Are high end headphones worth it for gaming?

why wouldn't you also use them for music?

No. 90% of video games are mixed like shit and have compressed as fuck audio.

>>378054436
they not worth it without appropriate dac and amp

>>378054436
everything over 200 euro is snake oil for audiofools, especially the trash you posted

>>378054436
>HD 800 S
Why are these so expensive anyway? They are made of plastic for fucks sake.
Do they even sound different than a normal set of headphones?

>>378054436
No. Headphones are only what you use when your housemates/family/neighbours are sleeping. Get a 5.1 surround with a decent subwoofer instead and get just some generic $10 headphones.

>>378054436
You can game in them, but you don't get them specifically for that purpose.

>>378055587
This. Unless you also use the head / earphones for music, there is no point in having too of the line shit

>>378054436
i have a pair of v moda's and they are wonderful for gaming as far as sound quality. as far as giving you an advantage, hearing other enemies etc i dont think they are all that great.

>>378054663
This, and basically you want them to be flawed: If you use them for multiplayer, you want impudence to be completely wrong, so its more audible than it should.

Grado S80
You are welcome

>>378054436
~$150 is about the low-end limit if you are getting a set from one of the big 4(ish) Beyerdynamic, AudioTechnica, Sennheisr, AKG. (V moda has been up and coming too) - There are a couple more that have come up over the years but the above 4 will give you your best "high end" bang for buck in the ~$150-300 range. I wouldn't go above 200 and just wait for a sale/deal on a given "closed back/closed over-ear" set of cans for gaming.
The more you spend beyond about 200 the more you are paying for depreciating returns and bragging rights.
Avoid like the plague anything you would find in the electronics section of your local Brick and mortar nation wide chain store. A ~$150 pair of Beyer Dynamics will sound better and be better constructed than a $400 pair of beats by dre or Turtle beaches (if they even make something that expensive). Ignore peripheral manufactures like Logitech, Razer, Corsair. They are just as shit as Turtle Beaches.

Cont.

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>>378057678
>>378054436
cont.
The more expensive a pair of cans, the more likely they will be biased towards a neutral sound stage and frequency curve and will more likely be open-backed. For music listening, depending on the genre, this can be a good thing. For movie watching and playing games this is a waste since the frequency range of film and especially games tends to be toward the low end (bass).
All other things being equal. Closed back headphones=more bass, open backed headphones=less bass. Now too much bass bias in the frequency curve of a pair of drivers (speakers) in headphones can mean that higher tuned sounds aren't as clear and the sound gets "muddy" - like listening to a song through glass. Things like Turtle Beaches and Beats by Dre are obnoxiously guilt of this and is one of the primary reasons to avoid them - However, the "big 4" I mention earlier have much better quality tech and manufacturing materials and while they too can have a pronounced bass bias in their "closed/bass biased selection" they don't trade that out for the rest of the frequency range.

Turtle beaches, Beats by dre, Corsair, Razer, and logitech (and similar) are shit because they spend the value of the product on marketing and not components.

>picture related
That's Lana Del Rey performing live at the BBC. - those are Beyerdynamics (DT-770 pro's, about $130-170 depending on deal) - Example of a professional studio environment and what they will lean on.

TL;DR: Spend about $150-$200 (sales or otherwise) on a closed back over-ear pair of headphones from one of the big 4 (Sennheiser, AKG, Beyer Dynamic, Audio Technica) and you would be hard pressed to go wrong.

>>378054436
>are high end headphones worth it for gaming
If you're buying it for only gaming, then no. However, switching to some high quality headphones, you'll never want to go back.
Read all of this shit >>378057678 >>378058440. He covered most of it, but there's still more things to consider (what music do you like, do you prefer heavy bass, open headphones or closed headphones, does it need an amplifier, etc.) Avoid beats like the fucking plague. Even if you borrowed some and thought they sound better than what you have, you're overpaying by a large amount.

>>378059792
This is retarded and a product of the retarded economic system we have. No such thing as a "Music" headphone, either it's good and has good highs, mid and lows or it isn't.

