Gaming Headphone Suggestions

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T_Minus

T_Minus

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I currently have the Sennheiser PC 360 Headset for Pro Gaming and use it mainly for VoIP, but it does get used to game. I've been a BattleField 4 player for years now, and it's really the only game I play, and not too often. Well, I just started playing Players Unknown more, and started playing with some friends.

They can tell exactly what direction someone is in when they are shot at and can turn and find them quickly... me, I'm just over here like "I think they're North". But in a house I can hear foot steps directionally just fine so it's the fainter sounds I'm not picking up loud enough. I also game with it at 100% volume on the headset, computer, and game.

I think a DAC may fix this issue, as these are some nice sounding headphones but they never get too loud.

My other thought was maybe it's because I don't have 7.1/5.1 surround sound headsetr and maybe I'm missing some channels not 100% on this though as one other guy I play with uses cheap-o earbuds and he's ranked Top25 player in the game. I was considering getting the Sennheiser PC 373D.

Suggestions? Ideas?


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T_Minus

T_Minus

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Eyeballing: FiiO E10K USB DAC and Headphone Amplifier

Would prefer a more 'desktop' sized unit, and a non-micro/mini USB.

Or:
Amazon.com: Magni 2 Headphone Amplifier: Home Audio & Theater

Which is just an AMP, which may be 100% fine in terms of picking up more sounds I'm missing that are very subtle.

I've had schiit and fiio gear before, and had no problems with it but I haven't kept up over the last few years.

Thoughts?
 
Patrick

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keybored

keybored

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I got G933s out of curiosity last holiday season and they turned out to be quite nice actually. The lights are indeed silly, but I just turned them off via LGS, which increased the battery life. Range is great in case I have to walk away from my workstation while on a call and they last 1.5-2 days on a single charge. A lot of the powered headsets I tried before had this annoying hissing sound/noise when no audio was present. These don't have this problem. The sound is very crisp.
 
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T_Minus

T_Minus

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@britinpdx I had a set of the 600s or 650s a couple years back, loved them and my Fii0 stack... I'm really debating about going with a Schiit stack, and then I can also have a reason to get good headphones for music again in the future ha ha... :) The difference between no amp and amp on 300ohm 600 was very muffled vs. insanely awesome so I'm hoping the amp fixes it, but still may need a DAC to improve quality or freq. that may be dropped that shouldn't?? Not sure what my onboard sound can do, but it's motherboard sound.

I'm thinking of going with the Schiit Magni 2 Uber (just the amp) and seeing how that sounds, and then if I'm still missing sounds I think I should be hearing I'll go with the Modi 2 Uber DAC to finish the DAC/AMP stack.
 
Patriot

Patriot

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Sooooo if I am in the hifi mood I have a dragonfly 1.2 dac powering a pair of AD500x's I had a modmic for it but it recently broke.
I picked up a corsair void and wireless is soo nice. That said 7.1 gaming headsets to not have better locality ability than a wide sound stage set of cans.

You hear a bit less actually, that may be good for some people who have trouble picking out footsteps but I prefer the bigger sound of cans.
That said, for gaming... I have found wireless to be intoxicating. I guess I will have to take a week back on the cans and compare now.
 
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T_Minus

T_Minus

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I got Schiit Magni 2 Uber amp yesterday and hooked it up to my onboard headphone out with adapter cable to amp, and then large headphone plug adapter to small/my headset. At first it was missing the entire left channel, turns out the adapter plug doesn't work 100% if I push my headphones in all the way, works fine when not. Gain on high made a difference, and I've got the amp at 50%, pc output 100%, headphone knob 100% and I can hear sounds in the game I could not hear before AT ALL, very subtle sounds. I can also tell directions of sounds (guns/cars/feet) much better!! We had a long gaming session last night into the weeeeee morning and the amp got hot but worked flawlessly non-stop for hours on end..

I think a DAC will fix the little background/static/hiss that's faint and clear it up even more. If it as on PRIME I'd have ordered it already... they don't have the uber version, and I don't want to deal with drivers/software to control the non-uber!
 
realtomatoes

realtomatoes

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got a cheap HD558. does the job. but when i setup surround via software, that's where these cans outdo my old logitech.
 
