Gaming Head Phone vs Audiophile HP (Question)

[fritzgoesrawr]

Is there a big sound quality difference between these two types of head phones (e.g $100USD Gaming Headphones vs $100USD Audiophile Headphones)? because I haven't tried using any of it . I'm going to buy myself one, can you please recommend headphones for a $100 USD or less budget. And what specs should I look for when buying headphones? Thanks in advance for your responses. :lol: :lol:

[Guest GRRigger]

buy mic with good audiophile headphones -boom audiophile gaming headphones. :P

[Volbet]

Gaming headphone usually comes with a mic making it a headset. Audiophile equipment usually doesn't come with a mic. 

 

When buying headphones or a headset you should look at things like: Ohm rating for the drivers, the size of the drivers and if it is a headset you should be looking at the SnR of the mic and if the mic has noise cancellation. Lastly you should be looking at your own PC. If you have a dedicated soundcard, go with a pair of analogue headphone/headset. If you don't have a dedicated soundcard go with a USB powered pair of headphones/headset.

 

If you don't have a dedicated soundcard I recommend the Logitech G430. If you have a dedicated soundcard I recommend the Beyerdynamic DTX910

[h264]

Ah, what MATTERS in headphones, another good list for the FAQ:

 

Headphones are a bit of an art and a lot of sound science and trial and error goes into their development, but a few things are real patterns in GOOD headphones:

 

what MATTERS:

 

1.  Sensitivity and Impedance.  The impedance (variable resistance w/ frequency) rating is important in determining how loud they'll get on your onboard and how much extra power they'll need, but don't forget the headphone's sensitivity since this can affect that answer as well.  headphones with either sensitivities over 100 SPL or Impedances below 40 Ohms probably won't need special amplification (unless they have VERY low sensitivities or VERY high impedance.  See the Hifiman HE-500 and Beyerdynamic Tesla T1)

 

2.  Let's be honest, 90% of the most expensive headphones have an OPEN or vented design, where the back of the cup on the driver is vented, meshed, or grilled so some or ALL air can move on the back of the driver.  Just like holes on the back of speakers, these allow for a much flatter response without having to monkey around with the design of the cups.

 

3.  Durability.  Simply speaking, if it's broken in a month, it's just not a good headphone.  You should be able to throw them around a bit and not break them.  NO headphone is totally unbreakable, but like anything that goes on your head, it should be able to take a little abuse.

 

4. Comfort.  It should at least feel good on your head. duh, right?

 

what DOESN'T MATTER:

 

1.  Fancy designs.  You can't even see them when they're on your head.  It's only a fashion statement when it's around your neck anyways.

 

2.  Driver size.  The latest fake spec added in by a bunch of headset AND headphone makers it is described as the way your headphones get a "deeper" or "bigger" sound.  This is nonsense, and counterproductive to good driver design.  The largest orthodynamic drivers and the smallest in-ear drivers can BOTH produce very good responses at both ends of the spectrum.  How do you know?  That's what measurements are for, such as the ones at headphone.com.

 

3.  Noise canceling.  If you want isolation, in-ears are better at plugging your ears and keeping out the lowest frequencies than active noise cancelling, unless you really hate them in your ears

 

I guess all of this is on the FAQ in one sense or another, but I should probably re-work it to make it a bit more clear.

 

As for headphone recommendations under $100, well, here's THAT chart again:

 

[ShearMe]

"Gaming" and "Audiophile" are labels slapped on products for marketing. Because sound is sound, a headphone that sounds good playing a movie or music will sound good playing game audio. 

[Alex Dimitri]

Depends mainly on what you are aiming for, if you are gamer (screams, shooting, bombs, footsteps onboard audio) you are better of with "gaming" headphones.

If you are Audio buff (or video for that matter) and hve dedicated soundcard then you go for more serious headphones (note one thing not too many "audiophile" headpones for 100$ :P) .

