That's very cool to hear you managed to find a pair of those. I would agree with that statement, that they're the best entry into audiophile headphones. There is even a modification you can do to them down the road. You can get Brainwavz earpads for them, some specific ones that fit them, some people claim this improves the bass response or something like that. Anyway, too bad it didn't improve your CounterStrike skills haha. If I have to recommend a game by the way, Guardians of the Galaxy has an awesome soundtrack, so consider that game at some point if you wanna put those headphones through the ringer.
I wouldn't trust the virtual surround setting with competitive games. It's probably fun for single player and movies but I doubt its accurate in CS:GO. I bought a Wireless ModMic for my AD900. It's a wireless rechargeable USB mic that can attach to any headphones. Haven't actually tried it yet.
I've recently decided to step things up with my headphones and ordered an amp/DAC and purchased two higher end headsets, the Sennheiser HD490 and the HiFiMan Edition XS. The amp/ DAC is the Schiit Gunnr, which is very popular among toilet slaves, but it looks like shipping may have been delayed a bit. Thus, I only have brief low power impressions, which is unfair to the Sennheiser given it has a much higher impedance. I look forward to developing more accurate assessments when I have more juice from the Schiit. The HiFi Edition XS was not great for directional audio in gaming (at least with low power), but it's very nice for everything else, including music and videos. It has far less unpleasant, shrill sounds than the Sennheiser. I could probably listen to movies or videos for hours with the XS but probably not the HD490. The XS is notorious for not fitting well on people's heads if they have small heads and ears, but lucky for me I have a large enough noggin that it stayed in place quite comfortably. It was shocking how large the XS is yet is quite light. The Sennheiser seemed more shrill with higher treble, but it was also much better at allowing me to locate things in the game world, which is unsurprising given it has the reputation as one of the best competitive gaming headsets on the market currently. It should be beastly at that when I am able to amp it up. It's a crazy and irresponsible idea, but I am really tempted to get the HiFiMan HE1000se and consider returning one of these two headsets I bought from Amazon given they're usually pretty relaxed about returning items. The HE1000se is obscenely expensive compared to these headsets, but it's supposed to be one of the best headsets ever made within the reach of average nobodies like myself. I found a refurbished model discounted, and it still gets the 3-year warranty of a new purchase. You're allowed to return it within 30 days if you're unsatisfied with it. It might be too tempting for me not to at least try it for a month. The curiosity of experiencing a genuine high end audiophile headset is eating at me.
I've read HiFiMan can have some quality issues, but I'm not sure if that's still the case. Maybe check out the weight on those HE1000se as well. They could be heavy. I've tried some of their products in the past and some were surprising heavy. I'm all about comfort these days. I bought some HD599s a few months ago and returned them. They sounded fine, but they didn't fit my big head well. I also have a Schitt DAC/AMP stack which seems to work fine. I mostly bought it for the compact size. I don't think it's amazing, but it's good enough for my PC entertainment purposes. I'm mostly listing to a lot of lofi on speakers these days. It's good back ground music while doing other things. The HD490 looks interesting. How's it sounds?
The HD490 is a very good set of headphones and was picked by some of the audiophile YouTubers for product/ headphones of the year for 2024. To my surprise, though, I'd enjoyed the HiFiMan headphones more for most things with the notable exception of online competitive gaming, where the Edition XS is mediocre and the HD490 is known to be among the best gaming headsets on the market. The HiFiMan sounds more similar to a concert hall, whereas the HD490 still sounds great but seems like it has a smaller soundstage. I've read the HD490 are incredible mixing, but I have no knowledge of that field and can't comment about that. The HD490 has great sound quality but not quite as pleasant as the Edition XS for music to my ears. The treble of the HD490 can be harsher, and the bass isn't as pleasant as the Edition XS. You can't go wrong with either, however. They are both great value and very high quality headphones that probably outperform many more expensive sets. It was also surprising that the PC38x is still very respectable in gaming performance despite costing substantially less than these higher end headphones. Regarding weight: PC38x 8.9 oz; 253 g HD490 9.2 oz / 260 g Edition XS 14.28Oz; 405g HE1000se 15.52 ounces; 440g The HiFiMan Edition XS is heavier than the Sennheisers, but the weight is distributed over a wider area with much larger ear cups and didn't feel significantly heavier. I actually thought it might be lighter before I saw the specs. The key weakness for comfort of the XS is actually not having a built-in head strap, but I've ordered a Capra strap for $19.99 that fixes that. A guy 3D prints high quality straps that addresses that problem. I think all his reviews for that strap were 5/5. I think the only people who would have problems with the HiFiMan fit would be if you had a really small head given the ear cups are huge and might not fight right or get a proper seal. I think the huge ear cups are probably a major factor as to why the sound stage sounds so wide. If you have a large head, you should try out a HiFiMan with the large egg-shaped cups if you can. I have a big gourd, so they fit me pretty well. I have read some minor complaints about the weight of the very pricey Mod House Tungsten headphones, which are supposed to be among the best headphones on the market but do weigh 520g.