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i386

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T_Minus said:
I think a DAC will fix the little background/static/hiss that's faint and clear it up even more.
Click to expand...
I think this is caused by "ground loop" (can't remeber the exact name), a dac wont fix that (I have an m-audio audio interface that I use like a dac) and still had that background noise.
Solution was to use an externally powered usb hub (In my case the usb hub integrated in my monitor) between my pc and the dac/audio interface/soundcard.
 
T_Minus

T_Minus

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Sorry for not updating ;)

I've had the Uber Amp and their USB "Decrapifier" for a while now (in addition to the amp I got) and the DAC made the small subtle sounds amazing... rain drops, thunder claps, etc, woah.

Before I got the USB "Decrapifier" I tried a ground loop eliminator and it got rid of the tiny tiny hiss but it also muffled the sound 30-40%. I actually just got another ground loop device to try out. I'm also running all audio power through isobar outlet. The Schiit Decrapifier sadly didn't change any USB/loop issues.

Overall EXTREMELY satisfied with the DAC/AMP combo, even on these cheap headphones it's amazing! Really going to be awesome when I get some higher-end headphones again too.

I split the headphone output now too, and use them for my desktop speakers and headphones :) works perfect, no loss of anything when doing comparisons by ear.
 
Patriot

Patriot

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T_Minus said:
Sorry for not updating ;)

I've had the Uber Amp and their USB "Decrapifier" for a while now (in addition to the amp I got) and the DAC made the small subtle sounds amazing... rain drops, thunder claps, etc, woah.

Before I got the USB "Decrapifier" I tried a ground loop eliminator and it got rid of the tiny tiny hiss but it also muffled the sound 30-40%. I actually just got another ground loop device to try out. I'm also running all audio power through isobar outlet. The Schiit Decrapifier sadly didn't change any USB/loop issues.

Overall EXTREMELY satisfied with the DAC/AMP combo, even on these cheap headphones it's amazing! Really going to be awesome when I get some higher-end headphones again too.

I split the headphone output now too, and use them for my desktop speakers and headphones :) works perfect, no loss of anything when doing comparisons by ear.
Click to expand...

Well, you can get the sennheiser 6xx or AKG 7xx on massdrop for $200 right now.
 
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Patriot

Patriot

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Nanotech said:
The HD 6XX drop ended right now but when it was live from July 10 you could get it at a low price of up to $199 with free domestic US shipping. The only caveat is that they won't ship till December 2017. The AKG K7XX is a K702 with Massdrop comestic changes as far as I am aware of and is also active (6 hrs left) and at $199 as well. However the K7XX ships within 3 business days.

Massdrop: Community-Driven Commerce
Massdrop: Community-Driven Commerce

As far as the HD 6XX it's pretty much a massdrop version of the Sennheiser HD 650. The difference is merely cosmetic and that the cable is 6ft vs the regular 650 12ft cable and has 1/8" termination instead of a 1/4" termination (but does have a 1/4" adapter).
Click to expand...
I will let you know which I like better when they get here... got the Red AKG7xx and the sens 6xx but I do recording work... (goes and prints more headphone hangers)

Also massdrop and time left.... They randomly extend deadlines... those AKGs have been at 7hrs left for days...

And if you request the Sens 6xx you might get an email letting you in.
 
T_Minus

T_Minus

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I've had a pair of the HD 600 or 650 (forget which now) before so I'll be going for something a notch up next time. I'm in no rush, could be 6mo-1yr+ the fun $ is needed elsewhere ;) LOL!
 
Patriot

Patriot

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T_Minus said:
I've had a pair of the HD 600 or 650 (forget which now) before so I'll be going for something a notch up next time. I'm in no rush, could be 6mo-1yr+ the fun $ is needed elsewhere ;) LOL!
Click to expand...
Just remember, a new higher end dac/amp combo will open up a quality pair of cans.
 
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