 

If you go for second option just buy some ordinary mic (i have Logitech one) that works very well for (Team Speak 3, Skype....) !

[Dark_Nemesis]

"Gaming" and "Audiophile" are labels slapped on products for marketing. Because sound is sound, a headphone that sounds good playing a movie or music will sound good playing game audio. 

Can't agree with you there, thats like saying all cars are the same, the brand is just a sticker slapped on the front =) 

 

Mayby  you could use a high audiophile headphones for gaming, but not the other way around.

1) The styling of the "gamer" headsets is money spent on design, instead of R&D or the drivers themselves.

2) Gaming headsets imo usually have loud thumping bass, that's good for gaming but feels far too bass hevay for music, and loud bass comes usually at the expense of the mids and higs (beacuse of the limted funds at the manufacturers disposal). Not that you can't get them both, but gaming headsets are waaay cheaper than audiophile headphones. =)

 

Building anything audiophile is a struggle towards the perfect balanced sound, whereas building a gaming headset is a product that  needs to look cool and have loud bass,  rather than have a clear uncolored sound, to attract customer. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, these two products are simply amed at completely different customer groups.

 

Note:

Personally my headphones I currently use cost about ~250USD at the time I bought them, and I can't really categorize them as audiophile (even though I'm very satisfied). Just to give a point of reference.=)

[ShearMe]

Can't agree with you there, thats like saying all cars are the same, the brand is just a sticker on the front =) 

 

Mayby  you could use a high audiophile headphones for gaming, but not the other way around.

1) The styling of the "gamer" headsets is money spent on design, instead of R&D or the drivers themselves.

2) Gaming headsets imo usually have loud thumping bass, that's good for gaming but feels far too bass hevay for music, and loud bass comes usually at the expense of the mids and higs. Not that you can't get them both, but gaming headsets are waaay cheaper than audiophile headphones.

 

Building anything audiophile is a struggle towards the perfect balanced sound, (sometimes at any cost), whereas building a gaming headset is a product that  needs to look cool, rather than sound good to attract customer. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, these two products are simply amed at completely different people.

 

Note:

Personally my headphones I currently use cost about ~250USD at the time I bought them, and I can't really categorize them as audiophile (even though I'm very satisfied). Just to give a point of reference.=)

 

For the $100 price mark the OP questioned, I believe my statement holds true for most products currently available.

 

You wouldn't buy a $10k "Racing" car and expect it to perform all that differently from most cars in the same price range.

[OddballMV]

you are better of with "gaming" headphones.

 

(note one thing not too many "audiophile" headpones for 100$ :P) .

 

Both wrong in my opinion. Sound is sound, a revealing headphone with good soundstage will show up everything in games and give you good positional audio. As for no audiophile headphones for under $100 this is just nonsense, there are whole sections of head-fi dedicated to cheap but great sounding headphones and many of them are under $100 and will compete with others costing more.

[Dark_Nemesis]

For the $100 price mark the OP questioned, I believe my statement holds true for most products currently available.

 

You wouldn't buy a $10k "Racing" car and expect it to perform all that differently from most cars in the same price range.

But then this whole thread falls flat on it's ass beacuse in that case, the question: gaming vs audiophile is a distinction without a difference =)  Anything labeled "audiophile" what so ever, probaly isn't, see your point there, just don't want the OP to get the impression that "all head-sets/phones are the same " 

[ShearMe]

But then this whole thread falls flat on it's ass beacuse in that case, the question: gaming vs audiophile is a distinction without a difference =)  Anything labeled "audiophile" what so ever, probaly isn't, see your point there, just don't want the OP to get the impression that "all head-sets/phones are the same " 

 

My point is, anything labeled audiophile, is just marketing BS. Plenty of sub $100 headphones that are considered audiophile headphones, as pointed out by OddballMV, but that is dictated by audiophiles - not marketing labels slapped onto product boxes. I further stated that headphones which sound good with a movie or music would sound good with a game (because the types of analog signals sent are literally exactly the same), not that all headphones/headsets are the same.

