Headphone Upgrade from HyperX Cloud II

[johnsoner13]

Hi, I want to upgrade from my Cloud II's mainly for gaming and some music. I occasionally play singleplayer games such as The Witcher 3, Skyrim, etc., but I mainly play first person shooters at a pretty competitive level, mainly Rainbow Six Siege (plat 2 rn). I have noticed that I'm struggling to hear and pinpoint footsteps and other sounds in not only Rainbow Six Siege, but also in games like Valorant as well. I've been thinking about getting a pair of open back headphones with a wider soundstage. The two pairs I've been considering are the Fidelio X2HR's and the ATH-AD700X's. I hear the AD700X's have very little bass which is good for hearing footsteps, but I also don't know if I'll enjoy them as much in other games, since I hear the Fidelio X2HR's have good bass for open back headphones. Any suggestions/recommendations? Thanks

[ShearMe]

Both are great headphones. I'd pick the Fidelio for one reason and one reason only: removable cable. This means you can easily replace it when it breaks. All headphone cables break eventually.

 

The ATH has better measurements for the audio nerds, and any bass drop off could be remedied with EQ.... but has some old school construction flaws compared to the much newer Fidelios.

[191x7]

As someone who owns the regular (first-gen) Cloud (Pro), I can tell you what I would recommend for you before replacing the headphones alltogether.

 

The first thing you need is a a better sound source than the USB soundcard included with the Cloud II. That would mean a decent soundcard or a AMP/DAC.

This would improve the sound and it would also benefit the new headphones if you decide on replacing the CLoud II afterall.

 

The second thing is - velour Brainwavz HM5 pads (regular, angled or those with the cooling gel). HM5 pads are way more comfortable. With the velour pads you can hear yourself tralking meaning it makes the headphones almost semi-open - open enough to lower the bass and open up the soundstage by quite a bit.

 

Bonus tip - skip using virtual surround, sound altering software (like Razer Surround or some equalizers) and any other thing that can affect the sound.

And turn off the Windows option (in sound control panel) that lowers the volume when it detects a voice chat application.

[johnsoner13]

I actually just discovered the HD58X Jubilee on Drop.com. They're $170 with a $10 off coupon for my first purchase on there. How do they compare with the Fidelio X2HR's if you know anything about them?

[Tigerleon]

3 hours ago, johnsoner13 said:

I actually just discovered the HD58X Jubilee on Drop.com. They're $170 with a $10 off coupon for my first purchase on there. How do they compare with the Fidelio X2HR's if you know anything about them?

x2hr has more bass. HD58X I think are more neutral.

[rice guru]

3 hours ago, johnsoner13 said:

I actually just discovered the HD58X Jubilee on Drop.com. They're $170 with a $10 off coupon for my first purchase on there. How do they compare with the Fidelio X2HR's if you know anything about them?

Less bass than Fidelio x2 hr but has better imaging and the sound is overall more tonally balanced. It's also in terms of technicalities that audiophiles generally look for it's a better headphone but that's up to people's personal tastes really. It has a punchy sound signature with a nice amount of bass really lush full bodied mids and awesome very smooth treble it's one of my favorites for gaming. It has less Soundstage than the fidelios but more than makes up for it with it's better imaging capabilities. I love both but for comp games like siege the 58x is a better headphone. Another great alternative when it goes in stock which would be my recc over the 2 is the Beyerdynamic tygr. I haven't tried it yet really have no chance to. But I have a few trusted audio friends to say it's imaging and soundstage quality is very comparable to the dt 880,990. While having a pleasant sound signature and easy to drive.