Worth folking out for HD650's just for gaming

Born_2_Kill_83 · 6 Dec 2016 at 10:10

Ok so the story goes, I posted I wanted to upgrade my sound setup within my gaming PC a while ago. I currently have HD555's (modded to 595's) which I love the sound of, but they are falling to piece's and quite frankly becoming a health biohazard. Also SB-Z soundcard.

As I use my audio for 95% gaming you lot told me you can't go better than the K702's so I happily took your advice and got a pair.
I hated them, the soundstage was the only good thing about them everything else felt and sounded cheap. I couldn't keep them on that basis only. Plus they were insanely painful after 30min's

So here I am still looking for an upgrade, now I don't really spare any money when it comes to my PC but at the same time I don't waste it.

I'm thinking I should just upgrade to what I know and like and get the HD598's or the newer HD599 for another £20. so £219.

But am I missing out, will an upgrade of soundcard to a STX II and a set of HD650's for solely gaming be a worth while spend of £440, so double the cost of sticking with my SC and the first upgrade.

Marsman · 6 Dec 2016 at 12:06

No. Well not in my opinion. Some people I'm sure will say yes though, but then they are probably using them for music too, which is a somewhat biased view. It's easy to recommend an expensive music headphone for gaming, if you're also using them for music.

Anyway; buying a sound card such as the STXII, is not only overly expensive, but you'd be using Dolby Headphone for positional sound. A few people don't rate that all. Some like it, some don't. £185 on a sound card is a fair whack of money, if you don't.

A better solution in my opinion, would be to buy a Sennheiser GSX1000, which has got a much better surround sound engine than the STXII. There's a few comments from people, including some in the GSX thread that didn't like Dolby Headphone at all, but found the GSX works very well.

That won't drive the HD650 though, but there are plenty of other good gaming headphones that will be easier for the GSX to drive.

PapaLazaru · 6 Dec 2016 at 13:05

For both music and gaming, most definitely.

Just for gaming, probably not. They are good for gaming, but not worth the cost just for it.

Ryanr1987 · 6 Dec 2016 at 13:26

I have the Sennheiser HD800 that I use for gaming only and sometimes music if I can't be bothered to plug my 650's in right after playing.

If they are worth it to you then that's all that matters really. The 650 are really nice for gaming as they have an intimate, highly detailed sound.

DavidS14 · 6 Dec 2016 at 14:10

Have 650's for music and 700's for gaming, got the 700's as I was looking for some gaming headphones when the Sennheiser outlet had them for about £250.

They have refurbished 598SE's and 598's at the moment.

My 700's were as new, full retail packaging (wooden box etc.)

Rroff · 6 Dec 2016 at 14:17

Depends what you are looking for from gaming audio - and TBH from what you say about what you hate about the K702 then I think you are probably looking for something like the 59x series which prioritise enjoyment in the reproduction over the AKGs that tend to be better for picking out individual sounds or the HD600 series that have a more neutral signature sound.

Psycho Sonny · 6 Dec 2016 at 17:04

i had 595's so i know exactly what it is you like about them. they are one of the best gaming headphones around still even today, hd650's would be a downgrade in terms of gaming as they suit music better.

so i upgraded to HD558's and I've yet to mod them to 598's which is the successor to 595's and I would say for sure they are worse than 595's for gaming. So i should mod them. 598's albeit I've never used are the ones you want but you can buy 558's and mod them (you remove a bit of foam not a hard mod a 5 year old could do it in 10 seconds).

hd650's i do not own but i do own HD600's which again is very similar to them. i wouldn't recoomend them for gaming only. the hd598's are better going off what my hd558's sound like and what i have heard happens when you mod them and general opinions of the HD598's.

again i own akg Q701's which are a modded version of the K702's you didn't like the sharpness of. so i know where you are coming from. you can bass mod these though to help with that.

as you can see i'm quite experienced and first hand experienced in this field. i would say for sure the best headphones for you would be HD598's or HD558's and mod them.

again your forking out £80-£200 for what is basically a sidegrade. IMO you could just send your 595's to sennheiser and get them to refurb your own headphones for £60-£80. which would offer the best value for money unless you can find HD558's for similar money and mod them.

if you want a true upgrade then yes it would have to be the AKG's which you didn't like so possibly the K712 pro's which are a lot more expensive but IMO very expensive for the improvement they are going to offer in terms of pure gaming.

TLDR; refurb your set through sennheiser officially or get a cheap set of HD558's and mod them. HD598's are a side grade from HD595's and HD650's don't suit as gaming only headphones, they suit music better and would be a downgrade over 595's in terms of gaming only.

598 is just slightly better than 558 modded which is = 595 which is > 558 unmodded which is > hd650's in terms of gaming.

in terms of music HD650 blows them all out the water

Rroff · 6 Dec 2016 at 17:44

Psycho Sonny said:
again your forking out £80-£200 for what is basically a sidegrade. IMO you could just send your 595's to sennheiser and get them to refurb your own headphones for £60-£80. which would offer the best value for money unless you can find HD558's for similar money and mod them.

Seems to be closer to £90 at the moment for most models but on the flipside seems quite a high chance at the moment that they will actually send out a brand new pair.

james.miller · 6 Dec 2016 at 18:03

Marsman said:
No. Well not in my opinion. Some people I'm sure will say yes though, but then they are probably using them for music too, which is a somewhat biased view. It's easy to recommend an expensive music headphone for gaming, if you're also using them for music.