 

The point of this thread is to suggest headphones under $100 to OP, something the generic image posted by h264 accomplishes.

[Lays]

fritzgoesrawr, on 02 Jul 2013 - 08:49 AM, said:

Is there a big sound quality difference between these two types of head phones (e.g $100USD Gaming Headphones vs $100USD Audiophile Headphones)? because I haven't tried using any of it . I'm going to buy myself one, can you please recommend headphones for a $100 USD or less budget. And what specs should I look for when buying headphones? Thanks in advance for your responses. :lol: :lol:

http://www.cybergamer.com.au/forums/thread/134056/HeadphonesSound-Cards:-The-dos-and-do-nots/

previously I had astro a50's, I sold em on ebay and bought audio technica ath-ad900x + xonar phoebus sound card.

Astro a40/a50's are some of the best gaming headsets on the market right now, but the ad900x's are cheaper and SO much better.

I believe ur price range would be audio technica ath ad700's, i think theyre around 99$ on amazon. tons of people recommend these

 

 

Edit: If you have the money I highly recommend the 900x, the soundstage is absolutely amazing, and so is the positional audio once you have virtual 7.1 surround on them via a soundcard.  Shooting games are unreal lol

[Dark_Nemesis]

Both wrong in my opinion. Sound is sound, a revealing headphone with good soundstage will show up everything in games and give you good positional audio. As for no audiophile headphones for under $100 this is just nonsense, there are whole sections of head-fi dedicated to cheap but great sounding headphones and many of them are under $100 and will compete with others costing more.

Thats why I wrote a point of reference. Since what counts as " audiophile" is a personal opinion. Your point of referance may be completely differnt from mine.

And yes there are GREAT sounding headphones out there for under 100$, the porta pros mentioned above are a great example of that. They sound better than many headphones costing twice as much. But that does not make them sound as good as high end headphones.

[OddballMV]

Thats why I wrote a point of reference. Since what counts as " audiophile" is a personal opinion. Your point of referance may be completely differnt from mine.

And yes there are GREAT sounding headphones out there for under 100$, the porta pros mentioned above are a great example of that. They sound better than many headphones costing twice as much. But that does not make them sound as good as high end headphones.

 

I don't think you can say a headphone is 'audiophile' grade, an audiophile is someone who generally strives for the best sound quality they can get for the budget they have. If that budget happens to be $100 then there can be 'audiophile' headphones for that budget. The way i have always seen it is the term doesn't necessarily mean high end, just good sound quality for the money.

[Flechette1866]

I guess the most basic difference is what they are designed for. Not all audio equipment is equal. Headphones do not just sound "better" or "worse". There are many aspects that come together to create sound.

 

As such gaming headphones tend to have deeper bass with less extension, darker midtones, and shriller highs. They are designed to make explosions sound imposing and impressive and to give things like gunshots and footsteps more impact.

 

Audiograde headphones are, for the most part, designed to make audio reproduction faithful and of a high quality. Having said that audiograde headphones occupy a very different price range and they seldom cross over.

[Alex Dimitri]

Both wrong in my opinion. Sound is sound, a revealing headphone with good soundstage will show up everything in games and give you good positional audio. As for no audiophile headphones for under $100 this is just nonsense, there are whole sections of head-fi dedicated to cheap but great sounding headphones and many of them are under $100 and will compete with others costing more.

I don`t doubt or say that there is no good quality headphones for 100$ price tag.....problem is that none of them will fit "audiophile" description in general terms of qualite/price ratio, they are good but don`t belong to that segment !

I drive a Reno Clio and while i messed around and put alumunium rims and blackened windows, put better seats and stereo in it i simply cannot called it a sports car.......it just doesn`t belong in that category !

 

I have meet quite a few Audiophiles in my time (i`m 38 years old) and if you mention a notion of "cheap good audiophile" equipment they can chop your head faster then T-Rex would......that`s why i use that term with coution :P !

