Switch from Arctis 5

[GTX3]

Hey, I've had Arctis 5 for a while and I'm looking to switch to a better headphones/headset.

 

I've been looking into getting headphones instead of gaming headset - I did some research in this forum section and decided that this would be best (hopefully). I came up with Beyerdynamic's DT 770 Pro as a favorite - I like the overall design, they seem comfortable (hopefully more than my current Arctis 5 - headband is just awful and leather inside earcups started to peel off). Of course, if you have any other suggestions, let me know. Since they don't have a microphone, I'd get an Antlion USB ModMic as well. My main usage will be mainly listening to music and gaming, nothing analytical or stuff like that.

 

Since my budget is fairly high, I could get a DAC/AMP or at least a DAC, I got spoiled by Arctis' USB ChatMix dial thingy, although it's not completely necessary.

So, my main concerns are (questions are related to DT 770 Pro, as mentioned above):

• Which impedance version should I get? I know it doesn't matter much - I have a MSI B550 motherboard, so I'm not sure if it can drive 80 ohm version (I don't like leather on the 32 ohm version). I would definitely need an amp on 250 ohm version though.
• With headphones in general (and particularly with this ones), how is the surround sound? I know they are closed-back (as perhaps they should be, a lot of noise is happening inside my home at the moment), but how good will they perform in games like CS:GO compared to my current Arctis 5? At least on-par would be great.

I think that's all, I'll edit/post a comment if I have more questions.

 

Thanks in advance

[Tigerleon]

1 hour ago, GTX3 said:

Hey, I've had Arctis 5 for a while and I'm looking to switch to a better headphones/headset.

 

I've been looking into getting headphones instead of gaming headset - I did some research in this forum section and decided that this would be best (hopefully). I came up with Beyerdynamic's DT 770 Pro as a favorite - I like the overall design, they seem comfortable (hopefully more than my current Arctis 5 - headband is just awful and leather inside earcups started to peel off). Of course, if you have any other suggestions, let me know. Since they don't have a microphone, I'd get an Antlion USB ModMic as well. My main usage will be mainly listening to music and gaming, nothing analytical or stuff like that.

 

Since my budget is fairly high, I could get a DAC/AMP or at least a DAC, I got spoiled by Arctis' USB ChatMix dial thingy, although it's not completely necessary.

So, my main concerns are (questions are related to DT 770 Pro, as mentioned above):

• Which impedance version should I get? I know it doesn't matter much - I have a MSI B550 motherboard, so I'm not sure if it can drive 80 ohm version (I don't like leather on the 32 ohm version). I would definitely need an amp on 250 ohm version though.
• With headphones in general (and particularly with this ones), how is the surround sound? I know they are closed-back (as perhaps they should be, a lot of noise is happening inside my home at the moment), but how good will they perform in games like CS:GO compared to my current Arctis 5? At least on-par would be great.

I think that's all, I'll edit/post a comment if I have more questions.

 

Thanks in advance

You'll be able to drive the 80ohm. The question is to its fullest? No. But there is always room for upgrade. A good little DAC/amp combo that would make the 770 sound better and mic a bit better, the sound blaster G3. It has compatibility with android phones as well if that is needed. 

Edit: since your budget is high the G6 would be better.

[GTX3]

1 hour ago, Tigerleon said:

You'll be able to drive the 80ohm. The question is to its fullest? No. But there is always room for upgrade. A good little DAC/amp combo that would make the 770 sound better and mic a bit better, the sound blaster G3. It has compatibility with android phones as well if that is needed. 

Edit: since your budget is high the G6 would be better.

Thanks! Sound Blaster G6 was exactly something I was looking for. Since I'm getting it, would it be better to just go for 250 ohm or would that be pushing it? I'm wondering how much difference there would be between 80 ohm and 250 ohm plugged in the G6?

 

As for the surround sound, I see that G6 handles that as well, which is nice - do you think the surround sound will be better or worse than Arctis 5?

[Tigerleon]

2 hours ago, GTX3 said:

would it be better to just go for 250 ohm or would that be pushing it? I'm wondering how much difference there would be between 80 ohm and 250 ohm plugged in the G6?

It isn't pushing it. I've tried the 80ohm variant and I didn't like it. The 250ohm sounds better. 

2 hours ago, GTX3 said:

As for the surround sound, I see that G6 handles that as well, which is nice - do you think the surround sound will be better or worse than Arctis 5?

It is called VSS, Virtual Surround Sound. Which to me, is plain marketing BS and just ruins the audio quality, but I can definitely say that it has been the "best" I've tried than any gaming headset VSS implementation from my Sound Blaster AE-9. But hey, experiment with it and see what suits you best but I will leave it off and let the great stereo from the 770's to do the rest. Especially HRTF in some games such as CS:GO or PUBG. Having VSS on mixed with HRTF or 3D recorded audio will just mess up the cues not giving a perfect direction where stuff is coming from. And for music, just no...

The best settings in game are, Stereo/headphones mode and 3D audio or HRTF

 

 

[GTX3]

15 hours ago, Tigerleon said:

It isn't pushing it. I've tried the 80ohm variant and I didn't like it. The 250ohm sounds better. 

