i wont recommend my steelseries arctis pro wireless headphones, good enough for gaming, but there are far better options around for sound quality.
Unless i need to, i don’t even use the retractable boom mic, and opt for my AT2020 instead.
i’m new to the audio/ high quality audio game. I would like to get a very high quality headset and possibly a dac/amp. I also would like the added feature to use on consoles(xb1,ps4, switch, and even better if it will work for next gen consoles). The consoles aren’t a must, but would be a nice bonus.
Actually the HyperX Cloud II is a rebranded Takstar Headphones. Its… sufficiently decent. I mean there is no absolute need for superb quality because you really cant do a proper sound mastering of a dragon’s roar because there is no real dragon to record. Or laser guns. I mean why does even laser guns have sounds when it shoots? So yeah, you really need not overspend of headphones for gaming if only gaming is your use case
That is why I came here for suggestions because I didn’t want to spend $300 unless it was worth it. My last headset lasted 7 years. So I would like to get similar results but a better sound quality headset this time
I’d get the sennheisers with either a mod mic or a vmoda mic, ~$100 for the headphones 60-70 for the mic.
The setup seems like a good middle ground. If you have extra $$$, get a dac + amp combo in the future.
I am pretty sure the sennheisers will be able to use the dac + amp setup.
My brother has the cloud 2 headphones. He really likes it. Wireless and has a mic. It seems like a good headset if you just want to game.
For a point of reference, what was your last headset?
Easiest route is to take the optical output from PS4/Xbox and pipe that into a DAC that can handle it (Soundblaster G6, Micca OriGen G2, Sabaj D3, etc.) and put a Toslink switch of some sort before it.
There are DACs with multiple optical SPIDF inputs, they are on the pricey side though.
Sennheisers scale very nicely with different amps (especially the HD 280 Pro and tthe HD 600/HD 650.
Another Headset to consider is the AudioTechnica ATH-AG1x. As with the other AudioTechnica headphones with the two-part headband, they only work for people with above average or bigger heads.
@astimp13 Couple questions:
Your consoles and PC are all set up in one place?
What is your speaker setup?
How is everything connected?
Also:
What are you looking for in your headphones?
Do you want sound isolation?
Are you looking for a more cinematic sound or competitive accuracy?
Electric guitars are just machine sounds and everything recorded is not really real, right? So why even bother listening to anything? Don’t overspend on headphones if all you’re listening to is sound.
Right? 
logitech g930 for pc. i have sony playstation gold headset(its cool because you can use the software to make it sound better for certain games) but they aren’t that comfortable for long sessions.
dont need a mic. just got a blue yeti for $73
yes consoles and pc are in the same room.
my speaker setup is logitech Z506 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System
everything is hdmi and aux cable if i want to use the speakers. I would like to get into digital audio(optical)
I would like the headphones to be wireless but dont have to be. I want sound canceling/noise canceling. So I would prefer not the open back headphones. I would like to be able to use them for ps4/5 & xb1/xbsx & switch but not necessary. I would prefer competitive accuracy but would want everything else to sound good as well. I am mostly using them for gaming and then youtube/twitch/etc.
OK, so the speakers are connected to the TV? Since those don’t have any kind of decoder, you are getting effectively stereo split onto 5.1 channels, if I understand that correctly? And that is hooked up to a line out on the TV, I guess?
And all the sources just stream audio over HDMI, so the TV changes audio as well as video?
For headphones with good passive isolation and accurate sound I can recommend the Sennheiser HD 280 Pro. The new version of those is pretty remarkable in terms of sound and the isolation is unchanged from the older model, which means outstanding.
You can use those on any headphone out, even onboard, phones, whatever. I would still recommend an external amp to get the most out of them.
Oh, HD280 Pros are real headcrabs. They achieve the isolation in part by clamping onto your head tightly. Not the most comfy ever but not half as bad you might think.
Warning: Anything I have to say is likely to already have been way more entertainingly explained in this video by ZeusPantera. (Except the head tracking thing, I think that’s gimmicky)
I’ll second what has been said previously about headphone manufacturers, if they make microphones, that’s a green flag.