I got a pair of HD 449s for cheap and I think they're worth it for the simple fact that the internals haven't broken like every other headset I've owned. They've lasted almost 3 years now, and the ones I had before this went a good 3-4 before I put em down a bit too rough and a plastic joint broke. They still work just wont sit on my head anymore.

>>378060138
would you prefer to use it like OP, for listening to shitty AAA packaged sound clips?

>>378060339
No, I prefer a good well made product that works as intended, to produce audio in it's cleanest form as it was created. It a music has some good bass, I want that good bass, if a movie has some good highs, I should hear that. If some shitty AAA game has some shitty audio, then it's shitty. Now recommend me a headphone that is like that, not some headphone based on category like "this one is good for rock" fuck off with this bullshit.

I have a pair of AKG k271 mk2 I paid the equivalent of 150 Euro in 2012 for them. To this day its the best money I have spent on a piece of equipment in terms of value. My only complaint is sound leaking but it because of the velour earpads.

>>378054436
5.1 is worth it for gaming

>>378060576
Headphones aren't pick-one-and-works-for-all. They all differentiate from one another based on their sound signature. That's why you can't just recommend one without knowing what they really want. Research nigga.
What's your price range?

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I've got some Sennheiser HD 558s, they're quite good, not perfect.

Sound is a bit muddier than what I'm used to, not really bad, I'm used to it now, but lacking the mid and treble punch that my old Bose AE-2s had.

The lead that came with the headphones was about 3 metres long, it was ridiculous, it would get tangled round my chair and I couldn't leave my room without tripping over it. I had to fucking buy a shorter one.

Also not as comfortable as it looks, it's a bit itchy and doesn't sit that great.

Overall though I like it.

>>378061008
My price range is $300, but I am really reluctant into buying one that costs more than $100. I have been doing little research here and there and it seems to me that the higher price range ones are all that price to sell to a bunch of fucking hipsters that are willing to pay that price and orgasm because of it, lots of placebo.

You seem to know more about it, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I play games, watch movies occasionally as well as some anime. Genres of music include from Metal, Classical, Hip-hop/Trap/Beats instrumentals and of course Electronica/Progressive House/Trace.
And of course, video games.

If you know some good speakers list them also.

>>378061612
You could listen to 96kbps mp3s with chinese earphones if you think high end ones are placebo though m8.

Get some good headphones, £125 range, I think that's about $150. Soundcards make a difference when you've got good headphones but not a huge amount for it to always be worth splashing out on a soundcard.

>>378061612
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/akg-m220-semi-open-studio-headphones

I've had these for a few years now, and they sound almost as good as my 598's with a little more bass tacked on.
If you don't have much experience with high-end headphones and just want something with more clarity than cheap radioshack whatever, these would serve you quite well unless you want the bass to rattle your cans off your head.

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>>378061612
I don't know what the other anon uses but I use this hooked up to a E10K. Good stuff all around but it is really gonna come down to personal taste.

Once you hit over the $200 range you're starting to hit diminishing returns so pick your poison.

>>378063095
>>378063202
I'll see if these are good.

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>>378054436
1. You dont need surround sound for gaming. Just go with stereo. This applies to all game genres.
2. Get over ear headphones. Open or closed back doesn't matter much unless you need to drown out outside noise.
3. You don't NEED to get "audiophile" headphones or anything specifically catered to "gamers". In fact, avoid all headphones marketed to gamers.
4. Anything above $100 will have diminishing returns in terms of what you need for gaming (hearing people behind you, noises in the distance.)
5. Don't buy ANY pair of headphones if it has a microphone attatched to it.
6. If you cant afford the simplest pair of $10 over the ear headphones, change your audio setting in-game and remove any unnecesary sound settings.
7. If all else fails, practice playing with sound completely disabled for a while to attune yourself to visual cues the game provides. Even if you can hear your enemy around the corner and you get the jump on him, he could still cap you. In other words, train yourself not to use audio cues as a crutch. Trust your eyes first.

>>378061612
Philips Fidelio X2