Question Looking to upgrade from my Sennheiser Game Zero and GSX 1200 Pro into something better

[GMj0sh]

I've had both of these items for quite awhile, and I am looking to upgrade them, or at least the headset. I do not know if it would be worth it to upgrade the GSX or not. If it's fine how it is, I would rather put the extra money towards a headset. I'd be fine with a headset around $200-$400 (same price goes for the dac if it would be better to switch it out). Also I don't really have a preference towards closed/open back. If anyone has any recommendations or input, it would be appreciated.

 

[delaro]

Meze Neo - $249 closed back with Mic but they have a surprisingly large sound stage, excellent bass, and overall great sound with a excellent build quality.

Mese Classic- $309 Same closed-back design with a machined Walnut outer shell and more cables.

Audio-Technica ATH-M50x + Mod Mic $179 total

Sennheiser HD 599 + Mod Mic $203 total

HiFiMan HE-400i + Mod Mic $230 total

AKG 702 + Mod Mic $230 total

All of those blow gaming headsets out of the water by a large margin in sound quality.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

Massdrop has the Meze 99 Noir for $199 which is a 99 Classic with a different finish. That being said I wouldn't buy it for gaming. Nor would I ever recommend the M50X. Sound quality problems aside it has a tiny closed in soundstage making it terrible for gaming.

The Sennheiser HD599, Philips Fidelio X2 HR and AKG K7XX from Massdrop or the K701/K702 or K712 Pro would be my gaming recommendations. The HD599 and X2 are very easy to drive and the AKG's are hard to drive. The GSX 1200 may be sufficient for the AKG's though it's possible you'd need a higher power amp.

 

[delaro]

That being said I wouldn't buy it for gaming. Nor would I ever recommend the M50X. Sound quality problems aside it has a tiny closed in soundstage making it terrible for gaming.

Geez you're a hater on those, I tossed those in as an example, the positional audio is well enough to use in gaming, yeah it's not fantastic but I can point you to several "Gaming" headsets that are worst at this and overall have much poorer audio quality. DT990 and DT770 are also examples but the drawbacks are the lack of a replaceable cable.

Meze 99's are a Headset " Mic on Cable" and yes they have a closed-back design but the sound stage is quite good and the position audio is more than expected, they are well good enough for a casual gamer and very easy to drive. I recently got to spend 20 hours with a loaner Neo and that made me want to invest in the Classic for the added cable, pad options, and appearance.

As far as a marketed headset goes the Actris 9X,7, 5 and Pro are also quite good for gaming and not bad at anything else, yeah they are not Audiophile-grade and your not going to be sipping Champagne to hipster music but overall they fit a wide aspect of usage my only concern was long term build quality.


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[Deleted member 217926]

He has a Game Zero which is a retuned Sennheiser HD558/598 and wants an upgrade with a $400 budget. He didn't say music in which case the 99 Noir is a great choice. I'd never recommend HIFiMan at least not below the Sundara because of build quality issues. Over half of them break. It's even happened to another mod. That leaves the M50X as the only disagreement. Not sure why you like them so much.

 

[dontlistentome]

As a low budget gamer, I like to avoid spending money if I can. In your position, I'd want to keep using the 1200 Pro. That is, unless you have a specific reason why it won't work for you. Then I'd spend all my budget on the best headphones possible, leaving enough money aside for the mic. I believe you can get more use out of that 1200 Pro with better headphones.

That 1200 Pro looks to be rated for headphones up to 150 ohms. I usually don't like to push things hard so I'd look for lower impedance headphones. Open back is better in games, all other things being equal, but they leak sound in and out. Would that be a problem for you?

Gaming headsets tend to be tuned for gaming sound, which is great if that's all you care about. Getting good headphones results in still having great gaming sound but also sounding good with other things like music. It also depends on what you think is 'better'. What aspect of sound quality are you looking to improve? Sennheiser has a certain type of sound, if you mostly like what you have now you might want to consider just getting a better Sennheiser.