Newbie wanting some headphone / amp advice

zx|muppet

zx|muppet

zx|muppet

Associate
Joined
10 Jan 2003
Posts
885
Location
staines
Hi all

So I've been using steelseries headsets for ages. And they have done a fantastic job so far due to built in mic and I had been using the Pro with dac.

Now these have died due to the plastics breaking I'm now looking for a new headset. I have a stand alone mic now so don't really need a "gaming" headset any more.

I'm not very up to date with stuff like this so was after some advice.

I don't have a massive budget. 200 - 250 max really. I mainly play world of warcraft and will play the new battlefield when It is released.

What would people recommend?

Ta in advance
 
First thing is do you have noisy or quiet environment?
  • Noisy environment mandates closed ear cup design for any chance to prevent distractions.
    But closed design is harder to tune for good sound and isolates also heat increasing warming of ears.
  • Open design again lets heat dissipate better especially with breathing/non-airtight fabric/velour pads.
    But unless you drown it by increasing listening volume, you'll hear environment's noises basically normally. (untill getting to upper mids/~2kHz range)
Also there's the thing of "single size not fitting everyone":
If you're playing FPS games competitively at high level and want to maximize distinguishing details, you need headphones with neutral bass.
Otherwise explosions and other non-essential sounds start burying foot steps etc more easily.
But that neutral bass again sucks out "fun factor" for normal gameplay.
So I guess you would want balanced sound with controlled amount of above neutral bass, but without compromising details too much?


For open design Beyerdynamic DT990 would be good for balanced gaming and has durable design (from 30+ years ago) with both new pads available for reasonable price and even spare parts.
Studio use aimed Pro version has less decorated look, coiled cable and some amount more of head band clamping force.
(TYGR 300R would be Beyer's gaming branded model)

For closed design Beyer's DT770 is very impressive for price and closed design for gaming.
80 ohm version has straight 3m cable and 250 ohm version coiled cable.


Unlike what electric engineering illiterates claim, even 250 ohm Beyers aren't demanding load with low current draw.
Though there's little guarantee of capabilities of that hype "DAC" of Steelseries and I suspect it's got quite cheap insides.
Anyway Sound BlasterX G6 can be found for £75 from B-stock and would easily drive most headphones you can buy.
 
Can never be sure what motherboard's integrated does.
I've myself tested basic motherboard's Realtek ALC892 easily giving over long term listening safe volume with 250 ohm DT990.
But at the same time I've read complaints about super expensive Asus (+at least Gigabyte) boards with big marketing hype having inadequate volume for 250 ohm DT990.
And then there's the lot higher susceptibility for EMI, because of mobo being full of power and signal wiring.

Check Creative's UK site.
Sound Blaster X3 which includes also head shape customizable Super X-Fi HRTF would be another interesting option for gaming.
Though audio circuitry wise it's well below SBX G6 and closer to average PCIe sound cards.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom