AKG K702's instead of gaming headphones?

[Robi]

I'm currently looking for a replacement for my HyperX Cloud II's and unfortunately nothing is really jumping out up to a budget of around £150. I'm not overly concerned with RGB lights, wireless or even 7.1, I just went a set that are comfy with great sound and don't look horrendous. I then stumbled across the concept of using proper audiophile headphones with an attachable microphone, which offers far better sound at a similar or cheaper price point.

For example - the AKG 702's are available for £109 and ModMic 4.0 for £30ish, which totals £140, or about the equivalent of something like the Sennheiser GAME ZERO. All of the reviews for the 702's are fantastic, whereas reviews for gaming headsets like the GAME ZERO are mixed.

Gaming wise I've looked at:

Sennheiser GAME ZERO
SteelSeries Arctis 5/7
Razer ManO'War 7.1 Wired
HyperX Cloud Alpha (would prefer something a little different to my Cloud II's)
Logitech G633

I'll be using them for competitive games like CS:GO etc and music. Worth it or too much hassle?

 

[Robi]

This is exactly what I have with a Asus Xonar U7 usb sound card, its pretty good setup for gaming. Though I find I have to boost the mixer levels on the Xonar to more volume.

I mostly play PUBG and can hear things with pretty good clarity. I have not really used them for music.

Just be wary of cable hell.

It sounds like I need an amp or soundcard at the very least to drive the headphones? Will something like an Asus Xonar DGX 5.1 be sufficient?

 

[Robi]

K702 or K712 make great headphones for gaming, but they do need a decent headphone amp though and the DGX is not really sufficient. It's got a headphone amp but it's a bit weedy. It's headphone amp is more a boost for easier to drive headphones.

The K702 and other variants are inefficient headphones so need more power to get them to their potential.

The U7 is likely not much better than the DGX, hence chroniclard saying he has to boost the mixer to get more volume. I'm sure the headphones could do better with a better amp.

Soundblaster Z aside, there's almost nothing under £100 that will get the best out of the headphones, but even that is not ideal. I remember some guy on a different forum with the K702 and a SB Z, saying he found the sound from the headphones was flat, as in a bit lifeless. Wasn't until he replaced that with either a Soundblaster G5 or E5 (both of which have the same but much better headphone amp), that the headphones came to life. SoundblasterX AE-5 would be ideal (for an internal card), but is £120.

Only other cheaper option would be to get a DAC/amp. FiiO E10K is around £60 and will do a good job, but you'd be sacrificing positional sound effects provided by Creative's SBX prostudio.

Thanks for the above.

I had a quick look at the FiiO E10K and I could probably snag it from eBay for around £25-30. Realistically would it be sufficient?

If I need to spend £100 plus on an amp to get the best use out of the AKG's, I'll just stick with a GAME ZERO or something similar.

 

[Robi]

@EsaT After reading various forums and watching videos on YouTube, quite a few people mention the AKG K702 and FiiO E10K directly - what are your thoughts on this? I should be able to snag an E10K off eBay for next to nothing, which will ultimately bring the overall price of headset + mic + amp under £200. Seems like a no brainer really?

 

[Robi]

Perfect - I think I'm gonna go with:

AKG K702: £109
ModMic 4.0 Muteless: £35
FiiO E10K: £30-40

Around £184 all in isn't bad considering the Sennheisers are around £160 right?

The above connecting into MSI Z170A Carbon motherboard.

Anything I'm missing?

 

[Robi]

FiiO E10K is a good product and will do fine with the K702. Even if you get something later down the road from Creative that has SBX prostudio for positional sound, the E10K is a good inexpensive place to start; especially if you can bag one for half of the retail cost.

Anyway; yes that's all you need; AKG K702, FiiO E10K and a Modmic. Personally, I'd take that combination every time over even Sennheiser's premium headsets. You've got the extra cable contend with, but a small price to pay in my opinion; and yes, the Sennheiser's are about £160.