It is called VSS, Virtual Surround Sound. Which to me, is plain marketing BS and just ruins the audio quality, but I can definitely say that it has been the "best" I've tried than any gaming headset VSS implementation from my Sound Blaster AE-9. But hey, experiment with it and see what suits you best but I will leave it off and let the great stereo from the 770's to do the rest. Especially HRTF in some games such as CS:GO or PUBG. Having VSS on mixed with HRTF or 3D recorded audio will just mess up the cues not giving a perfect direction where stuff is coming from. And for music, just no...

The best settings in game are, Stereo/headphones mode and 3D audio or HRTF

 

 

Alright, I'll experiment with it. Thanks for your help!

[GTX3]

Sorry for double posting - quick question, I've been thinking and since G6 has a microphone input, it would perhaps be good idea to go for ModMic Uni instead of ModMic USB, but I've done some research and some people say that ModMic Uni doesn't work really well on G6, although some people didn't have any problems with it - so should I buy uni and plug it in the G6, or USB and plug it directly into my PC?

[HumdrumPenguin]

On 7/23/2021 at 2:36 AM, GTX3 said:

Sorry for double posting - quick question, I've been thinking and since G6 has a microphone input, it would perhaps be good idea to go for ModMic Uni instead of ModMic USB, but I've done some research and some people say that ModMic Uni doesn't work really well on G6, although some people didn't have any problems with it - so should I buy uni and plug it in the G6, or USB and plug it directly into my PC?

May I suggest that you go with an external mic like the Blue Yeti Nano? Also, with headphones that are served in different impedances, normally the higher the impedance, the better it is. You gotta also check the headphone sensitivity, which seems to be 96dB/mW with the DT770 Pro, which is sort of a middle ground. Don't expect any miracles from the G6 (nor from any audio product targeted at gamers). Any cheap garbage nowadays get headphones to sound loud enough, but it won't sound nearly as good as it should.

[GTX3]

On 7/26/2021 at 2:09 AM, HumdrumPenguin said:

May I suggest that you go with an external mic like the Blue Yeti Nano? Also, with headphones that are served in different impedances, normally the higher the impedance, the better it is. You gotta also check the headphone sensitivity, which seems to be 96dB/mW with the DT770 Pro, which is sort of a middle ground. Don't expect any miracles from the G6 (nor from any audio product targeted at gamers). Any cheap garbage nowadays get headphones to sound loud enough, but it won't sound nearly as good as it should.

Thanks, I do plan to go for microphones like Blue Yeti, but I don't have space on my desk right now, so I went for Antlion. I hope G6 will do well for me - I'm not an analyst so I don't need it to be perfect - just better than my current ones is enough  . Also, I can always upgrade to a better amp/dac when time comes, but 100€ for a dac/amp is a lot, at least for me - I am newbie in this field so prices are a bit "strange" for me. How much would a very good amp cost anyways (enough to "fully drive" DT 770)?

[HumdrumPenguin]

9 hours ago, GTX3 said:

Thanks, I do plan to go for microphones like Blue Yeti, but I don't have space on my desk right now, so I went for Antlion. I hope G6 will do well for me - I'm not an analyst so I don't need it to be perfect - just better than my current ones is enough  . Also, I can always upgrade to a better amp/dac when time comes, but 100€ for a dac/amp is a lot, at least for me - I am newbie in this field so prices are a bit "strange" for me. How much would a very good amp cost anyways (enough to "fully drive" DT 770)?

I don't know about the performance of the G6, but my experience with gamer oriented gear or stuff from Chinese brands is awful, so I'm biased against it. I have zero issues against building products in China actually (conceived normally in other parts of the planet), my issue is with Chinese brands targeting measurebators and messing up the circuitry because of that. By the way, Beyer headphones are normally very analytical, with a treble than can easily create hearing fatigue if not paired with the right amp (and even then...), so I normally gravitate towards Sennheiser headphones on the lower end of the spectrum (less than $300), or maybe Sundaras if I have a decent amp .

 

€100 on a dac/amp combo is as low as you normally get. Very good amps are costly...very. If I was looking for a headphone amplifier, I'd likely buy a Feliks Euforia, which I think costs around USD2.5k, and take a shot at the Denafrips Venus II or Holo Spring Kitsune dac, which is another USD2.5k ish down the throat. I absolutely don't expect most people to ever buy gear like this, but it's for the sake of answering your question. Once you add cables, power conditioners for lower noise floor, and other fun stuff, you might as well look into selling your car

[GTX3]

17 hours ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

I don't know about the performance of the G6, but my experience with gamer oriented gear or stuff from Chinese brands is awful, so I'm biased against it. I have zero issues against building products in China actually (conceived normally in other parts of the planet), my issue is with Chinese brands targeting measurebators and messing up the circuitry because of that. By the way, Beyer headphones are normally very analytical, with a treble than can easily create hearing fatigue if not paired with the right amp (and even then...), so I normally gravitate towards Sennheiser headphones on the lower end of the spectrum (less than $300), or maybe Sundaras if I have a decent amp .