Anyway; buying a sound card such as the STXII, is not only overly expensive, but you'd be using Dolby Headphone for positional sound. A few people don't rate that all. Some like it, some don't. £185 on a sound card is a fair whack of money, if you don't.

A better solution in my opinion, would be to buy a Sennheiser GSX1000, which has got a much better surround sound engine than the STXII. There's a few comments from people, including some in the GSX thread that didn't like Dolby Headphone at all, but found the GSX works very well.

That won't drive the HD650 though, but there are plenty of other good gaming headphones that will be easier for the GSX to drive.

Agree

rids57 · 6 Dec 2016 at 18:39

I use my HD650s for both gaming and music but wouldn't have paid the extra for them just for gaming. I also use AKG K702 (modded) and Sony MDR-1A (when I want closed back) for both too, depending on mood.

I also use an STX for my gaming audio. I'm currently playing Skyrim SE with the True 3D Audio mod rather than using Dolby Headphone.

What would I recommend considering your preferences?

Sennheiser HD 599 and if you do want a better gaming audio device, then add the Sennheiser GSX 1000 to bring the total to £420

*some people have said that the HD 579, which is £50 cheaper, can be modded the same as the HD555/8 to make it a virtual HD 599 BUT I can't find any verification anywhere that they both use the same drivers.

ps. I'm just glad I got my HD 650s well before the Brexit disaster as I only paid £220 for them

Rroff · 6 Dec 2016 at 18:42

rids57 said:
ps. I'm just glad I got my HD 650s well before the Brexit disaster as I only paid £220 for them

HD600 prices are nuts at the moment - slightly over £100 more than I paid for the ones I got 3-4 years ago :S

rids57 · 6 Dec 2016 at 19:30

... and only likely to rise I'm afraid.

Safetytrousers · 6 Dec 2016 at 19:45

I used have HD650's and I since got Cloud II's. I prefer the Cloud II's in every way, and they are a fraction of the price.
I find the Cloud II's to have more detail than the HD650's, and they have the bass oomph that the 650's don't.

(My audio interface does have plenty of headphone power, if you were to think I wasn't driving the HD650's properly)

RSR · 6 Dec 2016 at 19:51

I bought some Sennheiser Game Zero for gaming but I've never used them, well once. However, I've been using my HD650's for everything and i have been blown away with them.

rids57 · 6 Dec 2016 at 20:16

Safetytrousers said:
I used have HD650's and I since got Cloud II's. I prefer the Cloud II's in every way, and they are a fraction of the price.
I find the Cloud II's to have more detail than the HD650's, and they have the bass oomph that the 650's don't.

(My audio interface does have plenty of headphone power, if you were to think I wasn't driving the HD650's properly)

So in other words, you haven't compared them one on one and are just going on memory?

Sadly audio memory is very, very short.

It's fair enough to say that you prefer them in every way, personal choice and all that but to say they are more detailed is a bit of a stretch to say the least.

The Clouds are based on the Takstar Pro 80s, which are in turn a far eastern copy of the Beyer DT770s. So they are bound to have more bass because they are closed back and the highs are boosted too, creating a slightly v-shaped frequency response and boosted treble is a very common audio trick to make it sound as though there is more detail, when actually, there isn't.

Ryanr1987 · 6 Dec 2016 at 21:04

Safetytrousers said:
I used have HD650's and I since got Cloud II's. I prefer the Cloud II's in every way, and they are a fraction of the price.
I find the Cloud II's to have more detail than the HD650's, and they have the bass oomph that the 650's don't.

(My audio interface does have plenty of headphone power, if you were to think I wasn't driving the HD650's properly)

Are you sure you've got the 650's plugged in?

Joking aside the Clouds are a good deal for the price but the is a whole different level of quality. The 650's will pick up details that much more expensive headphone will miss or cloud over.The Cloids cannot resolve even close to the 650. The clouds are brighter that's about it but bright doesn't always equal detail but sometimes more of a false perception of detail.

Born_2_Kill_83 · 6 Dec 2016 at 22:11

Ok thanks for all the replies guys, I have no doubt the 650's are the better headphone but for what I need I think the 599's will be the better way to go, maybe as a upgrade later down the line I will get the GSX1000 to add to it, if this will add a bit more to them?
I can't justify the £450 needed to sport the HD650. Thanks again audio geezers.

Rroff · 6 Dec 2016 at 22:16

Safetytrousers said:
I used have HD650's and I since got Cloud II's. I prefer the Cloud II's in every way, and they are a fraction of the price.
I find the Cloud II's to have more detail than the HD650's, and they have the bass oomph that the 650's don't.

(My audio interface does have plenty of headphone power, if you were to think I wasn't driving the HD650's properly)

Its a common misconception that because an audio interface/amp has a lot of power it can drive the HD600 series well - infact in many cases it just isn't true at all - they don't require much current at all but they do need a lot of voltage swing/slew rates (and a reasonable amount of rail to rail voltage doesn't hurt) - from your description I'm 99% positive whatever you are driving them with is insufficient.

The Clouds are good but the 600 series beats them to **** for detail and resolution.