Okay so I have an interesting situation here. I just got my HyperX Cloud 2’s and everyone said they were great for gaming. I personally hate them. When playing csgo footsteps are drowned out by literally everything, and Someone shooting a gun right next to me sounds muffled and not clear at all. I’m coming from the Turtle beach x31’s. Do I just have a horrible taste in sound or do I have a defective unit? Any recommendations for headphones that are actually good for around $100?
I don’t need a mic and I’d prefer open headphones. Your input would be great. I’ve searched the web for any type of solution and I honestly can’t find anything. Thanks in advance!
Asked the same question a while back. The answer I got was this:
www.amazon.com/Technica-AUD-ATHAD500X-Audiophile-Headphones/dp/B009S333U4/ref=sr_1_1
I am completly happy with them. Should have goten them before going through several "Gaming" headphones with "5.1" sound.
Cool thanks dude, I'll try these.
Another option: Philips SHP9500
-edit- Sorry I missed the "open" bit.
I had great success with Sennheiser HD280 Pro's back in my Quake 3 days. I was able to pinpoint where people were based on their footsteps with them quite well.
Great audio makes everything better.
I still have a pair of 280 Pros. They are good but man, they will squeeze the brain out of your head. The clamp is so strong.
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Yeah - mine don't seem bad anymore. I actually prefer the clamping force of the 280 and 380 Pro's over my PC 350 SE's.
How well can you pinpoint footsteps with these? Also how's the sound quality? These look super comfortable.
That is really not a thing of the headphones but the sound of the game itself.
If you want to here everything I would recommend closed cans, by the way.
Oh, they sound complete shit of course. That is why I recommend them.
They are.
Well these cloud 2's are my first closed ear headphones and they honestly are horrible and I hate them. That's why I'm asking. Plus Logan himself said open is better for positional tracking.
Gaming headsets are shit!
All of them. No exception.
Never buy one again!
(That might be not completely true but just as a rule don't buy headsets or anything that has gaming written on it. Most of them really are just crap and all of them are overpriced.)
I'm also pretty sure @Logan was talking about soundstage and not positional tracking. Because that is a quality that varies from one set of cans to the next regardless of design. As I mentioned, the main factor for good positional audio is how is it handled by the game.
If the source is shit, your headphones don't matter. Your experience will be bad. If the source is super positional tracktastick deluxe, you will have a good experience even on sub par headphones.
Here is an example, put on your hated cloud 2 cans and listen to this:
The sound quality is pretty shit and you hate your headphones. But you can clearly hear where shit is coming from.
The reason why I would recommend closed cans is simply to isolate you from any noise that is not in the game. The mentioned Sennheiser HD280 Pros are pretty extreme in that regard. But they have other problems.
If you've not decided on a pair yet, I recommend checking out the link in my post from another thread on headphones. The guide is really informative and covers the gamut of price ranges.
Great recommendation. I have a pair, and they are the best sounding headphones I've owned. They also were my introduction to open-back headphones.
I guess the main downer is that they make you look really strange.
AKG made headphones with similar designs years ago. I do not find them bad looking in any way.
It's a matter of taste. Besides, I don't really care how they make me look as long as they sound good.
I also just realized I have the ATH-AD900X (not the ATH-500X). Not sure what the sound difference would be between the two. Probably not anything drastic.
You get 10kHz more frequenzy response which will not help at all when listening to low quality mp3 samples. High quality CD audio of an orchestra: You can notice that but I doubt it.
I would say the ATH-AD500X are within 87% best quality and the ATH-AD900X are within 90% of best quality.
On that note: Comparing my Sennheiser HD600 to the ATH-AD500X, I like the AudioTechnica better for gaming but the Sennheiser better for listening to music.
References:
http://eu.audio-technica.com/headphones/hifi/ATH-AD500X
http://eu.audio-technica.com/headphones/hifi/ATH-AD900X
http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/best-audio-headphones-high-end-stereo-hifi-hd-600
Personal scores (out of 100):
Roccat Kave 5.1: 71
Sennheiser HD600: 90
AudioTechnica ATH-AD500X: 87
Razer Kraken 7.1: 65
Oh yeah, those Sennheisers are great for music. I have the HD650s and they are my first choice for "just listening to music". Never harsh or "too much", just very well balanced and neutral. For spectacle I have the Beyer Dynamic DT990 Pro limited. Those have a ton of low end and scattering amounts of treble but nothing in between. They are basically the Michael Bay of headphones.
It is all just different at that point, there is no better or worse anymore.
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A friend of mine was not happy with the Beyer Dynamic DT990 Pros, in fact so unhappy he did not even invite me over to listen before he send them back.