 

€100 on a dac/amp combo is as low as you normally get. Very good amps are costly...very. If I was looking for a headphone amplifier, I'd likely buy a Feliks Euforia, which I think costs around USD2.5k, and take a shot at the Denafrips Venus II or Holo Spring Kitsune dac, which is another USD2.5k ish down the throat. I absolutely don't expect most people to ever buy gear like this, but it's for the sake of answering your question. Once you add cables, power conditioners for lower noise floor, and other fun stuff, you might as well look into selling your car

Thanks for the informative answer - yeah I'm not that advanced to go and buy expensive gear, perhaps in a distant future  .

 

By the way, I received G6 and the heaphones and all in all, I'm pretty happy, treble isn't that hard (I'm listening on low volumes because my hearing is very sensitive, 30% on high gain and I lower the volume on Spotify to like 50%), bass is great - not too hard, not too low, and the headphones are very comfortable despite the push against my head, but I guess that will settle over time.

 

The only problem is I can't hear myself, since they're closed-back. I didn't expect them to be this closed lol. I've been looking into sidetone, but there are very big delays (with Windows stuff anyways). I haven't got ModMic yet, but I've been trying with my old headset and haven't found a solution yet. How would I solve this problem (returning the headphones being the last resort)?

[HumdrumPenguin]

1 hour ago, GTX3 said:

Thanks for the informative answer - yeah I'm not that advanced to go and buy expensive gear, perhaps in a distant future  .

 

By the way, I received G6 and the heaphones and all in all, I'm pretty happy, treble isn't that hard (I'm listening on low volumes because my hearing is very sensitive, 30% on high gain and I lower the volume on Spotify to like 50%), bass is great - not too hard, not too low, and the headphones are very comfortable despite the push against my head, but I guess that will settle over time.

 

The only problem is I can't hear myself, since they're closed-back. I didn't expect them to be this closed lol. I've been looking into sidetone, but there are very big delays (with Windows stuff anyways). I haven't got ModMic yet, but I've been trying with my old headset and haven't found a solution yet. How would I solve this problem (returning the headphones being the last resort)?

The G6 has a mic input, so you should use that if possible. Otherwise I think you can simply go on Windows Sound Settings and select the G6 for output and whatever mic you plug to the motherboard on the input.

 

 

Don't lower down the volume on software (like Spotify and Windows). By doing that you are actually lowering the quality of the music (bitrate) you are outputting to the G6. Volume control should be done directly on the G6, with Spotify and Windows at 100%. I use Roon with Tidal and I have the option to force max volume at all times exactly to avoid this situation, but maybe Spotify might have it too.

 

If you like the sound of your new combo, that's all that matters. I'm happy for you  And yeah, the idea behind a closed back headphone is that you don't get to listen to external noise. The drawback is possible resonance within the cups and likely smaller soundstage. I personally prefer open backs to use at home, and go with closed backs for headphones to use on the go (unless we are talking about the Focal Stellia. I'd take that one over many open backs).

[GTX3]

24 minutes ago, HumdrumPenguin said:

The G6 has a mic input, so you should use that if possible. Otherwise I think you can simply go on Windows Sound Settings and select the G6 for output and whatever mic you plug to the motherboard on the input.

 

 

Don't lower down the volume on software (like Spotify and Windows). By doing that you are actually lowering the quality of the music (bitrate) you are outputting to the G6. Volume control should be done directly on the G6, with Spotify and Windows at 100%. I use Roon with Tidal and I have the option to force max volume at all times exactly to avoid this situation, but maybe Spotify might have it too.

 

If you like the sound of your new combo, that's all that matters. I'm happy for you  And yeah, the idea behind a closed back headphone is that you don't get to listen to external noise. The drawback is possible resonance within the cups. I personally prefer open backs to use at home, and go with closed backs for headphones to use on the go (unless we are talking about the Focal Stellia. I'd take that one over many open backs).

I bought ModMic USB version, so I doubt it will have sidetone, it arrives tomorrow, so I will have to check.

 

As for the volume, if I turn it down on the G6 with the knob, it actually lowers it in Windows, same happens if I lower it in Sound Blaster Command app. What should I do in this case? I can put it on low gain, but I still have to lower it a bit (to like 60% or so) in Windows.

[HumdrumPenguin]

22 minutes ago, GTX3 said:

I bought ModMic USB version, so I doubt it will have sidetone, it arrives tomorrow, so I will have to check.

 

As for the volume, if I turn it down on the G6 with the knob, it actually lowers it in Windows, same happens if I lower it in Sound Blaster Command app. What should I do in this case? I can put it on low gain, but I still have to lower it a bit (to like 60% or so) in Windows.

If your mic will be connected via USB, all you have to do is select the right input on Windows like in the picture I've previously sent. It should work.

 

If turning down the volume on the G6 changes the volume on Windows, don't worry about it. The G6 works somewhat the same as a dedicated sound card connected to PCI-e slots. In light of this, you can change the volume on Windows, but keep the Spotify volume at 100%.

 

Later, compare a few songs to FLAC versions (lossless) of the same recordings and check if you can easily hear the differences. If you can and you care about it, consider subscribing to a streaming service that offers lossless reproduction.