And I’ll add my little list of red flags for headphones:
- Pilot-style mic
- Manufacturer makes keyboards
- Gaming-marketing
- “”“Surround”""
- Wireless
- USB connection
I would advise against any digital connection between the headphones and the computer. Bluetooth is digital, USB is digital, if your headphones require you to install drivers, big no-no. (Bluetooth especially, since that also introduces lag, and in gaming, lag gets you killed.)
If that connection is digital, they will need to fit a DAC, Amp, and drivers in the headphone. Which firstly makes it tempting for the manufacturer to make bad headphones and compensate for its bad tuning with DSP. And secondly, making a good AND tiny DAC+Amp inside the headphone is a lot harder than making just a good DAC+Amp.
As for recommendations, the Pandas from Drop // THX have been getting rave reviews lately, (They’re the only Bluetooth headphones I dare speak positively about, because they’re well tuned.) if you’re willing to wait for them to release, they might be worth it.
Of course, the Sennheiser 660s, maybe 6XXs to save a buck and get an ever so slightly more analytical sound.
Beyond that, it’s hard for me to suggest anything before I know if you’re a fluffy casual who wants pure entertainment, or if you’re a king of the pit hardcore who only wants to destroy his enemies by hearing them footsteps! (Or if you’re somewhere in between, that’s ok too)
EDIT: Grammar.
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I have had the Arctis Pro for nearly 2 years and I have been very happy with them. I like not ever having to plug them in. Just swap the battery. Takes about 20 seconds. They have decent range so I can walk around my apartment. I work from home and use them for conference calls all the time. I have far fewer problems with them than other people that use cheaper headsets.
As far as sound quality. I find that they are perfectly fine for playing games or watching videos and casual music listening. I have 6 other headphones for long term listening sessions though, ranging from Sennheiser, AKG, Beyerdynamics, Fostex, HiFiman, and Meze Audio. I use a separate amp and DAC with XLR connections for any of those. All those headphones have better sound quality but they are all wired.
Another thing I like about them is the auto-switching of the outputs by the base station. I have another desktop amp driving 2 small Infinity speakers and 8" subwoofer plugged into the output of the base station. It switches the output to the headset as soon as they are turned on and back to the desktop speakers when they are off without ever having to touch any settings.
Edit:
Forgot to add. The head band is very comfortable. One of the most comfortable that I own or have owned previously. I did change the ear cups out for some after market lamb skin ones though.
anything that can do dobly digital surround and all that stuff? like if i wanted to hook up my OG xbox which does optical out dolby digital 5.1 surround.
i am willing to get a high quality headphone and dac/amp but I dont know too much about all of this. i am new to the audio game. I need to do some more research and continue talking to you all. seems like Sennheiser is a good choice. I just want something high quality(w/ sound canceling) and that is comfortable for long sessions. working on all consoles would be a nice bonus.
you are correct but i rarely use the speakers. I mostly use the headsets I have for each console or tv speakers. I have sony gold headset for ps4 and the cheap shitty stereo headset for xb1
would the soundblaster g6 be a good choice?
I’m not a fan of anything Soundblaster… so personally I would not go for that one.
If the line out on the TV isn’t doing awful things to the signal, I would go for a pure amp. Something like a FIIO K5 maybe. (I have the predecessor, the E09K. Which is fine as well. )You can add a proper DAC at any time. And look for it used.
i wouldnt know if its messing the signal up or not. my tv does have optical audio out
OH! It’s feeding the speakers through optical. Hmm, that changes things. In good way mostly. Digital to digital means the TV probably doesn’t fuck with the signal at all. So it is perfect as an audio switch.
That also means you could feed optical into DAC/amp and pass analog line out from that to the speakers.
I gotta be honest, I’m not sure what those speakers are capable of in terms of multichannel signal. I’ll just assume they work with stereo signal only.
I think the K5 Pro does have a DAC inside. I’m just not sure if the output is line out or pre out. …
i dont really use them anyways when gaming just when listening to music loud
Total Watt (RMS): 75 W
Subwoofer: 27 W
Center Channel: 16 W
Satellites: 4 x 8 W (front left, front right, and rear satellites) contain decorative and non-operational “tweeters” and “port tubes”.
Six-channel direct: 1
3.5 mm input: 1
RCA input: 1
Headphone jack: 1
I mean another option would be to get rid of the logitech cable mess. If you don’t care about the surround…ness, why bother? Get a nice big class A hi-fi amp used, a pair of speakers and some HD280Pros to shut up the world when needed. 