HEADPHONES FOR soundblaster zxr soundcard

delpy8

delpy8

delpy8

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Hi guys,

Can anyone recommend a good set of headphones for connecting to this soundcard, mainly for gaming and one that can give me true/emulated surround sound,

Does not matter on the price :)

Thanks
 
delpy8 said:
Hi will this give me as good as sound for fps games so I know what direction my opponents are at
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The X1 is an amazing headphone, rates up with some of the best. However it isnt ideal for FPS games.

FPS games you need to be looking at the size of the soundstage. Personally I have found the Sennheiser HD558/598 have the most neutral and large sound stage that are excellent for directional awareness. They do lack in Bass (not terrible and if im honest i prefer a more subtle Bass but many complain immersion in the game takes a hit without booming Bass).

Another contender is the AKG Q701/ K702 both very good, in my opinion the Q701 is slightly better than the HD598 but it does cost more and the difference is marginal. That being said you really dont get much bigger sound stage without spending a fortune!

Finally the favourite amongst gamers would probably be the Audio Technica ATH-AD700. Can't really comment on these but they do seem to be in a list with the above headphones every time someone asks a similar question.

I should stress the above are open back headphones so they suffer a lot of sound leakage but that is why the sound stage is so good.
 
I have them myself and they are very nice. Not as comfortable as the sennheisers....then again no headphones are!

They would definitely suit your needs.

I actually have a ZXR myself driving mine. BF4 with scout mode with the Q701's is simply amazing.
 
That's good to know as my main games are BF4 and planetside 2, I'm currently using Astro A40s with mixamp and onboard alc1150 realtek and it's OK but want something better
 
I just want to add some my thoughts.

I recently joined the X1 fanclub too and they are sitting alongside my HD 598's. Generally the X1 are better for a lot of things (music etc.) and have that wonderful balance of bass and soundstage, but I kind of agree with the gaming aspect opinion above. Particularly if you're into multiplayer gaming.

Also to echo the above, the Sennheisers are so comfortable, you don't notice them on. The X1's are great but are slightly heavier and the ear cups are round and therefore smaller so I personally find are not as comfortable. And this really suits extended gaming sessions.

I now own a set of 598's, X1's and A40's so feel I'm done with buying any new headphones now. I've got to a happy equilibrium I think. I also have the MixAmp for my PS4/PS3/360 and the ZxR in the PC.

The K702's do sound interesting though...
 
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EDIT : Long story short.


X1's are the ones to pick. They do have a wide soundstage, and a clear sound, with that extra bass, that is not at all overpowering. X1's are comfortable but are noticeably heavier


Only positives the HD598's have in my opinion is the comfort, and the wider soundstage (just a bit wider)
 
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ThatAsianGuy said:
THE X1's have a bigger soundstage then the HD598's, How Do i know this?

I owned the HD598's for couple of months and sold them once i got the X1's.
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It was your thread that recommended the X1's to me (thank you) and they are brilliant headphones - I much prefer them for most music I listen too.

That said can't agree with the soundstage comment. I still own the 598's alongside the X1's and for gaming I still prefer the 598's. They are so well balanced that they really suit gaming.
 
Timber said:
It was your thread that recommended the X1's to me (thank you) and they are brilliant headphones - I much prefer them for most music I listen too.

That said can't agree with the soundstage comment. I still own the 598's alongside the X1's and for gaming I still prefer the 598's. They are so well balanced that they really suit gaming.
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To be honest, They are so extremely similar that I ONLY noticed when I was testing them side by side in Battlefield.

I lent towards the HD598 for that wide soundstage for gaming (however just a tad bigger) Nonetheless the soundstage on the X1's are amazing, and are amazing for FPS.

Saying that the X1's soundstage is more accurate, and you can pinpoint the location better with the X1's.

No Problem about the reccomendation did you get them for the price of £150.
 
ThatAsianGuy said:
To be honest, They are so extremely similar that I ONLY noticed when I was testing them side by side in Battlefield.

