I strongly recommend Philips SHP9500, Superlux HD668B and Superlux HD681 EVO with an Antlion ModMic 4, a Massdrop Minimic or a V-MODA BoomPro mic in the $100 range. These are open-back headphones. For closed-back, I recommend AKG K52.
K52 has a big soundstage, good imaging, clarity, detail retrieval and tonality, and decent separation. It has a balanced sound signature. The bass can sound slightly distorted in explosions and other big and loud sounds. It's over-ear, very lightweight and has a durable construction and replaceable earpads.
SHP9500 has a big soundstage, good imaging, separation and detail retrieval, and very good clarity and tonality. It has a balanced sound signature. It's over-ear, lightweight and has a durable construction and a detachable cable. The earpads are removable, but you have to mod them or buy 3D printed rings that the new earpads attach to. Modding is very easy and quick to do and doesn't require new/extra parts aside from the replacement earpads, but the stock pads will be destroyed. I've made a tutorial: https://imgur.com/a/ARxXo. 3D printed parts can be bought from Thingverse.com and ModHouseAudio.com. The clamping force is very light, so I don't recommend the headphone for children or if you frequently move your head down and don't have a big head. Replacing the earpads will make the clamping force tighter.
HD668B has a very big soundstage, very good imaging, separation and detail retrieval, good clarity and decent tonality. It has a bright sound signature and a small boost in the bass. It's over-ear, very lightweight and has a sturdy construction and a detachable cable. I recommend replacing the earpads with velour earpads from HiFiMAN (https://www.amazon.com/HIFIMAN-Velour-Earpads-Headphone-replacement-HE400/dp/B00VV2JYXK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502778404&sr=8-2&keywords=HiFiMAN+velour+earpads) because they have much better quality and are a little deeper.
HD681 EVO has a very big soundstage, good detail retrieval, very good clarity and tonality, but has poor imaging and separation. It has a warm sound signature with a deep bass.
It's over-ear, lightweight and has a durable build and a detachable cable. I recommend taking out the loose felt inside the cups and replacing the earpads because they are very shallow and the driver sticks out quite a bit. I recommend the velour earpads from HiFiMAN. If you have big ears or want memory foam, very soft earpads or more bass, then I recommend round velour earpads from Brainwavz (https://www.amazon.com/Brainwavz-ROUND-Replacement-Memory-Earpads/dp/B07238XHCX/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1502778586&sr=1-6&keywords=Brainwavz+velour+earpads). The earpads can cost up to $25, but the sound quality is worth at least $100.
I also compare to AKG Q701, Audio-Technica ATH-AD700x, Beyerdynamic DT990 (600 ohms), HyperX Cloud, Philips Fidelio X2 and Sennheiser HD700. I got all of these headphones for gaming. I can't emphasize enough that perceived performance in headphones/headsets is relative.
I do not recommend HyperX Cloud / Cloud II / CloudX because they have a very bad price-performance ratio compared to SHP9500, HD668B and HD681 EVO and a bad one compared to K52. The Clouds have a small soundstage, bad imaging, and they sound very muddy with grainy bass.
Alternative headphones:
Audio-Technica ATH-AD500x (open-back)
Status Audio OB-1 (open-back)
Status Audio CB-1 (closed-back)
Superlux HD681 (B, F) (semi-open-back)
Superlux HD669 (closed-back)
Superlux HD662 (B, F) (closed-back)
Superlux HD662 EVO (closed-back)
Closed-back headphones have cups with solid shells that largely isolate sound from passing in and out.
Open-back /
semi-open-back headphones have cups with perforations/grills that allow outside sound to freely pass in and sound from the drivers to freely pass out. How loud you hear outside sound and how loud people around you hear the sound emanating from the headphones depend on your volume, of course. The sonic benefit to open-back is generally a big soundstage.
Soundstage is perceived space and environment of sound. It can be compared to virtual surround sound; both attempt to produce the same spacious, three-dimensional effect. VSS can sound more ambient and immersive, which depends on the processor (CMSS-3D, Dolby, SBX, etc.), but it degrades the sound quality and diminishes detailing due to compression from digital processing. You might also experience less accurate imaging and separation if the headphone already has good imaging and separation. Note that a deep soundstage is equally important as a wide soundstage.
Imaging determines how accurately sounds/objects are positioned across the soundstage. And I mean where they are
positioned and not merely what direction they come from. This distinction is important because only being able to tell what direction objects come from is to me not good enough when playing against people or on high difficulties.
Imaging is inherent to the audio content, so if the game is recorded or mixed poorly, a headphone with good imaging won’t improve the positional audio, so don't judge the headphone before using it in several games you're very familiar with. I test mine mostly in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, a game that has great recording and mixing and that I've played for over six years.
Separation is separating individual sounds from a range of sounds. Good separation makes it easier to filter out or discern overlapping sounds from other sounds and track them.
Sound signature is a frequency response / sound profile. For example, a V-shaped sound signature emphasizes the bass and treble while recessing the mid-range. A flat/balanced sound signature doesn't over- or under-emphasize these frequencies and attempts to reproduce the original recording accurately as possible. A bright headphone emphasizes the treble and can subdue the bass. A warm sound signature emphasizes the bass or subdues the treble.
Antlion ModMic 4 and Massdrop Minimic use a clasp system to attach to headphones and are easy to attach and remove. They are compatible with all headphones and have a mute switch.
The Minimic isn't available on Massdrop for the time being, but I mention it in case you want to save money and wait until it becomes available. I recommend requesting it on Massrop.com in the meanwhile.
V-MODA BoomPro connects to the headphone's jack, replacing the headphone cable. It's compatible with Philips SHP9500 and Status Audio CB-1 of my recommendations. It has a mute switch and a volume control.
You should listen to recordings on YouTube to judge for yourself if they sound good enough.
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