General Headphone Audio

CaptainRAVE · 26 Mar 2025 at 12:56

Should I be using direct mode for gaming? Thoughts?

Raymond Lin · 26 Mar 2025 at 13:02

CaptainRAVE said:
Should I be using direct mode for gaming? Thoughts?

Eh, just use it like your other headphones. Try all the settings you have in your amp/mobo.

CaptainRAVE · 26 Mar 2025 at 16:49

They arrived

And they are glorious, wow. I can see why these are ‘endgame’, I thought my DT990s were brilliant, but these blow them away. I know, different tier, but impressive nonetheless. Hard to imagine it getting much better.

I read a review along the lines of ‘I’m 40, I may as well enjoy the best sounds while I’m still able’. One can relate.

Thanks for the advice guys.

rids57 · 27 Mar 2025 at 05:56

Enjoy your Aryas, they are phenomenal value, I use mine way more than any of my other headphones, even the HD800S can't get a look in

Mr_Orange · 27 Mar 2025 at 17:27

I just got a pair of Austrian Audio Hi-X15. The detail from them is insane. It's a bit cliche to say I'm hearing things I never heard before but I'm A/Bing against some other more expensive headphones and I can definitely hear more in the x15s. Apparently they need a bit of time to settle but right now I'm really enjoying them.

just Scott · 31 Mar 2025 at 14:59

I just got some Fiio FT1s after hearing all the good things about them. Definitely a nice upgrade from my very well work Dt770 Pros. Very impressed with them.

kona786 · 31 Mar 2025 at 15:08

A lovely track to really flex the low end.

CaptainRAVE · 31 Mar 2025 at 20:02

A good bit of time with the Aryas now. Mighty impressed. Listening to music is like listening to it for the first time again, the detail is impressive. Gaming with them is spot on too.

Jenz · 31 Mar 2025 at 20:49

CaptainRAVE said:
A good bit of time with the Aryas now. Mighty impressed. Listening to music is like listening to it for the first time again, the detail is impressive. Gaming with them is spot on too.

i have the edition XS and now I have serious FOMO that I should upgrade to the Arya's particularly at their £475'ish price! Thoughts anyone? Worth it or stupid idea?

Raymond Lin · 31 Mar 2025 at 21:22

Jenz said:
i have the edition XS and now I have serious FOMO that I should upgrade to the Arya's particularly at their £475'ish price! Thoughts anyone? Worth it or stupid idea?

Me too, me too.

But I will have to hold back, their price won't go back up to £1300 and there will be another sale. I will use the XS more before getting it. Who knows, the organic may drop more...one can hope.

rids57 · 31 Mar 2025 at 22:16

Raymond Lin said:
Me too, me too.

But I will have to hold back, their price won't go back up to £1300 and there will be another sale. I will use the XS more before getting it. Who knows, the organic may drop more...one can hope.

Most people prefer the Stealth to the Organic, which has boosted bass (maybe too much), recessed mids and piercing highs

Raymond Lin · 31 Mar 2025 at 22:17

rids57 said:
Most people prefer the Stealth to the Organic, which has boosted bass (maybe too much), recessed mids and piercing highs

Hopefully I can try some in person in HK and decide, that reminds me, I need to bring my DAC.

If I can't tell the difference then that's £400 saved.

kona786 · 1 Apr 2025 at 08:31

Raymond Lin said:
Hopefully I can try some in person in HK and decide, that reminds me, I need to bring my DAC.

If I can't tell the difference then that's £400 saved.

The Arya's stealth looks the absolute nuts vs the silver stuff with the low rent looking headband that's for sure.

But as said that is a major price bump and not worth it if the sound isn't a solid upgrade for you.

I wouldn't even bother with the organics. Way into diminishing returns there.

Aurhinius · 1 Apr 2025 at 20:25

CaptainRAVE said:
They arrived

And they are glorious, wow. I can see why these are ‘endgame’, I thought my DT990s were brilliant, but these blow them away. I know, different tier, but impressive nonetheless. Hard to imagine it getting much better.

I read a review along the lines of ‘I’m 40, I may as well enjoy the best sounds while I’m still able’. One can relate.

Thanks for the advice guys.

Enjoy your purchase they are amazing I love mine and such good value.

CaptainRAVE · 2 Apr 2025 at 08:07

Aurhinius said:
Enjoy your purchase they are amazing I love mine and such good value.

It’s a purchase I don’t regret in any way, they are pretty special.

Rroff · 2 Apr 2025 at 08:14

CaptainRAVE said:
Should I be using direct mode for gaming? Thoughts?

Direct mode is only really useful if you are using one application for music listening/creation, if you do stuff like playing music in the background while gaming or voice comms and gaming or even some games which use different audio systems for in game sounds, in game music and menu audio it can cause problems.

EDIT: The quality improvement in direct mode can be quite noticeable though - a bit inconvenient for normal daily use but for dedicated music listening with decent gear it has its place.

Timber · 4 Apr 2025 at 15:17

One thing I've recently noticed is that the AKG K702 has become quite cheap at a particular retailer. An 'AKG K 702 Traditional' for just over £80.

I'd guess this is just a re-packaged version of the K702, but they tend to retail for £115ish that I can see. I'm kinda tempted although it's been years since I've heard one (bought one over ten years ago) but it's a known quantity, very light, cheap, replaceable cable, comfortable, fairly cheap replaceable pads and good for gaming. I've been looking at the HD 505/550, R50X & R70Xa releases and none of them are quite right for what I want. However the R30X might be something to keep an eye on.

I do remember the thread I did on this forum about the K7xx series elastic. They weren't the best from a durability perspective and a number of things went on mine. But I actually preferred the K702 to the K712 Pro I owned, used to love it for certain music. One of the better headphones I've owned, but I'm not sure how much things have moved on since.

maj · 4 Apr 2025 at 22:37

I loved my K7XX until the plastic band on both sides snapped. Not the best design and quite fragile but fantastic headpones otherwise. I remember seeing people coming up with fixes but you needed to take quite a lot of the headphones apart to replace those plastic bands so I ended up just binning mine sadly.

pooley · 4 Apr 2025 at 23:23

maj said:
I loved my K7XX until the plastic band on both sides snapped. Not the best design and quite fragile but fantastic headpones otherwise. I remember seeing people coming up with fixes but you needed to take quite a lot of the headphones apart to replace those plastic bands so I ended up just binning mine sadly.

When it happened to a pair of k702's I had I just used some zipties and called it a day.

Timber · 5 Apr 2025 at 10:40

maj said:
I loved my K7XX until the plastic band on both sides snapped. Not the best design and quite fragile but fantastic headpones otherwise. I remember seeing people coming up with fixes but you needed to take quite a lot of the headphones apart to replace those plastic bands so I ended up just binning mine sadly.

Yep. For the five years, or so I owned the K702 the elastic wore out, a wire came loose that I had to re-solder and one of the ear cups latches broke. And I look after everything. Quite fragile. All helped motivate me to sell on the K712 Pro's when I realised I didn't quite like them as much as the K702, even if they tecnically were the better headphone. Shame AKG doesn't really exist anymore.