decent for music, what would be the best bet?
 
Why do folks say a500 or a900 instead of a700? the a700 can be purchased for almost the price of the a500 in usa since ath now sells them in usa where the a500/a900 have to be imported ?
 
digitalmind said:
Actually, I am saying it's sort of bunk, I'm saying that I don't understand why I can hear whether something comes from infront or from behind. :)
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I don't know why we can tell either, but we obviously can. I have theories, but that isn't really my specialty.

I don't know why people leave the 700 out. I say the 500 becuase at $100 it is the most affordable of the 3.
 
you2 said:
Why do folks say a500 or a900 instead of a700? the a700 can be purchased for almost the price of the a500 in usa since ath now sells them in usa where the a500/a900 have to be imported ?
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Apparently the A700 is the gimped one in the family. I won't elaborate since I don't remember the details.
 
synergyo1 said:
Apparently the A700 is the gimped one in the family. I won't elaborate since I don't remember the details.
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Actually, I liked my A700. I have no experience with the A500/A900 though, but from what I've read the A900 is a A700 with a slightly improved midrange (which the A700 does need), and the A500 is entirely different. The A700 has a crapload of bass, recessed midrange, and more upfront highs. It's kind of like a DT770, except that the DT770 does it all better. So I kept the DT770, and sold the A700. But for a gaming headphone, the A700 would be a great can.
 
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