New Headphones for PC gaming

Soldato
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Hi guys,

I am looking for a new pair of headphones as I have started PC gaming again.

My old headphones were the Astro A40's which I used on my Xbox. However I had to sell these due to financial issues.

Would you guys be able to suggest a new set for around £100?

Thanks! :)
 

C64

C64

Soldato
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£50
creative aurvana live

£65 lindy hf-100

£65-£85 logitech UE 6000

£100 - £130

Beyer Dynamic dt770 80 ohm
AkG K550
Beyer Dynamic dt990 pro

I'd get a set of beyers if I couldn't find logitech UE6000 for £70 or less
 
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Soldato
OP
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Thanks for the responses guys.

I'm going to sound stupid but do I need an amp at all? Would I buy a seperate microphone? Also do they have any form of surround sound or would I need an amp that provides that?

I don't mean to be ignorant! Thanks :)
 
Soldato
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Lindy HF100*

Best bet for <£100. I had them as my entry into mid-fi and believe me I spent months reading reviews and trying out different 'phones before settling on the Brainwavz HM5s/Lindy HF100s.

If you can push the budget to £130-ish then the DT770s will be better general cans (Certainly better for music imo) but you may find their positional accuracy to be ever so slightly lacking on account of the enhanced bass.
 
Soldato
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If you want a mic, there are several alternatives. The most basic and cost-effective would be a clip on, for which the £1.52 dx.com mic is well suited. If you can spare some more change the Antlion Mod Mic is exceptional but commands quite the asking price (£40!!).

Amp wise, it depends on what set-up you have. A soundcard at the minimum (£20 Xonar DG) will do fine with both HM5/HF100 and DT770s but a dac/amp combo will bring out the best in them (perhaps save this for later though as it can be very costly indeed - mid-level stuff will set you back about £150-200).

Infact, the HM5/HF100 has quite a high sensitivity so is easily powered from most sources - including your phone.
 
Soldato
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Brilliant thanks again :)

Well this is a lot of headphone suggestions but thats good. So what would be the main contenders in terms of gaming alone? Providing I have a sound card for surround and microphone.
 
Soldato
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For literally just gaming and no music/movies, it has to a 2nd hand pair of ATH-AD700s (EOL but simply the best for gaming 'full stop') or perhaps try and find the ATH-AD700xs (may be out of your budget). Failing that, the Brainwavz HM5s/Lindy HF-100 is the next best bet for pure gaming use.
 
Associate
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If we are talking the best the DT770 eats the AD700 for lunch. The AD700 sounds artificial and has a chunk of it's low end completely missing. The DT770 has better positional accuracy and it's also the best I've tried outside of my SRH1540 which cost nearly 5 times more.

The AD700 has a wider soundstage but not by much if you game in stereo. In Dolby the AD700 just expands! It's really quite something. I prefer the AD700 for it's airy sound combined with it's soundstage It's very lean sounding with a boosted treble and mid range with no bass so anything in those frequencies will get heard easily making it a good competitive phone. The 770 is more engaging, lusher, thicker, more complete.

The beyers are sensitive so driving them isn't difficult.

The best gaming headphones I've tried are the Q701. I love their spacious, accurate and slightly warm sound. Try get one used really cheap.
 
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Soldato
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DT770 is miles better for music, but I have to disagree with you with regards to gaming. The AD700 is pretty well regarded (and is in my experience) to be the best headphone for gaming. It is the width and lack of bass that perfect it, whereas the DT770 sounds quite 'closed' in comparison and its more 'fun' (interpret as slight bass hump/v shape) which hampers the positional cues.
 
Soldato
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Pick the preferred ear type out of the DT770 Pro or DT990 Pro. I have the 990's and they have handled everything i've thrown at them, with excellent positional sound while being able to deliver big sound for explosions and the like, emphasized by the fact they're open eared so the bass is controlled, rather than just a big booming mess.
 
