Time for an upgrade?

Casdawer · 12 May 2020 at 12:28

I currently have the 1st Gen HyperX Clouds and whilst they're still doing the job, I've had them since their release and I feel it's time to get something new (if it's an upgrade of course!)

I have this paired with the Sound Blaster Omni so I'm already using an AMP. I don't mind switching to a wireless or USB headset if that's a better choice.

Primary use is Gaming and FPS (Warzone, BFV etc)

Also happy to look at 'headphones' instead of a headset as the Omni has an in-built MIC so I can use that in the short term whilst I look for a better mic in the future!

Budget wise... £150 will be the MAX I'll look at!

Thanks!

southernorth · 13 May 2020 at 23:59

For a gaming headset the Sennheiser HD599 could be a good choice.

Should be a step-up for sound stage and overall quality by letting you hear footsteps better, hear enemy directions and overall provide a more immersive sound.

Can be had for £94 currently, so well under budget.

Casdawer · 14 May 2020 at 08:15

southernorth said:
For a gaming headset the Sennheiser HD599 could be a good choice.

Should be a step-up for sound stage and overall quality by letting you hear footsteps better, hear enemy directions and overall provide a more immersive sound.

Can be had for £94 currently, so well under budget.

I can only find 559s for that price?

southernorth · 14 May 2020 at 09:12

Casdawer said:
I can only find 559s for that price?

@Casdawer You can find the HD599 very cheap at present if you shop around (under £95). Makes it a better comparison to DT990 for open-back headphones.

EsaT · 15 May 2020 at 09:11

Do you have quiet or noisy environment?
Open design is easier for more accurate sound and especially with velour pads insulate less heat, which is good for comfort.
But they also leak environment's noises through basically unmuffled.
That includes things like noisy keyboard.

Also open design is weaker on bass, if you want balance between good "fun factor" and details.
Though some open headphones do that better.

southernorth said:
If you check ******** they are £92 shipped to UK.

Better remove that name.
Naming/linking OcUK's competitors is forbidden by forum rules.

Casdawer · 15 May 2020 at 09:38

EsaT said:
Do you have quiet or noisy environment?
Open design is easier for more accurate sound and especially with velour pads insulate less heat, which is good for comfort.
But they also leak environment's noises through basically unmuffled.
That includes things like noisy keyboard.

Also open design is weaker on bass, if you want balance between good "fun factor" and details.
Though some open headphones do that better.

I'm in my own office so quiet environment!

Looking at the HD 599, DT 990s, K702/K712 at the moment but can't decide! I do play FPS but I definitely wouldn't so at a competitive level so leaning towards the 'fun factor' more.

EsaT · 15 May 2020 at 10:34

Casdawer said:
I'm in my own office so quiet environment!

Looking at the HD 599, DT 990s, K702/K712 at the moment but can't decide! I do play FPS but I definitely wouldn't so at a competitive level so leaning towards the 'fun factor' more.

I basically own all four.
Or really retired preceding model HD595 with tape keeping pieces from falling. (design makes no sense mechanically for durability)

AKG K702 is that literal detail whoring can with designed to be neutral sound.
It's pretty much "god mode" for competitive gaming, but don't expect fun from it.
Also despite of lowish impedance AKGs are actually quite demanding needing way more electric power per dB than average headphone and that SB Omni Surround doesn't have more headphone amplifier than standard sound card.
And that fancy "automatically" adjusting head band relies also on pressure to keep cups positioned and would in problems on heads differing much from designer's head:
On bigger head elastic bands part of that system could be streched fast.
Again on smaller especially downward narrowing head cups can feel like creeping downward...
While pressure is still higher than in DT990 Edition.

K712 adds couple dBs to bass trading some competitiveness for more balanced sound with good fun factor
But shares same design strengths/weaknesses.
And AKG's replacement ear pads for it are insanely priced making K712 very expensive in long term...

As in pair costing same as whole new K702!

Beyer's DT990 is also very well balanced headphone for gaming, with "Beyer's treble" actually balancing that bass in gaming.
Good old manually adjustable head band has lots of adjustment range making likelyhood of it fitting comfortably on most heads very good.
Also Beyer's replacement earpads are very reasonably priced.
Studio use aimed Pro version has little more pressure, but mid part of headband could be bent looser. (spring steel inside it unlike plastics of Sennheisers)

HD595 is notch ahead of DT990 (+K712) for details, but still falls step behind K702.
Also fun factor takes big hit being no better than in K702.
HD598 had tiny bit more bass in some measurements I've seen.
HD599 is apparently another such iterative tiny change.

Marsman · 15 May 2020 at 10:45

If considering the AKG's, then I'm not really sure how good the amp in the Omni is. Sure, Creative claim 600 Ohm, but they once claimed the Soundblaster Z could drive headphones up to 600 Ohms and that doesn't actually have a headphone amp. :/

Casdawer · 16 May 2020 at 14:48

Amazon has reduced the price of the HD599 SE to £95 so I've just bought them along with these so I can use it for gaming.

Fingers crossed they're better than my Clouds!

Casdawer · 21 May 2020 at 10:31

So it's a been a couple of days since I've had these and the difference between these and the Clouds is very noticable.

I've turned off all sound enhancements from the Omni and I'm pretty much using it as an AMP even though the 599s don't really need it (I have the volume level at around 30% and it's plenty loud). I'm only using it really for the mic benefits / scout mode.

