Ultimate Imaging Open-Back Headphone for Competitive FPS (Shortlist Inside)

[ronferree]

Hello,

 

I have been researching for a long while now and came up with a shortlist of open-back headphones that meet the following criteria:

1. Ultimate positional accuracy in a 360 degrees sphere (aka Imaging), including above and below and rear with narrow precision

2. Far coverage of distance (where did the bullet originate and where did it hit)

3. Not a poor bass response, with bass roll-off, or with too sharp highs and harmonic distortions that take away from immersion (since nothing is perfect, a little bit of that is fine)

4. No Mic is needed. No Music or Video usage.Chosen headphone will only be used for FPS gaming.

 

Some users told me the ultimate headphone that meets all of my criteria is the Senn HD800s, but that is over my budget @$1,600.

 

Here's my shortlist, it would be awesome if you can help me eliminate what does not meet my criteria or nominate a winner.

 

1.AKG K712PRO: A user reported that the soundstage starts at an offset away from the ear, misleading the player as to how far or close the footsteps are around. Is this true for your K712?

2.Audio-Technica ATH-ADG1x: some claim it is superior to the AD900x but I can't find enough reviews by FPS gamers

3.AD900x: Some claim it is legendary for pinpointing audio cues but requires proper equalization and customization for FPS gaming

4.Sennheiser HD58X: Any competitive FPS gamer can vouch for those?

5.Sennheiser G4ME ONE: Does this compete with the rest of this list?

6.DT990Pro 250ohm: Jack of all trades, balanced all-round, good immersion, issue with treble fatigue, no clear statements about its 3D accuracy. Any FPS gamer can vouch for the 3D imaging of those?

7.HE 400i/400s: Not enough FPS player feedback

 

 

[RGProductions]

With that absolutely top of the line stuff, you’re gonna be having differences you straight up can’t hear unless you scan hear like a god. Unless you’re also gonna be listening to music, more budget stuff is fine. I’ve never had any issues knowing where people are even using my cheap closed back headphones and having meh grade hearing. But that’s just my 2 cents

[rice guru]

Imaging for me in that short list the 990 wins hands down a combination of the sharp highs wide soundstage and beyerdynamic's tendency for really good imaging this guy just wins for me. The 58x is a really nice Option too. It's not as detailed but it's better for more initiate response as the soundstage isn't as wide but the imaging isn't as good.ibe never tried the adg 1x but from my experience with the air series they are great for gaming but imaging isn't as good as the other 2 just a really wide soundstage game one is good but only if your on a budget the rest a much better. The he 400s are good all-rounder music gaming cans but not built well would not recommend. 

[an actual squirrel]

To piggyback on what RGProductions was saying, things like positioning and distance aren't really in the purview of analog headphones. The job of headphones is to play back the signal that they receive. So those properties have to be in the signal.

[ronferree]

1 hour ago, rice guru said:

Imaging for me in that short list the 990 wins hands down a combination of the sharp highs wide soundstage and beyerdynamic's tendency for really good imaging this guy just wins for me. The 58x is a really nice Option too. It's not as detailed but it's better for more initiate response as the soundstage isn't as wide but the imaging isn't as good.ibe never tried the adg 1x but from my experience with the air series they are great for gaming but imaging isn't as good as the other 2 just a really wide soundstage game one is good but only if your on a budget the rest a much better. The he 400s are good all-rounder music gaming cans but not built well would not recommend. 

Thank you @rice guru for helping me narrow it down. For reference, may I know what other headphones have you used for FPS gaming before the DT990pro? Have you tried the AD900x, HD58X and the AKG K712 with competitive FPS?

 

So now the list is narrowed down to as follows:

 

1.AKG K612/712PRO: Many audiophile FPS gamers swear by it. Others prefer DT990 or HD58X or HD660s over it for 3D sound positioning (imaging).

2.AD900x: Can @rice guru provide a reference that states it has a not-so-good imaging for FPS gaming? Otherwise many audiophile FPS gamers swear by it. Has better center image compared to K712 according to @Dackzy

3.Sennheiser HD58X: Because of relatively smaller soundstage, and good imaging, it is best suited for close-quarter FPS games like Rainbow 6 and CS:GO, but not as effective in open world shooters like Battlefield and Arma 3. Thoughts?