I lent towards the HD598 for that wide soundstage for gaming (however just a tad bigger) Nonetheless the soundstage on the X1's are amazing, and are amazing for FPS.

Saying that the X1's soundstage is more accurate, and you can pinpoint the location better with the X1's.

No Problem about the reccomendation did you get them for the price of £150.
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No unfortunately not, £183 plus extra for the fisual lead.

Still not with you on the X1's v 598. The soundstage is larger for the latter and gives them the edge. As mentioned better balance and the bass gets in the way ever so slightly.

Still overall I think the X1's are the better headphone but not for accuracy in MP gaming - although it's slight. As you say they are almost like 598's plus more bass.

Anyway I'll stop debating as we're not going to agree.
 
Timber said:
No unfortunately not, £183 plus extra for the fisual lead.

Still not with you on the X1's v 598. The soundstage is larger for the latter and gives them the edge. As mentioned better balance and the bass gets in the way ever so slightly.

Still overall I think the X1's are the better headphone but not for accuracy in MP gaming - although it's slight. As you say they are almost like 598's plus more bass.

Anyway I'll stop debating as we're not going to agree.
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To each his own I guess :), glad you are enjoyin the X1's even at the full RRP they are still worth it
 
ThatAsianGuy said:
To each his own I guess :), glad you are enjoyin the X1's even at the full RRP they are still worth it
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The X1's are lovely and have a much more dynamic and punchy sound that makes some of my FLAC files come alive. They are really nice set of headphones particularly in build quality.

At £150 or less a steal but I don't regret them at £183 at all. I'm not sure what the competition is like at their £270 RRP but I'm all head-phoned out for now!

To think over until about 2 years ago I had a Sennheiser 161 from the TV for console, 2005 Xfi in the PC along with a short-lived Tritton AX Pro (ouch).
 
Timber said:
To think over until about 2 years ago I had a Sennheiser 161 from the TV for console, 2005 Xfi in the PC along with a short-lived Tritton AX Pro (ouch).
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I am sad to say this, I thought Turtle Beach was the best audio headset company out there and nothing came close to em. Oh how times have changed since then
 
The ZXR is a fantastic card but it’s worth noting the relatively high output impedance at around 38-40 Ohms. The Z/ZX is around 22 Ohms which is still fairly high.
This is less than ideal for low impedance headphones and balanced armature IEM's such as the Shure SE535.

As a rule of thumb the output impedance should be less than 1/8th of the headphone impedance.

The Asus Xonar STX for example has an output impedance of 10 Ohms and works best with 80 Ohm + headphones.

This is why headphone amps such as the Fiio E10/E17 are popular as their output impedance is low at around 0.5 Ohms.
 
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Stratosphere83 said:
The ZXR is a fantastic card but it’s worth noting the relatively high output impedance at around 38-40 Ohms. The Z/ZX is around 22 Ohms which is still fairly high.
This is less than ideal for low impedance headphones and balanced armature IEM's such as the Shure SE535.

As a rule of thumb the output impedance should be less than 1/8th of the headphone impedance.

The Asus Xonar STX for example has an output impedance of 10 Ohms and works best with 80 Ohm + headphones.

This is why headphone amps such as the Fiio E10/E17 are popular as their output impedance is low at around 0.5 Ohms.
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Did not know this. Tried reading up on this and saw this raised via the Creative forums and then a few other places.

Just out of interest what then makes the better headphones to use with ZxR? Headphones with a higher ohm?
 
The ZXR will work fine with all manner of headphone but has been engineered to be more efficient at running headphones with at least 300+ impedance.

The X1's are easy to drive headphones however their impedance will be fairly consistent across the frequency range you wont run into the issues faced by balanced armatures where frequency can deviate as impedance changes.

Interesting article on the subject here
 
Comes down to how much you want to spend, there are 3 great budget headphones at the moment the M-Audio Studiophile Q40, Klipsch Image One, creative aurvana live all £50 ish and great for the money.There are good choices in each price band really £50 £100 ish £200 ish.
 
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