Decent ~£100 gaming headphones wanted - recommendations?

Angilion

Angilion

Angilion

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I've been using some Panasonic RP-HTX7 headphones for years and they've finally broken a bit. They still work, but one of the foam ear cups has come off and it's not replaceable unless I glue or tape it on. Which I might do, since the headphones are still fully functional.

But it's also a good excuse for a new pair. Those were widely regarded as the best low price range headphones when I got them nearly 10 years ago, but that was nearly 10 years ago and they were £40.

So...I'm after headphones that will be mainly used for gaming. I want full over the ear ones that will be comfortable for long periods of use. I don't want any sound leaking out from them, so I'm inclined towards closed. Wired is fine and generally preferable to me. I'll only be using these headphones when I'm at my desk. I don't need a microphone and if I did I'd get a seperate one, so I'm only interested in the headphones. If a headset with integrated microphone happens to be the best buy as headphones then that's fine, but I'm only interested in the headphones part.

My quick looking around seems to show a big hole in the price range, with well regarded headphones at ~£50 and at £250-£350 (and at >£1000!) but apparently nothing of note in between. I'm balking at spending £250+ on headphones, so at the moment I'm mainly considering AKG K92 as they seem well recommended for the price, but they're only ~£50. Also, most of the recommendations I've seen are for the AKG K72, which seems to have been superceded by the apparently almost identical AKG K92...but are they almost identical or are they an inferior product for bigger profit margins? And what about that price hole? Is there something better in the ~£100 range? I would have thought it would have been quite easy to find headphones a fair bit better than the best £50 headphones at double the price, but I haven't been able to.

I'm expecting some people to recommend £350 headphones anyway because this is OcUK where everyone is so rich they have a wide selection of Gucci belts, but I'm not in that market. Yes, I could pay £350 for headphones. Or £1000. No, I'm not going to. I prefer to not spend money, especially these days.
 
Beyerdynamic DT770, though I'd wait until Black Friday.

You may need an amp if your motherboard can't power them properly though, assuming these are for PC gaming not console.
 
crazy8s said:
Beyerdynamic DT770, though I'd wait until Black Friday.

You may need an amp if your motherboard can't power them properly though, assuming these are for PC gaming not console.
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Thanks for the advice. From looking at reviews of those they seem like just the job for me. A removable (and thus replaceable) cable would have been better, but that's not a big deal.

I'm still using a soundcard. It's been in there so long that I can't remember what it is. Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme Music, I think. It was during the "let's give everything hyperbolic names!" era. That'll probably do.

Hmm...a quick look around shows 5 different versions of the DT770, labelled as studio or monitor and from 16 ohm to 250 ohm. I don't know which version is most appropriate for my use and one (apparently detailed and reliable) review explicitly stated that the only difference between the Pro and Studio versions was the word "Studio" printed on the headphones. I'm guessing the 250 ohm, given that you suggested that an amp might be necessary.

They're available now for £105, so no need for any further discounts that might or might not happen on Black Friday.
 
I had the 80 ohm versions, I think they would be the most popular. They were good all-rounders for movies/music/gaming.

If you change your mind about sound leaking, the DT990 are also very good though some people comment the treble can be harsh at times.
 
I bought the DT990 pros for £105 several months ago. They've been fantastic paired with a Soundblaster G6.

They are open headphones and you asked about closed. So apologies for that.

I'm not an audiophile, but I find it hard to believe that music and games can sound 'better' than it does through this setup.

No doubt it can sound different, but I feel that may just be personal preferance.

Happy to be proved wrong, the point I am making is, for less than £200, my ears have been having the most mind meltingly awesome experience over the last 6 months.
 
Miganto said:
I see, thank you. Seems I started putting my views and questions on this forum a decade too late :)
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In between the potential sellers asking almost as much as the new item retail price for the kit they've been using every day for over a year and the potential buyers offering two shillings and sixpence for something bought last week and never used, there's some good trading to be had. It's a trustworthy marketplace.

Maybe there's scope for a better system for allowing access to it, but post count does have the virtue of being very simple to implement.
 
fidelio x2hr are £106 at the moment they're not grado level leaky kind of semi open would work if you're in a room on own
 
I bought Beyerdynamic DT770. They're barely big enough for my unusually large head, but that's the only drawback and it's OK at maximum extension as long as the headband is positioned exactly correctly on my head. So that'll do. Not as good as my previous headphones in that respect, but it will do. Apparently my head is tall as well as wide. Either that or DT770s are badly sized.

C64 said:
fidelio x2hr are £106 at the moment they're not grado level leaky kind of semi open would work if you're in a room on own
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"kind of semi open" have been better. Or it might not. My previous headphones were closed, but the DT770s are quite a bit more so. It's taking a bit of getting used to. External noise is dulled quite a bit more and I can hear my own heartbeat.

It would have been nice to have tried a few headphones, but in terms of cost, sound quality, comfort and replaceable padding parts I'm pleased with the DT770s.
 
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