4.DT990Pro 250ohm: Jack of all trades, balanced all-round, good immersion, might suffer issues with treble fatigue. Experienced users criticize its harsh mids which goes against competitive FPS gaming.Honestly I rarely heard it praised for its 3D imaging accuracy, but more for its well-roundedness. Does it act like a compass telling me where did a bullet originate from and where did it land? Where a footstep is relative to me with high precision? That's what i'd like to know relative to other headphones.

 

Thanks guyz we are almost there.

 

[rice guru]

12 minutes ago, ronferree said:

Thank you @rice guru for helping me narrow it down. For reference, may I know what other headphones have you used for FPS gaming before the DT990pro? Have you tried the AD900x, HD58X and the AKG K712 with competitive FPS?

 

So now the list is narrowed down to as follows:

 

1.AKG K612/712PRO: Many audiophile FPS gamers swear by it. Others prefer DT990 or HD58X or HD660s over it for 3D sound positioning (imaging).

2.AD900x: Can @rice guru provide a reference that states it has a not-so-good imaging for FPS gaming? Otherwise many audiophile FPS gamers swear by it. Has better center image compared to K712 according to @Dackzy

3.Sennheiser HD58X: Because of relatively smaller soundstage, and good imaging, it is best suited for close-quarter FPS games like Rainbow 6 and CS:GO, but not as effective in open world shooters like Battlefield and Arma 3. Thoughts?

4.DT990Pro 250ohm: Jack of all trades, balanced all-round, good immersion, might suffer issues with treble fatigue. Experienced users criticize its harsh mids which goes against competitive FPS gaming.Honestly I rarely heard it praised for its 3D imaging accuracy, but more for its well-roundedness. Does it act like a compass telling me where did a bullet originate from and where did it land? Where a footstep is relative to me with high precision? That's what i'd like to know relative to other headphones.

 

Thanks guyz we are almost there.

 

ok to be clear the 900x is excelent for gaming one of the best in fact but to my personal ears and preferences on how I like my headphones just not as good as other options. 

[rice guru]

if your talking about how wel the 990 separates say footsteps and tell you how far it is to your right or how close it is the 990 is very good at it the only thing it cant really do but most headphones really cant unless you put some serious money forward is above and below you. thats what soundstage is for  soundstage provide more space for a headphone to place a sound thats why a narrow soundstage headphone is not reccomended for gaming while open backs which have generally wider soundstages are. imaging adds to it as that plays a role of hey their is a guy to you tight and left but the guy on the left is closer to you. gives you an idea of distance as well as where in that direction they are.  headphones do things with stereo so most headphones really only provide left and right channels not a lot of front and behind thats what virtual suround sound aims to fix. personally Im not  a big fan of virtual suround as my game sense in the games I play are good enough so that I can just tell and know if someone is behind or in front of me with these. and personally find virtual suround sound distracting and often adds compresion.  

[ronferree]

@rice guru Thanks. Have you played open-world FPS games with your HD 58X? If yes, what is your feedback on your ability to pinpoint the location of sounds around?

[rice guru]

5 minutes ago, ronferree said:

@rice guru Thanks. Have you played open-world FPS games with your HD 58X? If yes, what is your feedback on your ability to pinpoint the location of sounds around?

 the 58x is nice for a more immidiate response. it doesn't do as good of a job as the 990 as it has a narrower soundstage . the 58x to me is a great music and gaming can while I love the 990 for music most people woul probably use it for mostly gaming as it can get too sharp for music. I typically hate open world games and rpgs especially skyrim and fallout cause those types of games are boring to me but I love both hese cans for shooter multiplayer or single. wolfenstien, doom , siege, all great games. most of the time it depends on how good the sound engine is in those games overwatch has incredible spacial suround as it has dolby atmos for heaphones built in. and siege has a cool sound engine as its one of the main mechanics of the game. 

[ronferree]

Are there youtube videos that let us hear the sound from each headphone in an FPS game, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhL6h9Uhtd0

[rice guru]

1 hour ago, ronferree said:

Are there youtube videos that let us hear the sound from each headphone in an FPS game, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhL6h9Uhtd0

There are sound demos for my music tthatcan give you a really good idea but you basically have to use the same headphone they use to monitor