Higher end headphones ($300 range)

**Boyiee** · 2011-09-09 18:46

Looking to upgrade my phones, and before I start asking head-fi the same question they hear 500x a day, I felt I'd ask BG first.

Some background info:
I have a 1100 song lossless collection that is growing fast
I have an E9+E7 amp/dac combo

It is coming time for me to take the leap to the $300 range of headphones. Originally I was looking at Sennheiser HD650's of course, but it seems a lot of people prefer the 600's so I've also been looking at them. I mostly game, and I would put my usage at 60-70% gaming with the rest music, pretty much no movies. My music collection has a pretty wide range, from floyd and coldplay, to metallica and disturbed. Since my priority is gaming, I've actually been suggested the Beyer Dynamic DT 990 Premium 600 OHM Headphones.

Does any one have experience with at least, preferably more than one of these phones for gaming. I know it doesn't matter as much for gaming, but with the differences in bass, and senn dominating mid's, I'm looking for hands on impressions before I narrow my decision down more.

**Tymon** · 2011-09-09 20:30

http://www.head-fi.org/wiki/buying-g...by-price-range

**Boyiee** · 2011-09-09 20:37

Not really sure why you posted that...

**Tymon** · 2011-09-09 20:47

For a reference on what alternatives may be in passing, mostly because I didn't read the entire OP

Looking back, that comes off really rude. Sorry.

Anyway, I prefer Audio Technica headphones over Sennheisers. That's just my personal opinion, but I tend to find even some of their cheaper headphones to be better quality than some of the more expensive Sennheiser models.

edit: this is what I was looking for initially:

http://i.imgur.com/acF5c.jpg

fuckhuge, too big to put in tags.

**Boyiee** · 2011-09-09 20:50

I've had some of the AD series recommended to me because from the gaming standpoint they are really good, and that's where the DT990's came in because they were a similar phone with some higher end sound, almost a direct upgrade. Have you tried the 650/600 from senn? Most of the people I've talked to wouldn't touch AT's for music when compared to the 600 series, but they'd take the DT's.

**Tymon** · 2011-09-09 20:56

I've tried the 650, not the 600.

I do like the DT990's, from a friend who owns them and my maybe 30 minutes of experience (meaning, jack shit), they are very nice. Probably are better for gaming like you mentioned, too.

I had a pair of ATH-CK10s until last month when I went over the cord by mistake with my vacuum and destroyed them (kill me now), so that's my reference point on preference.

edit again: Also had a pair of ATH-AD700s that I sold, didn't mention those because I stopped using them quickly. I was getting earaches for some reason as a result of using them, so I went to the CK10's for in ear.

**Boyiee** · 2011-09-09 21:07

See some people prefer the 600's over the 650. I've got well over a month to decide, but it is not easy.

Knowing you like the DT's is good, as it seems better for gaming, Googling 650's for gaming gets me a lot of bullshit and a few people going "they r gud"

**Doombear** · 2011-09-10 23:46

I have had the Audio Technica AD700's for a couple years now, and love them. I really only use them for gaming and usually run them through a Astro Mix Amp. It sucks that they caused you issues Tymon, I hadn't really heard that before in regards to them. Any idea why specifically they would have given you problems?

If I bought another pair now I would probably get the DT990s or a pair of AKG702s (wouldn't recommend them without something to drive them, the MixAmp would do it for me).

But really... the AD700s have come way down in price over the last couple years, Amazon is listing them for $89, and for what you get out of them that is insane.

**Jakson** · 2011-09-11 18:00

I had a 990 for a couple years and they were fantastic, though my pair suffered some kind of internal break near the jack and one side stopped working. Had them for several years, though I don't know that I'd pay that kind of money again.

**Tymon** · 2011-09-11 19:45

Originally Posted by Graelinn

I have had the Audio Technica AD700's for a couple years now, and love them. I really only use them for gaming and usually run them through a Astro Mix Amp. It sucks that they caused you issues Tymon, I hadn't really heard that before in regards to them. Any idea why specifically they would have given you problems?

If I bought another pair now I would probably get the DT990s or a pair of AKG702s (wouldn't recommend them without something to drive them, the MixAmp would do it for me).