Music is great on these, so much so that my current speakers probably won't be used ever again as they just don't have the clarity of these.

Overall, very happy owner!

Thank you for the suggestions!

C64 · 21 May 2020 at 10:41

fidelio x2hr are on offer again at £120 a bargain

tony888 · 21 May 2020 at 11:18

C64 said:
fidelio x2hr are on offer again at £120 a bargain

Got the x2hr and should be coming tomorrow, also ordered the Senn HD599 se for £95. Now need to see which I prefer. Will be moving away from the arctis wireless pros if one of the above sounds better.

Marsman · 21 May 2020 at 12:22

Casdawer said:
So it's a been a couple of days since I've had these and the difference between these and the Clouds is very noticable.

I've turned off all sound enhancements from the Omni and I'm pretty much using it as an AMP even though the 599s don't really need it (I have the volume level at around 30% and it's plenty loud). I'm only using it really for the mic benefits / scout mode.

Music is great on these, so much so that my current speakers probably won't be used ever again as they just don't have the clarity of these.

Overall, very happy owner!

Thank you for the suggestions!

That's great. Glad they've turned out to be a worthy purchase. Very good buy too at £95. They were once £180, as they are on Sennheiser's site. Good headphones, but maybe a tad much at that price.

I was thinking at £180, they would be too close to the HD600, but I can see Sennheiser has hiked them up to £370. :eek:

C64 · 21 May 2020 at 19:05

tony888 said:
Got the x2hr and should be coming tomorrow, also ordered the Senn HD599 se for £95. Now need to see which I prefer. Will be moving away from the arctis wireless pros if one of the above sounds better.

are those the ones based on the old 580's ?
edit nm think thats the 660s

Casdawer · 24 May 2020 at 17:08

tony888 said:
Got the x2hr and should be coming tomorrow, also ordered the Senn HD599 se for £95. Now need to see which I prefer. Will be moving away from the arctis wireless pros if one of the above sounds better.

Curios to know how you've found the X2HRs and the 599s!

tony888 · 26 May 2020 at 08:20

Casdawer said:
Curios to know how you've found the X2HRs and the 599s!

So far I’m liking the X2HR a lot more. Things just seem more lively. Admittedly I’ve only tried the 599’s once and also leaning towards more the Fidelio because of it’s comparability with the v-Moda boom mic.
I thought the 599’s used a 3.5mm jack.
One thing I did like about the 599 is that it felt a lot lighter

Will give a better insight when I get my g6.

tony888 · 27 May 2020 at 14:46

tony888 said:
So far I’m liking the X2HR a lot more. Things just seem more lively. At Admittedly I’ve only tried the 599’s once and also leaning towards more the Fidelio because of it’s comparability with the v-Moda boom mic.
I thought the 599’s used a 3.5mm jack.
One thing I did like about the 599 is that it felt a lot lighter

Will give a better insight when I get my g6.

So I've been playing around with the g6 and x2hr and it sounds so much better than onboard. Been playing borderland 3 and modern warfare and it sounds amazing, everything seem to come alive.

Here’s the but, on modern warfare I'm having trouble detecting the direction of other people's footstep. Been searching around and and found some settings on reddit to make the x2hr more neutral using equalizer APO and peace gui, hopefully this will make things better but to be honest I have no idea what this really does.

This is all new to me. Will give that a go tonight and possibly test the 599se tonight.
I've also ordered the k702 to give that a try.

How are you finding the 599s?

Casdawer · 27 May 2020 at 18:47

I'm loving the 599's at the moment.

Yes, the 'fun' factor does take a hit compared to overs but I enable a few enhancements (like bass) on the Sound Blaster and it's gives it plenty of oomph!

They've definitely helped me in completive games as I am able to distinguish footsteps a lot better than I could before.

Music is great and the natural sounds are perfect for me. I don't listen to bass heavy tracks but even when I do they sound just fine.

I was really tempted by the X2HRs and I was hovering over the buy button but the 599SE offer was too good to pass up and I don't regret it at all.

tony888 · 29 May 2020 at 09:31

Casdawer said:
I'm loving the 599's at the moment.

Yes, the 'fun' factor does take a hit compared to overs but I enable a few enhancements (like bass) on the Sound Blaster and it's gives it plenty of oomph!

They've definitely helped me in completive games as I am able to distinguish footsteps a lot better than I could before.

Music is great and the natural sounds are perfect for me. I don't listen to bass heavy tracks but even when I do they sound just fine.

I was really tempted by the X2HRs and I was hovering over the buy button but the 599SE offer was too good to pass up and I don't regret it at all.

How are you finding the boom mic? So after playing a few games with the 599se I'm slowly leaning towards keeping the 599se. I can hear the direction of the footsteps and feels more comfortable to me, due to the weight and the clamp force.

Casdawer · 29 May 2020 at 09:36

I had to change it for a ModMic (ModMic GDL-1420) as the delivery date for the boom mic was saying July and I wanted something quickly.

The ModMic is great and people have told me it's better than my Cloud Mic.

It just sticks to the side of the headphones and the Mic portion can be removed so you can still use them as headphones out and about if you need too.

It's a tad expensive at the moment due to supply and demand but well worth the price IMO.