Submitted by csch1992 t3_z84dwx in headphones

i resently got a pair of Hifiman Sundaras as an Allrounder.

and just playing trough the Halo SPV3 mod and man i love how good it sounds. i can hear steps from far away, way better than i did with my old Hyper x Alphas or even my DT 1770s.

or are maybe open backs Better for gaming in General cause they have a wider Soundstage?

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SupOrSalad t1_iy9oqe7 wrote

Just use whatever you enjoy most

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The_D0lph1n t1_iy9p4xw wrote

To me, it depends on the headphone. I wouldn't make any declarations that a driver type alone makes a headphone better or worse for gaming. Good imaging ability is best for most types of gaming, often better than wide soundstage. Many times wide soundstage can be worse for gaming as things sound far away and their locations get smeared a bit compared to sounding closer, but with pinpoint locations. Best of all would be layered soundstage (can tell when things are near vs far) with pinpoint imaging.

That being said, I found the Sundara to be not that good for gaming as I've had odd scenarios where things sound like they're coming from the wrong side. That might just be my unit though, or it could be the games I play that make a difference. I'm glad it's working out well for you.

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csch1992 OP t1_iy9qom9 wrote

maybe you had your headphones on wrong? it really sounded like that :D made me kinda laugh. i didnt have that issue. but to be fair i didnt try any competive game with it yet

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The_D0lph1n t1_iy9rmr2 wrote

Haha, good guess, but no, they were on the right way. Most things sounded correct, but there were just a few moments where the imaging was off. The game I was playing has Dolby Atmos support, which normally works very well, but it might have edge cases that don't play nice with how the Sundara images.

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csch1992 OP t1_iy9su20 wrote

maybe atmos was the issue? i think that should only be enabled on supported devices. i just played a round in halo infinite and could hear every step clear.

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catsandlatars t1_iy9tftx wrote

Yes because they are the best are imaging and sound stage. Excepting is hd800(s). The downside is they are usually heavier which isn’t good for gamers.

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DeathsingerQc t1_iya3gb5 wrote

I don't think gaming differs much from music, it's just preference.

Unless the headphone in question has awful imaging it'll work.

I use my lcd-2 (planar), Focal celestee (Dynamic) and Blessing 2 Dusk (iem dynamic + balanced armature) for gaming and comparing any of them I feel no extra advantage between any of them. If anything I'd say iems have the best accuracy when it comes to imaging compared to most headphones I've tried, but I don't think it matters at all, even at high skill lvl.

However wider soundstage tend to feel more immersive which is nice.

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csch1992 OP t1_iya44n0 wrote

Thats the first i noticed. Felt a little like surround speakers. I actually could sense more when some one came right in front of me, it was not just left and right

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madamon89 t1_iya4zbv wrote

First, to answer your question, I use sundaras for gaming and I think they work pretty well, but imaging leaves a bit to be desired depending on the game.

Headphones for gaming is a strange world. I work in audio and have a few friends who work in the video game industry doing sound design/implementation, so I have a bit of a window into that world. Most games seem to be "mixed" (programmed really, but similar enough process) using either stereo speakers and/or whatever headphones the people working on the sound engine use. This is fairly commonly gaming headsets like astros, less commonly hifi headphones (which makes sense as the majority of gamers will be using gaming headphones, so you want the mix to sound best on what most people will be using). I don't know for sure this is the case at all major studios, but at least 2 of the big ones I can say for sure this is the case.

Because all headphones image differently you can't really make a game work perfectly on all of them. I generally got pretty fantastic imaging back when I gamed with Astros, but hated the sound, now I love the sound i get from my sundaras, but the imaging can be a bit off, particularly with sounds that are supposed to come from behind me (using in engine 3d/surround/atmos emulators). I prefer better sound quality to imaging, though if I was trying to be more competitive in pvp situations I might look for a different pair of headphones or iems that image better with specific games.

So basically no one headphone or driver type will be best for all games, and it's ultimately down to what you like best and what compromises you prefer. Ideally we'd all play on surround or Atmos speakers for the best experience, but very few actually do.

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P4KiCHad t1_iya6dc4 wrote

it solely depends on the headphone. i have a 7hz timeless and a focal clear. The focal clear beats my timeless in imaging. However, headphones like the Arya and LCD X have more spacious imaging than the clear apparently and they'd be better.

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atyne_mar t1_iya9h96 wrote

In my experience, DDs are usually better for spatial localization than planars. I don't mean that any DD is better than any planar, but in general, the best imaging on planar is not as good as the best imaging on DD.

Sundara is IMO decent but nothing special. In your case, it's probably more about closed-back vs open-back. Or bloated mess vs clean-sounding headphones.

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No-Context5479 t1_iyaa6xz wrote

Nope... Never had good experience with planars for FPS going in particular... Don't know why

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nanomerce t1_iybeseh wrote

^, if you look at what pros use they all use pretty much garbage cause it doesnt really matter from a performance standpoint. So just use whatever brings the most joy to your gaming experience.

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Dangerous_Cobbler_ t1_iycdjbj wrote

It really depends, not all open backs have wide sound stage, they just tend to. Also what you want for gaming differs. You want fun wide bassy sound or do you want precise foot step tracking?

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