Need help deciding on bass focused headphones for Music/Gaming

Blueyoshi03 · 5 Jun 2020 at 20:53

TL

R I want a good sound stage and bass but am unsure what to buy

So I'm currently using Hyperx Alpha headphones and a Soundblaster Z soundcard. The quality is good and using the equaliser I can really crank the bass where it even physical shakes the headphones, but I always get a sense of strain that they can't produce all levels at once and feels like the sound is almost constricted if that makes sense. I want to buy a new high-ish end pair of headphones for mostly music but also something competent for games.

As the title says, main focus is something that can handle a lot of bass when using my EQ, but I like the idea of an open ear since I can imagine this being very immersive when gaming, however I would guess this to be inferior for strong bass vs closed? I keep reading reviews of HD650s and headphones around that tier, but always seem to find the reviewers saying how the bass isn't that punchy.

I would be willing to go up to a £400~ budget possibly, but the less I can spend the better, especially since I've heard some £150 can compete with some £300+ etc.

Any advise would be great for me to figure out, Thanks!

Blueyoshi03 · 7 Jun 2020 at 03:01

To be honest I really have no idea. I don't know what a boosted mid or upper mid sounds like, the only thing I can comment in terms of good bass (and this might be an oxymoron) is a punchy deep sound without it muddying the other channels and just becoming indistinguishable, and probably in most situations if I'm really into a specific song (depending on genre) I might push the lower channels into distortion to get a more intense sound, although with my current setup it really feels strained as I described originally. The K712 looks interesting, will check reviews etc, the only thing I'm a little worried of with the DT's are I sometimes find reviewers referring to them as monitoring or more studio function headphones

Blueyoshi03 · 8 Jun 2020 at 16:11

Thank you for the input so far, it has been very useful and helped me continue researching for what I want. I wanted to hold onto my soundcard cos it feels a waste to stop using something I already have and buy something new, however considering I'm finding reviewers say anything from £100 can trade blows with £500 headphones with the right equipment in some cases, I think it would he more cost effective to pay under £200 and maybe another £100 on a dac/ amp instead of blowing it all on the headphones.

A question I have though, is can I use a virtual EQ on my pc after dac/ amp processing? Or do I need a physical equaliser? Since the eq on my soundcard is my favourite part of it.

And separately is there a significant difference in quality from different dacs/ amps to a casual listener, or is it just worth buying what seems good value?

Blueyoshi03 · 10 Jun 2020 at 11:52

I think after hours and hours of forums/ reviews/ researching on audio in general I've made my mind up. After all of the suggestions here I finally fell into looking at the DT 770 pros, I would prefer the 1770 but the price jump was too high for me, however the previous post listed a bunch of headphones I've not heard of before which I thought was weird considering I don't see these in review comparisons anywhere.

The Nighthawks seemed particularly interesting and the reviews looked good for what I want, so I was down to 770 Pro vs Nighthawk Carbons and just now found a different forum where someone with nearly my exact situation was stuck between the same pair and wanted the same thing as me and in the end he bought both and returned one and gave an updated review on what he preferred. He picked the Nighthawks which I am also leaning towards,and he gave 2 opinions that sold me on them. The main con was the Nighthawks lacked treble compared to the 770's but that was fixable in an EQ, but the 770's were too bright and could be piercing at high volume, which he couldn't fix in the EQ.

The main thing I hate with my current HyperX Alphas paired with my card are that despite distortion and quality, if I really crank the bass and volume I can get them to rumble, and they might not technically sound 'good' but its fun and enjoyable, however the highs really start piercing and its very fatiguing.

Everyone says the Nighthawks aren't for everyone and are polarising, however all of the comments users seem to make around them are all heavily positive, so I am happy to go with these, especially considering they are 25 Ohms. They might not have the soundstage and imaging that would pair for gaming, but they are at least semi-open and might sound better when messing with the EQ.

Thanks everyone for the help

Blueyoshi03 · 10 Jun 2020 at 14:00

Open sound, clarity, detail and quality are all quite important but I can't compromise on insufficient bass even if its a smooth dynamic sound. Without hearing them I can still agree from your description it probably wouldn't be a good daily driver and would suffer for gaming, and for very general music listening I would probably listen with a present bass but not blasting my head off, but sometimes I really want that, so with an EQ do you think the DT 770's can really get to a rumbling sound?

Blueyoshi03 · 11 Jun 2020 at 17:27

So just discovered the beyerdynamic custom studio which seem similar to the dt 770 (80 ohm) but have a removable cable and not as spikey treble. To me this sounds like an improved variant of the dt 770 pros, does anyone know if they are practically the same headphone cos it would really benefit from having a removable cable

Blueyoshi03 · 16 Jun 2020 at 20:46

So the DT 770 Pros (80 ohm) arrived today and i'm quite impressed, the only thing I have an issue with is the sound is relatively fatiguing or restrained as before using my soundcard at high volumes, which I'm not sure if this is a issue of the interface or the headphones inherently.

I know budget dac/amps wouldn't cost me much, however losing my 5.1 surround and equaliser from the soundcard would suck cos they both seem to massively improve the audio vs phone for example. Either way I will probably buy equipment down the line, but at the moment very surprised by these headphones especially that I can have a flat EQ and still have lively music.

Thanks to all the input!