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Thoughts: The BEST Gaming Headphone for All Time?
By
Evshrug
Whitedragem
185
Oct 22, 2020
Sadly I don’t watch internet videos, and am a ‘read mountains of text’ kinda person.
Probably why I seem to write molehills of of text when saying anything.
In the nineties when the net was new, I would write ‘small fitting comments’ to the targeted audience.
Then in 2005 when the net widened and ‘little johnnys’ (who know everything and aren’t afraid to argue vehemently how right they are) started to join in (everyone had the net on their $200 smartphones ‘all of a sudden’) short concise viewpoints were easily destroyed by trolls’ cut n paste arguments, that now I feel foolish to say anything without backing up why it is my opinion/personal background etc.
As gaming audio is my forte, and I have A LOT to say on this topic, I simply will not, right here, write volumes...
So in a nutshell, some brief contribution.. (saves me starting a new post for audio for the PS5)
I have had so many flagship soundcards (since before PCs had sound), and tested so many audio ‘technologies’, especially with regards to gaming, that I have a viewpoint to share, possibly with some insights to help others.
Without doubt the best gaming audio we had was Aureals A3D 2.0 sound engine. Wtih Microsoft having an Nvidia chipset in the first Xbox that could encode dolby digital from games, on the fly, Microsoft had a reason to bury PC sound standards and did so with Vista. (It was a very anticonsumer move)
PC gaming sound never bounced back, and from that point it was game developer dependant.
(yay for games like Hunt Showdown)
So consoles had the best sound hardware, being the Playstation Vita at first, with the Playstation VR being the second product to do so. (echo effects offered by first playstation/nintendo handhelds weren’t anything like the hardware 3D sound first given in consoles with the PS Vita)The PS5 will have 4x the sound processing that the PSVR offered, and is equivalent to the entire PS4 CPU in number crunching power... (this is going to be a game changer!)
Every developer finally writing games to make use of this sort of tech WILL BE AMAZING.
That being said I have been using various PC sound cards that allow Dolby Headphone etc (and owned a lot of preamps/processors that offer Dolby Headphone),.. which over the last twenty years has allowed me to test a lot of headphones with reference quality hardware.
Easily the best bang for buck headphones for ‘gamers’ (who somehow think that hifi headphones aren’t compatible with their hobby)(arguably sometimes true with regards to easily adding a microphone), would be the AKG ADG1X headphones (open backed variants).
Vs some tesla beyerdynamics I used, the AKGs (basically a 990 driver in an angled enclosure that will take the 2000 series drivers as a mod), the AKGs flogged the Beyers. Beyers had great soundstage, but a subtle bass exaggeration made walking through water in the Witcher 3 sound odd.
The AKGs feel like they had a slow/low bass that made playing Battlefield 1 for hours and hours really appreciatable. With killer imaging accuracy and major comfort; these are my cheapest headphones in the house I actually listen to and have replaced many much more expensive products as ‘great gaming’ headphones.
I sold the Beyer open backs to get a planar replacement (thinking an Audeze LCD2(c?) might give an improvement, but open back planars do not easily give a great front/back soundscape.
Of course anyone who doesn’t have a hardware surround=>headphones encoder will probably end up buying some gaming headset that comes with its’ own processing; but I have learned to seperate the two products, even finding old ‘outdated’ turtle beach dolby headphone encoder boxes in clearance bins at electrical retailers, and giving them as gifts to other gamers so they can use their EXISTING HEADPHONES..
The total package does have to be considered.
The aforementioned Hunt Showdown is a game that has a binaural mixing engine and is perfect for anyone with well resolving stereo cans.
Generally open backs have much wider/better nuanced soundstages than closed, and larger driver designs over small,.. majority of gamers I know consider the AKG ADG1X as the ultimate flagship to buy. It is ‘end game’ enough.. (I find it lethargic for music, but unbeatable for image placement needed for competitive first person shooters). Has a great microphone as well.
The Audeze Mobius are very nice for both music and gaming if a person has never heard better. Sadly they will never sound better than their entry tier headphone DAC/amp offers. The Waves NX technology that tracks the head 1000 times every second is awesome, and what they can do, especially for a ‘closed back can’ is exceptional, but those of us with better electrical chains would be ‘unhappy with the sound’. (nice feature of this product is mapping headphone leaning to ingame leaning ‘around corners’, or two other in game buttons)
As an example of audio chain affecting sound quality, I reference my present PS5 solution:
The PS5 has dropped TOSLINK (fibre optic) audio output using the S/P Diff (sony/philips method for digital transportation of audio, as used for decades), and will only allow HDMI audio into HiFi systems. This is FAR FROM IDEAL, and ignoring the jitter and issues with MAJORITY of surround receivers (HDMI packs digital audio to match video and is not ideal at all as an audio transport, except for ‘ease of use’), the best option the PS5 will offer will be headphone output jacks on the bottom of the controller.
So most people will listen to a wireless codec decoded by a budget DAC built into a gaming controller, and then will drive ‘sensitive’ headphones from the limited power that the controller offers from its ‘super budget’ amplifier.
(I would love to be proven wrong by Sony revealing they have revamped the controller amp module, like the PS4 refresh controller gave, but I won’t hold my breath on this one).. so, using parts around the house I built:
THE ULTIMATE PS5 audio output (?!) (on a budget, using parts that an audiofool might have lying around)
presently testing on a PS4 (PS5 supported audio hardware includes what worked on PS4, and without them reversing the channels again, or other ‘lock out’ methods that Sony HAS USED, should work seamlessly on a PS5)
Source: Playstation Console USB output
Step: Cambridge Audio DAC MAGIC (used to reclock the USB signal and convert to COAX/fibre output)
Step: Chord Hugo (used as a DAC, insert your best ‘gathering dust’/spare kit here)
Step: Marantz Amplifier (used for taking a high quality analogue signal and amplifying stereo headphones)
(Edited)
Evshrug
3773
Community
Oct 22, 2020
WhitedragemAmazing read, quite the history lesson! I had heard the PS3 had great audio, but I didn’t know the Vita had anything special in that arena. I also knew MS buried OpenAL with the release of Vista, but never made a connection with the Xbox. Fun trivia: OpenAL continued to have support in some games, but you had to enable it by editing an .ini file – the last game that I heard you could do this in was Borderlands 2.
I would love to know how to enable the “head leaning” option, does it work well or does it just pop the player character in/out of the leaning stance?
I feel I should point out that the ADG1x is an Audio Technica product, not AKG. I’m also confused about the part where you typed it basically was a 990 driver able to take 2000 series drivers as a mod... do you mean the Beyer DT 990 driver, able to take Denon D2000 drivers? Or maybe you mean Audio Technica ATH-AD900 headphone/drivers/enclosure with a boom mic, able to take Audio Technica ATH-AD2000 drivers?
Evshrug
3773
Community
Apr 18, 2021
WhitedragemDecent amount of text incoming, I got to demo the HD 8xx for a few days and I’m writing up a first impressions post. Just gotta take my notes and make them into actual sentences with structure, lol!
Whitedragem
185
Sep 21, 2021
Evshrugabsolutely true on all fronts (audio technica, and yes, 900 enclosure accepting the 2000 series driver units (screws align)).
you are a sherlock holmes’, mate; brilliant!
(thought I had responded to this aeons ago, turns out I hadn’t,.. hmmm)
Evshrug
3773
Community
Sep 21, 2021
Whitedragem🕵️♂️
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