I barely use my desktop anymore, but when I do and I'm gaming, those big ass headphones are what you want. They're more comfortable and don't cause fatigue are aching around/in your ear.
I'm still rocking my AD900s at my desktop. I replaced the pads a year ago. It's not the most amazing headphone, but it's still the most comfortable headphone I've used, and that's important now that I need reading glasses. It doesn't pinch my ears on the frames.
I've developed nice little collection of headphones and thought I'd summarize my thoughts about them in case anyone else has interest in new headphones. Most are also good for gaming with the exception of the Edition XS. Drop/ Sennheiser PC38x: The king of "gamer" headsets in my view in a budget range than can be found on sale for $120 or less but has an official MSRP of around the $169 range. Outperforms plenty of $200 to $300 overpriced "gamer brand" headsets without the hideous styling and RGB lighting. The headset is tuned specifically for directional audio. Music sounds decent, but is designed specifically for gaming. Easy to power and can be plugged into a PS5 controller 3.5mm jack without an issue. HiFiMan Edition XS: This is a very large headset with the massive egg-shaped ear cups from recent HiFiMan designs. Comfort can be less than ideal for people with smaller heads, and a Capra strap can improve that noticeably. This headset is very popular in terms of value for higher end headsets in the $270 range and was formerly priced around $1000 range when it was brand new. The sound stage is quite large, surprisingly so, and music sounds superb. Materials feel a bit on the cheap side, however. Sennheiser HD490 Pro: This is considered to be a very solid all-around performer and was the pick of some of the YouTuber headphone reviewers as the best new headphones of 2024. It's also considered to be among the absolute best gaming headsets you can buy currently. It's fairly light and generally comfortable, although occasionally the smaller size of the ear cups lead me to adjust it given I have large ears. It should be a good fit for people with smaller heads and ears. I think it's currently priced around the $375 range. If you want to get a significantly cheaper version with slightly inferior tuning and lower quality materials, the HD560S has been compared to it and was on sale on Amazon for $180 for awhile but is now back up to $220. HiFiMan HE6se v2: The original version of this was quite expensive at around $1800 if memory serves, but has recently been listed at a "special price" for $699 currently. However, I found an even more heavily discounted open box deal for $399 and grabbed it. This is a peculiar set of headphones. In terms of pure sound quality, it sounds like +$1000 headphones, but it has some major cons involved. The materials feel surprisingly cheap for a model that was priced so high, and this thing is absurdly demanding in terms of power. A small or cheap amp is not going to cut it. I have a decent EF499 DAC/ amp, and I have to crank the thing as high as I can to just get into the range of solid performance, and it would love to have more power if available. It's also the least comfortable of the higher end headsets that I have with smaller ear cups limited support on the design that can be improved with a Capra trap similar to the Edition XS. So you can get genuine audiophile sound quality out of a $399 open box purchase, but it's a high maintenance proposition demanding a ton of power and not being particularly comfortable for long listening sessions. It also seems excellent for gaming. Very weird headphones. HiFiMan HE1000se: By far the finest headphones I've ever heard or used for anything. This thing sounds absolutely incredible with the best detail, a HUGE soundstage, and what audiophiles tend to describe as "holographic" sound. I thought I was initially naive trying to find one headset that does it all, which led to buy a few other headsets for different purposes, but this actually comes extremely close. A mild negative of this headset is that due to being so crystal clear in detail, if you have a harsh source such as shrill or a low quality recording, that is going to be transmitted perfectly right down your ear canals. I've seen it referred to as an "audio stethoscope." I've never head anything that can match it for gaming. I know where things are in the game would faster and more accurately than anything I've used before. I've heard backup vocals in songs that I never noticed before. The only real negative is that this is still a very expensive set of laptop-priced headphones that was originally a shocking ~$3499 but has since dropped over the years to $1699. However, I found a refurbished model that still carries a 3-year warranty and added a discount code on top of that to get it down to $1350 total. It's extremely comfortable and truly a top of the line caliber headset for everything from music, videos, gaming, ect.