I'm slightly confused, the K702 and E10K won't offer positional/directional sound? The poster above states the opposite. This is a key factor as I mainly play CS:GO, PUBG, BF etc - I need to know where shots etc are coming from.

If you wanted one less cable - you can get the VModa Boom Pro Mic and a mini XLR to 3.5mm adaptor - I have this setup with some K712 Pros and it works really well. Will work out £10 or so more expensive though.

After 10 minutes searching around it looks like the audio quality on the BoomPro is actually better than the ModMic and it comes with mute/volume controls. I would prefer to just have a single cable rather than two so it makes sense to go for the BoomPro, however I'm really struggling to find a mini male XLR to female 3.5mm adaptor anywhere? Unless I need something entirely different?

 

[Robi]

No it won't, as the E10K is just a DAC. It's just plain stereo sound.

What may be something worth trying would be to get the headphones first and just use them with onboard audio. I know that is not ideal and it won't drive them as well as a DAC/amp or decent sound card will, but you may be able to get some judgement of whether the positional sound is lacking. If not, then a FiiO E10K will drive them well and will be a good cheap purchase. If not, then you'll a sound card of some sort. That will add a fair bit more though to the cost.

Ok, I understand what you're saying now. The positional/directional sound will be left up to the headphones as the E10K is just a DAC/amp producing stereo sound. However, if I went for something like the Sound Blaster E5 or G5, in conjunction with Pro Studio software, I would have full directional awareness?

Daft question - but without positional sound, I'm not going to be able to tell where footsteps, shots etc are coming from right? This is obviously a key factor and while the sound quality will be miles above by Cloud II's, not being able to hear the position of stuff, is going to put me at a massive disadvantage.

 

[Robi]

@EsaT Sorry, are you saying it's pointless buying the E10K then? I may as well stump up the extra cash and go for something better? Or can I use the E10K with software like Dolby Atmos and SBX Pro Studio?

 

[Robi]

@Marsman Thanks again, lots of useful info.

Thankfully the K702 + ModMic are birthday presents, so I'll go with those and then make a call on the amp/soundcard/software etc after a bit more research.

Can anyone recommend an adaptor for the VModa Boom Pro Mic? I would prefer just to have a single cable. Failing that, I'll get the ModMic and some braided sleeve to turn two cables into one-ish

 

[Robi]

@Robi I would also suggest you order: Sabrent USB External Aluminum Stereo Sound Adapter (AU-EMAC) B00OJ5AV8I £6.99

So this little thing would make the microphone clearer with less static? It's not going to impact the K702's?

I have the one mentioned here
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/akg-mini-xlr-ta3f-to-3-5mm-adapter-for-v-moda-boompro-uk-eu.771894/

This is it on my K712s

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EAk0XpFLLHIORKqQMBgbE5KyegbEEI6LVg

Works perfectly me for me - mic position is not an issue here at all.

Thanks, although that thread is from 2015 so not sure how much luck I'll have.

 

[Robi]

Yes. This is for the Modmic only. You wont plug your headphones into it and it wont have an impact. You really don't want white noise in the background while you're talking.

Perfect - thank you.

AKG K702 Reference Open-Back Over-Ear Studio Headphones
Antlion Audio ModMic Attachable Boom Microphone - Noise Cancelling WITHOUT Mute Switch
Sabrent Aluminum USB External Stereo Sound Adapter
5 Meters, 4mm BRAIDED SLEEVING

All with the other half. I'm gonna keep my eye out for an E10K, G5 etc

Thanks again for the help everyone!

 

[Robi]

Running akg k702 and fio e10k here and its perfect.

Used to run them theough my blue yeti which was ok but they deffinatly sound so much better now.

Good to hear!

I'm watching 3-4 on eBay and 1 on Gumtree at the moment, so hopefully I should snag one for next to nothing

 

[Robi]

Picked up a 1 month old E10K for a grand total of £40 which should be arriving in the next few days!