[Dark_Nemesis]

I don't think you can say a headphone is 'audiophile' grade, an audiophile is someone who generally strives for the best sound quality they can get for the budget they have. If that budget happens to be $100 then there can be 'audiophile' headphones for that budget. The way i have always seen it is the term doesn't necessarily mean high end, just good sound quality for the money.

Okay, so it's just a difference in opinion regarding what 'audiophile' means then...

For me, the defenition of an audiophile is a person who spends more money, on higher end equipment than the general public. (in short)

...But I get the point, going by your definition of audiophile, I comletely agree. =)

[OddballMV]

Okay, so it's just a difference in opinion regarding what 'audiophile' means then...

For me, the defenition of an audiophile is a person who spends more money, on higher end equipment than the general public. (in short)

...But I get the point, going by your definition of audiophile, I comletely agree. =)

It is a very ambiguous term. My idea of it has mostly come from Head-fi where there are the people who strive for the best outright regardless of cost, the people who want the best bang for the buck in terms of sound quality and so on. A wide range of people that can't really be summed up in a description

I don`t doubt or say that there is no good quality headphones for 100$ price tag.....problem is that none of them will fit "audiophile" description in general terms of qualite/price ratio, they are good but don`t belong to that segment !

I drive a Reno Clio and while i messed around and put alumunium rims and blackened windows, put better seats and stereo in it i simply cannot called it a sports car.......it just doesn`t belong in that category !

I have meet quite a few Audiophiles in my time (i`m 38 years old) and if you mention a notion of "cheap good audiophile" equipment they can chop your head faster then T-Rex would......that`s why i use that term with coution :P !

I think many people would consider professional gear such as the Sony 7506 headphones to be audiophile style as they are very flat in terms of frequency response (true to the original recording), sound good in general and are very well built. They are under $100 and there are lost more of these, there just not what the averge person would buy for listening to music.

[h264]

It is a very ambiguous term. My idea of it has mostly come from Head-fi where there are the people who strive for the best outright regardless of cost, the people who want the best bang for the buck in terms of sound quality and so on. A wide range of people that can't really be summed up in a description

I think many people would consider professional gear such as the Sony 7506 headphones to be audiophile style as they are very flat in terms of frequency response (true to the original recording), sound good in general and are very well built. They are under $100 and there are lost more of these, there just not what the averge person would buy for listening to music.

 

High end setups always had the added appeal of making your like-minded friends droll and getting you lots of forum cred!  NO WAY your $100 junk can touch this!

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/545243/show-us-your-mcintosh-pictures

 

gotta love that head-fi-in-the-clouds mentality!

[ShearMe]

High end setups always had the added appeal of making your like-minded friends droll and getting you lots of forum cred!  NO WAY your $100 junk can touch this!

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/545243/show-us-your-mcintosh-pictures

 

gotta love that head-fi-in-the-clouds mentality!

 

You could sell me some of those even if they sounded like crud.

[fritzgoesrawr]

Thanks for all the replies. Another question: What is an open and closed headphones, and should I also consider the frequency range values in buying headphones? I've decided to put up my budget for an audiophile brand HP and later on save up for a soundcard.  :D  :D 

[h264]

What is an open and closed headphones

 

 

 

should I also consider the frequency range values in buying headphones?

 

As long as it's 20hz-20Khz it'll cover the whole audible frequency range.  Not all that important.

[Cobalt]

I´ve been debating in this topic for a while, and one day in head-fi the answer lighted up to me:

Skullcandy SLYR.

Now, before anyone says anything, this headset is more Astro than Skullcandy, check some reviews

(TIP: MadLustEnvy´s on head-fi is pretty darn good

http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lust-envys-headphone-gaming-guide-updated-5-23-2013-mrspeakers-mad-dog-v-3-2-reviewed

) and it seems to bring the best of both worlds (good sound and a mic) for less than $100