Wired over ear headphone recommendations

IvanDobskey

IvanDobskey

IvanDobskey

Soldato
Joined
2 Feb 2010
Posts
11,528
Location
Crowmarsh
I really enjoy the sound quality of my on ear momentums but they just aren't comfortable for long gaming sessions :(

I'm looking for a pair of over ear headphones with comfort, sound quality and also build quality in mind. I prefer a more minimalistic style. Prepared to pay as much as £200 for the right pair but preferably less.

I picked up a pair of bang & olafsen h6 v2's on clearance in a john Lewis sale for £150, but they were faulty on testing :(

Note: I'm using the headphone output on a sound blaster z if that makes any difference.

Any recommendations?
 
Last edited:
Hmm, OK. :p

Well, open back headphones are better for positional sound locating, but obviously leak sound more. Someone in the next room really shouldn't be bothered by any headphones, not if the doors are closed. I know I can't hear mine in the next room even if the volume is turned up really unbearably loud and the doors closed. Easily heard with the doors open though, but such volume would be unbearable for anything more than a few seconds. Normal listening volume, I can just about hear them in the next room with the doors open.

When talking about a woman though, then all things that might be considered normal can go out of the window. :p Some guy posted a thread ages ago, looking for some closed headphones after his other half got fed up hearing his headphones in the next room; and that was with the doors closed. Must have been some superwoman hearing going on there, or his house had paper walls. :p

Best choice of open back headphones for positional sound gaming would be AKG K702. They aren't easy to drive though and need a decent headphone amp. Soundblaster Z, will work, but it's headphone output is not really enough to get the best from the headphones. They might work well enough to still be a solid choice though. Rids57 might be able to shed some light on that (assuming he sees this thread). I think he used that combination of SB Z and K702 for a time.

To be honest, I'm not really sure what other choices there are of open back headphones that are good for positional sound gaming and are easier to drive, except the Sennheiser HD5** range.

Of course though, I am assuming that you want something with good sound locating accuracy, rather than just something that is fun and has good bass. Too much bass hinders positional sound cues and the K702 are somewhat neutral, which helps them to excel in this area. Not everyone wants that though and might prefer just a fun headphones with good bass and aren't too bothered if they can locate sounds accurately.

For closed easier to drive headphones, AKG K550 MKIII and Beyerdynamic DT770 80 Ohm are good choices. Not going to match the K702 when it comes to sound placement, but they will offer some fun bass if that's more what you are after.

Sorry for the long winded post. :p
 
Thanks a lot for the insight :) Plenty of food for thought :)

We do keep the doors to the rooms open as we have a cat that likes to roam and if he comes across a closed door, he tends to claw at it.

So maybe closed back would be best. As you said, women :p

Although I tend not to have the volume cranked too high anyway.

Looking at the AKG's and Beyers. Both look decent options.

Edit: I like the look of the AKG 550's in particular. It seems the mk2 versions can be had quite a bit cheaper. Is there any reason to pay more for the MK3?

Edit again: Actually, I see richer sounds have the mk3's for £149 which seems a decent deal
 
Last edited:
The Mk3's are just a better headphone than the Mk3's, if I was buying I would shell out the extra for the mk3's.
 
rids57 said:
The Mk3's are just a better headphone than the Mk3's, if I was buying I would shell out the extra for the mk3's.
Click to expand...

Is £149 a decent deal on the mk3's?

Or should I wait to see if a better deal crops up?

I'm not in any real rush as my momentums do the job, if a little uncomfortably.
 
Also looking at the dt770's which are a bit cheaper at about £100.

Which are more comfortable? Have better build quality out of the dt770 and k550?

I notice that the k550 have no padding on the band which could be uncomfortable for long periods.
 
Last edited:
£150 seems like a decent price for the K550 MKIII, but that may come down. It was either MKI or MKII, but they were as low as just over £100 at one point.

DT770 would get my vote for comfort, probably because of the extra padding on the headband. DT770 are likely to be better built, being a headphone designed for studio use. They are very durable.

Edit: Should also point out, that K550 are no good for glasses wearers. They need a good seal and wearing glasses breaks that seal.
 
IvanDobskey said:
We do keep the doors to the rooms open as we have a cat that likes to roam and if he comes across a closed door, he tends to claw at it.

So maybe closed back would be best. As you said, women :p
Click to expand...
Then again with closed headphones cat might have to jump on keyboard or do something like that when you don't give him/her attention because of not hearing external sounds.:p

Anyway if keyboard sounds aren't problem then sound leak from open headphones isn't problem.
Would have to be more than little hearing dangerous volume for sound leak to exceed noise of typical keyboard.
 
AKG K550 are better all round in my opinion, have owned both.

Apparently the only difference with the MK3 over the 2, is the detachable cable.

MK2 were £100 at RS recently, MK3 £129.
 
Alternately sign-up on the Sennheiser mailing list as every goal England score in a game they knock off 10%, to a max of 50%. Could have picked up some Momentum 2.0 for £90 delivered on the weekend. Deal only lasts 24 hours after you get the email. :)
 
The Mk3 are the same as the American 553 and a lot of people say they hear improvements over the Mk2 / 550
 
EsaT said:
Then again with closed headphones cat might have to jump on keyboard or do something like that when you don't give him/her attention because of not hearing external sounds.:p

Anyway if keyboard sounds aren't problem then sound leak from open headphones isn't problem.
Would have to be more than little hearing dangerous volume for sound leak to exceed noise of typical keyboard.
Click to expand...

Oh he certainly knows how to get my attention alright :p

I don't think sound leakage would be a problem, so I definitely wouldn't rule out open back headphones if the right pair were avay for a good price.

I'm waiting for a bit more spare cash before buying anyway. Been an expensive month. Finally paid off my mortgage, then a deal on a 500gb mx500 SSD came up that I couldn't resist :p
 
I'm kind of leaning towards the dt990 pro's at the moment. But I understand they are 250 ohm. Will my soundblaster z headphone amp be up to the job of powering them?

Or should I just get the 32 or 80 ohm dt770's?
 
The Soundblaster Z will drive the DT990 pros just fine, they are quite sensitive so are not really difficult to drive, even though their impedance would say otherwise.
 
rids57 said:
The Mk3 are the same as the American 553 and a lot of people say they hear improvements over the Mk2 / 550
Click to expand...

I did see a link a while ago where someone asked AKG on their website and they did say they were identical, apart from the cable. I might have heard a touch more bass with the MK3 but it was so long since I had the MK2, I would not like to say for sure.
 
IvanDobskey said:
I'm kind of leaning towards the dt990 pro's at the moment. But I understand they are 250 ohm. Will my soundblaster z headphone amp be up to the job of powering them?

Or should I just get the 32 or 80 ohm dt770's?
Click to expand...

Just to make you aware they have a coiled cable, as do the 250 ohm version of the DT770. 80 ohm DT770 has a straight cable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom