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Audiophile Setup for Gaming Under 300 USD

Osl Zisz
By Osl Zisz
in Home Theater Equipment
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So since i am seeing the SteelSeries Arctis Pro + GameDAC (the wired one) everywhere now, I was wondering if there were any other setups that might work for better performance at a similar price. Like say a AKG K7XX (or similar) headphones paired with a reasonable DAC and the Blue Snowball microphone. I am clearly no expert and if anyone could expand upon this, you'd be doing gaming a great service.

 

Arctis Pro + GameDAC

https://steelseries.com/gaming-headsets/arctis-pro-gamedac

 

AKG K7XX

https://www.amazon.com/AKG-Massdrop-Limited-Headphones-Black/dp/B00S5XIDNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537306418&sr=8-1&keywords=akg+k7xx

 

Blue Snowball

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Snowball-Condenser-Microphone-Cardioid/dp/B014PYGTUQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537306010&sr=8-3&keywords=blue+snowball

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My sound setup is this:

DAC = Audoengine D1 (180 euro)

Headphones = Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro (200 euro) (I have that thing for like 5 years, so I'm pretty sure they have way better headphones now)

Microphone = Blue Snowball (Black Edition) (Thing sounds great, at least, that's what my friends say)

 

I love this setup, got great sound :) But im not that much of an audiophile.

PC Specs: Intel Core i7-8700k - Asus ROG Z370 MAXIMUS X HERO - 2x8gb Kingston Predator DDR4 3200MHz - MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti gaming X - Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 - Samsung 850 PRO 256gb - Samsung 850 EVO 500gb - Seagate Barracuda 2tb - Fractal Design Meshify C - Asus PCE-AC56 - Be Quiet! Straight Power 10 CM 700W.

Peripherals: Corsair K70 LUX - Steelseries Rival 310 - Dell S2417DG - Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro - Audioengine D1.

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I have a couple pairs of headphones I use for gaming, switching between them depending on how I feel that day (See sig for list).

I'd recommend a HD598SE with a boom mic cable. You can run it on your onboard if you wanted to, or get a DAC/AMP combo if you have money burning a hole in your pocket.

The 598s aren't that amazing to listen to, but they're comfortable for hours, which makes them my pick.

I don't really recommend a dedicated standalone mic, unless you plan to be a l33t streamer or something. I had one and I found that I didn't have space for

one with my speakers and DAC/AMPs in the way.

REMILIA Mk.IIIE CPU: Ryzen 9 3900X, Cooler: Arctic Freezer II 240 (Noctua NT-H2), RAM: 4x 8Gb sticks of Patriot Viper Steel Series 3600 CL17, Mobo: AsRock X570 Taichi, GPU: Inno3D RTX 3080 iChill x4 10G, Storage: 1TB Intel 670p NVME SSD boot drive, a few 1TB and 512gb SATA/NVME SSDs for game storage, 6 hard drives 1-4 TB, PSU: Corsair RM750 MY2019, Case: Cooler Master Mastercase 5 MC500 (with add-ons, Noctua NF-A14 and Arctic P14 fans), PCIE Cards: Cheap Chinese Marvell 88SE9215 4 port SATA card, Sonnet Allegro USB3.2 Card Monitors: ViewSonic Elite XG270QC (165hz, 1ms MPRT, 1440p, VA, Freesync PP, pneumatic stand), Hp Z27n (IPS, 60hz, 1440p, 8Ms), iiyama G2530HSU-B (75Hz, Freesync, one in landscape, one in Portrait, all on pneumatic monitor stands).

 

Mic: iSK UPM-1 USB XLR interface with Neewer NW700, Audio: Sabaj A3 160W DAC/AMP + Wharfdale Diamond 220 + Mission MS6 Sub, ifi Zen DAC v2 + ifi Zen CAN, Littledot Mk.II (w/ Soviet Power tubes and British Mulard M8100s/Soviet Voshkod 6JP-EV/ American General Electric JAN 5654W dependent on mood), Sendy Aiva (Primary), Beyer Dynamic DT990 250ohm Black Special Edition, Audeze EL-8 Open Back, Sennheiser HD598SE (modified to be a headset, snapped headband held together with gorilla tape), Mouse: SteelSeries Rival 600, Keyboard: Glorious GMMK ISO with Mengmoda MMD Tactile (main) and Kailh Box Navy (Function keys), Tribosys 3203 brush lubed, Taihao Green forest caps.

 

KOAKUMA Mk.IB (24/7 Folding Slave PC made of spare parts): CPU: Core i7 4770, Cooler: Some small antex cooler with 80mm fan, RAM: 2x 4Gb Sticks of 2400Mhz DDR3, Mobo: Asus H81i-Plus, GPU: R9 390 Nitro+ (barely fits in case), Storage: 256gb Korean no-name SATA SSD, PSU: Corsair CX550 (Gray label), Case: Antec ISK600 ITX case. [Given away to friend]

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17 minutes ago, partymarty said:

My sound setup is this:

DAC = Audoengine D1 (180 euro)

Headphones = Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro (200 euro) (I have that thing for like 5 years, so I'm pretty sure they have way better headphones now)

Microphone = Blue Snowball (Black Edition) (Thing sounds great, at least, that's what my friends say)

 

I love this setup, got great sound :) But im not that much of an audiophile.

That is an impressive setup, its actually in the ball park of what I'm looking for but the price is a bit over the budget. The goal is 300 USD (257.07 Euro) without skimping on any components. Would you happen to know of a DAC with similar performance but around 50-75 USD (42.84-64.27 Euro)

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19 minutes ago, ibabyslapper said:

I have a couple pairs of headphones I use for gaming, switching between them depending on how I feel that day (See sig for list).

I'd recommend a HD598SE with a boom mic cable. You can run it on your onboard if you wanted to, or get a DAC/AMP combo if you have money burning a hole in your pocket.

The 598s aren't that amazing to listen to, but they're comfortable for hours, which makes them my pick.

I don't really recommend a dedicated standalone mic, unless you plan to be a l33t streamer or something. I had one and I found that I didn't have space for

one with my speakers and DAC/AMPs in the way.

I know the Mic is a little overkill however it his something i had a problem with for a long time with friends being able to pick up things around me. Its for my comfort as well as theirs.

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Just now, Osl Zisz said:

I know the Mic is a little overkill however it his something i had a problem with for a long time with friends being able to pick up things around me. Its for my comfort as well as theirs.

If you want to have good background noise isolation I probably won't go with a condenser to be honest.

An XLR dynamic would probably be the first choice for that, but a good quality boom mic with good software noise filtering would also be sufficient for gaming comms.

REMILIA Mk.IIIE CPU: Ryzen 9 3900X, Cooler: Arctic Freezer II 240 (Noctua NT-H2), RAM: 4x 8Gb sticks of Patriot Viper Steel Series 3600 CL17, Mobo: AsRock X570 Taichi, GPU: Inno3D RTX 3080 iChill x4 10G, Storage: 1TB Intel 670p NVME SSD boot drive, a few 1TB and 512gb SATA/NVME SSDs for game storage, 6 hard drives 1-4 TB, PSU: Corsair RM750 MY2019, Case: Cooler Master Mastercase 5 MC500 (with add-ons, Noctua NF-A14 and Arctic P14 fans), PCIE Cards: Cheap Chinese Marvell 88SE9215 4 port SATA card, Sonnet Allegro USB3.2 Card Monitors: ViewSonic Elite XG270QC (165hz, 1ms MPRT, 1440p, VA, Freesync PP, pneumatic stand), Hp Z27n (IPS, 60hz, 1440p, 8Ms), iiyama G2530HSU-B (75Hz, Freesync, one in landscape, one in Portrait, all on pneumatic monitor stands).

 

Mic: iSK UPM-1 USB XLR interface with Neewer NW700, Audio: Sabaj A3 160W DAC/AMP + Wharfdale Diamond 220 + Mission MS6 Sub, ifi Zen DAC v2 + ifi Zen CAN, Littledot Mk.II (w/ Soviet Power tubes and British Mulard M8100s/Soviet Voshkod 6JP-EV/ American General Electric JAN 5654W dependent on mood), Sendy Aiva (Primary), Beyer Dynamic DT990 250ohm Black Special Edition, Audeze EL-8 Open Back, Sennheiser HD598SE (modified to be a headset, snapped headband held together with gorilla tape), Mouse: SteelSeries Rival 600, Keyboard: Glorious GMMK ISO with Mengmoda MMD Tactile (main) and Kailh Box Navy (Function keys), Tribosys 3203 brush lubed, Taihao Green forest caps.