But really... the AD700s have come way down in price over the last couple years, Amazon is listing them for $89, and for what you get out of them that is insane.

It wasn't their fault. It was just the fact that they were on-ear headphones instead of in-ear headphones and apparently moisture was getting trapped in my inner ear or something like that

Basically I couldn't use those types of headphones for a while, so I got rid of them and haven't bought any more sense.

**Boyiee** · 2011-09-11 21:46

Originally Posted by Jakson

I had a 990 for a couple years and they were fantastic, though my pair suffered some kind of internal break near the jack and one side stopped working. Had them for several years, though I don't know that I'd pay that kind of money again.

Interesting, and good to know. Yeah The 990's are definitely staying on my list, as they seem to have great directional sound for gaming. I'm hearing the senn 650's actually get great directional sound too, and since they are probably the best for music I'm currently giving them a slight edge over the 990's, and the 600's are fading off my list.

**shaddix** · 2011-09-11 22:00

I have experience with the 650s and PC gaming. I didn't like it, it was frustrating because I had 3 rotating HDDs and my PC is air cooled. I would only get expensive open headphones if your listening area is effectively silent. I sold my 650s and bought some IE8s instead, I would say it solved about 75% of the issue. If I switched to water I think it would effectively isolate all my HDD noise.

Of course that doesn't matter much for games, but music it was incredibly irritating missing out on half the detail you've paid for because of the constant background noise.

**Kainos** · 2011-09-12 13:11

If you hold off for a bit the sleek by 50 headphones are slated to comeout later this year. No reviews yet but they look pretty badass from specs

http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/101...ent?highlight=

**Boyiee** · 2011-09-12 15:03

My current headphones are open and my computer case has some soundproofing, along with a couple SSD's, so I actually prefer the open headphones for home listening. The music right now is incredible, and with better phones can only get better. My main concern was gaming and directional sound, which the AD700s excel at (but not for music) and the DT990's excel at (along with music).

**Doombear** · 2011-09-12 16:02

Sounds like you just need to decide how much you want to spend / save then eh? I assume you have a decent sound system? I didn't, and since I primarily game with headphones the Amp seemed like (and was) a very good idea. The "leftover" savings after the AD700s is enough to easily grab one. Astro have released a few revisions, and a wireless version since I got mine, but I have yet to need to or want to upgrade. I have also thought about adding a headphone amp into that mix as well.

We will see how MW3 sound is. Also hoping that Dark Souls and Skyrim have excellent Audio.

**Boyiee** · 2011-09-12 16:23

I already decided how much I want to spend, I already decided my primary choices of phones. I'm looking at the 300$ range of phones that I can use everyday for both gaming and music. It is pretty much between the DT990 and HD650's

BF3 sound is amazing, sooooo looking forward to it.

**shaddix** · 2011-09-12 18:32

Originally Posted by Boyiee

My current headphones are open and my computer case has some soundproofing, along with a couple SSD's, so I actually prefer the open headphones for home listening. The music right now is incredible, and with better phones can only get better. My main concern was gaming and directional sound, which the AD700s excel at (but not for music) and the DT990's excel at (along with music).

Well have at it then! Nice phones like these hold their value well, you won't be out much if anything if you change your mind. My 650s were extremely comfortable fwiw. Oh I miss them now ; ;

**Correction** · 2011-09-12 19:12

You don't have to spend $300 for comfort+sound fidelity anymore. You haven't had to for a decade now. At least.
Open ear high-end Audio-Technica should fit your needs as long as your head isn't balloon-shaped.

http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATH-A...872468&sr=1-27

My only beef with the A-T design vs Sennheiser is the A-Ts use a less moisture permeable material for their ear coverings, so during the summer I kept having to shift my cans off my ears every now and then just to let my head 'breathe' because otherwise it'd feel kinda swampy up there. The Senns fit completely over my ears rather than resting on my ears so it was cool and dry no matter what, but I got sick of the flimsy construction on the 595's head band (I had one snap clean on me 5 months ago) so I probably won't go back until they return to the indestructible build quality of my HD590s from 10 years ago. The ruggedness of the A-Ts band outweighs occasionally having to wear them around my neck to let my ears dry off 3 months out of the year.

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