Good Gaming Headphones? (and some other questions)

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KillerPotato

Limp Gawd
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May 14, 2005
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After doing a quick search of the forums its apparent that these types of threads are made every other minute, so sorry for any annoyances.

Currently I have the Sennheiser HD570's and have enjoyed them thouroughly since I bought them several years ago. The only poor experience I've had with them is that I've had to send them in for replacement under warranty once when the right headphone became messed and would only occasionally play, and when it did, it would play the same as the left ear. Since then, the warranty has run out and any problems I've had I would have to open up and fix it myself finding out that a connection came loose or something, or the thin cable had a connection ruined at one point under the insulation and I would have to replace it.

My headphones are entirely for PC use, mostly for video games and a music, but after looking at the "upper echelon" headphone sites it seems that the HD570's are somewhat looked down upon for their price, so I feel like I've been missing out on alot, not having experienced higher quality headphones, so if anyone can reccommend a very nice pair for preferably less than 100. Comfort is a must which is one of the main reasons I like my 570's, so I would really like it if recommendations were around as comfortable. I listen to all types of music, and "warm" sounding headphones would be preferable.

As for either open or closed, I've heard that closed generally sound worse and more hollow, and I have a few other reasons for preferring open style headphones, but if there are some amazing closed headphones for a good price I would be more than willing to look (specifically the HD280's).

My other question is whether or not a good soundcard in my computer over onboard sound would make a bigger difference than higher quality headphones. Currently I'm using the onboard sound on an nForce 4 motherboard, and would like to buy the cheapest version of Creative's new X-fi soundcard, the simulated surround sound a big attraction. This is mostly an either/or situation since I dont have much of a budget.

So what good PC headphones can you recommend, and would a see a bigger difference with better headphones over the HD570's, or a stand alone soundcard? Thanks for any suggestions!
 
With a add-in sound card, you will not only get slightly better sound (this depends on how good your onboard audio is), but you will get hardware support for ingame sound effects, such as EAX. This in itself can make a difference.

Wait wait wait. You buy HD570 headphones, and you read up and find people look down upon them. Now your thinking of new headphones, but your capping yourself at 100$???????

My advice, save up and when your serious about getting decent headphones, ploop the money down for some good ones right off the bat. (I don't mean 600$ headphones, just a tad bit more like 170 as opposed to 100$).

I'm biased towards the headphones in my sig (or why would I buy them), but they are nice for gaming. I prefer them over the Sennheiser HD590 V3 and HD280pro anyday for gaming (among other things). Lots of people around here also like the Audio Technica's for gaming, so it might be worth it to demo those as well.

Check your local pro audio shops. I was able to pick up my DT990pro's for 130$ new, great deal. Your local shops migh also have great deals.

~Hope this helps
 
Its not so much that I'm looking for a small upgrade, but that my HD570's are showing signs of slowly dying. Because its my second pair I've taken more precautions to prevent it from getting damaged, but recently I've started hearing scratching noises on the right ear. It could be from carting it around to friends houses from time to time, but my warranty ended quite a while ago so I'm seeing what options I have when I need to buy rather than wait.

I've looked at some higher price headphones but I have a hard time justifying to myself to spend twice the price on headphones that don't necessarily sound twice as good. I mostly want something that sounds clear and accurate but still can be considered very good for the price range.

To note, after looking around a little more, I'm considering the A500's, but also noticed that there were alot of recommendations for the A900's, but the 900's are almost twice the price, which is a substantial amount for me and my small spending budget. I would really like for whatever headphones I buy to be durable though, so if anyone can input on the durability of the A500's it would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time!
 
Just to specify, I'm really wondering about the build quality of the ATH-A500's. The one thing that I have reservations about with my current headphones is that theyre somewhat poorly made; when I had to unsnap the outter shells to fix one of the ears losing audio, everything was loosely connected, with one connection having simply unplugged its connection, and its pain to deal with the unsnapping process of the plastic shell. Any input appreciated!
 
I used to own a pair of A500s for a couple months but sold them due to personal preferences. The overall build quality is pretty good, although I'm not sure how well the wing system would hold up if you're a hardcore LANer. The wing system is pretty comfortable, but I've never been a fan of the pleather pads. I don't think you'll have a problem with it as long as you're not playing catch with them.
 
I have the HD280s and I've used them for gaming a few times and I like them. They really keep the distractions out. My HD201s came in a few days ago and I now use those now on my laptop for music and gaming. The 280s are hooked up to the piano. I would actually say that the HD201s are perfectly fine for gaming. They are cheap, sound incredible, and pretty comfortable.
 
I don't like any pair of 5.1s come to think about it. I would lean toward the Sennheiser HD 595s, especially if you're going to get the X-fi to power it on your computer. I myself am going to get the 555s after my Siberias wear out after a few lan parties, but I hear that the 595s and 555s are very similar, with the 595s alittle more expensive, comes better performance.
 
I've narrowed my search down to four different sets in two different price ranges. For the close to 200 dollar range either the Audio Technica A900's or the HD595's, or in the 100 dollar range either the A500's or the HD555. I realize that its open vs. closed, but I'm dont have much of a personal preference as long as one sounds better than the other, but I would like to try a closed headphone just for a change. Which ones would you all choose in each pricerange considering they wont have an amp for at least a while (but choose considering that I would never have an amp), and that I would most likely just use them for gaming, music and movies. If anyone has any other headphones to throw into the mix that haven't been mentioned it would be much appreciated. I've also decided to try to fit in a soundblaster 5.1 that I had lying around to see if its better than the onboard sound, hopefully increasing performance cpu wise. Thanks for everyone's suggestions so far!
 
Just remember that, without moving off onboard audio, you are going to be cutting the legs out from under ANY headphones you have.
 
I managed to squeeze my soundblaster into my computer and the sound is noticably clearer and much more punchy.

I am still very much considering the A900's, but I'm curious if the improvements over the A500's really justify making it twice the price. Whichever one I get, I would most likely buy the KSC-75's for lan parties and out of the house in general to keep em from getting banged up too much. Has anyone been able to test both the A500's and the 900's to see if the extra price is justifyable. I might go with the A900's anyway even if the improvement isnt THAT much since I like the color, but I would not like to blow an extra 90 dollars to make something that I'll almost never look at a bit prettier.
 
I'm not an audilephile, but I got the X-Fi Platinum and HD595's and I noticed a huge upgrade from onboard sounds and my pair of $40 sony headphones.
With the X-Fi + my sony's sounds is ok. With the HD595's sound is amazing.
 
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