New gaming headset with nice bass! Any advice?

[Roobir]

Hey carbies,

I currently have a wired Razer Blackshark v2 with USB, works nice. Bass is good, fit and heat over the ears are good - just not too happy with Razer Synapse.

I'm looking around for a new headset, I tried the Steelseries Arctic Pro + Gamedac (was on a big special here), not too happy with the fit, bass, or the heat over the ears. Fiddled, but just couldn't get the bass as nice as the Blackshark and decided to return it.

I've been looking for other models too, do you have any recommendations? One that caught me eye now is the Astro A50 and the Astro A40 + DAC. Not sure how their bass would compare to the Blackshark, but the reviews of their comfort looks pretty good on rtings.com.

Any advice would be great!

 

[crackOlicious]

I dont know the blackshark but I did have a pair of A40's. No dac but my sound card has a good built in headphone amp. I was happy with bass. Had more bass that the G Pro X I have now.

 

[Roobir]

I dont know the blackshark but I did have a pair of A40's. No dac but my sound card has a good built in headphone amp. I was happy with bass. Had more bass that the G Pro X I have now.

Did you do any EQ tweaking out the box with the software, or as default it sounded nicer compared to the logitech G pro X?

 

[0DeusExMachina1]

I was going to go for wired because nothing could stand up to my wired HyperX Cloud 2's for the past 6 years... I bought headsets and simply returned them including a Sennheiser at one point... Just nothing came close for me.

Until I bought the Anker Soundcore Space One... And I have to say it's impressive and versatile (3.5mm and Bluetooth). Bass isn't as punchy as wired but the quality is amazing with LDAC enabled and the bass is clear and good. Noise cancelling is also adaptive and works brilliantly. I'm no audiophile but I listen to a lot of Drum and Bass and this headset ticks my boxes.

 

[goldfritter]

Hey carbies,

I currently have a wired Razer Blackshark v2 with USB, works nice. Bass is good, fit and heat over the ears are good - just not too happy with Razer Synapse.

I'm looking around for a new headset, I tried the Steelseries Arctic Pro + Gamedac (was on a big special here), not too happy with the fit, bass, or the heat over the ears. Fiddled, but just couldn't get the bass as nice as the Blackshark and decided to return it.

I've been looking for other models too, do you have any recommendations? One that caught me eye now is the Astro A50 and the Astro A40 + DAC. Not sure how their bass would compare to the Blackshark, but the reviews of their comfort looks pretty good on rtings.com.

Any advice would be great!

Get this:

https://carbonite.co.za/index.php?threads/fidelio-x2hr-w-dekoni-elite-velour-pads.506915/#post-3297176

Plus an inline boom mic like this:

Takealot

Then you get a proper set of hifi headphones, ones known for good bass and also comfort, with a boom mic that works just like a gaming headset would.

 

[heinreich]

Thanks for the referral golden balls

On a serious note, just make sure you either have decent onboard sound (yes, that is possible) or a decent enough DAC. Its not top dollar but I used those on a SoundblasterX G6, also with a vmoda boom mic

V-Moda Boom Pro Gaming Cable

CRYSTAL CLEAR MIC enhances voice clarity & background noise reduction essential for gamers, Skype/VoIP/conference calls, commuters & podcast recordings STEELFLEX ARM for perfect microphone positioning CONVENIENT CONTROL CLIP features in-line mute and rotary volume controls SOURCE COMPATIBLE with...

bothners.co.za

 

[goldfritter]

Thanks for the referral golden balls

On a serious note, just make sure you either have decent onboard sound (yes, that is possible) or a decent enough DAC. Its not top dollar but I used those on a SoundblasterX G6, also with a vmoda boom mic

V-Moda Boom Pro Gaming Cable

CRYSTAL CLEAR MIC enhances voice clarity & background noise reduction essential for gamers, Skype/VoIP/conference calls, commuters & podcast recordings STEELFLEX ARM for perfect microphone positioning CONVENIENT CONTROL CLIP features in-line mute and rotary volume controls SOURCE COMPATIBLE with...

bothners.co.za

Oh sweet, didn't know you actually got the V-MODA in SA. I'd go for that over the Volkano any day.

 

[crackOlicious]

Did you do any EQ tweaking out the box with the software, or as default it sounded nicer compared to the logitech G pro X?

Didn't do much tweaking and only ever used the sound cards software. Having said that. The sound card software options seemed to make more difference with the A40 compared to logitechs software with the G Pro. The different sound profiles available in the software for the G Pro dont sound very much different from each other.

 

[5hadow17]

X2HR mentioned above is a good way to go, just keep in mind that bass on open backs won't hit quite the same as closed backs

I run a custom EQ with a bass boost on the G Pro X, audible difference to stock EQ for me

 

[ConsoleGuy]

Howzit,
I own a Gen 1 pair of Astro A40's with mix amp and a pair of Gen 3 Astro A50's.
The A40's with the mix amp has great bass, but is basically wired.
The A50's have slightly less bass, but are wireless, also find them, more comfortable.
Compared to the Razor's, i dont know sorry.

 

[Roobir]

Hey lads,

Thanks so much for the feedback - really appreciate it.

I've been checking a few items and based on our local supply here in the UAE, I considered the following:

• Blackshark v2 pro (2020)
• Blackshark v2 pro (2023)
• Astro A40 + DAC
• Astro A50 because it looks cool
• Logitech G pro x

I will add some more for further review, but some brands are tough to get here through Amazon, and others are to be shipped (making it unknown how easy it would be to return if i don't like it). Thankfully, the SS Arctis pro + DAC I could return in 1 day and get voucher back from Amazon immediately. Now I'm itching for the next set to try

Zooming in a bit on a few options, I checked on rtings website and found the bass review: Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless 2020 Review

Not really knowing what these metrics mean, is it fair to consider that higher as more bass? (Section of Bass Accuracy).

 

[goldfritter]

Hey lads,

Thanks so much for the feedback - really appreciate it.

I've been checking a few items and based on our local supply here in the UAE, I considered the following:

• Blackshark v2 pro (2020)
• Blackshark v2 pro (2023)
• Astro A40 + DAC
• Astro A50 because it looks cool
• Logitech G pro x

I will add some more for further review, but some brands are tough to get here through Amazon, and others are to be shipped (making it unknown how easy it would be to return if i don't like it). Thankfully, the SS Arctis pro + DAC I could return in 1 day and get voucher back from Amazon immediately. Now I'm itching for the next set to try

Zooming in a bit on a few options, I checked on rtings website and found the bass review: Razer BlackShark V2 Pro Wireless 2020 Review

Not really knowing what these metrics mean, is it fair to consider that higher as more bass? (Section of Bass Accuracy).

Oh lol. I keep forgetting you're in the UAE. You really need to get your location on your profile updated

In that case my recommendation is the same though, hifi headphones with an inline mic, X2HR being a great option.

Higher bass accuracy does NOT mean more bass. It means the bass is more accurate, i.e. true to the original recording. I.e. there is the same amount of bass that the instrument made when the musician played it in the studio, no more, no less.

This is an oversimplification, but if the only thing you want is more bass, rather than accurate, correct bass, then those scores won't help, and in fact most reviews probably won't help, since people tend to review things to a standard of correctness rather than a standard of having more bass than the original recording intended.

EDIT: to clarify, if you read a review and they describe the headphones as having "good bass," they mean "accurate bass," not "lots of bass." If a headphone produces more bass than it's supposed to based on the reference recording, it will get a lower score, reviewers will complain of muddy/slow/overblown bass or just bad bass.