Associate
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Thing with the AD700 I think they have gotten overated for gaming like the M50 is for music..well maybe not that bad... I will say they do have excellent traits. I use my closed W1000x by AT and they share the same trait and even also trump the AD700. I get that they have no bass which makes them great for hearing the middle and high frequencies but any headphone that has a good stage and is fairly balanced can do that.

Here's an example, my Q701 has much more weight but is also clearer with a larger stage. If I hook one of my amps up to my mixamp I can hit bass reduction and get no low end like the AD700 but with better overall sound. same with my DT770.



I get thay for the price they are an excellent competitive set but Midfi headphone can preform all the frequencies better. That's why I said it's much better.

Now if we are talking straight out of the box, which has the widest soundstage mixed with great accuracy for pure competitive play without caring about the overall sound then AD700 is the best headphone in the world for that purpose only.

My comments where purely on quality so if none of that matters ignore my post and rock on with the AD700 they will find anyone on the map!
 
Soldato
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Thanks everyone for all of the responses.

I still haven't made a final decision as there seems to be a few suggestions. It is also taking quite a while to decide between. As well as this I'm a bit concerned about the cost as I didn't really consider the extras, such as microphone and sound card. With my old A40's they came with everything needed to provide surround sound and chat.

But as I need all of the above I am trying to make a decision!

Thanks again guys :)
 
Caporegime
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Thanks everyone for all of the responses.

I still haven't made a final decision as there seems to be a few suggestions. It is also taking quite a while to decide between. As well as this I'm a bit concerned about the cost as I didn't really consider the extras, such as microphone and sound card. With my old A40's they came with everything needed to provide surround sound and chat.

But as I need all of the above I am trying to make a decision!

Thanks again guys :)

sound cards can be re-used in new machines, sold on, bought second hand, etc, etc, also the Asus DG is hardly expensive at £20.

Microphones again are hardly expensive and again can be re-used with new headphones, sold on and the DX Clip on mic costs £1,56 delivered to your door. I don't think that is worth thinking about bh.

It only gets expensive if you buy a very hard to drive pair of headphones which then require a powerful AMP and then you will want a decent DAC to pair with them, etc.

Best to stick to easy to drive headphones.
 
Associate
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From all I have read the best sounding gaming headset up to £100 is Qpad QH-90. They should be a bit harder to drive at 60 ohms but on my opinion offer the best ratio sound quality/gaming options in this price range.
P.S. For less money it is worth to go the route clip mic + good audio headphones and I am currently running a setup like this. Cable management gets tedious though and if the QH-90 is in the budget I would choose it without hesitation.
 
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Soldato
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Thanks guys.

sound cards can be re-used in new machines, sold on, bought second hand, etc, etc, also the Asus DG is hardly expensive at £20.

Microphones again are hardly expensive and again can be re-used with new headphones, sold on and the DX Clip on mic costs £1,56 delivered to your door. I don't think that is worth thinking about bh.

It only gets expensive if you buy a very hard to drive pair of headphones which then require a powerful AMP and then you will want a decent DAC to pair with them, etc.

Best to stick to easy to drive headphones.

I definitely agree with regards to the sound card. How do people go about connecting things like portable in-ear headphones to them if they are in the back of a PC? Or am I missing something? Also would 7.1 sound cards be worth it compared to 5.1 for gaming?

The clip on microphone I just don't like the look of, meaning I would need something like the antlion £40 version. This is obviously quite a steep price which adds to the overall cost.

From all I have read the best sounding gaming headset up to £100 is Qpad QH-90. They should be a bit harder to drive at 60 ohms but on my opinion offer the best ratio sound quality/gaming options in this price range.
P.S. For less money it is worth to go the route clip mic + good audio headphones and I am currently running a setup like this. Cable management gets tedious though and if the QH-90 is in the budget I would choose it without hesitation.

Thanks for the suggestion I will also look into that :)

Cheers guys!
 
Associate
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Thanks guys.


How do people go about connecting things like portable in-ear headphones to them if they are in the back of a PC? Or am I missing something?

Cheers guys!

All the soundcards I have had allow you to connect your front ports to it by a cable in the PC. (connect your case audio ports to the soundcard rather than the motherboard)
 
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