 

KOAKUMA Mk.IB (24/7 Folding Slave PC made of spare parts): CPU: Core i7 4770, Cooler: Some small antex cooler with 80mm fan, RAM: 2x 4Gb Sticks of 2400Mhz DDR3, Mobo: Asus H81i-Plus, GPU: R9 390 Nitro+ (barely fits in case), Storage: 256gb Korean no-name SATA SSD, PSU: Corsair CX550 (Gray label), Case: Antec ISK600 ITX case. [Given away to friend]

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1 minute ago, ibabyslapper said:

If you want to have good background noise isolation I probably won't go with a condenser to be honest.

An XLR dynamic would probably be the first choice for that, but a good quality boom mic with good software noise filtering would also be sufficient for gaming comms.

Thank you, ill look into the XLR

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1 minute ago, Osl Zisz said:

Thank you, ill look into the XLR

To use a XLR microphone you need two things:

A audio interface like a Behringer UM2

And a XLR microphone (and ofc a cable) like a Behrigner XM5800.

 

You may have noticed I listed Behringer twice. That's because they make the best cheap interfaces and mics.

If you want to save money, also consider a used mic from a reputable brand (Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Shure, etc etc.)

REMILIA Mk.IIIE CPU: Ryzen 9 3900X, Cooler: Arctic Freezer II 240 (Noctua NT-H2), RAM: 4x 8Gb sticks of Patriot Viper Steel Series 3600 CL17, Mobo: AsRock X570 Taichi, GPU: Inno3D RTX 3080 iChill x4 10G, Storage: 1TB Intel 670p NVME SSD boot drive, a few 1TB and 512gb SATA/NVME SSDs for game storage, 6 hard drives 1-4 TB, PSU: Corsair RM750 MY2019, Case: Cooler Master Mastercase 5 MC500 (with add-ons, Noctua NF-A14 and Arctic P14 fans), PCIE Cards: Cheap Chinese Marvell 88SE9215 4 port SATA card, Sonnet Allegro USB3.2 Card Monitors: ViewSonic Elite XG270QC (165hz, 1ms MPRT, 1440p, VA, Freesync PP, pneumatic stand), Hp Z27n (IPS, 60hz, 1440p, 8Ms), iiyama G2530HSU-B (75Hz, Freesync, one in landscape, one in Portrait, all on pneumatic monitor stands).

 

Mic: iSK UPM-1 USB XLR interface with Neewer NW700, Audio: Sabaj A3 160W DAC/AMP + Wharfdale Diamond 220 + Mission MS6 Sub, ifi Zen DAC v2 + ifi Zen CAN, Littledot Mk.II (w/ Soviet Power tubes and British Mulard M8100s/Soviet Voshkod 6JP-EV/ American General Electric JAN 5654W dependent on mood), Sendy Aiva (Primary), Beyer Dynamic DT990 250ohm Black Special Edition, Audeze EL-8 Open Back, Sennheiser HD598SE (modified to be a headset, snapped headband held together with gorilla tape), Mouse: SteelSeries Rival 600, Keyboard: Glorious GMMK ISO with Mengmoda MMD Tactile (main) and Kailh Box Navy (Function keys), Tribosys 3203 brush lubed, Taihao Green forest caps.

 

KOAKUMA Mk.IB (24/7 Folding Slave PC made of spare parts): CPU: Core i7 4770, Cooler: Some small antex cooler with 80mm fan, RAM: 2x 4Gb Sticks of 2400Mhz DDR3, Mobo: Asus H81i-Plus, GPU: R9 390 Nitro+ (barely fits in case), Storage: 256gb Korean no-name SATA SSD, PSU: Corsair CX550 (Gray label), Case: Antec ISK600 ITX case. [Given away to friend]

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