Any suggestions for good Headset and DAC/ mixer?

Kevin.K.N. · September 5, 2020

Hello guys, Turns out this was quite a bit to read and i apologise for that, however if you read the full thing i would like to thank you for taking the time to help me out even though it may be a tedious read haha.

Also apologise for my english, it is not my main language

Recently bought a Sennheiser GSX 1200 Pro and a sennheiser GSP 600.

Unfortunately at the price point of the equipment i found this very disappointing.

The headset itself looks stunning and truly has remarkable comfort, but the mic in the headset is terrible and sounds like a robot really (it is not a production error, i compared with sound clips from other testing it)

The sound profile of the headset feels really odd, and its like sitting in a big room even though its reverb isn't that big. My main problem with this headset is that in gaming sense, i feel that there is no umph at all, sounds are either very dull or low tones are too overpowering. As an example in a FPS shooter the guns sounds so flat and powerless (cod MW). Or with a different setting, it completely overpowers footsteps and mid tones are all over the place.

In racing, the cars simply sounds powerless and dull, do not really get any "feel" when driving a powerful car.

The headset works great for watching movies, but is terrible when enjoying music.
I tried various configurations with the DAC and the headsets for many hours, even with and without the DAC but it was not satisfactory.

When it comes to the DAC itself it has a neat feature of 7.1 Dolby surround but for gaming this is not a great option as the sound is all over the place so i prefered to play around with 2.0 HD. As mentioned this also works well for movies, but when used with music, the music gets quite fatiguing with the surround and dull with the 2.0.

I also had high hopes for the mic monitoring on this device, but it was poorly executed (personal opinion), i do have a monitoring system built in to my pc, but the audio is already quite weak and the DAC's are even weaker.

So my question is: Is there anyone that could recommend me a good headset with mic and also another DAC or mixer that allows for a good control over the monitoring sound and is great both for gaming (footsteps) but also great for movies (capable of providing the umpf) The headset i had before this setup was the ASUS deltacore and to be honest, its sounds a lot better than the GSP600. It has a good powerful sound without deafening everything else.

My budget is around 400 GBP but i can be flexible. Would prefer to not go over that, but if i have to i will.

Specs im looking for:

Headset: Must be closed back cups, must have a good bass and good clarity and be comfortable to wear 12 hours in one go and good sound isolation.

It must also have a decent mic and be wired. I would want to avoid wireless to minimize any delay for gaming and retain as much quality as possible while listening to music.

If you believe i am making a big mistake going wired, you may try to change my mind haha but so far it is not very attractive to me.

For DAC / Mixer, i really do not know much about these types of equipment yet, but i need something that can monitor the headset mic and that is adjustable. Would also be good to be able to do a little EQ there but it is not required if you know about something that is really good and works well.

Currently what i have been considering is hyperx alpha S, or steelseries arctis 7, but im not sure yet. I once owned a sennheiser game zero and i was amazed with that headset, absolutely loved it but sadly it broke but lasted for a long while and i have been considering to go back to it. But i would like to try something new and hopefully better.

Previous owned headsets:

Arctis 3 - loved the headset but the headband stretched out after a while and headset began to sit loose. Its sound isolation isn't that great but it was an over all great headset.

Sennheiser game zero - One of the best headsets i've ever owned, but it is a while ago and my memory might not serve me as well as i may think on this one. But i remember it was very comfortable and had a great sound. I too remember that its sound level was quite limited (volume)

Asus deltacore - It has served me well, great mic, great sound, it cups are somewhat oddly shaped but not too uncomfortable.

Sennheiser GSP 600 - did not like this headset one bit sadly, weak "roomy" sound and bad mic. Great clarity though and level of detail but its bass is low to non existent.

and some other stuff not really worth mentioning (cheapest earbuds i could find and so on)

Thank you so much for your help in advance.

VeganJoy · September 5, 2020

i have a game one and a gsx 1000 and theyre a great combo for me, dont know about the gsp but sennheiser's 7.1 channel hardware is solid. the positional sound in games is very good in my experience. maybe try some open backs? the game one is the open back version of the zeroes and the mic is great as expected. if you dont mind a separate mic the 6xx or 58x through massdrop are good options too, i use my 6xx strictly for music and they sound great, with a proper dac/amp like an e10k theyd be as outstanding as their reputation is.

Kevin.K.N. · September 5, 2020

54 minutes ago, VeganJoy said:

i have a game one and a gsx 1000 and theyre a great combo for me, dont know about the gsp but sennheiser's 7.1 channel hardware is solid. the positional sound in games is very good in my experience. maybe try some open backs? the game one is the open back version of the zeroes and the mic is great as expected. if you dont mind a separate mic the 6xx or 58x through massdrop are good options too, i use my 6xx strictly for music and they sound great, with a proper dac/amp like an e10k theyd be as outstanding as their reputation is.

