Help decide on new Headphones/set, please

Communities Audio Hardware & Music
1

Hello, its that time for me, to replace my headphones, the right driver has began to fail, so I need to replace it,

My current headset, are the older Razer carcharias, plugged into my Asus Xonar DX 7.1 sound card,

I've watched all three videos the build your own headset videos but I can be very indecisive and out of the ones listed in the videos I can afford right now, I am having a hard time deciding between them,

I'm no audiophile, though I'd like to be some day, right now I just need to get something to get me buy until I can afford a pair of headphones such audiophile would use for gaming,

So before I make this any longer, I have come to this community as a new member seeking help in deciding on which headset/phone I should get, so here are the facts/needs/wants.

PC gamer through and through, FPS, Sandbox, Light RPG.

Average play/use length: 6 to 8 hours plays, daily.

Music: All kind of rock, all kinds of dubstep.

Movies: You name it.

 

Whats important:

1. As good or better them my current Razer Carcharias

2. Sound quality

3. Comfort

4. Durability

5. Doesn't have to have a mic.

The main objective with these new headphones I'll be getting is stepping up in the three main areas, Sound, Comfort and Durability if possible with out spending more money, again, if possible.

I have a large head so 40mm to 50mm over the ears and I'd like to go open but with where I live and whom I live with they will need to be closed, I couldn't care less about portability, in my book that just means more fragile with more moving parts.

So please, if you have the spare time and willing to help out a new member could you please help me decide on which headset or headphone would best suit my needs...

The current headsets and headphones I am considering,

1. SteelSeries Siberia V2

2. Superlux HD668B Dynamic Semi-Open Headphones

3. Logitech G230

4. Razer Tiamat Over Ear 2.2

5. Plantronics GameCom 780

 

I'd like to consider these if I could find them under $80

1. Sennheiser HD 558

2. Audio technica ath a500x

 

Thank you.

2

Personally I wouldn't ever buy a 'gaming headset' I'm sure Logan and Tyler have mentioned multiple times why exactly. But I'll link you to some videos to try and help you get some decent headphones, myself personally I'm using some Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 250ohms, they're amazing I love them, comfortable I've wore them for full days before, sound incredible and are durable and even have the feature to replace any part on them that breaks.I would have gone with open headphones if I didn't need them to be closed because of living with people...

Head over to eBay and look for some used headphones too, you'll save yourself some money and the headphones may even be already burned in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fD-M1F6L4g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dj5G0isn9Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgTnJ3JQQ0E

 

3

I've personaly fell in love with V-MODA Crossfade M-100, but its quite out of budget.

 

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4

Agreed, I picked up a pair for Christmas and they sound amazing. The XL Earpads are somewhat required for them however.

5

Those are the three videos I mentioned above that I've watched and really the only ones out of the ones they listed that I could afford that I thought looked remotely durable or comfortable, were the Superlux HD668B and they kind of glassed them over in the video, I've looked at reviews too but even though they seem to have glowing reviews, they still look like they would fall part with in a year if not sooner.

 

I would love to get a pair of Beyerdynamic DT770s but can't get a pair of those with $80, I wish I could,


I'd much rather get a pair of headphones then a pair of headsets, don't get me wrong but it seems like headsets seem to be able to do a good job on build quality/durability but go cheap on actual drivers/mics and headsets, unless you spend 200 plus, they seem to make good drivers but shitting housing/durability.

6

I'm trying to find a pair of those under 80 but so far, no luck.

7

Watching a video review of those earphones, I didn't notice how tiny they were, plus they are on ear, which I am not a fan of.

8

You could get the V-Moda M-80 On-ears that are currently 90$ on Amazon instead of getting the M-100s for 260$. Either way both models are built like tanks.

9

They are tiny because they are meant to be portable. And no they are not on-ear, they are over-ear for the M-100s.

10

Audio-Technica ATH-M30x, decent build quality, over ear, and under 80$.

11

I was on board for the Audio-Technica ATH-M30x until I read this in their video, I know its not the same headphones but I wonder why they don't suggest these for gaming.

Audio-Technica ATH-M40x (We do not condone these for gaming):

12

Just wanted to add, thanks for your continued responds.

13

I did find the Audio-technica Dynamic Headphone ATH-A500X for $96 though

but for buying used, amazon & ebay are the only places I know to shop.

14

The only issue is, I can't seem to find any video reviews.

15

So after driving myself nuts for the past few days, I've come down to these two choices,

Audio technica ath a500x

and

Audio technica ath m40x game

Both more then I wanted to spend but not my buch

 

I like them both but as said above they did not suggest the m40x for gaming, which is the main thing these will be used for.

The a500x, I can maybe find one or two video reviews on youtube of, I like the size and reivews that I can find, people seem to like them.

 

originally were going to go after the m40x but I guess sense they are too balanced, there not good for gaming or dubstep, which is what I mainly listen to... So the a500x would be a better choice?

I honestly don't know, the lack of reviews make me feel iffy about them.

16

I didn't want to go open but I ended up going with the sennheiser HD 558 out of the open headsets, these had the least amount of sound leak, got them for $87 used, no other headset had reviews that mentioned gaming use and from what I understand they still have a good amount of bass, maybe not much of a kick but its said they could have a kick with a sound card/amp, which I have, plus I heard, they have a piece of foam tape behind the driver on the housing that you can remove for even better sound, less bass but I don't plan to remove but its still an option, I've never bought used headphones hopefully things work out, ad said like new, with any luck things will go smooth and I'll feel better about buying used, just wanted to say thanks again, to every one that offered their suggestions, I'm glad I found a active community again, that's nice enough to help out.

17

Well I finally got my headphones, 14 days ahead of what shipping said it'd get here so that's cool but still rather surprising, I got them used but I was still even more surprised when I didn't see a box at my front door, instead the seller sent the $87 pair of headphones in a simple shipping bag, they were nice enough to wrap them in packaging bubbles but they could not of gone cheaper on the shipping material, I honestly expected a pair of headphones in pieces, I already thought the headphones seemed fragile in video reviews, thankfully, it doesn't appear anything was broken, still the seller is loosing some stars for their poor shipping packaging,

Though I've only have been using the sennheiser HD 558 for about 15 minutes now, I love them, fit nicely, music sounds spiffy, though I have a program on my pc that reads text out loud and it sounds a bit muddy but I would guess its the programs audio quality and not so much the headphones fault, I don't know, the seller listed the headphones as like new and they appeared like new so maybe the last owner didn't break them in fully who knows, I'll think about leaving a two week or month review here, for now, its back to finding what else sounds amazing,

Oh one last note, I was worried about sound leakage, sense its to be expected with open headphones and I was surprised to hear a lot less then I expected.