First off, I'd like to mention I tend to over think most things and can be quite indecisive, so this might be a bit of a read but please hang in there.
For the last week or so I've been searching for a great pair of headphones to get me out of gaming headsets, I've heard time and time again that its better to just buy spend your money on headphones to game with, for better sound and so forth.
Now that my current headsets are dieing, the right driver cutting in and out, I need to find something similar to in comfort to my current razer carcharias with audiophile approaching headphones, I'll buy a new mic later, sense I don't use voice chat/recording programs that often.
In my search I've come to these two choices,
Audio technica ath a500x
http://www.amazon.com/Technica-ATHA500X-Audiophile-Closed-Back-Headphones/dp/B006WXY0H8/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1420060230&sr=1-1&keywords=ath+a500x
Audio technica ath m40x
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-Professional-Headphones-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B00KC4JMAS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1420059656&sr=8-2&keywords=ath+m40x
So far I am favoring the ath A500x
Because they seem to be closer to what I am looking for, something for gaming, detail in footsteps and still have base to enjoy dubstep, while still giving detailed clear high, mids and lows, plus a great deal of comfort, the only con I could find is sound leaking, which is important to me, I do not wish to share what I am listening to with those in the house/room but I've heard of a easy mod of just connecting the two 3D wings on the headphones with rubber bands, which I'll probably just use hair bands so it doesn't grip my hair but they seem to have a larger sound stage then most closed headphones, probably due to their shear size, which I like, weight doesn't bother me when it comes to headphones, as long as they are not resting on the ears, I don't notice how heavy headphones are.
The Ath M40x where on the top of my list, reviews I've seen, do nothing more but give glowing comments on these headphones, though the band needs a little stretching, some suggest replacing the pads but many, nearly every review say these sand up against $200 plus headphones, very balanced through out high, mids and lows, I like the detachable cord, I'm pretty good about not dropping my headphones/sets but I've tugged the cord more times that I'd like, so the idea of a cord that's more likely of just unplugging then breaking or coming loose, sounds very appealing to me but, from what I understand, these headphones have little to no kick in the lows, detailed but no base punch, which from what I understand, is idea for gaming, the "Make your own headset" videos by Tek Syndicate say they don't suggest or condone these for gaming so really that and their lack in lows kick and starting comfort, leave me to lean towards the ath a500xs
That said, I wish I could find more reviews from gamers who own/use the M40xs for gaming, both headphones seem like a very good choice, I like the size comfort and sound of the ath a500x but don't like that the cord is not detachable and I don't have the money nor the know how to make my own cord for them, so I worry about tugging on the cord too hard one day by accident, plus I'm slightly worried about sound leakage.
So, though I favor one as of now, I'm still struggling between the two, if your still reading and have experience with either headphones, I'd appreciate what your thoughts are between the two headphones/your experience with either or both of the headphones or if feel any one who'd like to chime in I'd appreciate that too.
Lastly, I'll add a bit of info about myself/needs, in case someone may want to suggest I look at another pair of headphones.
These headphones will primarily be used for gaming but I also tend to listen to music, dubstep and all types of rock, I also watch a lot of movies and anime on the side though sound quality is not as important to me with those last two.
The key things I wan't these headphones to excel at is footsteps, gun fire/bullet hits in games and power with music such as dubstep, with out loosing any detail in games, such as footsteps and so on listed here, comfort is the last key thing I'd like these headphones to excel at, I am on my computer from any where between 6 to 10 hours a day, so over the ears they must be, its what I'm use to, though there may be better sounding on ear headphones out there, I much rather have over ear headphones that rest on my head and not my ears.
These are the reviews that best helped me.
Audio technica ath a500x
http://www.head-fi.org/t/643268/ath-a500x-impressions-thread
Audio technica ath m40x
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA-I_o9PLtM
I guess I'd like to add, I honestly don't know what you should be looking for in a pair of headphones best suited for gaming or would excel at gaming, this is my first attempt at trying to get a better sound quality for my gaming and music pleasure, so a extremely balanced and detailed sound the M40x seem to offer or a larger sound stage, stronger lows and better comfort the ath a500x offers, I struggle to decide which is better.