Thank you a lot for your response.

One of the reasons i am tilting towards finding a new solution is due to the gsx 1200s' monitor sound is very low and on higher volumes, it is easily overpowered in games so i cant hear myself. I hear that the gsx 1200 and 1000 are identical except for having an additional feature "chatlink", so i do not really expect any different results using a sennheiser game one, how do you find the monitor sound's volume?

I think i might want to try to seek out another DAC that allows for more customisation and adjustments in general due to the GSX's limitations. I really feel it is too expensive for what it is and does and how it sounds. But that might just be me? idk.

Personally i am not really a fan of open back because i prefer to close out all external sounds, and switch on a monitor mic if i need to hear anything externally, (for immersion and personal preference) suppose you cant switch off the open backs I might consider going back to game zero but i dont know yet to be honest.

VeganJoy · September 5, 2020

5 minutes ago, Kevin.K.N. said:

Thank you a lot for your response.

One of the reasons i am tilting towards finding a new solution is due to the gsx 1200s' monitor sound is very low and on higher volumes, it is easily overpowered in games so i cant hear myself. I hear that the gsx 1200 and 1000 are identical except for having an additional feature "chatlink", so i do not really expect any different results using a sennheiser game one, how do you find the monitor sound's volume?

I think i might want to try to seek out another DAC that allows for more customisation and adjustments in general due to the GSX's limitations. I really feel it is too expensive for what it is and does and how it sounds. But that might just be me? idk.

Personally i am not really a fan of open back because i prefer to close out all external sounds, and switch on a monitor mic if i need to hear anything externally, (for immersion and personal preference) suppose you cant switch off the open backs I might consider going back to game zero but i dont know yet to be honest.

i dunno what you mean by a monitor mic (if you mean voice feedback from the mic to the headset, not really necessary with open backs but the gsx has different levels of feedback), but it seems like your environment is a lot different than mine so there will be a lot of acoustical differences that i cant account for. i keep my room pretty quiet and my case fans arent too loud, so i dont hear them while watching videos or gaming. open backs are kind of the standard for positional sound due to their generally wider soundstage, though some closed backs from audio technica and akg perform well in that department.

Kevin.K.N. · September 5, 2020

12 minutes ago, VeganJoy said:

i dunno what you mean by a monitor mic (if you mean voice feedback from the mic to the headset, not really necessary with open backs but the gsx has different levels of feedback), but it seems like your environment is a lot different than mine so there will be a lot of acoustical differences that i cant account for. i keep my room pretty quiet and my case fans arent too loud, so i dont hear them while watching videos or gaming. open backs are kind of the standard for positional sound due to their generally wider soundstage, though some closed backs from audio technica and akg perform well in that department.

Monitor is feedback into the mic yes, I do have a lot of street noise around where i live so therefore i wouldn't like to have open backs, its not like i can switch in off and on like i can with the monitor (feedback) haha :P. Do you happen to have any recommendation for any particular device from audio technica or akg?

Really want to try to go as high end as i can go with 400 GBP for a new headset and DAC that does support what i am looking for in regards to adjustments (eq) and a adjustable "monitor" function, still doing a lot of research but really do not find that much interesting things. However also been considering the logitech G pro or G533 , but i am a bit sceptical to their comfort as previous ones really haven't been the greatest

So far you have been a great help as i can try to do more research on akg and audio technica, do have some experience with akg but not audio technica so thats definitly something i am going to check out. Thanks

VeganJoy · September 5, 2020

25 minutes ago, Kevin.K.N. said:

Monitor is feedback into the mic yes, I do have a lot of street noise around where i live so therefore i wouldn't like to have open backs, its not like i can switch in off and on like i can with the monitor (feedback) haha :P. Do you happen to have any recommendation for any particular device from audio technica or akg?

Really want to try to go as high end as i can go with 400 GBP for a new headset and DAC that does support what i am looking for in regards to adjustments (eq) and a adjustable "monitor" function, still doing a lot of research but really do not find that much interesting things. However also been considering the logitech G pro or G533 , but i am a bit sceptical to their comfort as previous ones really haven't been the greatest

So far you have been a great help as i can try to do more research on akg and audio technica, do have some experience with akg but not audio technica so thats definitly something i am going to check out. Thanks

the ath-m40x or m50x are great choices from AT, cant remember the models for akg, might be a 700x or something that everyone recommends?

Kevin.K.N. · September 11, 2020

On 9/5/2020 at 8:09 PM, VeganJoy said:

the ath-m40x or m50x are great choices from AT, cant remember the models for akg, might be a 700x or something that everyone recommends?

I landed on audio technica ATH-G1WL and im quite happy saved some bucks even! thanks for suggesting audio technica @Veganjoy